Hi ladies - have felt SO BAD the last 3 days and now am scared again - at least some of that feeling had gone away once the Dr started me on AD and Prempro 6 weeks ago. I had started to see some improvement - hot flashes not as bad, not so anxious, but in the last 3 days I feel like I am at square one again. I am so anxious - over nothing inparticilar - my head is spinning, the internal shakes are horrible and I am tense all over. Don't know if I should call Dr and tell her or if I need to wait for my appt in June - it will be 3 mos on Prempro and then she decides what to do next. Do most Dr treat you on an individual need as opposed to "it takes time for the hormones to level off and just wait it out" theory. How soon can meds be changed and something else tried. I know this isn't going to be an overnight cure, but I am scared since I feel really crappy again. Thanks for letting be be scared with you!

Kimberly

Kimberly,

I do not take Prempro, I take topical estradiol and vaginal progesterone (10 days/month) so I cannot say much about Prempro. But, don’t wait till June!!!!

Have you looked into using human estrogen and progesterone rather than Prempro? I have read that the progestins in Prempro can cause more side effects than human progesterone plus you are on a progestin every day which can make you feel bad. I think it is better to cycle your hormones and have a period than to deal with daily effect of progestin or progesterone. I think doctors take the easy way out and prescribe Prempro. It is more work to prescribe estradiol and progesterone. My estrogen cured my depression; maybe if you took the correct dose of estradiol instead you would not have to take AD.

Do you have any of the good hormone books? They can really help you decide to use human hormones rather than horse estrogen and progestins. Natural Hormone Balance for Women by Uzzi Reiss is a good first book to read and Screaming to Be Heard by Vliet is a second good book but harder to read.

I hope you feel better.

Kathy

Dr. Vliets book "It's My Ovaries Stupid" is also excellent. Helped me so much!!

What does Dr. Vliet’s ovary book cover? Does she talk about progesterone dosing?

I just looked on Amazon and I did not realize that she had an ovary book and a guide to polycystic ovarian disease. I have her Testosterone book as well and I found it helpful. There was supposed to be a Savvy Guide to Estrogen book available in Feb. 07 but I was never able to find it available, now when I search for it on Amazon I cannot even find it anymore. It appears that “The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Hormone Headlines: What America Got Wrong About Estrogen” is available for preorder for May 30, 2007—I am just wondering if it replaced the Feb. book that never was available.

Kathy