Kate:  Two things come to mind.  (1)  Give the progesterone time.  Although I did not try it through the worst of the HF, I've heard many say that it takes time to work.  The Revival, vitamins, and exercise helped me a lot.  (2)  I also found that NOT drinking hot beverages before bed helped.  Hang in there; I know how bad these can be.  They do ease up.  Even in post, I do get an occasional HF, but nothing like I used to get.

I find myself asking the same question as Jeanne, "if the premarin worked.....why did you stop taking it?"

Speaking ONLY for myself....progesterone was a nightmare.....especially if taken ALONE or not in the proper BALANCE with ESTROGEN!!

Both estrogen and progesterone (HRT) not as (BC) worked for me for the first couple of years!  Then my body changed it's agenda!  I had more trouble with the progesterone than with the estrogen...."WITHOUT QUESTION!!!"

Again speaking only for myself......I wouldn't even consider taking progesterone alone!!  Maybe some gals can.....I've never met any.....but.....we need to find a balance of what works for us!!I sure hope you feel better soon....I know this whole meno business can be such a drag to say the least!!Godspeed and Take care...............(((Hugs)))Nancy

Hi,

Give the progesterone at least a few weeks or so to work.  What has worked for me is the combination of 20 mg progesterone cream and 2 mg. estriol cream.  I was on the progesterone cream at first in peri and then needed to add the estriol for the hot flashes that developed.   I also did a saliva test to see that the estrogen had indeed fallen when the flashes starting occurring.

Good luck.    It takes trial and error to find what personally works for you.

Well it's taken me a long while to get back to this posting.  Things were going on in my life that didn't allow me to check into this Board for awhile.

However, it has given me plenty of chance to try life without Promensil.  I stopped taking it shortly after my last message in early May (now mid July) and I still haven't had a hot flash.  So in my case, Dr Lee is correct, the natural progesterone cream alone is sufficient for me.

I would still recommend Promensil though, it stopped my 72 flashes a day in no time at all.  Obviously after awhile the NPC kicked in and took over so to speak.:biggrin:

I learned something here . Put the progesterone cream on the inside of my wrists.  I don't care how many times someone mentions Dr. Lee his book or anything else.  If it works, DO IT.

Machiavelli had the right idea ' the end justifies the means'

Now this night sweat garbage equals insomnia garbage which equals depression full time.  It is an ugly cycle ...

:(Ellen

I believe that Remifemin is just a brand name for Black Cohosh.  On the Recommendations Page that Dearest has compiled for us, it says this:  

"Remifemin (black cohosh - 2 mg. per day): the commercial preparation of black cohosh, a hormone precursor and some find it excellent for treating menopausal symptoms like hot flashes. Black cohosh is said to relieve vasomotor symptoms and depression. Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) has been valued by many societies, including the American Indians, for its nutritional support of the female reproductive system. It was also made into a poultice and applied to snake bites; hence it is sometimes known as snakeroot. It is a tall perennial bearing creamy-white flowers, native to woody regions throughout the Eastern United States and Canada. Modern natural-health enthusiasts, like those of the past, use it to nourish the female system. If Remifemin is too costly for your budget, you can use standardized black cohosh."

Hope this helps some

Hello Doodles,

Welcome aboard.  Curious what did you read about Revival Soy?  I am so afraid to take anything.  After you read all of the side effects, who wants to take any medications.  

Hugs

The only reason I'm tempted to try it is liquid will get into my system faster than a tablet or a capsule.  

The email also 'knocked' black cohosh and vitex (chasteberry).  I know cohosh has been used in Germany for over 40 years, and a gyno I went to likes Chasteberry.  

I'm very sensitive - like I can almost tell the dentist which tooth to drill.  

This was /is a hard sell email.  But this stuff might work.  The end justifies the means.

The Revival web pages are certainly persuasive, and slick - but the fact remains, it's just soy. If you drink 3 glasses of soy milk a day (the brand that I drink has 60mg of isoflavones and 6.3 gms of protein per cup) you have equal the isoflavone and protein content of Revival.

I use it on my cereal in the morning, and in my coffee, and have a glass with lunch. I've grown to like it - certain brands are much more pleasnt than others. I'm sure the Revival shakes are good too - and I'm not knocking them - but it's not the only way to get the benfits of soy.

It seems like the research on soy has been with soy isoflavones AND protein - not just the pills, which don't give you the protein along with it. I'm a bit hesitant to try the pills for that reason.  

Patty, I don't really like  "hard sell" either. But I am a fan of soy - for the first couple of years that I had hot flashes, soy kept them nicely under control. But then the flashes got much worse. Now I use progesterone cream along with the soy, with excellent results.

The active ingredients in black cohosh are terpenes, specifically actein, cimicifugoside, and 27-deoxyactein. Black cohosh also contains a compound called formononetin, which is similar in structure to estriol (a female hormone), which seems to offer some protection against endometrial, ovarian, and breast cancers.

In a double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial carried out in 1987, half of the women taking black cohosh for menopausal symptoms reported complete relief; another 38 percent reported significant relief. This is a remarkable result for any drug, much less an herbal remedy. This study used a preparation of black cohosh called "RemifeminTM" that contained 40 milligrams of black cohosh extract including 1 milligram of the triterpene 27-deoxyactein. Recommended dosages for relief of menopausal symptoms in other studies range from 2 to 4 milligrams of the triterpene, 27-deoxyactein.

There seems to be no danger of overdose. In a study, animals were given 90 times the equivalent human dose for six months with no adverse effects. While many herbal remedies cause dangerous side reactions or interactions with other medications, black cohosh has a long history of being a safe and effective remedy for relief of symptoms of menopause.

Further information: A review of the effectiveness of black cohosh for the symptoms of menopause. Journal of Women's Health, Volume 7, page 525 (1998).Written by Gordon Edlin, Ph.D., Editorial Team

JEAN CAN YOU HELP???I'm taking soy pills I positively HATE the taste of soy milk.  Just took 3 of them and even with the progesterone cream, I've had 2 night sweats.  

Don't know what else to do ....

I do the black cohosh in a liquid form and Vitex in capsule

I'll gladly tell you the brands of soy milk that I like best, and what has worked for me - please just email me!

But... everyone is different, and sometimes it takes a while to find out what works for you. But don't despair! You'll find something!

Take care. Dootles

Hugs!

No study has proven that HRT will reduce heart attacks. Numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of HRT on heart disease and have suggested that HRT decreases heart disease risk or heart disease risk factors such as LDL levels (bad cholesterol). However, these studies were mostly observational studies where women themselves (or their physicians) chose HRT and were followed over time. Such studies are not reliable. They were not controlled enough to offer definitive answers." (Women's Health Initiative)

I've watched this tale unravel over the years and have heard so many conflicting opinions, it's bound to boggle the minds of lay people like us if doctors like yours don't seem to know the answers.

Obviously, your doctor hasn't been following the ongoing studies of the Women's Health Initiative (results expected around 2005) regarding hormone replacement therapy (they say synthetic hormones). By your having had a heart attack, he might put you more at risk by putting you on HRT now. Studies have shown that HRT doesn't reverse heart disease, and, in fact,  among those using HRT with a previous history of heart disease a higher incidence of heart attacks occurred in the first year or two after starting HRT.

Without mentioning having read any of this, ask your doctor what he thinks about the latest governmental studies being done on the effects of HRT on women's cardiovascular health.

Here's some information direct from the Women's Health Initiative:

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HORMONES AND CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH

Our promise to you:  When you joined the Women’s Health Initiative, we promised to tell you about new research findings related to hormones and your health.  In the past we gave you WHI Updates to keep you informed.  In this Update we are providing some new, early information about how female hormones might affect women’s risk for heart attack, stroke, and blood clots in the legs and lungs.  Because this information was not known when you entered the study, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) has recommended that we tell you about it.  As it has done after each review of the study data, the DSMB has recommended continuation of the study.

New Information from the WHI

Before, we have told you about findings from other studies that looked at how hormones may affect women’s health.  The information in this update actually comes from the WHI Hormone Program.Current data from the WHI suggests that during the first two years there was a small increase in the number of heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots in women taking active hormones compared to inactive (placebo) pills.  Over time, these differences seem to get smaller and may even disappear.  In fact, overall, WHI women had fewer such events than would be expected in the general population.

Your Safety is Our First Concern

We monitor your safety in many different ways.  Our clinic staff evaluates your health at least every six months to make sure it is safe for you to stay on study pills.  A local human subjects committee also reviews WHI activities here.  Our DSMB reviews information collected from clinics around the country every six months to make sure the study is safe.  The DSMB is an independent group of medical experts who are not WHI researchers.  Both your local clinic’s human subjects committee and the DSMB have the power to stop or change the study if they find important safety concerns.  They have not done so.  In fact, the DSMB has recommended that the study continue.

Timing is Everything

As with all clinical trials, we are seeing new information as this study goes on.  Some of this information was not expected at the time the trial started.  We want to share this information with you.  Most of the earlier studies reported that hormones reduced a woman’s risk of heart disease over time.  The consent you signed for the Hormone Program did not talk about a possible initial increased risk of heart attack or stroke.  The consent did have information about possible blood clots in the legs and lungs.  Because the differences were so small between the women on hormones compared to women on placebo pills, they only became apparent after most of you had been in the trial for two years.  

Designed to last for up to 11 years, the WHI will provide us with important answers to questions about women’s health -- questions that were not addressed by earlier studies.

Findings from HERS

In earlier updates, we told you about HERS (Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study).  In HERS, women who already had heart disease took active hormones or placebo pills for just over four years.  

HERS, like earlier studies, found that women taking hormones were more likely to have blood clots in their legs and lungs.  

HERS also found that women taking active hormones had more heart attacks during the first year than women taking placebo pills.  After two or more years, the women taking active hormones had fewer heart attacks than women taking placebo pills.  By the end of the study, there was no overall difference in heart attacks between the groups.

The early findings from the WHI are similar to HERS.  Unlike WHI, HERS lasted only four years.  Thus, HERS could not examine hormone effects over many years.  Also, WHI women are generally healthy, and HERS women all had heart disease.  Consequently, heart problems were much less frequent in WHI than in HERS.

What This Means for You - Your Continued Participation

The WHI Hormone Program is now more important than ever.  This new information highlights the critical role you play in finding answers to questions about hormones and women’s health.  Women and doctors need better information about hormones and their long-term benefits and risks.  No other current U.S. study will be able to find the answers.  WHI is a landmark study that will provide unique information about women’s health.  As always, your participation is voluntary."

Click here to read more about the Women's Health Iniative. After you've read the reasons for conducting these studies, click on "Updates."

Dearest