Estrogen Replacement

AHHHHHHHHH! It has been 2 weeks since my hysterectomy. I am 35 years old and they did take my ovaries. I was first prescribed the patch, which kept falling off. I was then prescribed 2 mg of Estradiol. How much is too much? I also know that there are creams and better quality patches. My moods are up and down. I thought I felt better on the patch than the oral med, which is a higher dose of estrogen. Can anyone help me with any information. I went to see my doctor...only to find more confusion.

Thank you.

Hi Hun,

Sorry to hear about your medication issues. I went 3 weeks without hormones because 1) I had endometriosis and 2) I was confused about HRT and what to do.

At my 3 week appointment I went to the doctor and was having one of my worst hot flashes by far and the doctors office was cold like a hospital. The doctor walked in and told me that I have waited long enough. She prescribed Vivelle Dot 0.1 mg. She also gave me some free physician sample packages of the patch to try as well. Within hours I noticed a difference. Works wonders for me. I have heard horror stories about generic patches falling off and made sure that it was prescribed for the name brand only.

I work for a company that sells nutritional supplements and the doctors don't believe in synthetic hormone replacement and recommends bioidentical hormones only. I lucked out in my research and found out that Vivelle Dot is bioidential (meaning it mimics your own hormones). Vivelle Dot is plant based hormones and actually well recommended by the hystersisters site (where I heard about it). Further research made me determined to use it. I m very happy about my choice. Also, with transdermal patches you can use a lower dosage of hormones because it goes directly to your bloodstream. The pill form needs to be synthesized by the liver and therefore requires a much higher dosage.

I hope this helps you make a decision. While I am not medically trained I have been there with the Rx confusion. Do our research and look up prescription based bioidentical hormones. You may be surprised at the good review they have.

I noticed you felt the patches worked better if they stayed on. The Vivelle Dot stays on like a champ. Ask your doctor about name brand rather than generic if your insurance and budget allow.

I am 37 and also had both of my ovaries removed I have been taking Conj Estogen orally - the bottle says the dosage is
.626 MG and I take it daily. I asked to go direct to the pills as I did not want to be bothered with the patch creams. I had heard stories of the patch falling off and the creams taking a long time to rub in. So far my hot flashes have been VERY minimal and the only side effect is that I have insomnia - and I don't even know if it's from the pills. I was on Lupron Depot several months before surgery (this puts your body into menopause. I needed this to releave pain and heavy constant bleeding) and that gave me several hot flashes a day. I think the pills are working for me - but everyone is different.

I am 45 and had my LATVH with both ovaries removed almost 3 months ago and my Dr. started me on Vivelle dot 0.075 patch right in the recovery room. I have had no problems with my patch staying on at all. If anything I have a problem getting all of the adhesive off when I change my patches. I have learned that using a little rubbing alcohol after I take my patch off removes any adhesive left behind.
I change my patch on Thurs. and Sun. So far, I have not had any hotflashes at all. So I am guessing it works great for me. I did have an issue in the beginning of having a really bad headache. My Dr. lowered my dose to 0.05 for a time and then I had severe joint pain. So he put me back on 0.075 and the joint pain dissapeared almost immediately. As far as the headaches what I finally learned to do to stop them is to leave my old patch on for a couple of hours after I put my new one on. That has finally made the headaches stop. I also put my patch on my bottom and alternate each side. Hope this helps and good luck in your search.
Gloria

Thanks for the tips Gloria!

Elaine xo

I just spent an hour today with my doctor going over hrt. I am on vivelle dot which he said is one of the safest on the market. I have had no problems with it falling off instead it hurts to pull it off. He has also started me on prometrium. He said that alot of research has shown that taking estrogen alone can cause breast cancer. (have to look into more) He said that the prometrium is made from yams. He had a folder that was 2 inches thick to go over with me to make sure I knew what everthing was. He took blood today to check my hormone levels and I will have the levels checked on Oct 25 and again on dec 27th. My doc only recommends bioidentical hormones.

I settled on 1 mg of Estradiol half in the morning and half in the night, I use a bio ID gel so its easy to adjust, I started with more 2 years ago and used less and less until found my dose! SO nice not to have a one size fits all dose, I can adjust it if I need to. Gel or Cream is the way to go for me! GOOD LUCK