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Lost in a (menopausal) sea of sirens

by Tobiah
(West Sussex, England)

On my 50th birthday I was slim, happy and totally in control of my body. 5 years on, quite simply , I am lost. On tuesday, after being diagnosed with complex hyperplasia without atypic, i had the mirena coil fitted. Before that could happen, i was told to stop the very mild dose of oestrogen and progesterone HRT i was taking. Looking back, i can;t actually believe i went onto HRT. I've always been convinced I would go the natural route. Now I can see that i lost myself somewhere along the line and we all know what happens when we do that, we stop valuing ourselves and quite simply we are lost in the sea of sirens. Drink, bad food ..etc etc all provide some temporary relief but the problem is still there and , in fact , it is made worse. The Menopause.. Hormone imbalance ....a subject every women knows about but there is so little real knowledge.

I have been well looked after where I live . Very well looked after in fact but no one really seems to know about hormones. Even at the hospital , when i asked my gynaecologist's Registrar if i could resume oestrogen after the merino coil, the answer was
"No i don't think so"
And it was the same with my ow general GP. The gyny. did say yes to the question when i eventually met her on the morning of the op to remove a polyp, have a D&C and insert the Mirina coil.

Which brings me back to the start of this post. It has been in a week and I do not like the feeling of the coil.The backpain, the period pain type crams and the 'wooziness' and the general feeling that something's not right.

I want to ask if natural progesterone is an effective treatment of hyperplasa and if it is better than the Mirena?

I also want to ask if oestrogen, bioidentical oestrogen is okay and preferable to hrt oestrogen- estradiol?
Thank you for listening xx Tobiah


Comments for Lost in a (menopausal) sea of sirens

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Jun 07, 2012
 Lost in a (menopausal) sea of sirens
by: Wray

Hi Tobiah You are so right, we all know about Peri-menopause and Menopause, but when it hits us, we realise we know nothing about it. Yes progesterone does stop hyperplasia, as it suppresses the proliferation caused by oestrogen, see here, here, here and here. It also stops the heavy continual bleeding some women get, also caused by oestrogen building up the lining excessively. Undoubtedly the HRT you were using caused the hyperplasia. It doesn't surprise me you are not feeling good on the Mirena, it does not release progesterone but a progestin called levonorgestrel. This has been shown to lower progesterone levels, plus impeding the blood flow in the uterine arteries, see here. Levonorgestrel is derived from testosterone, so has androgenic properties. This is the prescribing information here, and please see here too. You might like to read these comments here from women who've used the Mirena. All oestrogens cause cells to proliferate, I'm not sure why you wish to take it. Even phytoestrogens, although they have a weak effect, they are still oestrogenic. Besides they are found in all foods, see here, here and here. So are difficult to avoid. We also get oestrogen from the mimics found in the environment, over 100 now, see Our Stolen Future. I don't think any of us needs more! If you'd like to chat to someone in London, please contact Julienne via her website here. She can give advice on the progesterone and vitamin D. This is almost always low in people living in the UK. Take care Wray
Mar 12, 2013
 peri-menopause and the mirena coil
by: jill

I am 53 years old, was around 2 years ago started missing odd period now and again then started spotting which lasted 9 days the heavy bleeding for almost 5 weeks, my GP sent me for ultrasound which showed ovarian cyst , i was going yo have to wait 5 weeks to see a gynaecologist so as i was very worried i made an appointment for a private consultation and was seen the following day, the gynaecologist was happy to refer me back to the NHS for tests, the following day i had a trans-vaginal ultrasound and biopsy of the endometrial lining, results 2 weeks later were no cancer, my gynaecologist refered me for a hysteroscopy with D/C and to remove a polyp which could not be found so must have looked like a polyp on ultrasound but wasnt one, my gyn also said that the mirena will be fit and will protect the endometrial lining from cancer and prevent polyps growing as had one removed 3 years ago, i had bleedinf for 3 weeks following then 3 weeks break from bleeding then another 3 weeks bleeding , i had very bad mood swings ,now has settled down and i feel back to normal, what a fantastic intervention the mirena coil is, i am so very grateful to my gyn he obviously knows what is best for his patients, i would recommend it its worth the few months discomfort
Mar 16, 2013
 peri-menopause and the mirena coil
by: Wray

Hi Jill You might like to read this page here about the Mirena coil. I'm not in favour of it as you can see from my reply to Tobiah. Progesterone very effectively stops heavy bleeding, which is caused by excess oestrogen. There's no need for a synthetic progestin. Take care Wray

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