My dilemma

I had my LSH/BSO back on April 25th. I have done pretty well. Healed great, went back to work two weeks post, and generally have felt 100 percent better than pre op.

Now for my problem. I have been experiencing a pain in my left calf. It is not red or warm to the touch. But it is phlebitis because I have had it a few times before and recognize the symptoms. I also have swelling of both my feet and hands. This is something new. This has been going on for about 2 1/2 weeks. I am on Climara 0.1mg patch and I am supposed to be taking Cenestin 1.25 mg but felt this was too much estrogen. It was prescribed because I was having hot flashes with just the patch but I am no longer experiencing them and never filled the prescription after the samples ran out about a month ago.

I usually can treat the phlebitis myself with aspirin or Ibuprohen and it clears up within days if I catch it quickly enough. This time it is not going away. I am also drinking lots of water and that is doing very little if anything for the swelling problems. I have went on a low calorie diet and have sworn off sodium too.

If I go to the doctor I am afraid he will make me stop the hormones. I just can't make myself go back to the hot flashes not to mention the other problems associate with no HRT. I am afraid continuing like I am but more afraid of going to the doctor. Is there some natural hormones without the side effects that I could take instead? If I thought there was a safe alternative I would feel better about going to the doctor, at least I could be armed with some info to ask the doctor about.

Hope someone can give me some ideas. If someone has had these problems I would love to hear what you had to do about them.

Thanks Shelle1962

Shelle,
Perhaps you need to adjust your hormones somewhat. I would ask for your estradiol levels to be checked. Swelling can be a sign of too much estrogen. Also some sisters benefit from using bio identical progesterone. It seems to help them with swelling. I would suggest discussing this with your doctor.

Hugs

Becky

Personally, as difficult as it seems, I would not mess around with blood clots. They can kill you. When the clot is gone you might consider very low dose replacement of bio-identical hormones, boosting your intake of magnesium, folic acid, B6, and zinc (some of which help with the arterial inflammation that might be influencing the clots), and balance with progesterone for the swelling.

But they don't really understand how estrogen and heart disease work together yet, so there's no known safe HRT if you have a history of blood clots. Not at this time.

I understand your feelings. I really do. But you really need to see your doctor. If the clot travels, it will be a lot worse than hot flashes. It can go to your lungs, your heart, or your head and then you are in serious trouble.