Is this unusual?

[Guest guest]

My doc just put me on natural estrogen and progesterone b/c I had

symptoms of being low - which were confirmed by blood, urine and saliva

tests. But he didn't advise me to stop taking them at any point during

my cycle. I always thought that when you take hormones you stop taking

them on certain days. Is that only the case in certain situations?

I'm concerned that taking them throughout my whole cycle is going to

mess up my periods or something.

Thanks,

April

[Guest guest]

April,

You are right to be concerned...from what I've read about taking natural

hormones, they should mimic your cycle..not be taken the entire month.

I hate to oppose your doctor, but perhaps you can do some reading on

this and make your own decision about it. You certainly don't want to

cause cycle disruption with too much hormonal imbalance, but perhaps

your doctor just wants to get your levels up quickly to where they need

to be and will adjust later. I would question him/her about this.

I personally follow the advice given by doctors in Suzanne Somers books

on this subject. If you could borrow these from the library or pick up

some used copies for your own library, I think you'd find them

enlightening. They are easy to read, but with doctors doing most of the

talking. I've read " The Sexy Years " , " Ageless " and " Breakthrough " .

There are other good books...Dr. Vliet's " Screaming to Be

Heard " is good, as is Natural Hormone Therapy by Dr. Uzzi Reiss.

Basically, it is highly recommended to take the estrogens the entire

month long, with the progesterone for a two week period after your

ovulation. This is a basic normal cycle in approximation, without

making dosing too difficult to follow.

You can also get more detailed with the help of a doctor and adjust your

dosages even more specifically to mimic the menstrual cycle rhythm,

which looks like this: (Scroll down to the ovary hormones cycle graph)

http://www.womentowomen.com/menstruation/menstrualcycle.aspx

There is a gradual, then steep increase in estrogen secretion up to

ovulation, and then a decline in estrogen tandem with a gradual increase

in progesterone after ovulation. This is followed by a gradual decline

in both right before your period.

It is during this gradual decline in both that many women have

experienced a worse feeling or increase in brain fog, and this is one of

the many reasons I think hormones play a big part in our illnesses.

I hope this sheds a little light on the subject for you....and perhaps

you should take it up with your doctor. I'm glad to see your doctor was

astute enough to address it in the first place! Are you on creams, or

pills?

Patty

>

> My doc just put me on natural estrogen and progesterone b/c I had

> symptoms of being low - which were confirmed by blood, urine and

saliva

> tests. But he didn't advise me to stop taking them at any point

during

> my cycle. I always thought that when you take hormones you stop

taking

> them on certain days. Is that only the case in certain situations?

> I'm concerned that taking them throughout my whole cycle is going to

> mess up my periods or something.

>

> Thanks,

> April

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Patty. I emailed my dr and just got a reply. He said to

stop progesterone for 5 days when my period is due. He did not tell

me this at my appointment. This does not seem right to me at all.

It seems to me the progesterone would actually MAKE my period late,

wouldn't it? I know when I've used the OTC progesterone creams they

always said to use them on days 12-24. My period is supposed to

start in a few days, so I'm wondering if I should stop taking the

progesterone. (It's 100mg capsules, BTW. They were made at the

compounding pharmacy)

It is so frustrating dealing w/dr's sometimes. This one is really

good and he has been very thorough to address each of my issues. But

maybe hormones just aren't in his area of expertise.

I was actually thinking of reading those books. I'm going to check

my local library for them. I think that would be more helpful than

searching the web and being overwhelmed w/information. )

[Guest guest]

Hi April,

Hmmm, 5 days off progesterone doesn't seem like much, does it? I

wonder if his goal is to get you to a certain ratio of progesterone to

estrogen? One doctor (Dr. Mark ) told me the goal should be an

8:1 ratio, optimally. Or, perhaps, like you said, this isn't his area

of expertise. If you have a good relationship with him, you might

want to let him know you are going to continue reading about hormonal

balancing through these books and ask him to work with you closely as

you try to get them balanced. Hopefully he will be open to what you

find and share.

As for stopping the progesterone, you might want to chart what you

think your hormone levels should be doing at this point in your cycle,

and try to mimic the flow of hormones...perhaps even cutting your

pills in half to reduce the dose on the days the progesterone should

be falling until you go to the 5 days off of it that he has suggested.

Anyway, I'm glad to see you working on this area. I think it will

make a big difference for you! I have gotten my period back, after

not having one for quite some time. I feel great, too! Let me know

what you think of those books...Dr. Vliet's book is quite thick and

involved, but Somers books are pretty easy to read and quite

convincing in their approach.

God bless you April!

Patty

>

> Thanks, Patty. I emailed my dr and just got a reply. He said to

> stop progesterone for 5 days when my period is due. He did not tell

> me this at my appointment. This does not seem right to me at all.

> It seems to me the progesterone would actually MAKE my period late,

> wouldn't it? I know when I've used the OTC progesterone creams they

> always said to use them on days 12-24. My period is supposed to

> start in a few days, so I'm wondering if I should stop taking the

> progesterone. (It's 100mg capsules, BTW. They were made at the

> compounding pharmacy)

>

> It is so frustrating dealing w/dr's sometimes. This one is really

> good and he has been very thorough to address each of my issues. But

> maybe hormones just aren't in his area of expertise.

>

> I was actually thinking of reading those books. I'm going to check

> my local library for them. I think that would be more helpful than

> searching the web and being overwhelmed w/information. )

>