Hi to all,

I am almost certain my new DR. is going to put me on some type of natural estrogen at our next appt. to tame some of my symptoms...as of the last appt. I did not have my period and she said we may have to start one.....it came yesterday and I was up last night with (forgive my graphic details) it down my legs, soaked through my sweats and into the bed, got up and in the bathroom it is going all over the floor and I can't get cleaned fast enough, wierd I was dreaming I was flooding all over and was trying to hide it from whoever was in my dream and I wake up and suprise I am a mess.........anyway not to get off track, but this is one of the reasons I have not taken estrogen yet even though I have severe vasomotor symptoms because it seems if I bleed like this I must still have plenty?? my period was almost 2 weeks late and seems to be on a trend of getting farther and farther apart where as for 2+ years it was the opposite and coming 2x a mo. but I still have no idea what a light period is.....they are shorter like 2 days it will be heavy like this and then i will spot for days on end where as before it was heavy for days. To my question finally how many take natural or any estrogen for that matter even when they were still having periods......I thought someone said somewhere you should wait till you have no periods before estrogen is brought in.....I think alot of you take it while still getting periods.....is that right? HUGS MIKKI

Hi,
What 'natural' estrogen is it, specifically? And have you had your hormones tested by serum? I'd be hesitant to start any hormone unless I had my hormones checked both in the follicular and the luteal phase, especially with the excess bleeding.

Another consideration is possible thyroid problems. Many women I know who had the bleeding issues found they resolved once they got treated for their previously undiagnosed thyroid problem.

Hi,
My thyroid comes out fine...my estradiol when checked by blood 2x was first 32 then 21 this was a year apart, don't know where in my cycle this was since both times my periods were coming very sporadically.

Those are very low E numbers. And when you say your thyroid was fine, what specific tests were done? If it was just the TSH test and no levels of free T3 and freeT4, then you still do not not the status of your thyroid. Most docs do just the TSH and do not measure the frees.

I doubt very much they will put you on estrogen. estrogen treatment by itself causes uterine cancer. women who still have a uterus must be given progesterone to prevent this, only women who have had a hysterectomy will be put on estrogen alone.
since you have flooding, that is symptomatic of high estrogen levels, not low levels. it is possible they will offer you birth contgrol pills to regulate your periods, but they are not going to suggest estrogen replacement.

Recent studies show that low dose estrogen does not increase the risk of cancer. Of course, if someone is high risk, they should not take it.

http://www.estronaut.com/a/estrogen_therapy.htm

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/news/200...tch-helps-bones

This applies to the transdermal method of delivery.

Hi there,
I used to have the same kind of flooding you're describing (awful isn't it??). At that time, I was estrogen dominant and my doc prescribed compounded progesterone cream. It did help with the terrible periods and the flooding.
Hope this helps.

Those are indeed low Estrogen numbers, in fact they are post meno numbers. However it isn't always about the numbers so much as the balance between the numbers. It is possible that your P is non existent, in which case you would in fact need both E and P. I believe the dizziness is from way too low estrogen. The flooding is from no P or not nearly enough.

You do sound like a candidate for BHRT, using both the E and the P. You could cycle the P, and in fact I would if I were you because you are still cycling naturally, albeit irregularly. When do you see this doctor again?

Hi Mikki,

I'm using the Vivelle patch - my doc has prescribed the 1.0 mg, but I cut it into quarters and change a quarter of the patch daily. My symptoms were mostly cognitive, and I'm sensitive to the fluctuations I see when I change the patch every three days as prescribed. I needed a more consistent dosing regimen. My doc also prescribed Prometrium pills, which made me deathly ill. He and I finally worked out a program where I use Progest Cream by Emerita and the Vivelle patch and I'm almost back to normal (whatever that means...) I have to police my hormones pretty closely, but when I do, I don't have a problem at all. I've been getting paps and ultrasounds every year...my uterus size has actually decreased in the last two check ups.

I'm still menstruating, so I cycle the P and tweak (increase and decrease) the E depending on what week I'm in. I've been on BHRT for five plus years now, and I see the kind of flooding that you describe when I'm "normal" on estrogen. I either flood or don't flow at all - neither condition was "normal" for my pre-peri body - but my doc believes this is normal. He says my occasional no flow is to be expected because I've been in peri for five years or so; he expects I'll miss more and more periods as I go. And the heavy flow is normal for this stage of life because our body chemistry changes so much. My doc monitors me for uterine swelling and/or endometriosis and/or breast problems - so far, so good. I just want to be able to function on daily basis, and the BHRT enables me to do that.

After much reading, I came to the conclusion that the risks of BHRT were greatly, terribly, tremendously overstated. BHRT put me back in the game, gave my life back to me. But in the end, we each have to choose for ourselves. Read, ask questions, and then follow your instinct. I doubt it would hurt anything to try BHRT for a few months. If you sense that it's not right for you, you can always stop.

Wishing you all the best,