Hi, I'm new this this board, so I am hoping that I am in the right area to post this question. I have been researching a product called Femarelle. It is available over the counter here in the U.S. Here, in SC at CVS drug stores. I guess it has been available in Europe for a long time. This seems to be a miracle supplement. It is supposed to help ease many of the symptoms of menopause (as you can tell by my user name, which one is getting the best of me). It also is supposed to help build bone mass. Their sight is fairly thorough in that it has clinical studies by many reputable sources.

This Femarelle contains flaxseed and tofu (in powder form of DT56a). According to one of their studies, Femarelle had no estrogenic effect on the MCF-7 breast cancer line.

Is anyone familiar with Femarelle or has anyone used it? I'd appreciate some feedback. 3 yrs. ago, my ob/gyn was pushing HRT at me and said it was basically harmless and good for bones and doesn't aid the development of breast cancer..... and back then I told her no. I didn't trust the drugs. I feel somewhat vindicated by the studies that are out now. But I need something to help me through this misery and it seems to be getting worse not better. My husband and I will be married 24 yrs. this June, that is if we do not kill each other first

Hi sleeplessinSC and WELCOME!

You have found a great site chock full of ALOT of info and support by wonderful and caring women that are all in the same boat, paddling hard and keeping each other afloat!!

I've never heard of Femarelle, but in my ongoing quest for something natural that actually works, I googled it and it does sound quite impressive, particularly for hot flashes, sleep and bone density. Have you tried it yet? Please keep us all posted if you try it because it sounds like you might be on to something!

Have a great day!

Hi and thank you for the welcome.

I haven't tried it yet. I am very slow to experiment with my body until I have beaten the proverbial "dead horse", trying to find out info about the product. I have half a mind (I know it's an old expression, but funny, after menopause, it is in reality, just about all I have left of it) anyway, I have half a mind to write to the Oprah show and send them on this hunt.

However, in all the information I have found, which isn't much, I can't see anything negative about it. However, at CVS it is not inexpensive:$29.99 for 60 (a 30 day supply). Which, I guess, if it does everything it says it will do without harmful side effects or latent problems, then it is worth every cent.

If you find any more info, I'd appreciate hearing from you again.

I went to the femarelle website and think the product sounds promising......i tried to find it at the local drug store and didn't see it.Where can i find it?

Their website used to say CVS pharmacies and I have spotted in our CVS here in SC. However, their website now says at Dr. offices and and certain European pharmacies. Maybe ask at your Dr.s office.

Hi there - i'm new to this site...last week my GYN agreed my symptoms are peri-menopausal (i've had a gradual onset, but now have started skipping periods and am experiencing hot flashes at night or upon wakening)and placed me on Femarelle and natural progresterone. Both my GYN (has a very large practice here in Miami) and the pharmacist told me at least 75% of women taking Femarelle as indicated (2X per day) tell them they have experienced significant improvement (esp hot flashes) in about 3 weeks! I've taken it for one week so far - i'll keep you posted.

This looks like a great site!

Hi Psych921. Welcome and thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my post. I am very interested to hear how you respond to Femarelle. Have you started the progesterone too, as I am wondering how you will be able to tell which one is causing which effects.

Can you tell me where you bought the product? - OTC or on line? I'm also curious to know about your Dr. and how they got into the Femarelle thing.

Thanks again.

Please do not post any links to commercial sites on these boards.

Thank you.

hi sleeplessinsc,

i haven't started the progesterone yet (my GYN prescribed vaginal inserts, whichneed to be made by a compounding pharmacy), because i want to assess the effects of Femarelle alone. i purchased the product at the hospital pharmacy which is attached to my GYN's office (he's in a big MD complex which is part of a huge hospital system here in Miami). My GYN does research with Univ of Miami & is a pretty senior guy now - i gather from him that the faculty looking at natural solutions to menopause has been looking at Femarelle research - he actually worked with the pharmacy to make it available there. So far, although they say it will soon be available in CVS in Florida, I have not seen it anywhere. He swears that his patients report major improvement in 3 weeks - as does the pharmacist! (I think the product has been out for 2 years now? I never heard of it before this myself). It was $31.99 per bottle there. He said other patients do order it online. I'm starting my second week, I'll keep you posted. (I can't STAND the night sweats!!! hot, cold, wet, dry, freezing, boiling and then it starts over - i feel like a lunatic by morning!) ~ psyche921

Hi Psych921
I happened to read about Femarelle in a newspaper column. I had never heard of it prior to that. Yes, I do know what you mean about sleep....as you can tell by my screen name :-) I don't think I have had a good night's sleep in 5 years. Take that back...I was in the hospital a couple of years ago and I was drugged. I would love to sleep like that again. I anxiously await your post after 3 weeks. Thanks for doing this.

I bought some Femarelle today in our neighborhood CVS. I live in Alabama. You will find it in the vitamin and supplement area. Don't look for a bottle. The ones I bought are in a box. They are in foil pouches and you punch the capsules out. I took one after dinner. I am currently on Menostar, but would rather take something non-hormonal if possible. I can't tolerate progesterone and would prefer to take something that won't stimulate uterine tissue. I wonder if Femarelle would help with vaginal atrophy. That's another characteristic of this wonderful time of life that I absolutely hate. I swear I would rather have periods the rest of my life than to have my body self-destruct like it has the last 3 years.

Hi Cindy C, thanks for posting. I know what you mean about periods. I almost...ALMOST think I would rather have them back too. I do admit though, it is nice going on a vacation with the knowledge that I do not have to pack pads or tampons and will not have any unexpected period show up. It never used to fail. Whenever we went on vacation, didn't matter if my period just happened or wasn't due for another 2 weeks, it would show up on vacation. I cannot remember going to Disneyworld without it. Me and my shadow. Can't win. There are people that say God is a woman. No way. She would not have done this evil trick to her own kind. And please no feminists telling me it is not an evil trick that it is a gift of nature. One's perspective all depends on how much you like insomnia and hot flashes.

Anyhoo, enough sermonizing. We will all be interested in hearing your results to this Femarelle.

By the way what is Menostar? I have been totally ignoring all hormonal and estrogenic type drugs and supplements.

Hey, Psych921
I bought some Femarelle and have been using it for about 12 days. I cannot decide whether or not I am feeling any different because I am also taking some drugs for a miserable cold. I know that I am still flashing, though. I find them to be really strong flashes at night, but not as often. Maybe, it is the effects of the cold drugs. I should be off of them in a couple of day and then I can better determine if the Femarelle is doing anything.

How about you, feeling any different?

Hi there sleepless!! I have been meaning to send the update -- YES I have indeed been feeling better! Around about 2 weeks into it (taking 2 Femarelle per day, one in am, one evening), I started noticing that i'm waking up less (assuming I am flashing less, because I can't imagine sleeping through one of those drenching, boiling sweats!!), AND I also used to wake up every morning and within 30 seconds would start to feel this horrible internal heat (without sweating!hard to explain - a feverish or sunburn heat, but no sweating at all) -- and those are almost 100% gone.
This week i'll be at one month of taking it, and maybe i am down to one wakening with a major flash (by the way, my GYn explained that hormones cycle in production on a daily rhythm, and are always lowest at night, even under normal circumstances -(this is a simplistic version of the neurochemistry details he offered) - thus we all get the worst flashes in the middle of the night!
I would highly suggest continuing with the Femarelle - the pharmacist who supplies it in my area said some women have said it takes up to 4 weeks - i would say that some where close to (actually a little before) 3 weeks i noticed the obvious improvement (by the way, cold medicine, decongestants, even caffeine, etc, for me makes the flashes worse!! i swear some times they bring a flash on!!)....the first night i actually slept through the night, i was shocked at what it felt like to actually be rested (its been so long, as you know.....) keep taking it & keep us posted!!!

I have also been taking Femarelle for about 2 weeks now. I started on Femarelle when I stopped using a low dose estradiol patch (Menostar). I thought the patch was making me feel dizzy. I have not felt as dizzy since I discontined the patch. Dizziness is listed as one of the side-effects of Menostar patches. I thought that stopping the patch would cause my hot flashes etc. to return again. I must say that I think the Femarelle is working. I am not waking up several times at night like I usually do when I am not using the patch. I also notice I am not waking up in the morning with that awful "burning up" feeling. I know exactly what you are talking about psyche 921 because I have had the same sensation. I do get several hot flashes a day, particularly if I am drinking coffee. I also notice that I will get hot flashes while drying my hair with the blow dryer, or when I am near a heating vent. Occasionally I get hot flashes later in the day, but they are much worse in the morning. Caffeine really does triggers hot flashes for me. But I must say that I think that Femarelle helps. I also notice an improvement in the chronic neck pain that I have had for the last year. I take 2 Femarelle a day, one when I wake up and one before I go to bed. Maybe that is why I don't get many symptoms in the middle of the night. I have tried other soy tablets, but they never seemed to help. I have never tried Revival because my body does not handle soy very well. I know that other women have posted that soy products give them indigestion. I haven't noticed that with Femarelle. It is too early for me to tell whether Femarelle helps with vaginal dryness. Does any body know if it is suppose to help with that problem? I know that the company claims that it protects against bone loss.

Psych921, this is great news. Yes, I am going to stay with the Femarelle. I haven't had any bad side effects, no stomach problems or anything. I am also going to change the time of day I take it. Usually I take them both during the daytime. I am up pretty early in the morning so I usually have both down me by 3 p.m. But reading your post makes me think it would be better to take the last one closer to bedtime.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks

hi cindyc & sleepless -- i also meant to mention that the pharmacist and GYN did advise to take 1 Femarelle in the am and 1 in evening before bed - so thats what i've been doing. GYN told me that taking one of these is equivalent to taking an entire large roomful (wall to wall, floor to ceiling) of tofu, and shrinking it down to a capsule. (its a tofu-based soy supplement). He said there is no way that one could ever eat enough tofu or drink enough soy milk or take enough of all of these products and soy supplements, etc , to begin to match the amount and concentration that is in one capsule of Femarelle - that's why it works when the other natural things don't work very well (at least for many us). I've been taking soy isoflavones capsules, drinking soy milk etc for 6 previous months - with no helpful effect at all. However, i have 2 girlfriends who take Remifenin (sp?) & say it works for them -- and one girlfriend who uses both a low-dose patch and OTC Estroven and says even the combination doesn't help (she also said menostar made her dizzy- she went off of it and on some other patch!)--so i guess we are all different!!!
all i know is, last night i slept ALL night, i did not wake up this morning and within 30 secs have that "burning up" thing, (those are 100% gone now!), i drank coffee today with no flashes or even the heat feeling, and its 10:30pm and i have had no flashes or sweating at all today!!! ... AND i have no side effects from the Femarelle at all....(GYN said rarely has he had any report of side effects - no stomach upset, etc at all). Oh byt he way, i have had zero headaches as well,(i was getting headaches on and off - and i'v never had those in my life!!!) ...so keep us posted on your results!

Hi Psyche and Sleepless,

Sleepless, I can't thank you enough for posting about Femarelle. Psyche, thanks for telling me that your friend also got dizzy from Menostar. I was thinking that it was just me who got all the wierd side-effects. At any rate, I am very please with Femarelle. It has been a life saver for me.

Cindy

Hi Cindy,
You are so welcome. I am glad that it is working out for you. Last night was my first night in over 3 years without a hot flash. Not one. It was so wonderful not to feel drenched. I was actually pulling the covers up higher for warmth! I have been taking Femarelle for 15 days now and up until last night didn't feel any measurable difference and then boom - all of a sudden! I guess the best thing we could do is if someone asks us if we have any suggestions about what to do for hot flashes, we can tell them what's been working for us.

Happy Friday everyone.

hi sleepless & cindy~ wow, this is great news sleepless! it the weirdest thing when you actually have a full night's sleep and no flashes, isn't it? amazing. (I also slept through with no flashes - morning, day OR night - for 2 days in a row now. None at all!!) I'm at 4 weeks now - with huge diminishing of the flashes overall!! cindyc its great to hear you also are having positive results (and no patches or anything!) It seems like it started kicking in somewhere around 2 weeks, or between 2-3 weeks for each of us. Funny, my GYN told me "you'll be calling me in a few weeks and telling me how great you feel"...and in my exhausted, foggy-brained, moody state, I was reflecting to myself "yeah, yeah, ...i'll believe it when i see it", too menopausally tired & cranky to even think. I swear it was out of desperation, AND because the pharmacy downstairs in the hospital complex HAD the Femarelle, so i didn't have to put any energy into looking for it, that i even bought the stuff that day! i have to agree 100%, it's been a lifesaver. keep in touch,sleepless & cindy, about your progress! ~psyche...who is going to sleep now, absent the previous dread of the night ahead!!

I just received a 10 day supply sample pack of Femarelle in the mail today and it says "relief of symptoms in the first week"......i'm assuming that's not necessarily true?

Hi Psyche. I wasn't lucky enough to do 2 days in a row, but it may have nothing to do with menopause and more to do with what I ate last night :-) I am hoping that the longer I take the Femarell the better life will get.

Jadebear, it does seem to be the consensus of the few people on this thread that it takes more than one week. However, there may be some people that will enjoy the benefits of Femarelle sooner. There may be a lot of variables involved....like how far into menopause you are or your age, how heavy your hot flashes and other symptoms are. Maybe, the deeper into Menopause and more frequent hotflashes may effect how soon you feel results. For me, I have serious nighttime hot flashes. I get drenched and they can go on for hours, leaving me feeling like I am getting only a couple of hours of sleep. Perhaps it was helping me sooner,but I just didn't feel the difference because of my misery level, you know? By the way, how did you manage to get free samples in the mail?

Jadebear,
I'm new to this site. I have looked through the quick links, and site map and cannot find what I am looking for. Can you tell me what qualifies one as a Junior surgette, super surgette, etc.? I have tried to find definitions etc. and can't anything. I can guess what a newbie, is, I think :-)

sleeplessinSC....as with most products,if you contact the manufacturer and thell them you're interested in their product and would appreciate a free sample,they'll comply.I just sent an email to Se-cure Pharmaceuticals ,told them i was interested in Femarelle but thought the price was too high to "try" a product that may or may not help me and asked if they could send me a sample.If you google the company,you'll find the email address.
Also,i think the number of posts is what qualifies one as a Junior,super,etc. surgette.I'd like to say that since i'm a "super" surgette,it means i am the "almighty knowledgable one" on menopause issues,LOL,but i am pretty sure as your amount of posts go up,so does your status.I could be wrong though......unfortunatley i am NOT almighty or knowledgable.LOL

I haven't started my sample pack of femarelle yet...just curious how those of you that are taking it are doing now.....is it still helping?

I've been taking it about a month now and this stuff is great. My hot flashes are down to one or less a day. My chronic neck ache is getting better. I am getting ready to buy my second box. I recommend this stufff highly. Just take 2 a day. I take one first thing in the morning. I take the second just before going to bed. Works like a charm for me.

Cindy

I am on my last card of 5, which means I have been taking it for over 3 weeks. I do feel a difference in my hot flashes. However, I have to tell you that my flashes :

1) are not consistent. I don't always get them during the day time and during the day they are for the most part tolerable.

2) they are their worst at night. So, instead of me being totally drenched every night, I am only moderately drenched.

So I guess it is making it more tolerable and I am sleeping better. I am going from almost no sleep every night to some sleep most every night. Of course there are exceptions which may have nothing to do with Femarelle or menopause. Maybe I just have a lot on my mind that day and it's hard to sleep anyhow.

I guess I am not at the point yet where it is consistent and maybe that has something to do with the level or hormones we are at as individuals and how far into menopause we are. I have been without periods completely for almost 3 years and I am 51.

Cindy, by the way, I went to their website to see if they would send samples and I used the email address they provided and I got it back as undeliverable. Did you email or snail mail. I am going to try again.

hello all,
i am on about 6 weeks of Femarelle & it has made a big difference for me - i'd say the longer i take it, the better i feel. I am sleeping much better, and i recall only one time in recent nights waking up with a bit of sweating (nothing like those horrendous drenchings!), and one morning feeling a little hot (i used to have that horrible hot thing going on every am, feeling like i'm burning up but not sweating, etc). I definitely feel better due to sleeping better (i wasn't sleeping before much at all)....although i am still tired overall (just not completely exhausted).
has anyone else had the experience of missing a dose and having flashes that day or night? I forgot one dose one night, i did have a major flash that night and woke up hot! i didn't expect that, assumingiof it takes 3-4 weeks to take effect, it wouldn't stop immediately (but that could have been coincidental)~
i think it does depend upon an individual's hormones, age, how far into menopause, etc - i'm 48 & haven't had periods for 8 months and for a year before that, skipped many, had irregular cycles, etc (eg a light period lasting one day,then none at all for 2 1/2 month, then out of the blue a heavy long one, then 3 weeks later a light one, then none for 4 months,etc - i hated never knowing what was going on or when, etc) -- and i have definitley had symtpoms even before that!
I'd recommend to anyone to definitely try it - even if it's partially helpful (sleepless - remember my pharmacist told me some women it takes longer than 4 weeks to have an effect!) - partial improvement sure is better than the condition we were in before trying it!....keep checking in, ladies, so we can compare notes - i'm curious about everyone's experience with it, especially over time...thx for everyone's update! (jadebear, try it out and report in - let's see how you feel in 10 days!)
~psyche

I've enjoyed reading the emails on the use of Femarelle. I'm looking for something to take, other than hormone therapy, to deal with hot flashes. I've also heard about Refeminen. Has anyone taken that? Has does it compare with Femarelle?

Psyche, you are certainly right about this: I am better now than I was before I started taking it. Ths is definitely a positive. When you were describing where you are with M, it sounded a lot like what I went through for 3 years. Never knowing if or when my period was going to show up. No, I take that back, I could go without it for months and then leave for a vacation and sure as heck, there it would be! The other sure time was after my annual OB/Gyn check up. I think that when she examined me it awakened something from it's dormant state and I would get a period again. But no more, thank goodness.

I am hoping for the same positive results with my other M problems....like forgetfulness, crankiness and weight gain. Maybe they will resolve themselves as I get better sleep.

Welcome to Avondale. I have heard of Remifeminen. I looked at it quite a while ago. I don't remember a whole lot about it except that when I read the ingredients list I was uncomfortable with some things that I saw on it. I am not big on some "healthfood natural items" cause sometimes they can be dangerous too....think of St. John's Wort. You need to check out the website for Femarelle and read their clinical studies. They explain much better than I can, the differences in estrogens. I just felt better taking something that had clinical back up that it didn't effect uterine lining or breast cancer cells. Honestly, read the clinical stuff - it is hard to get through, but notice that the ACOG is listed as being aware of this product and and the studies of it, so you can talk to your GYN about it.

I have done a little more researching into Femarelle. If you have heard of the websites Medline or Medscape they are good for researching medical issues. It is a legitimate medical information resource and not some quacky thing. Go there and do a search. I used DT56a which is the chemical name for Femarelle. It came up with a paper regarding Femarelle and it's purported effect on bone density. The important thing that I did notice is that this Dr. Nelson Watts of the University of Cincinnati Bone Health center commented that the study was flawed in some respects and that before they could recommend Femarelle for osteoporosis they needed to see more studies along the line of the FDA and it's 3 yr. regulation. Interesting though, in the USAToday paper yesterday or the day before, there was an article about losing jawbone (osteonecrosis). It mentioned that many, but not all that did lose bone were cancer patients. But it also mentioned they were taking a drug in the category of Fosamax either orally or IV. If you go to medine and type osteonecrosis in their search engine it will take you to a list of items and it's the one that talks about biphosphonates.

So, yet another drug for women comes under suspicion. Could what they find out about Femarelle be worse?

dear sleepless and all,
funny you should mention this, because i actually did a Medline search on Femarelle too -- wondering myself why, if there is a lot of success with the product & it has been on the market for 2+ years, (with clinical backup)that not everyone has heard of it (part of this is marketing and availability, i'm sure -- it is only now showing up in CVS in the Miami area). I concluded that most likely the FDA 3 year window is what MDs are waiting for. (My GYN does research too at Univ of Miami, which is why he is always involved in the newest protocols, etc). I have an equally excellent Rheumatologist (arthritis, which sure seems more bothersome since the big M symptoms worsened) who does clinical trials with all of that Fosamax stuff, etc. When I see him in April, I'm going to bring the studies and ask what he thinks of the data on Femarelle and bone density, etc.
Welcome Avondale - i have had several women friends take Remifemin (sp? i always misspell this), 1 with very good results. However, i think it contains those herbal things like black cohosh, etc - which i'm not personally that keen on, because they simulate estrogens and aren't studied clinically - and my mother died of uterine cancer and 2 aunts (one maternal side, one paternal) had breast cancer, so i plan to avoid anything but natural substances as much as possible (although i could get desperate & cave in, given how I was feeling prior to Femarelle!). If you're ok, family history-wise, it may be worth a try!!
Sleepless, you know what else i am wondering: my gyn DID give me both femarelle and a prescription for natural progesterone (needs to be compounded)- and I never got so far as to use the progesterone (because i have felt such improvement on the femarelle) - however, I am going to call him soon to report in my results, and will ask if one should also use some form of progesterone (natural is quite safe) as well, even if one gets results from the Fem. alone. I was reminded today, tlakign to one of the MDs i work with, who told me that most women really need to address the lack of estrogens AND progesterone to control or dimish symptoms! (i sort of forgot abt the progesterone). I wonder if you also might get more improvement adding natural progesterone of some kind! I'll let you know what he has to say about it....stay tuned! ~psyche

oh sleepless, one more thing: those OTHER symptoms -- forgetful, cranky, weight gain? Totally horrendous. I was just going to seek out other message boards to see what our female friends have tried to do for THOSE....especially the weight gain, which causes me depression and irritability, (thus more cranky, hateful moods, since none of my clothes fit)...i wonder if Femarelle will eventually help with those? Sleeplessness does make those worse, as does fatigue from poor sleep.... and although mine has definitely improved over that horrible never-sleep-through-the-night condition, it's still certainly not completely restful sleep (my GYN says M causes suppression of REM sleep, which is why we are all tired, on top of the flashes wakening everyone up all night long...so part of the sleep thing may be improved, but not all.) i'm still tired, but not in a state of complete exhaustion like I had been!
~psyche

Great post, thanks Psyche.

I will talk to my doctor about the progesterone cream. I do forget that it is an option in my zealousness (word?) to avoid estrogens.

No sooner were the words out of my mouth about sleeping halfway decently...last night I spent most of the time watching my digital clock and my flashes were more noticeable. java script:emoticon('')

It's not just sleeplessness adding to my weight problems. I had lost 42 lbs. in the past 2-1/2 years and was maintaining it pretty well. As a matter of fact, I had lost a little too much weight and let myself gain about 5 back on purpose (never thought I would hear myself say that, but it was true). Anyhow, I quit smoking 6 months ago. Actually, 6 months and 10 lbs. ago. I have been fighting that 10 lbs. tooth and nail. It makes such a difference in clothes. None of my clothes fit me. I am only 5'2" so 10 lbs. is a big difference. I workout 3X a week, but I just can't seem to keep food out of my mouth (instead of cigs). I am not eating junk food, healthy stuff, and not much more than I was eating when maintaining my weight. I think that my metabolism has slowed so much since I quit that I am now really noticing what a real menopause metabolism is all about.

Quick question. Have you noticed your body temperature being weird since M? When I wake up in the morning, I feel hot. A couple of times I thought I had a fever and took my temp and it wasn't even close! Like 96! What is up with that? Is this part of menopause too? Nutsy body temps?

hi sleepless and all,
boy am i impressed re: that 42 lb weight loss in the past 2 1/2 years (tells me it can be done, even with the M metabolism, which seems to be nightmarishly slow, compounded by my own fatigue and subsequent drifting off of the big exercise plan i had been on for years....(now i feel just HIDEOUS - not only weight gain in fat, but flabby lack of muscle too)....AND, i never had this fat around the waist before....horrendous. Thanks for letting me know it can be done, even with M...i've started to worry lately that i might always look like this!! (this fat waist thing has to go)...did you by any chance do a low-carb healthy diet? lots of M women i know seem to succeed with that....i sure have never craved carbs like this & with lack of workouts too, i'm just piling on the pounds.....i'm 5'9", but have gained 25+ pounds in recent years (analogous to your 10 pounds on a 5'2" frame,- when my 5'1" sisterinlaw gained 10 pounds, she said she was enormously bigger....maybe i could slide with 10 on a 5'9" frame, but NOT 25!!! i'm huge, none of my clothes fit)...
now abt that cig smoking: that is absolutely positively the drop in metabolism from absence of the nicotine stimulant.. The skinniest (and youngest - not even M women) quitters I know gained those pounds when quitting, esp at first. My conclusion is that the only thing that will counteract that for most is to add more aerobic exercise on the days in between. My sisterinlaw (2 years postM, quit smoking, 5'1") lost those 10+lbs by walking one hour every single morning (ugh! no way can i do that!! i need to find some other way to resume my former work outs, with weights and aerobics) ...she said even hardly eating much didn't do it (then the metabolism drops even more to compensate)...
re: body temp: oh yes indeed, i have complained frequently abt this hot feeling i used to have every morning upon wakening -- its like internal heat, feverish, sort of boiling heat, but NO sweating - its hard to describe - like HOT heat from within without sweats... (and yes a lower body temp too, which is astounding because i always feel like i'm burning up!!). I had that even before the flashes started! that has dimished greatly with femarelle for me - I still have it now and then, weird that its mostly when i wake up....i think cindyc said she has had those too? yes the body temp weirdness is part of M - have you ever felt totally HOT and your hands and feet freezing? very weird. Apparently we are having M-related vasomotor fluctuations (same reason why migraine-prone M women get more them more frequently too).
last night i woke up with a moderate flash once, wentback to sleep quickly....so they are not completley gone, but greatly improved.....called my gyn today, curious abt his opinion re: the natural progesterone & why he prescribed that to take with the Femarelle, playing phone tag now with him.....stay tuned! ~psyche

Have you other ladies noticed that Femarelle really helps with vaginal dryness? It really has helped in my case. I am amazed. But one thing it also seems to do is make me more tired. I stopped taking it for the past 2 days and I seem to have more energy. Has anyone else noticed this? I have heard that soy is not good for people with thyroid problems. Anyone else know about this?

I have noticed a difference in the dryness. Not extreme, but it appears that I have not had any extreme response to Femarelle. My body seems to be doing things verrrrry slooooowly. I do not know about a soy/thyroid connection. I have several friends that are on Synthroid, I can ask them if they have been told to stay away from soy.

Psyche, yes, I do lose the weight with a low carb plan. Sweets are my weakness. I just go nuts. There is no such thing as ONE cookie for me. So I figured I had to just get rid of them. I wasn't keen on the Atkins plan, but I did his 2 week intro because it is so rigorous. I just needed to purge sugar from my system, mind and taste buds. I do okay if I don't taste it, but once I do I am in trouble. So, the Atkins 2 week intro was good for getting rid of sugar and I did lose about 6 lbs. right away so that was motivational. After that I ate whatever veggies I wanted, in whatever quantity (except starchies like corn, peas). One fruit a day. Then I increased to 2 fruit a day. Then when I hit my goal, I ate whatever veggies and fruit I wanted. I just avoided white things....bread, potatoes, cookies, etc. I did eat wild rice, sweet potatoes, WASA toasts. To me, anything with color was pretty much ok and I maintained that weight for over a year doing that even with holiday feasts etc. Until I quit smoking. And when I gained those 10 lbs., they are fatty, jiggly ones, even with working out. Aaaarrrgh. God cannot be a woman.

I have definitely noticed a difference in the dryness - and the other weekend i actually experienced some real libido again - amazing to recall that feeling! i never heard abt a soy-thyroid connection .... although i have read about thyroid function slowing down with menopause (i think all of our hormones are whacked out by meno, increased, decreased, fluctuating, whatever...so i wouldn't doubt thyroid is somehow invovled, since fluctuations in thyroid affect periods, even in younger women)....
ph sleepless, your weight/diet story is my story!! sweets and sugars and white flour and that's the end of my formerly slim self -- and the ONLY program that ever works for me is Atkins-like low carb (minus the fattening fats of atkins, minus the beef, etc); total absence of sugar is the only way it works for me -- I have to do low carb to get out of the sweets cravings -- (i did lose 45+ pounds on Atkins years ago -- kept it off -- but in the last 2, since M really kicked in, i cannot seem to control the carb/sweets eating at all -- and i'm tired, tired (and more tired when i eat sugar!) i can't seem to even get started on the low carb thing -- the first 2 weeks of arkins has always helped me get outof the cravings, but these days i last a day or 2 and cave in......and THIS weight gain has become fat waist weight, which i NEVER had before -- its horrendous!! to say nothing of the jello-like flabby weight, from not working out....the more s weets i eat, the more i want, the more tired i am, the more weight i gain....and so it goes.....(cindyc i cant say I have noticed femarelle to create tiredness -- but maybe thats becuase i finally sleep at night now so i feel relatively more rested than i did (that's relative - i am still chronically tired, just not exhausted like i was!)
still playing phone tag with the gyn re: adding progesterone to Femarelle...stay tuned....psyche

Oh my gosh, psyche921, I also notice that my libido is returning. I thought it might just be me. But if you are noticing it too, it must be the Femarelle. This past week-end for the first time in over a year, I actually enjoyed sex. I had given up on ever having a libido again. I avoided sex all together. I tried testosterone cream, and that didn't do a thing except make my hair fall out. Needless to say this put a great strain on my marriage. But this week-end, it was like someone turned on the circuit again. My husband jokingly told me to never stop taking that little tofu pill. The only thing that worries me a bit is that Femarelle is not supposed to stimulate breast tissue. However, I am experiencing some breast tenderness and some breast enlargement. Which is not all together bad, because I think that's why my libido has improved. But I can't help but wonder if there is actually some stimulation of breast tissue, does this mean there is a cancer risk as well? Have you noticed this effect? I was thinking that maybe 2 capsules a day was too much for me, so I have skipped a couple of days to see what happens. I think I also notice some water retention. However, I can't be totally sure of that, as I am taking another medication that causes water retention. All that being said, having a libido again is like a miracle to me. If this is truly something that helps with libido, I think we need to post it on the "sexual problems" thread. It just might help other women as well.

Hi Cindy C

I too have noticed a couple of things, but wasn't sure whether or not they were attributable to the Femarelle. I am trying not to "blame" or "reward" Femarelle for anything unless I am sure that it couldn't be anything else.

First, it appears that my libido is awakening, at least to some degree. At least the thought of sex enters my mind in a postive manner rather than negatively. Also I have noticed my breasts feel fuller, but that may be due to my overall weight gain (probably).

I am one of those people that is not immediately observant. Something almost has to hit me over the head for me to see it. However, last night in bed I did not have one hot flash. Not one. And though I did wake up a couple of times, overall I had a decent night's sleep.

hi sleepless & cindyc~
ok, i'm up to 6+ weeks on femarelle now.....and i really DO think the re-emergence of libido is femarelle related!!! for me, it somehow doesn't seem that the feeling is just re-appearing spontaneously, for no reason....(does libido return spontaneously during Meno? i havent really read up on it because i havent even cared much...l sort of got used to those feelings having gone underground....). It seems like this is what i have experienced to date, since starting the Femarelle: first the hot internal heat feeling upon morning wakening went away, then the flashes during the night diminished, then the sleep disturbance improved some (at least the part that was caused by the profuse sweating), then i started having some nights wherein I have NO flashes at all (!)...and then i noticed improved vaginal dryness, then I found myself actually thinking about sex now and then, then i noticed some true libido (and, believe it or not, i really had that "craving" for sex feeling the other day!)...somehow i don't think the libido is a coincidence!
now abt the breast issue(s): i have definitely been really bothered by what feels like breast fullness/enlargement (not sure abt tenderness) - however, like you sleepless, i am really not certain that this is related at all. I am large-breasted to start, & for me, weight gain has always increased them (to the point of being really uncomfortable -- as in 34DD), and my current weight gain could certainly explain it. I must admit, though, that i have been feeling that i am even bigger than the usual weight gain-related enlargement....i had kind of dismissed the Fem. as an explanation because i read the info re: no stimulation of breast tissue, etc. I am wondering about it now. Maybe its not the femarelle itself but whatever gets stirred up that replaces or simulates natural estrogen-like activity and that in turn creates more fullness -- sort of like the old PMS-related full breasts (that did recede with the onset of my period) ...only now they just stay that way! Idk - but if i l would lose this weight, i could truly tell whether this is really a noticeable effect or not. i'm trying to continue researching it, because we'd hate to find out down the road (like your comments, cindyc) that this is really an undesirable (ie cancer risk) direct effect of the femarelle - even though so far they say it is not! more later girls ~ psyche

oh sleepless & cindyc - one more thing: do you think that by using femarelle over time, we could get too much "estrogen-like" activity going - and maybe one does need some natural progesterone as well to balance that out?? I really wonder if thats why my gyn gave me both?! (he left me 2 voice mails again today and both times i couldn't pick up the phone because i was in important meetungs - i must catch up with him tomorrow or very soon!)
cindyc, did you stop using the fem for a few days? if so, did you feel any different? i'm wondering what would happen if i went down to one capsule (i'd take it at night) - but i don't really want to try because I dread getting those horrendous drenching flashes again!!....~psyche

Hi Psyche and Sleepless,

I guess we are the only ones posting on this thread. I cut down from 2 to one 1 capsule of Femarelle per day. The breast fullness and tenderness is now gone, so I am quite sure that the higher dose of Femarelle was responsible for this effect. I believe that the higher dose causes water retention, which probably accounts for the breast fullness and tenderness. I seem to have a few more hot flashes on the lower dose, but the "burning up" feeling that I use to have upon first waking has not returned. The increased vaginal lubrication has also diminished. Unfortunately, the libido boost also appears to be associated with the higher dose of Femarelle. My libido flattened out again about 7 days after reducing the dose. I am also re-experiencing the chronic neck pain that had improved so much on the higher dose. I am trying to lose weight right now and really hate the water retention part. That more than anything motivated me to cut back the dose. I have a science background so I am going to read the publications and see how they came to the conclusion that breast and uterine tissues were not stimulated by Femarelle. I must admit I felt better when I took 2 capsules and really enjoyed reclaiming my lost libido. But I don't want to take this stuff unless I am convinced that it is really safe. I am plannning to discuss this product with my Gyn and see what he thinks about it. He is really enlightened regarding natural hormone replacement and I believe he will be interested in this product. I'd really like to know if other women who try this product notice the same effects we have; particularly in regard to increased LIBIDO!!! I'd also like to be sure that you don't need to take progesterone when taking Femarelle. Psyche, please let us know what your gyn has to say about it.

Ladies, I took the liberty of posting the summary of an publication regarding Femarelle in Clin Exp Obstet Gynecol. 2004;31(2):123-6. Their study indicates that the lower (one capsule) dose of Femarelle was very effective in relieving hot flashes etc. But the improvment in bone density was only noted with the higher dose. From my experience the same thing holds true with the increase in libido. You only get it with the higher dose. I haven't had a chance to read the whole study because I haven't been able to get a copy of the journal yet. I will try to do so. The ladies in the study took Femarelle for 12 months, apparently with no ill effect. However, bear in mind that until the last couple of years, the majority of studies reported that HRT was advantageous to a woman's health. And we all know that in fact, quite the opposite was true. I am going to get copies of all the articles and take them to my Gyn. Perhaps one could take one capsule on a regular basis, but increase to 2 every once in a while for a libido boost. I'd love to hear what other ladies have experienced on the higher dose. If you go to Femarelle.com, there are some testimonials posted, but how do you know they're for real? I'd love to stay on the higher dose, particularly for the bone protection (along with other desirable effects) but how do we know it's safe? There have been no extensive long term studies like the ones recently performed with PremPro.

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study treatment with a daily standard dose of Femarelle (644 mg/day) resulted in a significant elevation in bone mineral density (BMD) while a reduced dose resulted in a decrease in BMD. The aim of the current study was to examine the efficacy and safety of the two doses of Femarelle in the treatment of menopausal symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty healthy postmenopausal women were randomly allocated to receive either the standard dose (SD) or low dose (LD) of Femarelle (644 mg/day vs 344 mg/day). A detailed medical history was taken on enrollment, followed by a physical examination, pelvic ultrasound, and sex hormone and lipid profiles. A detailed Kupperman index for each patient was completed. These measures were repeated every three months for 12 months. RESULTS: In both groups there was a significant reduction in the Kupperman index following 12 weeks of treatment, which was sustained throughout the 12 months of treatment (p < 0.01). Seventy-six percent of the patients in the SD group reported a decrease in vasomotor symptoms and seventy eight % in the LD group (NS). This decrease was sustained following 12 months of treatment. There was no change in TSH and sex hormone levels or endometrial thickness during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: In the current study we found that menopausal symptoms were reduced similarly by LD and SD, however for the combined treatment of menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis the standard dosage of 644 mg/day of Femarelle is needed.

Hi everyone. Thanks, CindyC for the research. I too, have read that study. Before I started taking Femarelle I was concerned more about the estrogenic/cancer possibilities than not getting any bone density benefit. I was just looking for a way to reclaim my life from hot flashes, insomnia and no libido and if my bones got some benefit, well that would be a bonus.

After much research, it seems that there is no escape from the side effects of aging No matter what we do, or what we take, we are going to get old and it is not going to be fun. I am not saying that it has to be miserable, but just that aging is inevitable and there is no secret fountain of youth. It's just that we should try to be as healthy as we can so we can enjoy whatever age we are. The reason I am saying that is I am anti "fake" stuff because there always seems to be a price...for example, HRT. If we were intended to have Pregant Mare Urine in our bodies, it would have been put there in the first place. We all have read the studies and now know the price for HRT. As for Fosamax, great....it builds bones....but wait! It can damage the esophagus and.....wait some more....it may cause cancer of the jawbone. There is no free lunch. So, I guess, to me, Femarelle, at this point seems to be the lesser of all evils. I haven't found anything that says to stop taking it immediately or risk serious illness or death. I am flying by the seat of my pants and gut instinct. So far it says this is ok. If I read any new stuff I will post it or a link to it.

Oh yeah, one other thing I noticed about Fem. Don't laugh now, flatulence.

After noting that 2 capsules per day caused water retention and a few other symptoms of too much estrogen, I cut down to 1 capsule a day. This dose was still effective at eliminating hot flashes etc, but after a few days at the lower dose, I started to experience a dizzy feeling all day long. Kind of like being off kilter and unsteady. This is the exact same effect I get from low dose estrogen patches. I was told by one of Pete's people that many women experience dizziness when taking estrogen. So I stopped taking the Femarelle and voila! no dizziness. All this leads me to believe that this stuff has a very potent estrogenic effect, almost identical to estrogen itself. So I have decided to stop taking Femarelle for the time being. However, I am really going to miss that libido boost. It was sure an unexpected but welcome benefit. I hope the rest of you will continue to post regarding your experience with Femarelle. I am really curious to know if others experience dizziness at a lower doses. I will also be curious to see if this stuff really turns out to be as safe as they lead you to believe.

CindyC

Honestly, I basically agree with you on "fake" stuff and always try to go as natural as possible but I am slowing (and only slightly, mind you) giving modern medicine its due.

The biggest "miracle" in my life was laser eye surgery but it's not at all natural. Nature, on the other hand, had made me nearly blind.

And its natural to have tuberculosis and the black plague. And unnatural to have antibiotics.

This is just a reminder to myself not to be so anti-medicine, which I so tend to be. I am at least trying to view the "unnatural" with just caution, but be open to possibilities.

But to your point of the horse urine and things like that, when Big Pharma makes something strictly on the basis of profit motive (things they can patent) when other less harmful stuff is available, well there's no excuse for that.

hi cindyc and sleepless ~ well girls, here's a quick update: out of curiosity (& wishing to get rid of the breast fullness - so uncomfortable! - wondering if its related), i too cut down to one Femarelle, about a week+ ago. There is a DEFINITE difference in the effect. I must say that overall, I feel much better taking 2. The middle of the night hot flashes have not returned, and that burning up feeling upon a.m. wakening has not returned, BUT...i seem to be having some on and off mini episodes of starting to flash , but its subsiding quickly...(esp after drinking coffee (those were diminishing with the 2 femarelle). I also do not think i sleep as well, but that could be a subjective judgement and unrelated. I did notice some of the breast fullness receding -- but i still think a lot of mine is weight-gain related. I am still playing phone tag with my gyn, but yesterday i spoke to his nurse who told me that she has heard that breast fullness feeling from some women taking femarelle, thinks my gyn will suggest lots of H2O, maybe a natural or mild diuretic bec. the water retention can cause it too....i'll report in on his opinion when i capture his call.
Menawhile, the pleasant re-emergence libido seems to have now gone by the wayside (cindyc, i agree 100% - that was a noticable enjoyable effect and it definitely diminished when I went down to one). I have not been dizzy at all, but today and tonight i have a headache that feels like i'm on the verge of a migraine (i was getting those with the hot flashes a few months back)- and i HATE this feeling! (also went away with the 2 capsules.....) Everything i read and everyone i talk to says the stuff us safe. (that doesn't mean it IS, or will prove to be, safe - i know), but for me i think its worth taking. What i like abt it is the natural tofu thing - everything you read about tofu and soy, etc in large doses in different populations sure appears pretty healthy. I'm going to continue to research it -- this group at U of Miami is into wanting to run a clinical study with it, so it must be reasonably OK or it would not pass the univeristy research review boards.. My next plan is to seriously lose the weight i've gained, which will show me once and for all if the breast fullness is a Fenarelle thing or not!!
As far as resorting to the "fake" stuff, or traditional medicine, or doing the natural - or taking nothing at all, I truly wish i could get by with nothing but s heslthy diet, vitamins, some added soy, etc (like we all wish we could!!)....BUT, i cant stand the drenching sweats and lack of sleep and headaches, etc, and everything else...so I'm going to give the Femarelle a whirl - i liked the improvement on 2 capsules so i'm goimg back to 2!
WHere i draw the line for myself currently is that i dont want to take the traditional meds -- however, i must admit, that many times i think to myself that my mother was VERY opposed to taking any HRT, the pill, etc, her entire life -- and she died of uterine cancer at a young age. My gyn reminds me many times over that had she taken progesterone, to balance out the unopposed estrogen, she could have lived - because what we know now is that the pill has a protective effect on uterine cancer, when estrogen and progesterone are balanced. (She did have a lot of gyn probs over th eyears - excessive bleeding, fibroids,etc - which i do not have; he said that was a sign of not enough progesterone and too much estrogen )...so maybe there is some merit in traditional meds too...kdk, all i know is I'm resuming taking 2 capsules a day, starting today!!!!~psyche

Hi P and C,

I wish we had more people posting to this! Not that I don't enjoy your posts and get great info from them, but I'd like a bigger representation of side effects (or not) to Fem.

I am now getting to the point where I am not sure what I am feeling and if what I feel is a result of the Fem or I am just being way more observant of how I feel period.

Aimee, are you new here? Welcome. You are right, TB is natural but not good. What I said didn't come out quite right. I am not against anti-biotics...they saved my leg from being amputated and probably saved my life. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks with high dose antibiotics 24/7 and then on my release from the hospital, I had to take 1000 mg of them 4X daily for a year.

I guess I don't think that HRT is necessary from that kind of standpoint. Like Botox...I have a friend who's son required it as part of treatment on his hypotonic leg muscles - nothing wrong with that, but I can't see taking the risk of Botox for some forehead wrinkles....like those 4 people that ended up at death's door because they took some bad Botox.

I think I am going to take a couple days off of Fem and see if I can feel any noticeable differences that I can absolutely, positively attribute to the Fem.

Cindy, I am starting my diet again on Monday, care to join me and support each other?

Oops, sorry, when I asked if you wanted to join me in my diet on Monday, I meant to say Psyche, because you mentioned it in your last post:

"My next plan is to seriously lose the weight i've gained, which will show me once and for all if the breast fullness is a Fenarelle thing or not!! "


Sorry, Cindy.