Why, why, why does estrogen make me feel so bad???!!!

Here I am almost 4 full years out from TAH/BSO. I have tried just about every HRT known to man and I still end up in the same place. I usually will feel okay initially and then I hit a brick wall. Any estrogen, even the smallest amount makes me EXTREMELY fatigued. Going without is better until I hit the hot flashes that are so severe and cannot respond sexually at all. So my choices are suffer with drenching sweats and give up sex altogether or go through life with a foggy head and so fatigued that the slightest activity wears me out.

I'm just venting because I'm just so sick and tired of it. Does anyone feel like I do? Am I the only one who has such a weird response to hormones?

ETA: I've had thyroid tests, blood sugar tests, cortisol tests... you name it, and they can find nothing wrong, so it's just the hormonal thing I guess???

Carol,

Im in the same boat as you. I cant tolerate any type of estrogen, makes me even sicker. Im still searching for the miracle cure, but am now going to try some of the natural supplements out there. I have lupus-sjogrens and ever since my hyster 2 years ago, everything is just flaring-non-stop. Wish my doctors would have warned me. They dont seem to warn about the possibility of not tolerating HRT either.....

Sorry to hear about your illness gursie. Has anything helped you OTC? I have tried so many supplements and things. My biggest problem is just no stamina whatsoever. I have a 10 month old baby so energy is in extreme demand and I have none!

I just read about a natural supplement made from flower extracts called
Femal...sounds promising...another is Amberen. Have you tried any of the natural things?? like black cohosh?

Carolina,

What type of side effects are you having with the estrogen? just curious?

The biggest are fatigue and muscle aches. I've tried progesterone... can't handle that AT ALL. I use a small amount of testosterone cream too but it doesn't seem to help. I think it all turns into estrogen. I just think my body doesn't process the estrogen and it builds up too much or something. I can barely tolerate very low doses but high doses are a no-no.

I had the same thing...major stomach issues and not sure if my dizziness, general sick feeling, anxiety is from the estrogen or lack of. My hair just starting to fall out in the back of my head, not sure what's causing this. I also couldnt use progesterone, prob because I didnt have enough estro to balance. Trying to figure out if its more hormone or autoimmune....guessing both. My thyroid is coming back slightly low now so Im working on this as well.

I am in the same boat. I had one form of Estrogen that worked great for me and they took it off the market. The was Estrovis 100mcg. I took it for years and felt great. And then suddenly they pulled the plug. I worked in the medical field and asked the reps. why they would leave so many woman high and dry. The only reason they had was it wasn't cost efficient ( maybe because after the beginning when you took a pill a day for one week and then you only had to take one pill a week. I had my pharmacist call the company to see if the could duplicate it and he couldn't. So, ever since then I have tried so many different hormones and have all the side effects that have been mentioned. I have just about given up that I will ever feel normal again.
Trish

Have you talked with your dr. about B12 shots? I was told the body has a hard time to make use of supplements taken orally and it does better when injected directly into the muscle.

I have teriible fatigue when I try and use the Vivelle Dot. I changed to Femring and have a lot more energy and feel much more like my old self. Have you tried Femring? I don't know why it would be different but, for me, it just is.