Progesterone cream

Women's health
1

i suffer terribly with all day and night sweats, not seen a bleed for 3 years, have fibroids, and about 40 meno symptoms, I am 51 can't take hrt it does not like me, five different ones, my gyni said there was nothing else I could try, that's right she gave up on me, 😢 asked for a hysterectomy thinking that may lesson the symptoms, she said I would have to be reffered to whomever to ok it ??? .

what I am hoping for is a answer to this question, WHEN DOES IT END. had to give up work it got so bad.

and do you not need the eastrogen with the progesterone cream, I also have thyroid troubles, more flipping hormones mixed up.

2

oh god bless you i havent had a bleed for 3 years and i been through the same only i dont think i have fibroids. I am now 53 so about the same as you when it all started.I take FX nutrition and menopace original.At first i took menopace plus,this helped then i went to HRT for 7 months,it didint agree with me. because i feel better i started back on the wine but i pay for it hot sweats all night.i dont have caffine now i think that helps and no sweet stuff.sounds tuff but im afraid it works.Good luck, you get there x

3

Hello Scampi18,

Your situation sounds really, really hard. I had night sweats really bad before, and it made me so tired. Still have them before my period. 

Before and during your period, your estrogen is high. If you used progesterone cream, it might help. 

Some creams are progesterone only, and some are estrogen mixed with progesterone. 

One thing I did to relieve the hot flashes, the night sweats, was really control how much carbohydrate I was eating. It seems to me that hot flashes come when the sugar from the carbs hits your bloodstream, about three or four hours after eating them. I learned to eat a smaller amount of carbs more often, and I switched to low GI (glycemic index) foods like oatmeal, whole wheat bread, smaller amounts of pasta and rice. I eat brown rice, but white rice is just as low in glycemic index. And sweet potatoes are really good, also for your thyroid troubles.

The nice thing about this is the effect is immediate. The hot flashes go down right away. 

However I still have hot flashes when I am stressed and busy, and before my period. I take a herbal mixture for pms. I think a lot of women on this site are recommending menopace.

Another time I was suffering badly from hot flashes and sleep problems, it turned out to be iron deficiency. I do recommend you have your iron levels checked.

I think I am very sensitive to small changes in my body's biochemistry. I do suffer from depression, since I was a child, and have been taking anti-depressants for about ten or fifteen years. I didn't really notice that they helped me with peri-menopause symptoms! but if you are a really sensitive person yourself, you could think about going on them for a while. 

About your gynaecologist, maybe you should try another one. She sounds like she is dismissing you and your problems. I know they are just humans, but even a moderate amount of sympathy from a doctor in the face of really difficult ailments can go a long way to relieving our (the patient's) stress.

So, in sum: space out your carbohydrates (5 times a day - the two extra ones can just be crackers). Eat low glycemic carbs. Eat sweet potatoes. Try progesterone cream (I realize you don't have periods, but the hormones are still cycling, just at lower levels). Try menopace or other herbal medicines recommended on this site. Think about whether anti-depressants are right for you. 

I don't know anything about thyroid hormones, I am sorry I can't recommend anything about that, but I am sure some ladies on this site can.

And have faith that you will get through this. It is great you stopped working, it will give you time to take care of yourself. You are precious and important in this world. Big hugs to you.

4

when you are in menopause (no bleed for 3 years = menopause) you have no more estrogen so your fibroids shouldn't be bothering you at all; they should shrink.  at least this is what my gyne recently told me, as i have fibroids and severe (and regular) periods; age 52.  i too have hypothyroidism...   my option is to get a hysterectomy since i have used b/c (no longer works), tried mirena iud (didn't work) and had an ablation (didn't work), or i can wait until i have not bled for one full year.  as far as i know HRT is the only thing for any abnormal bleeding after menopause, or you can have hysterectomy.  but that still won't make the hot flash/night sweats go away.  have you tried prozac, or effexor??  these are said to relieve hotflashes and night sweats.  **i personally do not recommend effexor, and neither would two of my friends.  you'll know right away if it works for you.   prozac worked for me in the past for depression. 

5

YES!!  to the relatioship between carbs and hot flashes.  not every time, but it sure does make me think about eating too much of them now.  has helped with some weight loss. 

6

Hi Scampi 

i too have hot flushes back they returned post menopause last year ..

I was having up to 20 a day last summer here out the blue ( they did stop in peri years ago) 

i get very warm in bed too but not night sweats, had those in peri but they were proper night sweats waking up sopping wet, this isnt .. 

When the temperatures rise, hot flushes kick in, our meno bodies are trying to cool themselves  down, and in confused mode ..

you say you tried many HRT .. When was your last one,... This would affect your hormomes, up and down etc. with being on and off HRT.. Now your body is trying to find its natural meno stage again maybe, you didnt say when you stopped it all.

after HRT orally and patch etc, when stopping the peri kicks in again as hormones are declining again, takes time to find its natural state.

i do feel for you, and hope you cope.. Be strong, its not easy i know..

like Kristi says, when post meno reached (no HRT ) then the fibroids are no longer fed with hormones and begin to shrink.. 

Some fibroids cause bleeding etc so yours must be not so bothersome,so that must be a relief .. ' if not causing spotting or bleeding' have you had a scan recently had them checked out ..

see a diiferent Gyno, if you can, maybe yours not offering the support they should..

i cant take HRT as too high risk for me, i am age 50 and had a ten year peri, the only thing my Gyno did suggest was ovestinon vaginal ovules ' estriol' kinder estrogen. Thats just for vag dryness i have and he pointed out to me, they dont treat any other symptoms or flushes just vag dryness and bladder irritation inside feelings..

been fantastic for me, couldnt be with out it, so i feel your frustration.

i pay where i live for a well woman check, annually, with a Gyno, and he is wonderful, 

Checks everything, breast scan, transvaginal scan ( shows me ovaries, uterine thickness, and checks no fibroids, etc ) Colposcopy checking cells on cervix and all areas around. smears and a good consultation about menopause .. Not expensive either .. Worth every penny..

Good luck hun

jay x

7

Thanks to all you lovely ladies for your advice, my body is so cold this morning, I don't think my thyroid is working properly, which does not help matters.

8

Tell me about it. I have low thyroid and I take levothyroxine I suggest that you do not take HRT for your symptoms it could make you anxieties worse. Have you thought about an antidepressant like Zoloft, Paxil, Celxa talk to your doctors about it maybe that would help better than the HRTs I feel that HRTs can make things worse on the body thats why I am doing this with out HRT. 

9

Hi susan

thank you for the reply, I already take ADS sertraline 100mg daily only been on them couple of months, I also take multi vitamins, sage and flaxseeds for the sweating.

i know I am menopause but I don't think meno is suppose to hurt, I think my thyroid may be packing up, I am so cold then red hot with goosebumps, I have lost over two stone, my tsh is under the range, my joints are so sore hair falling out and the anxiety is awful.

i had a fall on my head just before xmas and I have not been right since, lots of pressure behind my nose and eyes and horrible buzzing in my ear, never mentioned it to anyone because it never hurt, I'm wondering if I have damaged something. 

Your supposed to feel better on thyroxine, I have never felt well on it.

even the pill many years ago never agreed, every two weeks I would get the same symptoms as I do now.

 

10

are you grinding your flaxseeds?  also if tsh is under normal levels you are hyPER and would lose weight, be cold, anxiety, and hair falling out. 

have you been tested and meds adjusted?  talked to your endocrinologist about the thyroid issues??  don't mess around with that.  you will continue to feel terrible.  **mine fluctuates and i know when it's too low or too high by these symptoms. 

11

Hi kristi

flaxseed capsules, I keep asking my gp to refer me to endo and all I get is no, I can't afford to go private, they only test tsh and ft4, I have asked for a ft3 and rt3 again now we don't do it.

could I ask why yours fluctuates, my body is so mixed up don't know wether I am coming or going, my doctors keep putting it down to stress, I don't have any stress or depression, only whatever is going on in my body.

12

the thyroid is what balances just about everything in your body.  i think mine was fluctuating (really bad about a year ago) because of the fluctuations in our female hormones.  it's trying to compensate, sometimes it overcompensates.  here's my history.  started out at .025mg about 15 years ago.  then went up to .075mg at about 6 year mark.  few years went up to .125mg, then as high as .175mg.  we feared i'd have to go up again.  a few years at that level, then down to .150, then a few months later, down to .125, then down to .112.  then (one year ago) i had to go up again to .125, one MONTH later, down to .112.  was good for a year and then when i had the REALLY bad hot flash, high heart rate, panic (thought it was heart attack) was when i went back up to .125.    i'm checked about every 6 months unless i start to notice symptoms like puffy eyes, hair falling out, weight loss or weight gain, sluggishness - sounds like peri/menopause right??? 

13

Kristi

my thyroid (TSH) is 3.61 

and T4 is 9.8 

i am sure its why i have no energy ... 

jay x

14

my doc wants me at 3.0 or lower.  if those were my numbers they'd have raised my dosage.  definitely why your energy is low. 

15

Thanks for the reply Kristi 

i will get them re done next week as i had shingles when they last took them in Feb and see if any change there 

just feel drained and it so gets you down ..

jay x 

16

Thank you for all the advice, it's very difficult to know which is which, the meno the thyroid all hormonal, it's causing the stress and anxiety, I also have BPPV benign positional vertigo, that makes me feel sick and dizzy, all of them are more or less the same symptoms, can't have soy the thyroid medication doesn't like it, vitamins I have to take 4 hours after taking my thyroid meds, it's a nightmare, the antidepressants I think I effecting my thyroid meds. 

Need it all to go away, 😓

17

I am on a thyroid medicatiion levothyroxine I was drinking soy milk do you think that interupts with the thyroid i swithced it over to low fat almond milk easier to digest. 

I am on antidepressants as well i am on zoloft, ativan and trazodone, i take my vitd3 2 1/2 hours after i take my thyroid with my ativan and losartan, i take my zoloft after dinner was taking it in the morning but i was having a lot of palpitations so I switched it to after dinner with an ativan and a multivitamin and i take my trazodone at bedtime with 1/2 an ativan to help me sleep 

I have been feeling not myself either with palpitations and just tired and not wanting to do much I'm tired of it and wish it will go away too