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Urgent need of advice

by Heather
(Alabama)

I am scheduled for bio identical hormone pellet therapy injection on Monday. I am reading horror stories of people who have had this done. I have also read stories of how this has changed lives for the better. The problem is that once the pellets are in they cannot be removed. That scares me! Here is my situation....
Five years ago I started feeling very fatigued during the week of my period and would have 3-4 days of a menstrual migraine. Not severe but not pleasant. Two years ago I started to feel fatigued. I was progressively getting more and more tired. January of 2013 I had a horrible menstural cycle with a lot of pain and large blood clots. My period started while I was still taking the active b/c pills. I then started feeling extreme fatigue, nausea, weakness, face flushing, hot flashes and dizziness every day. Went to my GP who ran a few test, found nothing wrong with me and sent me on my way. My next period was normal but lasted 14 days. Went to my obgyn and she ran a few tests. Found nothing, told me the ft3 and ft4 test is "all the hype you read in the magazines and the TSH is the gold standard for measuring thyroid function". I knew better. At this time it felt like there was something in my throat all of the time. I also have constant post nasasl drip and swollen glands in my neck. This went on for 6 months. Then things seemed a little better but I was still fatigued. I also started to feel like my legs and hands were about to fall asleep. They were never numb but I was always shifting positions to see if sitting the worng way was the problem. It wasn't. Around Thanksgiving I started to feel pins and needles in my hands, arms, legs and feet. I felt an all over body tingling/itching. In January 2014 I went to a Naturopath who is a physician's assistant. The practice also has a Nurse Practitioner and Doctor. They tested my thyroid-normal. An ultrasound of my thyroid show it was enlarged. They did all sorts of blood tests, food allergy tests, vitamin IV treatments. Nothing helped. They thought I had leaky gut. I did all sorts of diets. Nothing helped. At All! Finally they did a saliva hormone test. Here are the results:
Estrone(E1): 0.6 Range: <16
Estradiol(E2): 1.1 Range: 0.2-5.2
Estriol(E3): <0.1 Range: 0.1-12
Progesterone: 1 Range: 80-270
E2/Progesterone ratio: 1
Testosterone: 5 Range:4-33
Melatonin AM: 31.7 Range:0.1-25
Cortisol AM: 4.12 Range-1.8-3.8
DHEA: 0.06 Range: 0.10-1.30

Cortisol:
AM: 4.12 Range: 1.8-3.8
Noon: 0.44 Range: 0.3-1.4
Evening: 0.29 Range: 0.1-1.1
Night: 0.17 Range0.1-0.8

Vitamin D is 67. I have been deficient and not fatigued. In the past year and a half I have gone from 32-67 and feel no better.

Blood tests were done to get ready for the pellet therapy. They use the blood results to customize the hormones for me. My Testosterone is 27. Normal is 120-140. Estradiol is normal. They want to give me testosterone pellets and have me take a supplement that blocks bad estrogen plus a bio identical progesterone pill which will cost me about $200.00 per month. This doesn't include the pellett cost which is very expensive. After reading this site I am prepared to argue using the cream vs the pill. I think it is better and cheaper.

My question is....What do I do?!!!! I am so sick of being tired. I feel drugged every day. It is like I have taken a night time cold medicine every morning and it lasts all day. I sleep great as far as I know. I fall asleep easily and stay asleep. They did offer me the option of a cream/creams from a compounding pharmacy if I don't want to do the pelletts. Help!

Comments for Urgent need of advice

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Sep 11, 2014
 Additional info
by: Heather

I should add that I am a 41 year old female not in menopause. I do take the pill(Loestrin 1.5/30).

Additional symptoms:

Brain fog
forgetfullness
aching joints
muscle pain
inability to lose weight
bloating

I am wondering about when to use Progesterone. I have read the info on this site. Women who still have a menstural cycle should start using the cream during/after ovulation. If I take the pill I am not ovulating so does it matter when I start/stop using the progesterone or should I just use it all of the time?
Sep 11, 2014
 Cream
by: Letitia

I am a great advocate of the cream, easier to adjust and I am scared of anything put into my body that I cannot have control over, that is just me
I will be interested to see what Wray says about pellets
Sep 11, 2014
 Pellets
by: Anonymous

Do not do the pellets. You are right... Once in, they don't come out. And do not do oral progesterone. It has the worst absorption. Cream has the best absorption out of all the options. Before you do anything, read Dr Michael Platt's book called THE MIRACLE OF BIOIDENTICAL HORMONES. It's a MUST READ!
I wish you well
Sep 11, 2014
 Heather, I feel it too.
by: Anonymous

I just read your post and I feel the same way. I am tired all the time, but I don't have a cycle due to complete hysterectomy at age 27. I had estrogen dominance. I also, do not want implants and will refuse them. I am scheduled to see a specialist and hoping for better results than the last Dr. I too will refuse the implants. I am sorry you are feeling this tired. I know what it is like to push thru everything you do. I have tried just progesterone, but with only some success. They say it takes about 5 months to feel normal again. Not, happy about waiting for 5 months, but I am going to give the bio identical hormones a try again. I hope this Dr. will listen. I did express my concern about a Dr. that listens. They assured me he would. We will see.

I am glad to know I am not alone with how I feel, but I will let you know the outcome of my appt. which is not until Oct. It is going to be a long month until my appt.

Pam
Sep 12, 2014
 Hormones
by: Anonymous

I canceled the pellet appointment. It scares me too much. I am going in on Monday to discuss the cream. I really hope it doesn't take 5 months to feel better. I plan on working on better eating and losing weight once I start the cream. Hopefully the hormones will help me lose weight. I am concerned that the high AM cortisol might hinder this. I have read that high cortisol hinders weight loss. I don't know if this means all day high cortisol or if even just having high cortisol in the morning can do this. My understanding is that the only way to lower cortisol is to reduce stress. How am I supposed to do that?!!!

For a month and a half this summer I gave up gluten, dairy and cut sugar 90%. Did nothing for me. Didn't feel better and didn't lose weight. I have never had trouble losing weight.

I appreciate the responses! I'll take any advice I can get. 😊
Sep 12, 2014
 Hormones
by: Anonymous

I think they plan on giving me a cream that has progesterone, testosterone, DHEA and maybe even estrogen. I have read that DHEA turns into testosterone so do I need testosterone? my levels are within normal range but the NP said she considers it low since it is just barely in range. I have also read that it isn't necessarily bad to have low estrogen levels. One estrogen is low out of range, the other 2 are low normal. Do I need estrogen? I want to be as prepared as possible when I go in on Monday.

Will these be separate creams or will they all be in one cream?

I also forgot(brain fog) that I have some dull breast pain and 3 fibroids. Lately I have been feeling a throbbing sensation which I think are the fibroids. I wonder if they are growing.
Sep 12, 2014
 Low progesterone is dangerous to your life
by: Anonymous

Hi Heather,
This is a very long story, but I am going to make it as short as I can. Basically, reading your symptoms, I went back in time. I had everything you stated. Basically, low progesterone causes your thyroid to slow down. That causes cholesterol to go up which in turn causes plaque in the arteries. After a very long bout of those same symptoms, things got worse and my arms started to go numb for about thirty seconds. Not both at the same time, but individually once and a while. Then I could not pick up the pace while walking, I had to stop because it seemed me like my whole body would explode if I kept going. Doctors wrote me off as a crazy menopausal woman. A nurse practitioner finally guided me to a cardiologist. I was fighting it because there is absolutely no history of heart disease In my family. Anyway, I had an angiogram which showed an artery that was 100% bloc ked. A stent was put in and I was put on 400 mg progesteone(in my case Prometrium) vaginally divided twice a day. So I put In 200 mg in the morning and the same at night. I was 49 years old then, fat, never slept, moody and generally miserable. Right after being placed on progesterone, I lost 50 pounds, sleep like a baby, and I have never felt or looked better. I am now 55 and fast approaching56. I believe progesterone saved my life. Recently, I heard about two women who were not on progesterone who had many stents put in and passed away. Unfortunately, I did not know it was going on, or I would have spoken up. Please get off any estrogens that you are on and immediately start progesterone. The vaginal way, in my opinion, is the best way as it goes right where it is suppose to. Orally, up you are wasting your time and money. I hope this helps. If I can save even one woman, I will feel better about e other two I didn't know about.
Sep 19, 2014
 Pellets
by: Chloe

Hi Heather,

I'm in agreement with all these ladies, and I think in a few months time with progesterone, and diet changes (that's if you need to make any)you will be fine.

I am 41 as well, with similar lab results. I had to come off the birth control pill, it was causing hormonal chaos and worsening all of my symptoms. Sometimes we hear the birth control and don't think hormone replacement, but it is and with some ugly synthetic ones as well. I was unable to get off of it comfortably until I started applying progesterone, then I was able to do it.

I am relieved your not getting the pellet, such a permanent solution for a changing situation.

As far as a compounded cream, again imho, I would only start with one hormone at a time and that would be progesterone. I would be firm with my doctors on that.

Not all BHRT practitioners have mastered this art yet, as far as natural medicine goes, this is fairly new stuff. It's booming now, thank God, since Premarin and synthetic hormones were discovered for what they really are. Sadly, it caused thousands of premature deaths. If you decide to apply an estrogen cream, and they mix the 3 estrogens, "estriol" must be 80% of it. And never take any estrogen unopposed, always take it with progesterone.

Above all be patient, make sure your on the right diet, it makes all the difference in the world. Vitamin d as you already know, and keep reading and asking questions as you did here. I'm going into my second month now, and I discovered I lost 11 pounds, my belly is certainly flatter, and I don't feel like I must! have my afternoon nap. I also noticed my vision is better, I think that has to do with estrogen dominance, but I'm not sure, but I am not lost without my glasses anymore. There is a subtle feeling that my body is trying to work differently, and its only my second month, I am hopeful it will continue to get better. The beginning is tough though, but let that assure you that you are healing and not just treating a symptom with the almost instant gratification of synthetics. Keep us posted

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