No, I don't mind your asking!

rhea

Now the trick will be to recognize when that irritability is not due to anything specific or in response to an irritable situation!  Yesterday I got so angry at someone, and it stuck with me for hours.  Was that progesterone or just anger?  Who knows?  But today I'm feeling better.

I'm definitely going to keep a close watch on my emotions, though.  And thank you again for the reminder.

My personal experience with obtaining the hormone test was that I purchased it through College Pharmacy. I paid $141 out of my own pocket to have 4 hormone levels tested. I did not go through my personal physician to have the test approved. I did not go through my insurance for approval. Sometimes, you just have to cut to the chase!

In general, I can not say whether the test is "available only through prescription". I can only share what my personal experience has been.

I am fortunate to have an excellent relationship with my internist. He does not "pooh-pooh" my reports of menopausal symptoms and he is respectful and supportive of me in my "journey". He knows what a life transforming process we go through in menopause because his wife is experiencing the same thing, too. We have an excellent rapport.

Since I am the one who pays my internist, the pharmacy, Pete, the insurance company, etc., they all work for me. So, when I say that "I am working in conjunction with" the above, what I mean is that my personal physician is aware of the choices I am making about my health care and that I keep in touch with him, also.

What I  keep in mind with medical practitioners is that they are all trained by the AMA, which is a typically male dominated organization. Some of my worst battles have been with female OB/GYNs  because of the paternal, "Doctor Knows Best" attitude they have learned. Woo! I didn't mean to get up on the soapbox this morning!

Anyway, I'm just sharing my personal experience here. I am fortunate to have found this web site and to have options available to me. And to have that feeling is the best thing.

Even though menopause is a wily character, I think it is still okay to trust our bodies and our intuition.

D, I hope this helps and that you continue to feel good. I hope your day goes smoothly.

I am glad the hormones seem to be helping.   They have helped me too but have not been 100% in the depression department  especially the phantom week or like yesterday, when I had refined flour on an empty stomach with no protein, I got very mad at my husband who is not used to such fury!  :)   Could it be something that you ate that caused the depression instead of the hormones?

I asked my gyn today about the phantom week where I feel so dopey and slowed down which I think is a form of depression; he suggested doubling the estrogen for that week and so I will see if that helps.   I was only taking half the recommended amount anyway.

Hope you continue to improve as it takes a while to figure it out.    I think we are becoming menopause experts by having to....

Oh since being on natural hormones my blood pressure has gone down to a normal reading when before it was high even on meds.

NancyV

Last night I increased the dosage to 2.5cc of the lotion, and I slept like a baby, no weird dreams.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  We'll see, and I'll keep you posted!

Hugs,Suzie

I have also been getting my bio-identical HRT from Pete, for almost a year now, and wanted to let you know that I think I may have gotten some headaches for a couple of days, in the beginning.  I am not real sure it was from this, but I think it may have been, because I don't usually get headaches.  I also had some breast tenderness for about a week, which is also unusual for me, but that also went away and has never returned, even with a slight increase in my Biest in the past couple of months.  I also did not have any more headaches with the increase.

The consulting doc with College Pharmacy is Dr. Philip Warner, and the cost to you is only $50 per 6 months.  You do not need another doctor for the prescriptions...he handles that, and I just pay $50 every 6 months.  The saliva tests are done by a lab, and ordered from Pete.  The cost of the tests depend on the number of hormones you have tested.  I have had 6 tested (Pete will suggest which ones to test- I had estriol, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, dhea, and cortisol tested), and the cost was about $190 for those.  

Essentially, you really do not have to have a local doctor who agrees with what you are doing to get what you need.  :wink:  In my case, however, I asked Pete for some names of doctors in my area who would work with him on this, and I have found a very good gyn/meno specialist that I couldn't be happier with.  She more or less is there to monitor things, and the scripts and testing is taken care of by Pete and Dr. Warner.  It doesn't hurt, however, that, so far, she agrees totally with what I am provided by College Pharmacy and Pete.  You might also want to ask Pete for doctors' names in your area who will work with him.

Concerning the cost/insurance aspect that someone was asking about, it depends on your insurance.  I am lucky in that my insurance has paid for the hormones each month, the doc consultation fee, and the hormone testing at 80%... I have a PPO.  The hormones are billed directly to the insurance company by Pete, but I have to pay the doc consultation fee and hormone testing out of pocket to College Pharmacy and submit the claim to get reimbursed.

I hope this information is helpful.  

(Edited by Kalanie at 1:39 pm on Mar. 20, 2002)

I had a light period last October and nothing since then so I am not post yet, that is 12 months of no periods.  Last year I had maybe three periods total but they were not heavy.

It is good my blood pressure is down as what could I do when it went up to l60 or even up to l80 and already on meds?   There must be a hormone connection don't you think?    

My periods have always been a nightmare so I am glad I am heading toward post.   Keeping my fingers crossed that post won't be as bad as some of peri was...It took about two years total of trial and error with the doses though....it definitely is not once size fits all.

Georgia Dove~~

I think anger if the flip side of depression.   Have you heard that depression is anger held in?

I felt angry Sunday and really exploded and it came out tty strong.   I think it was years of frustration with health issues and now I have another to deal with with my hearing.   On the other hand I just had a combination of foods that can trigger a down in me also so I think I had less emotional control.

But you know I think even though it came out strong it was better than holding it in and getting depressed.  It was sort of cathartic.

I guess I will learn how to express anger appropriately someday if  I stay in therapy long enough.  :)It was never okay.

Maybe your response to your friend was your real feelings and maybe that is good or an issue you need to resolve for yourself so it won't trigger those feelings.

I hope the hormones do you a world of good and don't trigger any depression....

If my gyn had been a male, I still would have gone there (even though I also prefer a woman), because Pete gives out names of doctors who he knows or is pretty sure will work with him.  In my book, with this issue, the gender doesn't matter all that much, as long as the doctor is enlightened.  I have had some pretty unenlightened doctors through this journey, including my internist, who is a woman.  I pretty much ignore her uninformed medical advice, and she knows it.  I have been looking for a new one for several months now, and have pretty much relied alot on the gyn.  And, just because a doctor is an endocrinologist, doesn't mean a thing... there are plenty of unenlightened endocrinologists out there too, as many have attested to on these message boards.  

You can also read here at PS about all the doctors who also "don't do" saliva testing (although it is more accurate) because blood testing is the norm out there for those lazy docs whio like to follow the easy way out.   And the ones who "don't prescribe testosterone"  across the board seem to be the ones who also haven't taken the initiative to do any research on meno past what the makers of Premarin and Provera tell them.  Seems like there might be a connection as to why your doc only tests for estradiol... I mean, what would she do if she tested your testosterone levels and it was low???  :wink:

Hope that is a help with trying to figure out these feelings we get!  :)

Hi Sylvry...I have no doubts at all that your response to the friend's insensitivity to your relapse was "real feelings"... real feelings of anger!  :wink:  I think I would be feeling pretty angry, too, if a friend reacted negatively to me because of a relapse.  I would suggest you discussing this issue with your friend, including the anger that you felt at the response.  I am glad that you were able to talk it out with your sponsor and at meetings. ... I think that can help you in dealing with it with your friend better.  :)

the Bi-Est I am using is in a capsule with progesterone. I take one cap orally an hour or so before bedtime.

The DHEA is 25/mg in a capsule. I take one of those orally each morning after my Revival/banana/ strawberry shake. AM is also when I take my daily 81/mg dose of aspirin.

The cream is E3/testosterone. The first week, I used it nightly. I will now use it 2 or 3 nights weekly. It is used intravaginally and an applicator was included.

I am not taking estrone. I am taking estriol and estridiol. The 3 estrogens have numbers assigned to them (1, 2, 3), but I always get them mixed up!

I have not experienced headaches since I began the therapy. I'll let you know  if I have to start shaving every morning!

I really like Pete and I hope your consultation with him is helpful.

I hope I answered your questions, but I think you will learn a lot from just  one conversation with Pete. Let us know how it goes.

So far so good on the higher dosage of the natural compounds -- I have slept much better the last 2 nights, and still no negative side effects!

Years ago when I was really feeling rotten with PMS and I guess the beginning of perimenopause I had both a blood test and a saliva test at the same time.   The results of the blood test said everything was normal but the saliva test said 10 times too much estrogen.   I figured I didn't feel normal so maybe the saliva test was more accurate for me.

So....I had been on supplemental estrogen and as I reduced it and added natural progesterone, my symptoms were amazingly improved.    Then later when I was feeling better, I kept a record of the numbers on the saliva test when I felt good.  This was a baseline.   Then when the estrogen did drop too much and started having flashes again, this showed up on the saliva test as what was happening.  

For me, it seems I  need a baseline of estrogen and many times (about 200 times the progesterone than estrogen) to feel good.

I don't think the blood tests are accurate unless there is some new kind.    I think the saliva tests are better.....it gets tricky I suppose as they are fluctuating so much in perimenopause but  test on the same day of my cycle or noncycle and follow the time of day testing according to recommendations of Dr. Lee.

If I had not gotten into a natural form of hormones and a new type of doctor, I would really be a case today...

Thank goodness for the support of this site as I was going through it!

Georgia Dove~~~  

I am so glad you are sleeping better.   It makes the most difference when you get sleep...that was the hardest thing to deal with was sleep deprivation.  

Georgia Dove~~

Dearest posted this elsewhere...

Thursday, March 219 PM (ET), 6 PM (PT)In Power Surge Live!

/experts.htm#hueseman

PETE HUESEMAN, R.Ph., P.D.,

Pharmacist for over 27 years and Power Surge Pharmaceutical Consultant for six years. Pete has worked exclusively with natural plant derived bio-identical hormones, aka naturally compounded hormones. Pete is associated with College Pharmacy and will answer all your questions about menopause and naturally compounded hormones, such as such as progesterone, estradiol, estriol, estrone, tri-estrogen, bi-estrogen, DHEA, testosterone and  pregnenolone.You can also visit the Ask The Pharmacist. area. Read the transcript of Pete Hueseman's Last Chat

 

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