Hello, I am new here, and am glad to be here. Please help me if you can. I am 43 in menopause (doc says) I am bleeding every 2 weeks for 2 months now..He gives me an estradiol low dose patch 0.25mg and a compounded progesterone cream.  I started having problems with the progesterone cream. It was too high a dose, so i lowered (my docs orders) it. Still it was giving me intolerable symptoms...so he switched me to provera..OMYGOD!! That made me feel like death.  So he switches me to progesterone vaginally, that made me feel like i was on speed...he took away the estrogen patch and gave me just prometrium...OMYGOD!!  I had severe side effects with that, so he tells me provera again...geez, i feel like a puppet with him...and i have already gone to several other doctors who tell me the same thing!!  How then can i regulate my cycles? I have osteoporosis and need the estrogen, but i have a small quarter sized fibroid, which the estrogen feeds it....*SIGH*.....I have tried many forms of progesterone and in all doses with no success....I am so tired of trying to regulate my cycles...i am feeling weak, tired and anemic..I already take iron (docs orders) ..I tried bcpills and felt awful....I tried phytoestrogens and soy but it screwed with my thyroid....I have been to thyroid specialists and they say my thyroid is normal but when i take soy, the thyroid tests come back as abnormal.....HOW then can i fix this every 2 week bleeding??  ohhhhh

You aren't in menopause, you are in premenopause and probably have estrogen dominance, if there aren't any other physical problems.  Anything containing estrogen or phytoestrogen replacement will make it worse, if this is your problem.  It was mine and went on for years!    Pick up a book called "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause," by Dr. John R. Lee.  

Here's what I did, maybe it will help you, too:

1.  Got a comprehensive saliva test done for my hormone levels (the one I used is from BodyBalance, but there are others.)  Found I had a low progesterone level and a normal estrogen level.  That is called "estrogen dominance" and is common in premeno.  

2.  Used an over the counter progesterone cream called ProGest (it worked better than the other ones I tried, some didn't seem to absorb in so well or were not effective.)

3.  Added a licorice root supplement to support my overworked, sorely depleted adrenal glands from years of stress and repeated traumas.  The adrenals help control your hormone levels.   If they are out of whack, so will your hormones and general physical well being be.  (Not for people with high blood pressure.)

4.  Picked up yoga again and do that regularly, now.

5.  Added in cold pressed flax seed oil to my daily diet.  

Your doctor can order saliva tests for you or the companies who make them will be glad to send him or her one, if interested.  You can also do them on your own, I couldn't find a doctor in my new area to work with me on this, unfortunately.  It was PremPro or nothing, around here.  

Good luck!  

Hi  I just read your post  I was put on 1mg estrace an 200mg prometrium  for bleeding  this did stop my period but I stil dont feel well  my joints are aching very bad maybe this has nothing to do with the hormones can you tell me what symptoms you had while taking the prometrium  other than being sleepy.  Also does anyone know why everytime I get off Progesterone I get a very bad period which the only way to stop it is to go back on the progesterone  It is like a vicious cycle that I cant get away from  bye the way I have been on the estrace and pro for 7 wks now continuiously every day. No bleeding but if I stop taking them will I get a period

Progesterone stops the bleeding, that is what it does. once you stop it, your period is _supposed_  to start within a few days. I was put on prometrium to stop my bleeding. (my period just wouldn't stop one month). I was ok on it for a while, but then got shortness of breath, terrible dizziness, anxiety attacks, and the bleeding started coming back. so I was switched to a progestin--norethindrone. it is very good at controlling the bleeding, but I am experiencing some blood-sugar drops, sleepiness, and depression. I want off of it. I am going to a chinese MD in a couple of weeks, and will try chinese herbal medicine and accupuncure for the bleeding. (I also have a not-so-firm diagnosis of adenomyosis, which is supposedly causing my bleeding and is related to my hormone imbalance).

regarding the joint stiffness/achiness; it definately seems to be related to hormone imbalance. mine went away once my hormones were more balanced. yours will too, once you get the correct fix for your imbalance.

karen e.

I had that 'period every 2 weeks' things a couple of years ago and it was awful! I looked at a lot of books and tried their suggestions, but none worked until Screaming to Be Heard by Dr. Elizabeth Vliet. I actually had private phone consultations with her (expensive!) and we ultimately decided I should go back on birth control pills because I had been on them so many times in the past for menstrual cramps, and had tolerated them better than I was tolerating prometrium or natural compounded progesterone. (ProGest did nothing for me). Dr. Vliet would only recommend specific birth control pills that were very low in progesterone. They worked like a charm for me within 2-3 months. I went off them last summer, but am thinking of going back because now I'm back to ovulating from time to time and when I do, my mood drops like a rock the day after and for the next few weeks. Ugh! For some weird reason, no matter how many times I try the natural progesterones, they cause a very low mood. I wish I could just use estrogen alone. Maybe next I will try progesterone vaginal suppositories.

Marney,

I realize it was a while back that you had a phone consultation with Dr. Vliet but can I ask you how much was the phone consultation? Just curious.

Thank you,

tmm