Something good is happening!

[Guest guest]

Hi, this is Lori in Georgia. I have posted several times in the past,

most recently regarding Hashimoto's thyroiditis and my CU. Perhaps

this is premature, but I think something good is happening. In an

effort to address the hashimoto's, my doctor ran a hormone profile on

me two months ago (I'm 42 yr. old female). For about six months I had

been having relentless hot flashes, which is the last thing a hiving

person can handle - being even hotter!). Anyway, my estrogen,

progesterone and testosterone levels were almost non-existent (and no

doubt suppressed from the 10 months of high dose Prednisone). We

began a course of natural hormone replacement (a compounded cream with

all three hormones). I have been using it since October 1st, and was

told to expect six to eight weeks to pass before I might notice

improvement in the hiving. I began reducing my Predisone doses over

the last month and took my last Prednisone on Friday, one week ago.

(Reducing my Prednisone to this point has not been possible, no matter

how brave I wanted to be, I could not grit it out as the hives took

over my body). Since my last dose of Prednisone last Friday, I have

had only three individual hives, all of which lasted only 3 hours or

so. My hot flashes are now maybe once a day, in the evenings. Though

we intend to run new bloodwork in another month or so to determine

new hormone levels as well as thyroid antibodies, is it possible that

something good is happening!?! I can still hardly believe that I am

off Prednisone after almost a year, and that I have had one full week

of no hives! It is an overwhelming thought that this nightmare could

be coming to a close (though dropping the 80 pounds from the

Prednisone certainly will give me something new to work on). Maybe

this hormone approach will work for someone else on this list as well,

if Hashimoto's is the source of their hiving.