5 week post-op visit / HRT??

Hey everyone, It is 5 weeks and I am finally turning the corner. I want to thank you all at hyster sisters for being there when others weren't. I went for my post-op follow-up yesterday and my Dr. was in a hurry, wouldn't you know the day I had so many questions!! Anyway, everything is doing Ok. I still have not lost stitches and he told me to douche to get them out of there, also no "wild thing" for two more weeks. But regarding HRT, he has had me on Ovcon 35 (BCP) since prior to surgery and he felt that was what I need to stay on. My symptoms are occasional hot flashes ( I can handle those) and some insomnia and anxiety. Also I have had breast tenderness which by a mammo has been dx as swollen breast tissue from the Estrogen. (By the way the Breast cancer center rec. using Vit E 800iu daily for two months and then cut back to 400iu.) I asked him for a rx for anxiety prn, I have heard about Buspar, but he would have none of that, he did rec. Celexa an antidepressant and I told him I did not want to go that route. Any how I guess I am concerned about how you know which HRT is for you I.E. ?enough Estrogen and Progesterone. I did miss the pill for three days by accident and hit the wall, cramping, leg & back pain and very tearful. If anyone can help please share info with me. I read Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book, which shed alot of light on issues.
Thanks again Twin TER / Age 40 TVH 6/8/00

If you are uncomfortable with your hrt--and it sounds as though you feel your current estrogen may be too high for you--you always have the option of simply telling your doctor "no, I am not comfortable on it and won't take it. Please come up with another hrt for me." Or you can wait a few more weeks on what you're doing (I think you're a little early to have reached your ultimate levels postop) to see if as you use up your pre-op stores this excess dose evens out. After a few more weeks you might also get hormone levels (go for estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, of course) to see where you are. You can get saliva testing done yourself at if your doctor won't order it for you.

The normal immediate post-op course with hormones, as we've observed it, usually seems to run to either starting with a low dose and then runing into deficit as your own levels drop, or initial excess that you then settle in on as you use up what you have stored. Often the easiest strategy is, if the symptoms can be tolerated, to wait it out. By 8 weeks, however, you should be developing a sense of where you are and asking for balance becomes reasonable. You have to be the judge of when the severity crosses the line, however.

Please keep us updated on how you're doing. [blue]