Re: patch vs cream

[Guest guest]

Caroline:

Sorry, I don't have experience with the patch. Wish I could give you something

constructive, but I don't have the experience -- hopefully someone else does. I

might sound like I know what I need, but I'm floundering trying to get this

imbalance figured out.

hang in there, Sue

>

> Hi Val and Sue and anyone else,                      I havent been on here for

a while but, I have noticed you two seem to know what you need. I started bhrt a

couple of months ago and felt really weird. I was on E cream 1mg/1ml daily and

prometrium for 10 days. I started it in February and didnt have a bleed.  I

found a new Dr. In Virginia who did the labs and an U/S. She said I had no E or

P and my lining was really very thin. She put me on the vivelle dot 0.05 which

is really .78mg of E for a whole month by itself.Im 2 weeks into that. Next

month I will add sublingual P in a troche.?? I dont feel all that great now, my

joints are sore Im retaining water but my hands look soooo dry and a little

wrinkly. This all started with the patch. Do either of you know if I could cut

the patch in half and still get a bleed? I cant figure out why the patch is

making me feel this way.Im small and the bloating/water weight is just so

disheartening.I have

> always or most always been in control of my body. The dry wrinkly hands just

made me want to cry. My last period was in November.Thanks, Caroline

>

[Guest guest]

Caroline,

I was having trouble getting the bleed as well. My E was dosed in a .1 patch

vivelle dot every other day and I was on 100 mg prometrium for 2 weeks.

Nothing. My E levels tested at 100.

So I did some reading and it said that if your E is not high enough, that can

happen. So my doc gave me the .1 patch every day. Plus, I have higher liver

enzymes than I should so I wanted to switch over to a vaginal P.

Doc started me at 100 mg vaginal which started to feel too high after 3 days so

I cut it back probably to closer to 50 mg and when I finally was able to check

my blood sugar, it was way higher than it had ever been fasting. I went on and

stopped after 1 week and did have a bleed.

Now into the 2nd cycle on this and I was able to figure out how to dose 20-25 mg

of P per day and not far enough in to see. But Dr. Schwarzbein says that that

level of P is sufficient. So we will see.

I did read where you can cut patches in half.

However, in trying to figure out my symptoms, does anyone have a good list of

symptoms of overdosed E and underdosed E? I did see the P symptoms already. I

do have a couple of lists but they differ from each other.

Thanks, Deb in MI

>

> Hi Val and Sue and anyone else,� � � � � � � � � � � I

havent been on here for a while but, I have noticed you two seem to know what

you need. I started bhrt a couple of months ago and felt really weird. I was on

E cream 1mg/1ml daily and prometrium for 10 days. I started it in February and

didnt have a bleed. �I found a new Dr. In Virginia who did the labs and an

U/S. She said I had no E or P and my lining was really very thin. She put me on

the vivelle dot 0.05 which is really .78mg of E for a whole month by itself.Im 2

weeks into that. Next month I will add sublingual P in a troche.?? I dont feel

all that great now, my joints are sore Im retaining water but my hands look

soooo dry and a little wrinkly. This all started with the patch. Do either of

you know if I could cut the patch in half and still get a bleed? I cant figure

out why the patch is making me feel this way.Im small and the bloating/water

weight is just so disheartening.I have

> always or most always been in control of my body. The dry wrinkly hands just

made me want to cry.�My last period was in November.Thanks, Caroline

>

[Guest guest]

If you have no estrogen and your stripe is very thin, you likely will not have a shed. And if you have no estrogen, your cream is not working. Your progesterone level probably depends on where you were in the cycle. Were you on Prometrium at the time of testing? Are you menopausal or pre? My doc says serum P is not very reliable, and saliva P testing is not reliable at all. Val From: rhythmicliving [mailto:rhythmicliving ] On Behalf Of carolyn yorkHi Val and Sue and anyone else, I havent been on here for a while but, I have noticed you two seem to know what you need. I started bhrt a couple of months ago and felt really weird. I was on E cream 1mg/1ml daily and prometrium for 10 days. I started it in February and didnt have a bleed. I found a new Dr. In Virginia who did the labs and an U/S. She said I had no E or P and my lining was really very thin. She put me on the vivelle dot 0.05 which is really .78mg of E for a whole month by itself.Im 2 weeks into that. Next month I will add sublingual P in a troche.?? I dont feel all that great now, my joints are sore Im retaining water but my hands look soooo dry and a little wrinkly. This all started with the patch. Do either of you know if I could cut the patch in half and still get a bleed? I cant figure out why the patch is making me feel this way.Im small and the bloating/water weight is just so disheartening.I have always or most always been in control of my body. The dry wrinkly hands just made me want to cry. My last period was in November.Thanks, Caroline

[Guest guest]

Deb,

Yesterday I started vaginal P (prometrium)and wonder about your experience. Are

you saying that you tried 100 mg vaginal P and it seemed too high? What were

your symptoms? And now you're using 20-25 mg, still vaginally? I too have sugar

issues and don't want to use it continuously or orally for that reason. Dr.

Vliet says a menopausal woman can use 200 mg prometrium orally for 12 days per

month so I thought I could use the same amount, but vaginally. So your

experience with 100 mg being too much has me concerned now. Any advice?

Thanks, Sue

> >

> > Hi Val and Sue and anyone else,� � � � � � � � � � � I

havent been on here for a while but, I have noticed you two seem to know what

you need. I started bhrt a couple of months ago and felt really weird. I was on

E cream 1mg/1ml daily and prometrium for 10 days. I started it in February and

didnt have a bleed. �I found a new Dr. In Virginia who did the labs and an

U/S. She said I had no E or P and my lining was really very thin. She put me on

the vivelle dot 0.05 which is really .78mg of E for a whole month by itself.Im 2

weeks into that. Next month I will add sublingual P in a troche.?? I dont feel

all that great now, my joints are sore Im retaining water but my hands look

soooo dry and a little wrinkly. This all started with the patch. Do either of

you know if I could cut the patch in half and still get a bleed? I cant figure

out why the patch is making me feel this way.Im small and the bloating/water

weight is just so disheartening.I have

> > always or most always been in control of my body. The dry wrinkly hands

just made me want to cry.�My last period was in November.Thanks, Caroline

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Sue,

Unfortunately, I was away at my daughter's wedding when it was time to start the

P part of the cycle and after 3 days on the 100 mg vaginally, it felt like too

much but I didn't write the symptoms down like I usually would and I can't

remember.

You can watch this list:

http://rhythmicliving.org/?page_id=60

Then I dropped back to dose it at 50 mg vaginally and that did seem to be a bit

better. I finally got home and checked my blood sugar and it was way high, as

in the true diabetic fasting range. At that point, I immediately stopped all P

and did have the cycle. It also seems that my blood sugar doesn't ever drop

back to the normal sugars of 85 or so but seems to get stuck between 105-120

either when on P or on too much P, I don't know for sure yet.

I then checked the material from Dr.Schwarzbein that I bought, where she said

that 20-25 mg of P was sufficient for most people. The problem with prometrium

was that it couldn't be adjusted. My doc did give me vaginal P cream and at

least I can measure it out now. I have only had 1 cycle of the P on 20-25 mg

and it did seem to work as it should.

Anyway, I don't like having to be my own guinea pig, but don't know what else to

do. The diabetes blood sugar issues do complicate things.

Deb in MI

> > >

> > > Hi Val and Sue and anyone else,� � � � � � � � � � �

I havent been on here for a while but, I have noticed you two seem to know what

you need. I started bhrt a couple of months ago and felt really weird. I was on

E cream 1mg/1ml daily and prometrium for 10 days. I started it in February and

didnt have a bleed. �I found a new Dr. In Virginia who did the labs and an

U/S. She said I had no E or P and my lining was really very thin. She put me on

the vivelle dot 0.05 which is really .78mg of E for a whole month by itself.Im 2

weeks into that. Next month I will add sublingual P in a troche.?? I dont feel

all that great now, my joints are sore Im retaining water but my hands look

soooo dry and a little wrinkly. This all started with the patch. Do either of

you know if I could cut the patch in half and still get a bleed? I cant figure

out why the patch is making me feel this way.Im small and the bloating/water

weight is just so disheartening.I have

> > > always or most always been in control of my body. The dry wrinkly hands

just made me want to cry.�My last period was in November.Thanks, Caroline

[Guest guest]

Val:

Wow, that's a big difference from what I was going to do. I was going to try 200

mg vaginally for 12 days a month. That's alot vs. Dr. G's recommendation of 25

mg. for 5-10 days every 3 months! What to do, what to do!!!

Sue

>

> Dr. G recommends 1/4 of a vaginal Cyclogest (25 mg) for 5 -10 days every

> three months. Cyclogest is a suppository you can buy from Masters

> Marketing. www.hormonediva.com

>

>

> Val

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: rhythmicliving [mailto:rhythmicliving ]

> On Behalf Of Deb in MI

> Sue,

>

> Unfortunately, I was away at my daughter's wedding when it was time to start

> the P part of the cycle and after 3 days on the 100 mg vaginally, it felt

> like too much but I didn't write the symptoms down like I usually would and

> I can't remember.

>

> You can watch this list:

>

> http://rhythmicliving.org/?page_id=60

>

> Then I dropped back to dose it at 50 mg vaginally and that did seem to be a

> bit better. I finally got home and checked my blood sugar and it was way

> high, as in the true diabetic fasting range. At that point, I immediately

> stopped all P and did have the cycle. It also seems that my blood sugar

> doesn't ever drop back to the normal sugars of 85 or so but seems to get

> stuck between 105-120 either when on P or on too much P, I don't know for

> sure yet.

>

> I then checked the material from Dr.Schwarzbein that I bought, where she

> said that 20-25 mg of P was sufficient for most people. The problem with

> prometrium was that it couldn't be adjusted. My doc did give me vaginal P

> cream and at least I can measure it out now. I have only had 1 cycle of the

> P on 20-25 mg and it did seem to work as it should.

>

> Anyway, I don't like having to be my own guinea pig, but don't know what

> else to do. The diabetes blood sugar issues do complicate things.

>

> Deb in MI

>

[Guest guest]

Val:

Do you say 200 mg is a lot vaginally because it goes directly into the

bloodstream like it would if you put it on your skin (vs. orally)?

Thanks, Sue

> >

> > Dr. G recommends 1/4 of a vaginal Cyclogest (25 mg) for 5 -10 days every

> > three months. Cyclogest is a suppository you can buy from Masters

> > Marketing. www.hormonediva.com

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Caroline:

Can you tell me how you doses Prometrium at levels lower than 100 mg? Or did

you get a different form of P to do that?

Thanks, Sue

> >

> > Hi Val and Sue and anyone else,� � � � � � � � � � � I

havent been on here for a while but, I have noticed you two seem to know what

you need. I started bhrt a couple of months ago and felt really weird. I was on

E cream 1mg/1ml daily and prometrium for 10 days. I started it in February and

didnt have a bleed. �I found a new Dr. In Virginia who did the labs and an

U/S. She said I had no E or P and my lining was really very thin. She put me on

the vivelle dot 0.05 which is really .78mg of E for a whole month by itself.Im 2

weeks into that. Next month I will add sublingual P in a troche.?? I dont feel

all that great now, my joints are sore Im retaining water but my hands look

soooo dry and a little wrinkly. This all started with the patch. Do either of

you know if I could cut the patch in half and still get a bleed? I cant figure

out why the patch is making me feel this way.Im small and the bloating/water

weight is just so disheartening.I have

> > always or most always been in control of my body. The dry wrinkly hands

just made me want to cry.�My last period was in November.Thanks, Caroline

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb:

Can you tell me how you can use a dose lower than 100 mg. of Prometrium? I

didn't think it came smaller than that and don't know how you could just use a

portion of the capsule. What's your secret?

Thanks, Sue

> >

> > Hi Val and Sue and anyone else,� � � � � � � � � � � I

havent been on here for a while but, I have noticed you two seem to know what

you need. I started bhrt a couple of months ago and felt really weird. I was on

E cream 1mg/1ml daily and prometrium for 10 days. I started it in February and

didnt have a bleed. �I found a new Dr. In Virginia who did the labs and an

U/S. She said I had no E or P and my lining was really very thin. She put me on

the vivelle dot 0.05 which is really .78mg of E for a whole month by itself.Im 2

weeks into that. Next month I will add sublingual P in a troche.?? I dont feel

all that great now, my joints are sore Im retaining water but my hands look

soooo dry and a little wrinkly. This all started with the patch. Do either of

you know if I could cut the patch in half and still get a bleed? I cant figure

out why the patch is making me feel this way.Im small and the bloating/water

weight is just so disheartening.I have

> > always or most always been in control of my body. The dry wrinkly hands

just made me want to cry.�My last period was in November.Thanks, Caroline

> >

>