Dr Is Trying to Wean Me Off Progestrone

I went in for my yearly pap smear yesterday. I am currently on the Climara Patch and taking 100 mgs of Prometrium to help with my insomnia. My Dr. brought up the studies that were done. He was a little concerned and said he'd like to wean me from taking my Progestrone since the study was done with estrogen/progestin combination. He said there might be some relationship, but the study had all of them on edge. We discussed how after first removing ovaries, your body goes into such a shock. It's been 3 years since my hysterectomy so he thinks that my insomnia should improve. Dr. wrote another perscription for Prometrium and Climara patch. He said he wanted me to try Tylenol PM or Benadril to help me sleep at night instead of taking the Prometrium.

Has anyone tried Tylenol PM or Benadril for sleep with success? My HRT has been working wonderful and I hate to spoil a good thing, but this study has me concerned as well as many of you.

Maria,

I agree- it is very confusing :confuse: and the truth is no one knows that to do with this new information. My guess your doc is trying the best he can to balance this new information and your need. The studies released recently are just the last in a series suggesting HRT doesn't have as many long term health benefits as we have thought.

With any drug being used for a long period of time, periodically re-evaluating one's need is a good thing. I've been asked to reduce my estrogen over a period of time, and I've also been told to actually take the time and not do anything drastic like stopping cold turkey (unless I really wanted to do so).

My doc did suggest - and order - a full battery of tests first - cardiac tests, bone density scan etc. That way we can monitor what is going on and determine if I need a drug for osteoporosis prevention.

I've cut my dose in half once (from a fairly high dose), and it took a couple of tries, but I'm OK. I'm not doing it again until the hot weather is over. A in 100 degree heat like today is not a pretty sight

Dorrie

Hi
I had alot of sleep problems after my hysterectomy while on premarin and especially prempro. Once I switched to biest and added natural progesterone, sleep has been great. Yes,I used over the counter products for sleep and also prescription sleeping pills. Nothing worked as well as natural progesterone. It was my understanding that mpa - a synthetic progestin in provera is the reason why the study was halted. Also read somewhere that natural progesterone does not adversely affect the effectiveness of estrogen.
I'm sticking with my natural progesterone for now.
Linda

Because progesterone and progestin are NOT the same, I would stay on the progesterone and not worry at all. Progesterone is a wonderful and protective hormone. Progestin is a synthetic hormone that has been shown even before this latest study that it was dangerous. Why is it doctors will give pregnant women natural progesterone (to maintain the pregnancy) but not progestin? We make progesterone suppositories for these women and they do fine.

There is this theory that women who have lots of progesterone during their pregnancies may have calmer and smarter children. Women who are low may have children with ADD and ADHD. Interesting.