Hello ladies, I REALLY hope some of you who are exerienced will help me. I'm new here, am 58 yrs. old and in menopause (no period for over 1 yr.) I crashed at Christmas and my life has been on a merrygoround since then. Went to holistic MD in Dearborn, MI. He's good and will actually call you back, take time with you and talk. My problem is the prometrium. I was taking 100 mg. at night and last night my heart almost beat out of my chest. I couldn't sleep at all and felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I tried to tuff it out, took a Tylenol to calm down and was considering taking an Ativan, which I ended up taking today for symptoms, cepression creeping in, difficulty controling thoughts, fears, stomach pain, difficulty working due to depression, tiredness, abdominal pains, etc.

Anyway the Dr. said I have to take progesterone 12.5 mg 2x per day, and he was reducing my tri-est to 1.5 1x per day (due to taking less progesterone) I'm afraid the smaller dose of estrogen won't help with the symptoms but I can't seem to tolerate enough progesterone to balance out with the estrogen requirment to prevent uterine cancer, etc. I also OD's on estrogen one day and had a terrible reaction to that (bad mood swing, anxiety depression). I end up taking 1/2 of a 1 mg. Ativan about every other day and I'm relying on it more and more. I don't know if I can continue working and we need my salary to be able to pay our mortgage. All of this is causing me so much anxiety.

What can I do about the progesterone. I asked about vaginal cream but my Dr. wasn't much for it. He wanted me to try reducing my estrogen and trying 12.5 mg. of the progesterone 2x daily. I feel terrible on progesterone, pills or creams. WHAT CAN I DO? Dr. has asked me to get a second opinion from a gyno he referred me to for a second opinion. All of this is getting so very complicated. I feel like my life is spiriling out of control since I started taking these hormones but I was sinking into a deep hole prior to starting them. I know there must be light at the end of this tunnel. I pray every day to the Lord and I believe He is and will help but as I wait and struggle through this, my faith is really being tested.

Thanks for listening and please reply.

Et

Dear Ethans Na Na, I am not sure that I can offer much advice except to say that I feel in total sympathy with you. I have been on the rollar coaster ride with syptoms for just over two and a half years since my periods packed up. Like you I have to keep going as my husband lost his full-time job a while back and we both have to pull together in order to keep going financially. I was at a very low point just before Christmas and started on a combined patch which delivered a low dose of oestrogen and synthetic progestin every day. I felt pretty bad from day one as if I had really awful PMS, (backache, bad temper, aching limbs, tiredness). I decided to cut the patch up and apply it as I could not tolerate the full dose. I then got a little breakthrough bleeding and decided to pack it in altogether so now I am just anticipating the sweats coming back and wondering if I could ever stand the side effects from HRT. I feel pretty depressed about it at present as I had hoped that HRT might help. My doctor here in the U.K. seems as much in a fog about it as me. Sorry I cant offer more constructive advice as I am totally puzzled myself. Good luck - Simba 2

If it is the typical Tri-est mix only 0.3mg of it is estradial and that is with taking it twice a day - that is a fairly small dose of the more potent estrogen! For me, estrogen relieved anxiety & improved my mood - it is the "feel good" hormone. It was the progesterone that made me moody & depressed - I hated the stuff and had to use more estrogen to counteract it. Can you try sticking to your twice a day Tri-est and take just one dose of progesterone at night? Then if you do okay with that, after a few nights, you could try taking both doses of progesterone at night and see if you have any more problems with it.