Introduction

[Guest guest]

Hi Everybody,

I am new to this group. Let me introduce myself. Age 61, had breast cancer and

lumpectomy +lymphnode dissection on the left side in 2007. Just recently, I was

diagnosed with recurrence at the old surgery site. This is not to discourage

anybody but to present the whole picture of me. The good news is that the tumor

is small in size. Now I have to decide if I want lumpectomy with radiation or

mastectomy no radiation. Also need to think about strategies for future HRT or

other non-hormonal solutions for hormonal imbalance. Sounds funny.

Past history of HRT:

On the first sign of menopause, I started premarin for 25 days a month and

medoxyprogesterone for 11 days in the second half of the cycle. I took 5-6 days

break at the end of each month when I would have a withdrawal bleeding. This

went on from 2002 until the diagnosis with breast cancer. I know, I should not

have taken synthetic hormones but my family physician did not know or did not

want to prescribe bio-identicals. I could not find another doctor and because I

tolerated the pills relatively well, I thought everything was fine. Anyway,

after the diagnosis, on the advice of doctors, I had to stop HRT abruptly. 6

week later, menopausal symptoms came as a tornado eating me up physically and

mentally. I begged for help but no doctor was willing to interfere with this so

called " natural process " . This is what they emphasized, " natural " . Yes it was as

natural as death for me. I tried all natural remedies under the sun available

that time with no results. Perhaps Naturopathic doctors are more flexible but

they cannot write prescription in Ontario, Canada. I read all books, Dr. Uzzi

Reiss, Dr. Schwarzbein, T.S Wiley, Suzanne Somers, Canadian author Lorna

Vanderhaeghe and others. I had a general idea what I should do to lessen

symptoms, but no doctor was available.

In a few weeks after this initiation of menopause, I found a doctor who

prescribed Bio-identical Progesterone cream, 20 mg BID. At the beginning, it

was good. Hot flashes were gone and I was able to sleep better. However, in

three month I had everything again: brainfog, fatigue, low mood except for hot

flashes.

I was running around for help for no avail. Nobody wanted to give me estrogen,

however, one doctor increased the progesterone dose to 30 mg bid. It felt better

for 2 weeks, than, from there I started to go down. Osteoporosis, brainfog,

tinnitus, depression, fatigue got worse, I started to lose hair big time, blood

sugar started to increase accompanied with weight gain.

I was on progesterone roughly a little over 2 years and a high dose of it

without estrogen.

As I complained about my symptoms, the doctor who gave me the higher dose of

progesterone, now gave me the Estradot patch, lowest dose, and told me to

continue with progesterone every day. It did not work. I got bloated, had cramps

and retained water followed by considerable gain in weight. I stopped Estradot

and ordered Life-Flo topical Estriol on line. It slowed me down, made me dizzy

and lethargic. I stopped within a few days. November 2010, my old MD prescribed

0.1 mg Bi-est to take it with the 30 mg progesterone, both bid. There was little

positive change which dissipated fast. Then, he increased Bi-est to 0.2 mg bid.

No improvement whatsoever. In the meantime, I had appointments with a few

doctors specializing in BHRT. Every one of them refused to prescribe me

anything, period. Felt like written off.

I wanted to try the WP, however, this gynaecologist, 200 km away from Toronto,

said NO and mentioned Estrogel. She did not prescribe it for me but I went back

to my old MD with the idea.

I started Estrogel 0.06 % with the usual dose of progesterone in May 2011. In

June 2011, I started cycling progesterone, taking it only in the second half of

cycle in double dose. I had problems and tried to adjust the doses. I had to

rely on how I feel because my BHRT doctor was not monitoring me. He sent me for

a couple of blood tests at the beginning, but not later. I was not able to find

the magic spot. I do not think I ever achieved hormonal balance. I ordered a

Saliva test in October 2011 which came out not so bad. They said every hormone

was within acceptable limits. Breast tenderness was present in left breast and

latter it developed into inflammation. Inflammation always started in the

progesterone phase.

An ultrasound in August 2011 showed the irregular tissue at the old surgery

site. I was booked for biopsy in December, quite a waiting time is it not?

I am still trying to taper off hormones. It is hard. I cannot go off completely

before the surgery and take on the sleepless nights with flashes, bear the

escalating tinnitus and brainfog.

For the future, I want to try Estro-Rhythm. I would really appreciate some input

from anybody in this group who tried this product developed by Bent Formby.

Otherwise, I am clueless what strategy to follow to avoid what I went through in

the last 4 years.

I doubt I would be able to find a reasonable doctor now with the new scenario.

If there were a " do-it-yourself- safely " group, I would join it right away.

What I learned is that my breasts are very sensitive to estradiol especially in

the lutheal phase; however, 1-1.5 mg /day of this hormone is not enough for my

brain or for improving the quality of my life.