Does this make sense??

I have been having trouble with a variety of estrogen products. I started on Estratest HS and had trouble with dizziness. I switched to the Alora patch and developed trouble with PMS symptoms etc. The Dr. did an estrogen level which came back very high. They switched me to Estrace 1mg then down to .5 mg. I started getting very dizzy again and have had trouble with allergies, palpitations. My PCP said they are all estrogen related, vasodilation and that I could just stop and treat bone loss etc with other medications. I am 41 and just don't feel ok with that advice. So.... I started a little bit of progesterone cream at bed time and changed my Estrace to bed time too and I seem a bit less dizzy, still no libido though. What do you think of the added progesterone. Will it help with the estrogen excess and what about the libido??? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks ladies

i found the progesterone to help tons with the dizziness so you might want to try it. prog does tend to balance the estrogen. what symptoms did you have to warrent the estrogen---the usual? your dr is telling you that bone loss can be treated with other meds besides hormones. i stayed on estrogen and prog for about 2 months with no return of libido (although this works for many women) then i had to add testosterone....which was successful.

I was placed on estrogen in the operating room. I have never had any symptoms (ie night sweats, hot flashes etc. ) Though since being on estrogen I have had a number of symptoms that all appear to be related to unopposed estrogen such as dryness including eye dryness, stuffiness, dizziness, dry skin, palpitations etc. I realize this is due to estrogen excess but I am on the lowest possible dose so something else seems to be missing-progesterone. Actually today I haven't felt dizzy yet! I am wondering if I could even tolerate estratest hs if I use the progesterone which would even maybe return some libido....WOW now that would be nice!
Thanks for your response, would love to hear from others.

i would recommend that you stay with what you are doing for 4-6 weeks then if you still have no libido try adding testosterone. i personally don't really like estratest as i see alot of problems here with it....it seems to be pretty harsh and the 2 hormones cannot be adjusted separately. while you're waiting for your libido to kick in, research where you can get compounded testosterone and compounded progesterone creams. the quality will be better for the prog and cheaper too. if you don't have a dr who will perscribe the compounds, let me know and i'll tell you how to get the perscription.

Tacker,
I, too, had fibroids, which everyone tells us is from excess estrogen. I've been having quite a go around with my estrogen replacement since my TAH/BSO on Sept. 7. With all the symptoms I'd been having, I had forgotten that I also had dizziness, which I've had from time to time over the past several years, even before my hysterectomy, and doctors couldn't find the cause. Anyway, my gynecologist thought that I was having symptoms of too low estrogen, and raised my estradiol dose from .075 to .1. All my symptoms gradually got a lot worse, but, thanks to a reply from Kim M, I've learned that I've actually been suffering from deficiencies in Magnesium, zinc, and B-vitamins, known to result from estrogen blocking their absorption.

Talked to a nutritionist who feels that my symptoms indicate a very severe magnesium deficiency, which has been causing me lots of muscle and joint pains as my muscles have gotten very rigid in some places. Recent x-rays showed a buildup of calcium in places, that wasn't there on x-rays I had from a week before my surgery, and I was also starting to get chest pains and strange tingling sensations, but none of my doctors made the connection with the estrogen, even though all this rapidly came on within 2 months of my surgery and starting on ERT.

Since I had excess estrogen before my surgery, I was already most likely in a state of magnesium deficiency, but not low enough to produce glaring symptoms, until the estrogen made it all worse. I've increased my supplements, cut my patch in 1/2, and I believe I'm finally on the right track. I'll see what my gynecologist suggests when I finally get in to talk to her in 2 days. I was originally going in to see her to talk to her about adding testosterone thinking that it might be the key to my muscle aches and non-existent libido, but now I'm going to ask about lowering my estrogen (excess estrogen can also cause low libido) or what else she may suggest.

This is my story, don't know if any of it pertains to your symptoms, but thought I'd share it just in case. Here is the link to the info on the supplements that KimM pointed out to me:
http://www.hormonejungle.com/supp.php It's really good info that I've confirmed in other places.

Good luck!
Connie

Connie
THanks for all of your information. I thought I would let you know that I have recently (4 night ago) added progesterone cream, just a little bit and almost all of my "estrogen" symptoms have disappeared!
I have also been using calcium, magnesium and zinc in a tablet form but that did not help with the estrogen symptoms (dizzy, palpitations, stuffy nose, dry eyes, insomnia, non existent libido).
To date all of the symptoms are much better (waiting on the libido) so.... when you speak with your physician, mention using a little bit of prog. cream, and please keep me posted about what you find out.
Thanks again!! And good luck to you.

starshine....thanks for mentioning the supplements....also on kim's advice i take alot too and they help quite a bit. i usually forget to mention them...that seems to be kim's job
i did have the same results as tacker with the progesterone so i think it would do you some good to check into too.

Cyntia--do you use OTC progesterone cream or a prescription? Also, do you use it every day, or just 2 weeks a month? My dr. is basically against adding progesterone, but, unless she can give me an absolutely good reason for not using it, I will try it anyway. My appt. with here is tomorrow, but they are predicting a freak snowstorm here in NJ, so I pray it doesn't make her close the office.

Even though I was already taking the key supplements in a good multi, the estrogen level was too high and blocking them. At least right now, with the lower estradiol dose and by upping my supplements, I'm amazed at how much the muscle problems have cleared up. Still not perfect though, and progesterone will probably help, but at least I know I'm on the right track now with relief in sight.

One scarey note: nutritionist said that with the estrogen blocking my magnesium, calcium couldn't get where it needed to, that's why it was depositing in my muscles, yet still giving me the tingles in my mouth area (sign of too little calcium in the blood) and all this could have led to a heart attack!

This Thanksgiving I will give thanks for all the wonderful people here!

Connie

i use a perscription progesterone...it is supposed to be more..i can't think of the word but more regulated in how much prog is in it..ahhhh consistant! it is also cheaper and prog has a shelf like...it goes bad fast so when it's compounded you know how old it is. i use it 2x's a day....a little more at night...it helps me tremendously with sleep. i have found it to help with a multitude of things...swelling, dizzies, allergies, got rid of my sinus infections and made my moods steady...more like i was before i had my hyst. i was never moody before my hyst and i'm not now with the prog. pre hyst i never noticed that the supplements did any good but now i see a big difference. if i pop my multi as soon as i wake up, i wake up much quicker...i'm one of those people who is walking around and doing things, but still asleep for the first hour i'm up i'm so glad you found out all this health stuff.....i know hystersisters saved me too. i had things checked out that i wouldn't have and they were serious. i do owe the ladies here so much. i have read that prog helps build bone (can't remember where i read that) and before i went to the dr i printed off alot of info for my dr. i basically threatened to make her read it all if she didn't write me the perscription in the end she said.....oh well i guess it won't do any harm. i really don't know what some dr's beef is about it. i have since found a gyn that perscribes it regularly to alot of her patients...she truely believes in using it. so it really does depend of the dr.
i hope you make it to the dr tomorrow, but be careful...it's not imperative that you start it right now. have a nice holiday. love, cynthia

Connie
Interesting information on the supplements. If you have time, please send me some more information regarding the magnesium and calcium supplements and blocking.

I never thought about this, but I also have had some muscle aching, especially at night when I go to bed. One night my legs were jumping so bad I could n't sleep!

I will tell you the progesterone continues to help with sleep, dizziness and sinus issues. I also havent had a palpitation in days!

I also remembered too when I had high levels of estrogen I had a numbness across my forehead, and occasionally my teeth felt numb. I thought this was due to sinuses (which it may have been) but now I wonder about the calcium and magnesium.

I did speak with the Drs. office this morning, and had a long talk with one of the nurses. She did tell me they will prescribe prog. cream if the patient wants it but not without reviewing all of the literature that points out there is no scientific evidence to support it. She said they often prescribe it for "mental health" purposes.

Please keep me posted regarding your visit. You can email me at macker@maine.rr.com.

Best of luck!!!!
Tammy