dizzy and tired

just started on compounded progesterone cream 7 days ago. i'm taking about 30-40 mg daily, also cut my viville dot 0.1mg and am using only 1/2 of it. had been having trouble with dizziness before i started using the progesterone, but this seemed to subside. now today it is back!!!!! what am i doing wrong?? also using compounded testosterone cream daily (2mg/0.1ml) using 1mg daily for 10 days, have yet to experience that wonderful burst of energy or increase in libido. hope my boss doesn't get wind of my lack of productivity. by the time i get ready for work, i feel so tired, i just want to nap!!!! any help would be much appreciated. i'm 1year post tah and bso

Hi springer goodness, it sounds like you have several things going on at the same time here. It's hard to say what's happening. Are you keeping a journal of your symptoms and what you are taking? It's important to vary only one thing at a time, and give each change plenty of time to level out so you can see what effect it has on you before trying to adjust something else.

Is it possible for you to go back where you were before you made all these changes, and only introduce one new thing at a time, more slowly? I know it's hard when you want to fix everything NOW, but really it will pay off in the long run if you can be patient.
s,
-Linda

thank you surferbabe for your quick reply! i cut my vivelle patch in half and added the progesterone cream d/t experiencing symptoms of estrogen dominance. did i do too much to try to eliminate that? should i have just added the progesterone and left my vivelle patch the same? i had used the testosterone cream before, but started getting acne, now that seems like such a mild side effect if i can get some of my old energy and libido back!!!!! do you think going back to a whole viville and just adding the progesterone cream will help rid me of the dizziness. i read some of the archives on the dizziness, but couldn't figure out if it was a side affect of progesterone or estrogene. alot of mixed thoughts on that. i would love more input from you, and anyone else having experienced this strange feeling of constantly being aboard a small boat in a storm!!!! thank you so much.

Yes, it sure is confusing I get dizziness from progesterone but others get it from estrogen. I've tried using progesterone two separate times. If I use it with low estrogen, I get symptoms of too little estrogen (including dizziness). If I use it with more estrogen, I get symptoms of too much estrogen (especially bloating and swollen ankles). Part of the reason it's so confusing is that your body can make estrogen from progesterone.

I would say that going back to your whole dot and then adding progesterone and seeing what happens would be better; then after a while, if that doesn't work, you could stop the progesterone and wait a bit, and then cut the estrogen dosage. Just one thing at a time, with a wait in between. (((Cynthia))) always says six weeks between changes, if you can stand it, and she's right that that's best. I am the very impatient type and usually still try to make it three or four weeks. Otherwise I wouldn't really know what effect the change will ultimately have.

I'm sorry I don't have a quick solution to the problem. Everyone's body is different and you have to take it slow and get to know yours... you will eventually be glad you did!
s,
-Linda

i'm going to try your advice, and once again, thank you for your quick reply. i am so bad about wanting a "quick fix"!!! i was going by the dropdown for "too much? too little?" it seems like the only symptoms i don't have is for abundance of progesterone....i didn't know that progesterone could revert to estrogene? i remember reading that testosterone could! sooooo confusing.....you said you got the dizziness when adding progesterone, i'm assuming that is my only solution tho if i'm experiencing estrogen dominance. then looking at TMTL my main complaint (besides dizziness) is the fatigue which appears to be from abundance of estrogen, adding progesterone then causes fatigue.....my god this is a jungle!!!!!!!please help!!!!!!!

I know it's really confusing. Actually if you're estrogen dominant you have a few choices for dealing with it. One is to lower your estrogen. One is to add progesterone, which works for some ladies... I am just not one of them. Another possibility is to add testosterone. That tends to raise the energy level, and I believe you said you already had some?

JMHO here, and I really think you could use your DR's input on this... but I think that if you're tired on too much estrogen, adding progesterone may make it worse. If you want to try it, though, you can... but just don't lower the estrogen at the same time, or if you feel better, you won't know which change did it. Alternatively, you could stop the progesterone and try just cutting your estrogen dosage and see how you do, if you think that way might work better.

Ultimately you just have to try these things and see how you do, and it does take lots of time. It's worth it, though. See, even once you get 'balanced', lots of things like stress, illness, exercise can affect your balance, and if you've done all this work already learning about what has what effects on you, it won't be as big a deal for you to adjust to compensate for the different circumstances.

So part of this is that it requires kind of an 'attitude adjustment' on our parts. We have to be willing to go with the flow as we try things, and just be patient. I've learned more about patience since my hyst than in the 45 years before then!

Hang in there, we're here with you OK?
s,
-Linda

i'm so glad i found this website, or i swear i would be going crazy at this point, with no support in site!!!!if i lower my estrogen and discontinue my progesterone, but continue to use my testosterone, will the testosterone revert to estrogen? i would really like to continue the testosterone in great hopes of getting my energy and libido back!!!! but will it revert to estrogen and cause me to become estrogen dominant? i will also talk to my md, who is wonderful, but male, with no hyster experience that i am aware of. (i would add a laughing face here, but am very computer illiterate and have yet to figure out how to do this.)

Well, you're right, technically testosterone can convert to estrogen, but usually it does that at pretty high doses of testosterone in people who are very low in estrogen (like men, or women who are on testosterone only and not on estrogen). Since that's not you, it's probably something worth trying.

I'm glad you're going to talk with your DR even if he is a man! (Some of my best friends are men ).
s,
-Linda