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  #1   ^
Old Thu, Jul-26-12, 12:34
AnnaT AnnaT is offline
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Posts: 19
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/225.2/150 Female 5'7''
BF:
Progress: 18%
Default Ladies, your experiences with HRT

Hello,

I'm not 50 yet but I thought this would be a good forum for information since I guess some of the ladies here may have gone through this already.

Here's my background: I'm 43 and have been suffering perimenopausal symptoms for the last several years, only I didn't know what it was. Last summer things got very bad and basically I had a hormonal apocalypse. After getting a d&c and a prescription for Prometrium, I was getting a little better. Now the symptoms have returned full force and my dr. has added 21 days of estrogen to my regimen. I take estrogen cycle days 5-26 and the progesterone days 14-26. I am waiting now to take the first day of estrogen, haven't started it yet.

I am worried too about my weight loss. Since I've been taking the prometrium I've lost almost 16 pounds, after 3 years of gaining and being able to lose nothing. Since these symptoms have returned I haven't lost anything and am retaining water.

So my questions are:

1. If you were put on HRT, how long did it take to start helping? I am really not myself any more.
2. Did it derail your weight loss?
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  #2   ^
Old Thu, Jul-26-12, 13:22
Liz53's Avatar
Liz53 Liz53 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 6,140
 
Plan: Mostly Fung/IDM
Stats: 165/138.4/135 Female 63
BF:???/better/???
Progress: 89%
Location: Washington state
Default

I've been on estrogen only HRT for ~15 years following a hysterectomy. I lost 16.5 lbs the first 3 months on Atkins and it took a little over a year to lose the next 10 (I've since gained back a bit after a stressful past 6 months. However, I'm also right at the normal BMI point, where every pound can be a struggle. I think that is more of an impact on my weight loss than HRT.

In short, I think it is important to get your hormones balanced and let the weight loss be secondary. Post-menopausal women generally gain some weight and change proportions. I think it is probably going to help more than hurt for you have have your hormones normalized.
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  #3   ^
Old Thu, Jul-26-12, 13:55
Whofan's Avatar
Whofan Whofan is offline
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Posts: 2,550
 
Plan: Low Carb Primal
Stats: 170/135/135 Female 5ft.6in.
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: New York Metro area
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The Women's Health Project stopped their study of women on conventional HRT early because of health scares, including of course cancer, primarily breast cancer. Bio-identical HRT on the other hand takes longer to show improvement, but I understand that there have been no cancer or other health scares associated with it. If I'm wrong, somebody here will contradict me I'm sure, and I'd be glad to know about it.

I was on Bio-identical HRT for a year or two after hitting a menopausal wall. Absolutely no energy, no joy of life, etc. It happened suddenly, up until then I was trucking along happily and suddently...bam. The bio-identical hormones took a few weeks to kick in and then I was back to my old self: good libido, weight loss, laughing, energy, and so on.

They are expensive, because not covered by insurance (not the actual hormones themselves, which are about $35 per prescription, but the consultation with a doctor). They are also tailored to the individual and that takes time to get right. For example, the testosterone in mine was too much at first. I understood what it must be like to be a 16 year old, horny, boy! But with some trial and error we got it just right.

On the other hand: I stopped the bio-identical hormones when I couldn't afford it anymore. Recently I needed a topically applied vaginal hormone and my GP prescribed a chemical form of estrogen. I was very wary, having researched man-made chemical hormones before and their results. But it was cheap, so I used it 3 times a week for 3 weeks. It worked great. Then I had a full blown period. I am 62 years old. It scared the sh#t out of me! My advice is don't take the conventional HRT, in fact run away from it. Save up your pennies and go for the bio-identical kind.

Last edited by Whofan : Thu, Jul-26-12 at 14:00.
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  #4   ^
Old Thu, Jul-26-12, 14:21
Liz53's Avatar
Liz53 Liz53 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 6,140
 
Plan: Mostly Fung/IDM
Stats: 165/138.4/135 Female 63
BF:???/better/???
Progress: 89%
Location: Washington state
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One thing about the Women's Health Project is that the problems associated with HRT are for estrogen + progesterone. The arm that studied women who'd had hysterectomies and were on estrogen only showed a reduction in breast cancer from the control group (of no HRT). I know this does not affect the OP, but it may have bearing for others reading this.

I have tried to do research about Bio-HRT over the years and honestly have not been able to come up with much other than testimonials. No controlled studies that I know of. (I would welcome any sources that others might have.) I have no idea if B-HRT is safer, because I can't find any information. This is not to say that it is less safe, just that it seems to difficult to know.

I wish this subject were given more attention. There are a lot of women out there who could benefit from more information.
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  #5   ^
Old Thu, Jul-26-12, 23:00
AnnaT AnnaT is offline
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Posts: 19
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/225.2/150 Female 5'7''
BF:
Progress: 18%
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Liz53
I've been on estrogen only HRT for ~15 years following a hysterectomy. I lost 16.5 lbs the first 3 months on Atkins and it took a little over a year to lose the next 10 (I've since gained back a bit after a stressful past 6 months. However, I'm also right at the normal BMI point, where every pound can be a struggle. I think that is more of an impact on my weight loss than HRT.

In short, I think it is important to get your hormones balanced and let the weight loss be secondary. Post-menopausal women generally gain some weight and change proportions. I think it is probably going to help more than hurt for you have have your hormones normalized.


Thank you for your reply. I do agree that I can't be like this. Feeling the way I do would not be optimal for a weight-loss program, anyway. Too tired to exercise, etc.

As it was, I was only losing during the two weeks of my cycle I was on the progesterone. Even if it stays like that with the addition of the estrogen, I can live with it.
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  #6   ^
Old Thu, Jul-26-12, 23:16
AnnaT AnnaT is offline
New Member
Posts: 19
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/225.2/150 Female 5'7''
BF:
Progress: 18%
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Whofan
The Women's Health Project stopped their study of women on conventional HRT early because of health scares, including of course cancer, primarily breast cancer. Bio-identical HRT on the other hand takes longer to show improvement, but I understand that there have been no cancer or other health scares associated with it. If I'm wrong, somebody here will contradict me I'm sure, and I'd be glad to know about it.

I was on Bio-identical HRT for a year or two after hitting a menopausal wall. Absolutely no energy, no joy of life, etc. It happened suddenly, up until then I was trucking along happily and suddently...bam. The bio-identical hormones took a few weeks to kick in and then I was back to my old self: good libido, weight loss, laughing, energy, and so on.

They are expensive, because not covered by insurance (not the actual hormones themselves, which are about $35 per prescription, but the consultation with a doctor). They are also tailored to the individual and that takes time to get right. For example, the testosterone in mine was too much at first. I understood what it must be like to be a 16 year old, horny, boy! But with some trial and error we got it just right.

On the other hand: I stopped the bio-identical hormones when I couldn't afford it anymore. Recently I needed a topically applied vaginal hormone and my GP prescribed a chemical form of estrogen. I was very wary, having researched man-made chemical hormones before and their results. But it was cheap, so I used it 3 times a week for 3 weeks. It worked great. Then I had a full blown period. I am 62 years old. It scared the sh#t out of me! My advice is don't take the conventional HRT, in fact run away from it. Save up your pennies and go for the bio-identical kind.



Thank you for telling me about your experience. May I ask why your doctor wanted you to take hormones at 62?

I have read some about this study. The progesterone I am taking is natural, although no natural form of the estrogen was available (I don't live in the U.S.). My doctor tried to put me on a synthetic progestin as well, but I told him I wanted to stay on the natural progesterone (called Prometrium in the U.S.). So I'm not sure how the combination of synthetic estrogen and natural progesterone will play out. I am going to try it and see what happens this month.

I would love to see a naturopath but nothing like that seems available here.

My doctor wants me to have a "normal" menstrual cycle. When I had the d&c last fall I had polyps and mild hyperplasia of the endometrium. So he wants to see me shedding this endometrium. I don't know. Sometimes I think that if it all wants to shut down now, why not let it? But he thinks that I am sporadically producing estrogen and not progesterone (my testosterone, prolactin, etc. was all normal) so he wants to regulate it all so I won't end up with occasional months of all estrogen and no progesterone.
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  #7   ^
Old Fri, Jul-27-12, 07:50
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Whofan Whofan is offline
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Posts: 2,550
 
Plan: Low Carb Primal
Stats: 170/135/135 Female 5ft.6in.
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: New York Metro area
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Hi Anna: To answer your question I'd have to say that 62 isn't the same as dead, lol. (a) Some of us, probably all, are still sexually active but might need a little more hormonal help than, say, a 20 year old with such matters as thinning of the vaginal wall and dryness which can make intercourse unnecessarily painful. (b) Even at 62 we deserve to have feelings of well-being, energy, vitality; hormones help with all that. (c) There is also evidence to suggest that one reason young women don't usually have heart attacks is because they are being protected by hormones, primarily estrogen, and conversely older women are more likely to suffer heart attacks because their hormones have diminished.

It's like nature decided that because a woman can no longer continue the species by giving birth she is no longer necessary on the planet, so we'll just take away her hormones and she'll quickly shrivel up and die! I'm only being partly facetious. However, babyboomers have always changed everything and this shrivelling up and dying stuff is no exception. We ain't gonna do it before we're ready!!!
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  #8   ^
Old Fri, Jul-27-12, 10:15
quietone quietone is offline
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Posts: 1,271
 
Plan: original 72 Atkins
Stats: 201/177/142 Female 65 inches
BF:44/44/25
Progress: 41%
Location: Northern Virginia
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HRT does not affect my weight at all. It's all about what I put in my mouth. And it helps immediately (for me).

Let me start by saying my mom is 84 and still on hormones. She is on Premarin, not bioidentical and you couldn't pry it from her (and we don't want you to either...lol). It's a quality of life issue.

The patches and creams are bioidentical. You do not have to go to a compounding pharacy these days to get bios.

There is no study whatsoever about bios harms/benefits. There are many assumptions. The assumptions go thusly: 1) they help vasomotor symptoms; therefore it's assumed they'll help bones as well; 2) they're not oral; therefore it's assumed they won't have the adverse events as often (clots, gallbladder, strokes etc). None of this is proven.

The infamous study was done on Prempro, which is synthetic estrogen and synthetic progestin. The synthetics are much stronger than the naturals, so dr and patient must be aware of that part.

Interestingly, i see a lot of women using the bios that end up having to have ADDTIONAL vaginal estrogen. Whereas, I don't hear of that at all with women using Premarin.

A woman's ovaries produce hormones until they're about 80 years old. After a woman has had a hysterctomy/oophrectomy, they're left with hormones coming from adrenal glands and fat cells. There is no good reasoning whatsover to take a woman off hormones 7 years later, at 55 yrs old or whatever abstract number doctors decide to use today. That's completely bogus. Until doctors understand there is a difference b/t women who've had hysterectomies and woman who are going through natural menopause, it remains a battle (at times).

Sometimes drs are afraid of being sued and some drs are truly trying to be careful with their patients health, but either way it's guesswork. They don't know the answers to this stuff.

Last edited by quietone : Fri, Jul-27-12 at 10:20.
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  #9   ^
Old Sat, Jul-28-12, 11:08
AnnaT AnnaT is offline
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Posts: 19
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/225.2/150 Female 5'7''
BF:
Progress: 18%
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Quietone, I'm glad to hear that you didn't gain from them and they helped quickly. I start day after tomorrow and hope they work for me too. My doctor did tell me that it's somewhat of a guessing game, that each woman needs her prescription and dosages tailored to her. Which, unfortunately, means trial and error.

I didn't know what to expect. None of the other women in my family have started this as early as me and none of them seem to have had the severity of symptoms I've had.

Part of my fear comes from what happened to me when I took birth control pills years ago, for 6 months. I packed on the weight very quickly and was never able to budge a pound again until I found Atkins. I lost a lot, then started regaining it after 3 years. Nothing stopped it until I went on the progesterone. So I think the regain was also related to hormones. My doctor told me this shouldn't affect me, that it's a very low dose of estrogen and won't act like birth control. But with my history, I'm still wary of it all.
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  #10   ^
Old Sat, Jul-28-12, 11:27
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
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Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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  #11   ^
Old Sat, Jul-28-12, 19:04
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cnmLisa cnmLisa is offline
Every day is day one
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Plan: AtkinsMaintenance/IF
Stats: 185/145/155 Female 5'5
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Progress: 133%
Location: Oregon Coast
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Anna--this is an older thread, but it looks like I posted in it when I first started bHRT at 49. I'm 52 now.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...79&page=2&pp=30

I did not have any problem losing and in fact, I think it gave me an advantage by displacing the thyroid hormone that was probably sitting on the estrogen receptors.

As an update and I should probably go update the other thread--last fall I began feeling cruddy, moody, snarky-er, tired, almost all the symptoms of thyroid deficiency...I started a small amount of thyroid replacement to supplement my thryoid function...tried 2 different doses and really niether one had any effect. I don't know why I waited so long, but back in May I decided to have a full saliva hormone screen done after talking to him about my symptoms. Yikes! My hormones were not only all over the place, but also it was official--menopausal (I don't have a uterus so I dont get the no bleeding for a year definition). After some conversations with my compunder--we decreased the estrogen, kept the progesterone the same, and added in testosterone---ahhhhhhhhh! The angels are singing. Within about a week I was starting to feel better and by 2 weeks awesome.

I have to pay out of pocket for my hormones, and I don't care. It's about $40/month and I figure I probably wasted that much money on "stuff".
Yep...."they" will be prying my hormones out of my dead hands. It also helps that I have a GYN who basically will do what ever I want as long as I'm not killing myself--she trusts me probably more so than the typical lay-person because I'm a midwife, but also, I do my due diligence, and understand the risks.

BTW--My mother is 77 and has been taking Premarin for at least 40 years. She's another one--try to pry it out of her hands and she'll kick your a$$--she already did with one NP

Hope this gives you some insight regarding other people's experiences.

Good luck!

Lisa

I just wanted to add because I read a post in this thread that bHRT is not available orally--not true..I take a sublingual (under the tongue) which actually is very effective because there is better absorption and bypasses the stomach and liver so you avoid the first pass normally seen when taking oral medication.

Last edited by cnmLisa : Sat, Jul-28-12 at 19:10.
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  #12   ^
Old Sun, Jul-29-12, 10:25
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
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Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
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To provide you insight to an alternate experience and source of information, here is a link to Dr. Susan Love's foundation, the country's leading researcher in Women's, particularly breast health. You can likely find her famous series of books at your library.
This is all helpful, but #6 in particular:
http://www.dslrf.org/mwh/content.as...d=1514&d=nn#exp
My personal experience is that I took bio-identical hormones in my early fifties and was diagnosed with breast cancer at 55. My advice to friends is only to take hormones for the shortest time possible, at the lowest dose possible, in bio-identical forms available by prescription, and only for severe symptoms that negatively effect your quality of life. Bio-identical has a health halo around the word, but hormones, whatever the source, will increase your risk of reproductive cancers if not taken appropriately.

Last edited by JEY100 : Sun, Jul-29-12 at 10:40.
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