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My Journey with Aunt Flo

by Shannen
(Mt. Airy, PA)

Hi Wray! Your page has been so helpful to me! So thank you for all you are doing for women everywhere :) I want to make sure I am handling my situation correctly. I am going on 44 years old and my mother went thru menopause at 48. My periods have never been too big of an issue, fairly regular and sometimes pms that was a struggle but sometimes not. About 5-6 years ago, I started having night sweats when my period was due and also worse cramping than I had previously, bad enough that I all I wanted to do was lay on the couch or soak in the tub. About 2 years ago, my period began to be a bit off kilter, instead of being the regular 27-28 days that I usually had, it would sometimes surprise me at 24 days and other times drag on and not show up til 30 days.I have also noticed a bit of weight gain in my tummy and it is very stubborn! I eat fairly healthy, buying a lot of organic and natural products, especially being careful with meats. I take a flax seed/fish oil combo as well as 5000 i.u. of Vitamin D3, a B6 vitamin and also a calcium, magnesium, potassium supplement. Twice in the last year now I have had times where it came late and where I had very bad pms symptoms, anxious, depressed, hot flashes (which I had not experienced during the day before) and fatigue. The last time this happened was in August. And then when my period did come it was not very heavy and did not last as long as sometimes. I did some research and discovered bioidentical progesterone cream. Not knowing exactly which brand was best and based on the recommendation from one article I read, I purchased Nature's Balance Bio-identical Progesterone Cream by BonVida. Twelve days after my period in August, I started the cream, using about 1/2 tsp. in the morning and 1/2 in the evening which works out to about 80 mg. I felt an immediate calming, my sleep was deep and after a few days felt like my old self. Things were great until I started spotting around the time I should be getting my period so I stopped using it, my period did not start for about 3-4 more days. Got thru that without too much trouble but a few days after it stopped I was feeling bad again, depressed, tired, etc. so I decided to start up with the cream again.Looking back I wish I had just continued to use it throughout my period. I had used up my previous cream and having done some further research, I decided to try the Emerita Pro-Gest Cream. The first day I only used a little, 40 mg. The second day, I used about 100 mg. (split into 2 doses) and the two days since I have used 200 mg. Since starting back up I have felt worse than before I started again, I still sleep well, but am having hot flashes, night sweats and battling a headache as well as a general blah feeling and fatigue. Yesterday I had a headache that would not go away! The night sweats have stopped and today the hot flashes have not been so dramatic, more getting hot and sweaty when I'm working around the house. I also have not dealt with the headache today, but rather some fogginess and still feeling kinda down. I do have more energy today. I've noticed my mood does seems to suddenly lift, especially toward evening and I feel more like myself. My question to you is if I am doing this right? Is 200 mg. a good amount for me? And since some of the affects seem to be subsiding do I continue to stick it out thru these first weeks and chalk it up to estrogen dominance? Thanks so much for all your help! Love, Shannen

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