Well I'm back 7 here to report that I heard from my Dr. today. I do have a hyopthyroid condition. I will begin medication tomorrow. At least I am not losing my mind. It seems that most of the symptoms are the same symptoms that you will experience with menopause. Many of them are the same as symptoms associated with stopping smoking. No wonder I thought that I was losing it. 20 lbs. in 10 weeks is not normal & do not let anyone tell you that it is.

Hi, all! Back from Scotland. I'll be posting info in my journal, if anyone is interested. I don't want to stray from the core of this discussion.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you all that I found the secret to losing weight in menopause.

According to More magazine, your body uses up 500 calories a month producing eggs. Once those eggs are gone, those 500 calories a month are not being used. Hence the weight gain.

What to do?

A 30-minute walk once a week, and all will be well in our world.

Don't waste your money on Women to women, I tried them and they send you Diane Schwartzbein book, supply of vitamins and a jar with P -cream (not even compounded). The supplements are not caps but tablets (harder to digest) and the fish oil in caps was rancid.
If you need P -cream get a Rx from MD and get it from compound pharmacy, this way you will know at least, there is USP progesteron and not just wild yam.

I agree and disagree. I don't think you're going to have much success doing their self-diagnosed program of just ordering supplements. They're located here in Maine, and I went in to see the NP in person. I'm getting compounded estrogen and progesterone, plus DHEA and quite a few supplements. I was wondering if they were really doing any good -- especially the estrogen and progesterone -- and got a really good test. I just went to Scotland for about 10 days and didn't take anything the whole time. (Stupid ... you don't stop brushing your teeth just because you're on vacation ...)

Anyway, the first week I was fine and felt they were probably a waste of time. The second week I started having hot flashes about 4 times a day. I'd never had hot flashes before.

Coincidence? Probably not.

PS: There are two doctors at the W2W center, and several NPs. I've only ever seen the NP.

I got quite a bit of information from their self diagnosed program...with that said, I think it can be beneficial for those in the early stages, like myself, that may not need extreme intervention, yet, perhaps some info about the things we can do to support ourselves at home.

Not interested in purchasing their products...but viewing that site (and a few others) did help to put me in the right direction of what I should be taking so I can try it on my own.

Just entered my "hormonal zone", SO FAR, I'm 100% symptom free. I'm keeping myself fully hydrated, added fish oil supplements, and applying the lowest dosage of over the counter prog. cream (20 mg)..we'll see how the next week and a half goes.

Hey All,

I have been going along here and not really feeling like I needed any progesterone cream but this month my cycle changed significantly and I am feeling like I would probably benefit from using it.

I have looked at several brands in the local healthfood store and I get totally overwelmed about which one to pick. Sooo, all that to ask this.

What OTC brand of progesterone cream are ya'll using and having success with? Thank you so much for your help.

Welcome back Bawdy, this thread has been awfully quiet with you gone. Glad your back!

Thanks again for the help!!

I use Progesta-Key

I was referring to the program they offer on-line, I am in San francisco. It may be different that the one they offer in their clinic. I just answered their questionary and they "diagnosted" me based on the results. This is was at the beginning of my hormonal ordeal.
I agree that it is better to go to a clinic ( if one lives close by), and I did when I have finally found local ones that work with BioID hormones, but this is different story. To make it short, I tried different MDs and different BiosID, was Rx estrogen, progesteron, testosteron, and DHEA in different delivery systems and did not get much success with it ( despite monthly blood draws and a bunch of tests), but I don't have hot flushes and my period is still regular anyway. I had another symptoms like increased anxiety and digestive issues, and I re-gained some weight while using bio hormones almost instantly. So I stopped all hormones since I did not get much results and side effects of progesteron were rather unbearable and life threatening.
I decided to try natural approach and I now take red clover http://www.menopause-metamorphosis....cle-healthy.htm and (chasteberry) Vitex supplements http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Vitex_RedMoonHerbs.htm. I see that herbs starting to work and without side effects of hormones.
I could probably continue to experiment with bios but then after reading 4 different books on bios, I realized that it means to have a period for the rest of my life, or I better not to start any at all. Once you stop hormones, all symptoms are coming back and more severe, so it's either now or later. Taking hormones without cycling poses greater health risk and so is taking them in general. But having menses in my 60s, 70s and beyond is rather ridiculous and not on my agenda either.
I still not sure what works for weight loss at this point of life, but definetely not progesteron, this one makes me gain weight instantly. I have talked to other ladies that are ppst-meno, and some managed to lose weight once they are through with menopause, without even trying. For now I am simply happy feeling good and having still regular periods. I do noticed that at this point I need much less food to keep the weight down, or I will start gaining. Makes sense to eat less and be active during this time and onwards.

Dina, I know you were referring to the online program. My point was that, especially with hormones which seem to need so much tweaking, I don't think getting a standard package through the internet would be of much good -- though some people have had success with this.

That's depressing to hear what you went through with the testing and delivery methods. I don't seem to have any side effects with the hormones, at least yet. Interesting that you gained weight on progesterone. How long were you taking it? I'm supposed to take it at night, two weeks on and two weeks off. I've gone through that cycle now once, and will be starting on it again tonight. I'll have to keep an eye on weight creep (like I haven't been already!).

I'm curious, though, why you went with all the hormones if you're still having your periods? The test results? Did you mention how old you are? Don't answer if you don't want to. Are you maybe in perimenopause rather than menopause?

The other thing you mentioned was with bio-identical hormones you'll have a period forever on. I've read a lot, too, and I think you would only continue having periods if you did the intensive plan of cycling with something like 3 days on and 3 days off, etc. I don't buy that, either. Of course, I could be wrong about that, too. I know this is what T.S. Wiley strongly recommends in "Sex, Lises, and Menopause." She says you need to be tested weekly, etc. Now where in the world an I going to find a doctor here in Maine who believes in this and, maybe more so, how am I going to find the time to futz with this? Not very damn likely.

One more thing:



So, do you think that the key to losing the weight again is that you have to be DONE with menopause? And that while you're "in" it, you won't have much success?

Just a quick follow-up on this. We got home very late Thursday night. Since then (and this is Sunday), I haven't had even one hot flash, and I've yet to start taking the hormones again.

I just wish there were some definitive answers out there. Am I just wasting my money on all these supplements? I have to do a re-test on the adrenals in a week or two, so I guess I'll know better then whether they're doing me any good. But then again, since I've been off them now for 2 weeks, it's probably not a good time to re-test. Maybe I need to wait until I'm back on them for a couple weeks.

I think I better call the office tomorrow and ask.

Bawdy, I know I am in a much different stage of this than you are, but I usually feel my worst during those two weeks when the prog. cycling is done....you COULD feel better right now because you have passed those two weeks and due for TOM, the end of your cycle. Being that you were taking some strong supplements, also, they may still be in your system.

When you were feeling bad before, I could see it even in the tone of your posts.....just "hearing" you in written form, I can tell you are feeling better. The treatment you were doing seemed to have made a difference for you -- but whether to continue is your personal choice.

The choice for synthetic, BioID, or to take any hormones at all, I definitely learned, is a personal one, and there seem to be risks with all three choices. Women react so differently.

I've found that I go back and forth a lot with my choices because my symptoms go back and forth alot. I can feel fantastic one day and lousy the next. I've tried to track my systems in my journal, and even doing that is difficult cause I could be feeling good at the time I post, only have to symptoms hit me later in the day.

I almost didn't apply the prog. cream this month. I had symptoms that went on past TOM (which is my "relief" zone), but upping my water intake, my cal/mag/pot. and adding fish oil stopped it within a few days...now in my normal "hormonal" zone and I don't *feel like I need the cream at all. If this continues, I'm considering backing off of it, to see if my body can function on its own with the additional support I've added....we'll see.

At any rate, I certainly sympathize with your confusion. IMO, just keep remembering that nobody knows your body better than you do, and that this is another journey of self discovery.

Lori

Thanks for the support, Lori. I'm not planning on stopping the supplements or the hormones. Just questioning. I need to call tomorrow to find out how long I should be on them again before being re-tested.

I haven't had a period since March. Had one the end of January and the end of March. Nothing since.

Starting today, I'm eating better. I didn't really care what or how much I ate on vacation. Let's just say there was a lot of Guinness involved, along with potatoes and scones. And haggis! I found I love the stuff. DH lost his appetite watching me eat it, but it was great! All that good organ meat.

I think I'm going to follow the Anchell/Pennington plan for at least a couple weeks and see how I feel. There's no reason I can see that it would work -- why certain things are allowed and others aren't -- but it seems to work for some people. I'm really not into salads right now. They taste terrible to me. Veggies, too. The meals are centered around meat and fat, with some potatoes or fruit thrown in. Here's a link to the thread: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=295008

All in all, my "plan" is to go back to basics. Very low carb, moderate exercise.

Does that sound too radical?

Bawdy,
I agree 100% that hormones need tweaking and sometimes on a daily basis. This is one thing that it's the hardest to achieve, especially when one is not post-meno.


I had no problems with Biest, but when Progesteron was added (2nd half of the cycle) this is when all my troubles started. I saw positive effects of biest (moist skin, better mood, more energy, etc), it's progesteron that did me in.

In general, I used bios for 3 months, and before that progesteron alone for 3 months (I was positive that everyone must use Progesteron after reading Dr.Lee's books). I was using it at night and 14 days (2nd half of the cycle) too. But it maked me hungry and bloated almost instantly, I was puffy and had major constipation and indigestion, tried and true. These are only lightest side effect, I am not even mentioning moodiness, depression ( could not stop crying), serious chest pain (trips to ER), throbbing leg pain, dizziness and fatigue, etc. My body can't tolerate Progesteron, it's hormones from hell for me.

I started bios because of some symptoms: muscle aches and tightness, anxiety, indigestion (on and off), mood swings, that I attributed to my declining hormones. I am 49 and going through perimenopause, you are right. My tests showed normal for my age estradiol and progesteron, low normal testosteron, and FSH is steadily low - 3-8 range, and my regular gyno said NO to any HRT and told me that my problems are due to fluctuations, that trigger prostaglandin release, and if I want to level it out, I can try BCP. But I refused it, I never took it in my life before. Of course, I had this mentality that mainstream gynos simply do not want to work with hormones, but now I know she was right, just learned it the hard way. Also reading all the books on hormones gave me a false idea that I must start supplementing now, if I don't want to fall apart later in life.
So I went to private doctors, who willingly Rx me bios and promissed it will make me feel better. I finally figured out that while I am not menopausal, my hormones fluctuate a lot, some days hourly, and it's fluctuation that causes all this nasty symptoms. I don't have typical meno symptoms like hot flushes, dizziness, headaches, insomnia, sore breasts, etc. But everyone is different.


This is a dilemma with hormones: no one wants to have a period for the rest of the life, and you need to cycle progesteron only, like 21 days on and 7 days off, so withdrawal will cause bleeding. Some doctors say you can do it once every 3 months, to ensure no uterine lining buildup, it's better than every months anyways. BTW, since I still naturally cycle monthly, added hormones messed it up and I started bleeding midcycle, and my period got out of whack.
But without cycling even when combined with progesteron, there is a chance for endometial lining to build up and the cells turn cancerous, not to mention that progesteron can cause other unwanted side effects when taken continuously. I also read that it's not natural for our body to have Progesteron past meno, and combined therapy is what causes blood clots and heart attacks (progesteron taken daily can burn out estrogen receptors and donwplay beneficial effect of estrogen), estrogen alone is more beneficial but increases risk of breast and uterine cancers...Catch 22 if you ask me.
Private doctors happily draw blood on bi-weekly basis, but when you get hormonal profile, it takes about 9 vials of blood, and I can't deal with it all the time too. It's time consuming and cost effective too, and no insurance will pay for it. But money is no onbject for me, time and hassles are, LOL.
So some women just go by symptoms, tweaking doses by the way they feel, and AFAIK the best delivery system for E is a patch (not sublinguals, oral or cream), which are fast absorbed but cleared fast too, but patch like Vivell dot, it's 100% natural 17-beta estradiol and it provides constant supply of estradiol. For now, I have decided to stay away from hormones, and unless I will start having hot flushes, night sweats and other meno-crap, I would try to do without them at all. I just feel that my body needs some TLC at this transitional time, so I just take it easy with diet and exercise and try not too add any more stress.


This is what I was told by my doctors, they all say: once hormonal war is over, you will have no problems losing this weight, just as I was able to do it before meno. Other women at Power Surge (greatest peri and meno website with lots of info and support BTW). So I am not sweating it too much, I have enough on my plate (no pun intended) going through the change and it takes tall mentally and physically on my body as is, why would add extra stress. I did lose some weight I gained on hormones, and also eating lesss calories helps somewhat.
YMMV, as usual, what works for one, may not work for another women. I also love Susun Weed thinking on menopause and weight loss, she suggest to GAIN at least 10 pounds ( if you are slim) or stop trying to lose weight during menopause, and I now understand why.
http://www.menopause-metamorphosis....weight_gain.htm

Regards,
Dina

Wow! You really DO know what you're talking about! It's going to take a few readings of your last post to get everything. My NP had me do a saliva test for the hormone panel. Some people say it's much more accurate than blood tests. I don't know one way or the other.

Interesting, though, that when I had the the blood test (from a gyno I saw only once, because I didn't agree with her thinking -- that's another story), she said the results were that I was not menopausal at all.

Now how can that be, seeing as how I've had only two periods since January 1 of this year?

You can be sure I'm going to check out that web site and the link you provided.

THANKS!

Dina, what's the URL for Power Surge? I tried powersurge.com and came up with something totally different.