Brain Fog

[color=sea-green]Hi ladies,

I need some advice. I have been experiencing a lot of brain fog over the last few weeks. I can go to another room in my house to do something and by the time I get there I can't remember what I wanted to do. It seems to be happening more and more frequently. I had a TAH/BSO on 6/29/01. I am taking Premarin 1.25. I felt fine untill a few weeks ago when the brain fog started getting pretty bad, and I seem to be having hot flashes and night sweats a few times a week. I talked to the but he says its nothing to worry about at this point and we should just wait and see. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on this. I really don't want to play the waiting game, I feel something is not right and that there has to be a solution out there some where.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.[/color]

Your story sounds very similar to mine. I started out on Premarin .625 and felt fine for about 6 weeks, then the brain fog hit and I started having occasional mild hot flashes again. They were nothing like the full blown ones that hit me the day after surgery, but were annoying. I too felt that maybe my dose or type of HRT wasn't quite right. I also thought I might need some progestrone to balance the estrogen since I was only 47 at the time of my surgery and still having regular periods. A lot of DR's won't prescribe progestrone to women who have had a hyst because they think it's not necessary.

One of the wonderful hystersisters in my area recommended that I go see a hormone specialist who is a nurse practioner for another gyn, that she and several other hystersisters see. Making that appointment was the best move I've made since the day I became a princess! <g> She had me fill out a checklist of my symptoms and their severity and knew right away that I needed some balance with progestrone. We also talked about Premarin vs the bio-identical forms of estrogen and I decided to switch to oral Estrace. I may eventually switch to a patch, but for now, I'm starting with the oral form.

She also did some blood testing for thyroid and other things, since fatigue, along with the brain fog is a concern of mine.

The bad thing about switching from Premarin to another form of estrogen is that the Premarin builds up in your body and has to be used up before you can start the other estrogen. In my case, that will take about 3 weeks. You have to lower your dose of Premarin from 1/day to 1/every other day to 1/every third day and then stop.

I did start the Prometrium (progestrone) on the first day and I saw BIG improvement in the brain fog and energy level the very next day. It's also helped me sleep through the night and I seem to sleep more soundly and waked up rested. So far, cutting back the Premarin has only resulted in very minor hot flashes as I use up what was stored.

I'm certainly not an expert in all this, but the key to successful balance seems to be finding a hormone specialist who will work with you as much as it takes to get it right. You might want to go over to the boards by state and ask for a recomendation from someone there for either a nurse practioner or a gyn who specializes in hormones. I'm sure someone in yuor area will be glad to email you with the name of someone that may be able to help you. You can also find a compounding pharmacy in your area and ask them for the name of someone. I love my gyn, but she was the first to admit that she's not very versed in hormones and the options available in HRT. Even if you love your current DR, a second opinion can't hurt.

Arebella

Hi Donna Rae, I don't have much to add to what Arebella said. It is a good idea to have your thyroid tested. If you are interested in finding a Dr. in your area that specializes in HRT go to www.iacprx.org Or even you want to stick with your Dr. they can help you find a pharmacist in your area to work with your Dr. Brain fog is the worst, I had it bad too. Finding a balance of estrogen and progesterone really helped me. Hope you find some help soon.