Re: Endo and hormones to Maggie
From: andrea (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri Jul 13 12:26:00 2007
Hi, One thing you can do is probably get off the Premarin. That will
definately make you have estrogen dominance! Yuck. Those are the ones
made with horse pee. Another thing too, I had to experiment with
different pain meds til I found the right combo that would not hurt my
stomach or make me too dizzy. I take usually a name brand Vicodin or
Lortab and 2-3 advil too. For some reason, generic painkillers make me
throw up. They are buffered with different things. And Naproxen has
ALWAYS hurt my stomach! It has given me ulcers before. I take a natural
NSAID called Arnica Montana. You can get it at Whole Foods or The
Vitamin Shoppe online and it's only $5.00.
I swear if I was a millionaire, I would fly everyone on this forum out
here to Dallas to see my doctor and try the progesterone! My insurance
is not that great anymore either. I had to keep raising my deductible
because my monthly premiums were getting to be way too much. My
deductible is $10,000. So, if I have the lap surgery, I will be paying
about 15k myself - the total cost is $25,000.
Do you have a co-pay on drugs? If you ask your doc for that prometrium,
I bet he would prescribe that for you. Since mine is not patented, most
doctors don't want to prescribe it, because they have no faith in things
that are not approved by the FDA. My aunt was on just Prempro by itself
and she felt extremely sick, so some of the sickness you are feeling
could be from the add-back pills and not the lupron. I would go see
another doctor and not worry about what the family will think, your
health is way MORE important. Have a good weekend.
At Fri, 13 Jul 2007, mdustin wrote:
>
>Hey Andrea,
>
>Thank you for all of the information. My doctor has be on Premerin .625
>mg. Which of course, confused me, due to it being STRAIGHT Estrogen !!!
>He gave me this type, due to, I believe the fact that he had samples. I
>do have very good insurance, so I was suprised, but none the less,
>that's what he gave me for my add-back therapy. I was having very bad
>effects to Lupron at the time. I only have a week and a half left of
>the samples and was not told what to do when they ran out.
>
>I spoke with my mother last night about the Estrogen dominance and all
>of the symptoms it spoke of, which I read in that link. She was as
>amazed as I was. She noted that she had never had her hormone levels
>checked either. (she had breast cancer at a young age.) I'm going to
>print out information and bring it with me to see my doctor and ask for
>a level check. Hopefully, this will result in him not fighting me on
>it.
>
>It made me mad, everyone has been telling me for so long that I should
>switch doctors; find a specialist...etc. And then I spoke to my mother
>the other night after she had gone to her doctor. My mother had talked
>about me to the nurse on staff. The nurse praised my doctor for all
>that he was doing. Saying that 'most doctors' would not be treating me
>so GOOD! Now, all the sudden, my mother feels that way as well, after
>her being one of my biggest supporters; giving me the guts to search for
>a new doctor. I know that most women don't get diagnosed for years and
>years, however, I also waited 3 years (since I had my daughter), with
>constant bleeding, pain, u.t.i's, etc. I guess I still just don't get
>it.
>
>Everyday, I keep feeling worse, as the Lupron is still in my system. I
>had my last shot at the beginning of this month. Now I am to wait
>untill I start bleeding again? My doctor really didn't tell me what to
>expect, or what to do now; he just had me make an appointment for
>September. Now, I feel that I'm slowly, very slowly, getting worse! And
>what can I do? This whole thing with being diagnosed and being on Lupron
>has only been since this March! And it seems that everyone is already
>sick and tired of me and what I'm going through. I feel the loneliness
>creeping back in like it was when I was first diagnosed. The
>uncertainty of it all...it is just too much.
>
>Sorry to write so much. Thank you again for the information.
>~Mags
>
>At Thu, 12 Jul 2007, andrea wrote:
>>
>>Hey Maggie.
>>
>>I hope my info is not upseting to you, but it is so frustrating to me
>>that most women have NEVER had their hormones tested, yet our doctors
>>give us synthetic hormones - one size fits all and they may cause
>>serious consequences for us all in the future. If our estrogen
>>dominance could have been fixed years ago, do you think we would have
>>gone through all this? All the money we've spent and all the pills....?
>>You have every right to worry about ALL of your symptoms. They are
>>scary.
>>
>>If you get your hormones tested and I hope you do, you will have to go
>>to a doc who believes the tests are relevent! Yours hormones, I'm sure
>>will be all messed up for a while due to the Lupron. Blood tests for
>>hormone checks should be covered by your insurance, since there is proof
>>you've been being treated for endo. It's very simple.
>>
>>They test your hormones, then give you a dosage of whatever they think
>>will bring them up to normal levels. Please try the natural stuff!!
>>150mg of progesterone brought mine up to normal and supressed my
>>estrogen. Most of the women on here are on just a synthetic
>>progesterone for add-back (like Steph), so I don't understand why your
>>doc has you on PremPro, which has both progesterone and estrogen.
>>Estrogen is what we are trying to get rid of!
>>
>>You get them re-tested a few months later to see what they are, then
>>after that, just once a year. The chart says to get them tested on day
>>3 of your cycle, but I think there is a few day window when the test
>>will come out accurately. I had to have mine done right before my
>>period because on day 3, I am in pain and can't leave the house!
>>
>>I don't know if you saw this chart or not:
>>http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html
>>
>>A company has patented a bio-identical progesterone that I just learned
>>about, it's called Prometrium. The only thing is, it has penut oil in
>>it, so you can't take it if you are allergic to peanuts. It also listed
>>a lot of side effects, but I've never experience ONE with mine. I think
>>a lot of them may be from peanut allergies.
>>
>>I called my pharmacist immediately, because they had told me that a
>>bio-identical could not be patented by a drug company and they said
>>"They patented the way that the drug is delivered into the system -
>>through peanut oil." Whatever....that still makes no sense to me, but
>>now more doctors will have access to this and you won't have to go to a
>>compounding pharmacy to get it. I bet it's more expensive, though,
>>because drug companies charge a fortune. ( You should still only pay a
>>co-pay, though.) I buy mine from a small pharmacy who makes it, mine
>>does not have the peanut oil.
>>
>>Hope you find a great doctor and get some help soon....
>>
>>At Thu, 12 Jul 2007, mdustin wrote:
>>>
>>>I truly believe that there is a tie to all of this. Obviously, right?
>>>They believe that Endo feeds on Estrogen, which is why such
>>>prescriptions are given, such as Lupron and Depo, birth conrol pills,
>>>etc. But in how many of us do they check our hormone levels? I know
>>>that mine have not been tested. If I had not done more research, I
>>>would never have put the two together. Is it our job, as patients to
>>>show our doctors what to do? Do we urge that we get our levels tested,
>>>even if our doctor's fight us? I found this link very interesting....
>>>
>>>http://www.natural-progesterone-advisory-network.com/symptoms-of-estrogen-dominance.php
>>>
>>>Especially with all of the 'extra' symptoms part.
>>>
>>>I found it very odd that I started my period when I was eight years old,
>>>I was one of two in my whole class. Both of my sisters started their
>>>periods when they were teenagers. I have always struggled with 'bad
>>>periods'. I actually was just telling an old childhood friend about my
>>>having Endo and she said, you know, you were always having horrible
>>>periods as a child...I remember that. She has PCOS, which I just found
>>>out. The link above discusses how higher levels of estrogen rather than
>>>progesterone levels may actually be a link to Endo and cancer. Now, my
>>>question is, if Endo is something that they are finding in women, and
>>>they think it 'may' be tied to Estrogen levels....why aren't our levels
>>>being checked? I think this makes me really upset due to my mother
>>>having had breast cancer at such a young age. And her sister was lost
>>>to cancer at a young age as well. With my having Endo and that may be
>>>increasing my 'chances' of having cancer....shouldn't my levels be
>>>checked? Or is this even real? I don't know.
>>>
>>>I feel silly for worrying so much about every little symptom. But
>>>shouldn't I be? I don't know.
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