I've been trying to use progesterone cream again to help balance my estrogen. My hot flashes have been worse and my palpitations started again. I thought maybe the progesterone cream would help. Every time I try to use it, some things get better such as anxiety, fluid retention, mood is calmer but some things get worse. I don't sleep well, I wake up all night long and can't go back to sleep. The hot flashes are worse and my blood pressure goes up. I used the cream several years ago and then off and on but it seems everytime I use it I have the blood pressure going up. Normally it runs anywhere from 110/68 to 124/80. This week since I've been using the cream it's been anywhere from 130/90 to 156/97. Has anyone had this problem with the cream. I know the claims say it lowers blood pressure. The one thing for me anyway seems I do better with nothing but supplements. Soy makes my ankles swell and palpitations are definately worse. When I use soy or progesterone cream my heart rate is much faster. Just sitting it's usually 68-70 but on the cream or soy it averages 80-88. Very strange indeed. I've been considering Bio-identicals but I'm afraid I'll have the same problems. I'm 49 and my last period was 3 years ago today.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Lori

I'm one of those who has lower blood pressure using progesterone, so I'm no help there. Or maybe I just have low blood pressure, period, and progesterone did not affect it one way or the other. It's usually 95/55.

I do know every drug or hormone or natural supplement will affect different people differently.

Let me ask you something: Do you think it could be possible, just possible, that your heart rate increases on progesterone cream because you are a little anxious about what the side effects might be? Just a thought. I have done that many times when experimenting with things, then for some reason decided to try again when I wasn't worrying, and did not have the bad effect.

For example, with a new supplement I was worried I might get an allergic reaction (I've become irrational in menopause), so sure enough, my tongue started tingling. I decided to try again the next day calmly, and I did not get any symptoms.

Now, swollen ankles are the real deal--I don't think even I could worry myself into producing that symptom! By the way, I'm not saying you are imagining anything at all. You do want to be careful, that's for sure. I just thought I'd throw out my experiences. You are probably far more normal than I am right now.

Personally, I might give the bios a try. I'm thinking about going to a "hormone" clinic that is strictly for bios here in San Diego. I don't really have the money, but may do it anyway, because I'm in a really rough time right now.

[quote name='maui512' date='Sep 26 2007, 01:33 PM' post='188313']
I've been trying to use progesterone cream again to help balance my estrogen. My hot flashes have been worse and my palpitations started again. I thought maybe the progesterone cream would help. Every time I try to use it, some things get better such as anxiety, fluid retention, mood is calmer but some things get worse. I don't sleep well, I wake up all night long and can't go back to sleep. The hot flashes are worse and my blood pressure goes up. I used the cream several years ago and then off and on but it seems everytime I use it I have the blood pressure going up. Normally it runs anywhere from 110/68 to 124/80. This week since I've been using the cream it's been anywhere from 130/90 to 156/97. Has anyone had this problem with the cream. I know the claims say it lowers blood pressure. The one thing for me anyway seems I do better with nothing but supplements. Soy makes my ankles swell and palpitations are definately worse. When I use soy or progesterone cream my heart rate is much faster. Just sitting it's usually 68-70 but on the cream or soy it averages 80-88. Very strange indeed. I've been considering Bio-identicals but I'm afraid I'll have the same problems. I'm 49 and my last period was 3 years ago today.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Hi There

I tried the bio-identical natural progsterone cream for six months approx 2 years ago and it made my blood pressure go up and it has taken months off the cream to bring it back down to where it should be. It gave me every symptoms it's supposed to help. I only went on the progesterone to help protect my breasts as I had a breast lump and was worried about getting breast cancer and I had had lots of breast pain and tenderness. It did take away the breast pain and tenderness but it left me with a whole new bunch of problems to deal with including extreme anxiety and many many other things that I won't bore you with. If you want to know more on how it affected ME then browse through some of my earlier posts and that will give you an idea. I personally would definitely hesitate in using it ever again and any other bio-identical hormone, my body just doesn't seem to like being manipulated like that.......

Good luck

Rox

[quote name='roxursox' post='188501' date='Sep 28 2007, 02:24 AM'][quote name='maui512' post='188313' date='Sep 26 2007, 01:33 PM']
I've been trying to use progesterone cream again to help balance my estrogen. My hot flashes have been worse and my palpitations started again. I thought maybe the progesterone cream would help. Every time I try to use it, some things get better such as anxiety, fluid retention, mood is calmer but some things get worse. I don't sleep well, I wake up all night long and can't go back to sleep. The hot flashes are worse and my blood pressure goes up. I used the cream several years ago and then off and on but it seems everytime I use it I have the blood pressure going up. Normally it runs anywhere from 110/68 to 124/80. This week since I've been using the cream it's been anywhere from 130/90 to 156/97. Has anyone had this problem with the cream. I know the claims say it lowers blood pressure. The one thing for me anyway seems I do better with nothing but supplements. Soy makes my ankles swell and palpitations are definately worse. When I use soy or progesterone cream my heart rate is much faster. Just sitting it's usually 68-70 but on the cream or soy it averages 80-88. Very strange indeed. I've been considering Bio-identicals but I'm afraid I'll have the same problems. I'm 49 and my last period was 3 years ago today.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Hi There

I tried the bio-identical natural progsterone cream for six months approx 2 years ago and it made my blood pressure go up and it has taken months off the cream to bring it back down to where it should be. It gave me every symptoms it's supposed to help. I only went on the progesterone to help protect my breasts as I had a breast lump and was worried about getting breast cancer and I had had lots of breast pain and tenderness. It did take away the breast pain and tenderness but it left me with a whole new bunch of problems to deal with including extreme anxiety and many many other things that I won't bore you with. If you want to know more on how it affected ME then browse through some of my earlier posts and that will give you an idea. I personally would definitely hesitate in using it ever again and any other bio-identical hormone, my body just doesn't seem to like being manipulated like that.......

Good luck

Rox [/quote]


Thanks everyone. No, it's not me being nervous about it. It actually calms me and I was looking forward to it working. I had no anxiety about it at all. I know what your saying though. Some people just don't do well on any hormones. My doctor tried me on a low dose bcp when all this first started and my heart raced and my blood pressure went up. Apparently my body doesn't like any added hormones no matter what the source. In order to go on the bio-identicals I have to switch doctors and she's not convenient so I wanted to really think it thru before I switched. My current dr. doesn't use bio's.

Thanks,
Lori

I test my blood pressure a lot and it stayed the same on the low side when using progest. On the oral pill so far it is about the same. The pulse is about the same too, maybe a bit higher on the progest or pill. I got 88 too but maybe it's age too. I am watching it. It used to be really low years ago, something like 69.

[

Progesterone is the pre-cursor hormone that the adrenal hormones are made from. Two of the main hormones are Cortisol and Aldosterone. The higher your Cortisol and Aldosterone levels are- the higher your blood pressure will go:)

I have the opposite problem LOL! My blood pressure has dropped because my Cortisol, Aldosterone and Progesterone levels are way too low. So I am trying P cream to get my blood pressure up:)

Hi Lori,
Like Rox, the P made my usual low-to-normal BP skyrocket, with a sudden onset of increased anxiety. I think it has a tendency to do that if one's estradiol level is low. It took several months after discontinuing the cream for the symptoms to resolve.

Hi,
Years ago I used progesterone cream and had good results. It helped regulate my periods and I felt really good. I tried it again a few years ago when my symptoms were worse and I had all kinds of problems. Like you, my symtoms intensified and I had a terrible time sleeping.

The only explanation I found was that sometimes your body will convert the added progesterone into even more estrogen which makes the dominance worse. Very strange but any type of progesterone made my anxiety terrible and other symptoms 1000 times worse! I tried it several times and it was the same everytime.

Finally just the passage of time helped me. I guess my hormones just had to regulate on their own. It was very difficult to be patient but I kept telling myself that it was a transition and that eventually I would get through it even though at times I didn't think I could take it anymore. It just seemed like everything I did made it worse!

I'm 4 years post now and feel so much better. Hopefully things will get better for you too.

DianaJJ

DianaJJ, thanks for your post as I had a similar experience to you and this has encouraged me to be patient. I stopped BHRT approx. 4 months ago after experiencing bad internal trembling, anxiety, crying spells, tiredness and trouble sleeping (to name a few!). All of these symptoms have improved markedly since I stopped the hormones. I decided it was time to let my body get back to a more natural balance as tweaking the hormones was not helping and just creating more problems than I started with.

My main problem now is intense hot flashes and sweats - about 20 a day. I know it is early days but I was kind of hoping they would be easing up a little by now. Did you get these?

Thanks

Rehma

Dear Rehma,

Yes I had terrible hot flashes and night sweats but they also went away in time. I think my very worst symptom was insomnia....waking up every hour or two with a fast, pounding heartbeat. Now I sleep for 7-8 with no problem. I just think some women are more sensitive to hormonal changes and trying to ge the balance right in menopause is impossible for them.

I also tried bioidenticals from doctors with the same results. I'd say about 1 year after I stopped my periods the symptoms are at their worst. It took about 1 1/2 years after that for things to improve on their own. I just took supplements and tried to follow a healthy diet and finally my hormones achieved a balance again.

Hope this helps.
DianaJJ

Dear Diana and Rehma,
I am also considering stopping BHRT and was wondering what you were taking and the amounts. I tried to 1/2 the dose of Prometrium (100 mgs) I was taking because it was giving me symptoms that you have described (although it did lessen the night sweats which in turn helped me to sleep in the beginning) and this morning got a full fledged period. I feel the Estrace does help a bit with energy but it seems now that the whole process is just not worth it. If I can't take the full 100 mgs of P because of the side effects and I can't go lower because I'll bleed, where is the benefit?? As you said Diana, more problems than when I started.
The pharmacist says to continue taking the P and E and hopefully my body will become accustomed to them, but I'm just not sure at this point.
Did you wean yourself off, or did you stop cold turkey?

Thanks

Cathy

Everyone reacts differently to things, that's true.

The prudent thing to do in this case would be to take a look at all the meds and supplements you're currently taking to see if any of those have this side effect. Perhaps it's a combination of the progesterone cream and something else you're taking? Also, take a look at what's going on in your life right now. Are you under unusual stress for some reason? Have you changed anything in your diet? Are you exercising? Just some thoughts to throw your way.

Oops, forgot to add: Which cream are you using? Is it a natural one?

Bookworm.....are you asking me? Just wanted to check....;-) If you are, I'm not taking cream. The Prometrium comes in I guess a gel kind of pill. It was pretty crazy trying to 1/2 them.
I take a good multi vitamin and very good with the family's diet (get all the vegetable colours in, protein and some carbs), power walk for an hour every day.
I am stressed right now though. I'm sure that is not helping.

Cathy

p.s. If you weren't asking me, just ignore this...;-)

manyboys,

Hi again. At first I was using Progest (a natural progesterone cream) then the doctor gave me Prometrium (100 mg) and I had exactly the same results. I went to another doctor and he gave me another type of progesterone cream from a compounding pharmacy, which I think was a higher concentration of progesterone and WOW....really bad symptoms!

I know that other women have had really good results with natural progesterone and I did also at first. I am very sensitive to any form of medication so maybe that has something to do with it. The side effects were so severe that I went off cold turkey, no tapering off.

Anyway, that's my story.
DianaJJ

Diana, thanks for your feedback.
I also had the fast pounding heart beat. It seemed to be worse in the mornings but then I started to get it while I was trying to sleep. Would also get a feeling of hypervigilance or fear and sometimes lay there like a startled cat. I figured at the time it was most likely adrenaline surges or hormonal, but still found it disturbing. That's when I started to do some research and found there were others also having these problems. So, I'm trying to find the best solution and balance for my body at the moment.

Manyboys,
I was on BHRT in the form of a troche for 21 months. Also tried creams for a few months, but hot flashes came back on 3mg estradiol, 70mg prog. 1mg test. twice a day (also tried 1mg estradiol and 20mg prog. daily.) For the first 9 months on the troche I was on Biest 1.5mg, Prog 150mg, Test 4mg but was instructed to take a quarter of each troche every 12 hrs. (So I was getting 1/4 of this dose every 12 hrs) It got rid of the hot flashes and sweats and slept quite well. My blood tests on this dose were 108-112 Estradiol, Prog. 12.2 - 12.7, Test. 2.5 - 2.9. After about 9 months I had the test. taken out because I felt the downy hair on my face was becoming noticeable. I also started feeling tired, with low grade depression and emotional. The Biest was upped to 2mg, Prog reduced to 125mg, and again dosage was 1/4 of this twice a day. Blood tests on this dosage came back at Estradiol 179, Prog 11.9. Felt ok for a month or two and then the internal trembling, anxiety and other symptoms started.
I went cold turkey off the troche after these symptoms and more became worse. I figured I was feeling like - - - - anyway and wanted to rid myself of all exogenous hormones and see how I fared.

Hope this covers your questions!

Rehma

Hello again,
It's funny because today I've felt better than I have in a long time (knocking on wood...) and it reminds me of how I used to feel when I would get my period. All the PMS beforehand, then a kind of release and a feeling of lightness. Don't like to deal with the bleeding, but physically and emotionally I've always felt better as soon as I get it...
So, I guess I need to decide what to do. And, I also guess this would be a good time to stop taking the hormones seeing as I have started a cycle (or whatever it is.....;-)
I'm going to keep knocking on wood though. Don't want to jinx it.