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Karen

by Karen McGinley
(Scotland)

I had a total abdominal hysterectomy with removal of both ovaries and Fallopian tubes 4 weeks ago due to a very large fibroid size of a full term pregnancy. After 2 weeks i began to suffer from hot flushes which were unbearable and my skin dried out and is still like parchment paper. My doc prescribed me estrogen only pill i am now taking 2mg of estradiol hemihydrate per day. My sleeping pattern is erratic, i feel tired all the time and long for a full nights sleep, i am more tearful than usual (not normally this way at all ever, for no reason that is) and my skin is thinning by the day and very very dry and my wound site is taking ages to heal and i keep getting infections there. My doc said i do not need progesterone as i dont have a uterus or ovaries any more! I found this page through trawling the internet as i thought surely if my body had this hormone it was needed for more than just controlling the thickness of my uterus? I have heard stories about negative side effects of progesterone such as increased risks of breast cancer and other cancers. I am basically looking for advice before making any decisions. I scored 38 on the questionnaire for progesterone deficiency. Please help thanks karen

Comments for Karen

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Mar 22, 2012
 Karen
by: Wray

Hi Karen It still amazes me the ignorance about progesterone. People think it's a female sex hormone, it's neither. If it was it would never be given via IV tansfusion to Traumatic Brain Injury victims, over 70% are men. You are so right about progesterone, besides have they ever stopped to think why we need the oestrogen they tell us to take?! To give you some idea, progesterone regulates gene expression, has a positive fundamental effect on cell differentiation and growth, with anti-oxidative and autoimmune anti-inflammatory mechanisms. It positively effects the nervous system by stimulating neurotrophic factors, quenching oxidative hyperactivity and regulating autoimmune responses. On the other hand oestrogen is an excitatory, inflammatory hormone, it's anti-apoptotic, causes cellular growth and division (it's a potent mitogen), it has no positive effect on the nervous system, and in fact destroys beta endorphin neurons in the brain. Which hormone would you chose?! It's also implicated in cancer due to it's mitogenic affect, please see our page on Cancer. I don't believe any of us need more oestrogen, certainly not synthetic HRT. We get more than enough from the oestrogen mimics which contaminate the world, see Our Stolen Future. There's evidence that oestrogen is one of the culprits behind Hot Flushes. It certainly does nothing for the skin, see here and here. Whereas progesterone has a positive affect, see here. You have been plunged into Menopause now, it's such a shock. The rumours about progesterone are many! In fact I've just done a page on Progesterone Misconceptions to clear up a few. Fibroids are caused by oxidative stress. Continued below.
Mar 22, 2012
 Karen Part 2
by: Wray

Hi Karen And exacerbated by oestrogen as it causes them to grow in size, apart from causing inflammation. They are twice as frequent in African-Americans, and no one knows why. The simple answer is a lack of vitamin D, see here, here and here. Dark skinned people living high above the equator need far longer in the sun to make vitamin D. Unfortunately Scotland has less sun than most countries on earth, plus it's far above the equator. I can't find any papers showing Scotland has the highest rate of fibroids, but it does have the highest MS rate in the world, due to a lack of vitamin D. Also the highest rate of pre-term infants, plus heart disease, and more. You've probably heard of the Scot's Paradox, see here and here. Please have a test done, the fibroids might have been removed, but you still have inflammation. Interestingly a lack of vitamin D reduces the benefits of progesterone. Many women find their symptoms resolve, in spite of being on high amounts of progesterone, once they get their vitamin D levels up, see these comments here. For more info on vitamin D levels, test kits etc see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth, Birmingham Hospital and Vitamin D Links websites. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml or 175-250nmol/L and not the 30ng/ml or 75nmol/L most labs and doctors regard as adequate. The minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although the latest research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. If you'd like to chat to someone, please contact Julienne via her website here, she lives in London. Take care Wray
Jun 09, 2012
 Update on taking vit D and using natpro after TAH
by: Karen

Hi Wray
thought I would send a quick update on how my health is now more than three months post op. I started to take vit D approx 15,000 iu,s along with around 6ml of Nat pro daily, three days ago. early days yet I know, but thought it would be useful if I kept a short log on site for other to read if they are considering taking Nat pro. I am taking vit D cause I stay in Scotland and lacks sunshine. My Doc prescribed me oestrogen only HT, which I was taking but now have stopped. I stopped taking the HT seven days ago. My hot flushes have got much worse but I was expecting that until the oestrogen dominance settles. I experienced something strange early this morning. I got severe upper leg cramp, I mean the pain was excruciating, so much so that I was screaming. The cramp left after about three minutes but it felt like an eternity. I was wondering could this also be a symptom of oestrogen dominance. I stopped taking the HT because it was causing my Asthma to get worse to the point where I had to take a course of predisolone(steroids)to help me breathe. I will add another comment next week as an update to my health as my body adapts to the progesterone cream.Hope this will prove helpful to anyone out there with similar health problems. Karen x
Jun 11, 2012
 Update on taking vit D and using natpro after TAH
by: Wray

Hi Karen Thanks for the update it does help me, others too no doubt. I'm delighted you're taking so much vitamin D, and progesterone, and that you've stopped the oestrogen. I have found hot flushes need a minimum of 400mg/day to stop them. You could increase to this for a few days to get them under control, then reduce very slowly. If too fast symptoms come back. Oestrogen does cause smooth muscle to contract, so could be a reason for the cramps, certainly for the constriction in the lungs. Progesterone is vital for them, it expands lung volume, relaxes smooth muscle and increases CO2, hence it's benefits for asthma, see here and here. And it's benefit for respiration in general, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Vitamin D is also vital for asthma, see here, here, here and here. Continued below.
Jun 11, 2012
 Update on taking vit D and using natpro after TAH Part 2
by: Wray

Hi Karen In fact I've found the synergism between Progesterone and Vitamin D so intriguing I've done a page on it. Cramps are often caused by a lack of one of the electrolytes, in my case it's magnesium. But I've found taking taurine, an osmolyte, I don't get cramps at all. Taurine is vital for regulating the flow of electrolytes in and out of cells, you could possibly try some. Interestingly it's also beneficial for the lungs, see here. Take care Wray

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