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Valerie Jo
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 5

Posted 6/5/2005 9:04 PM (GMT -5)

I had a hysterectomy when I was 27 (one ovary saved), and it wasn't until I was 40 that my doctor put me on estrogen patches (this was in the late 80s). I'm now 58 and unemployed (lost my insurance). I am nearly out of my prescription of P-ESTRIOL 1.5 (6 left) and very concerned. What is going to happen to me when I am not able to get these any longer? I have been taking one every other day to buy some time as I search for answers. I don't have the money to go to the doctor for an exam - so the doctor can give me another prescription for a year. Is there a natural over the counter estrogen I can take? I know what it's like being out of these and it's not a good thing. Please advise me what to do.

Thank you kindly,

Valerie Jo

Texas

-While only your doctor can advise you what to do concerning your prescription drugs, there are "alternatives" but they are not "over the counter estrogen." They include herbs and/or soy that have an estrogenic effect, but may not be enough for someone who is used to taking estrogen. - Moderator

Valerie Jo
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 5

Posted 6/6/2005 10:57 AM (GMT -5)

Thanks for the reply. I used to work at a health food store and soy was my favorite thing to eat in all forms. It got to the place where I was unable to think and could hardly find my way home from work at times. I stopped eating the soy and the symptoms left. I will check into the herbs. Thank you for the advice.

Valerie Jo

leppert
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2001
Total Posts : 537

Posted 6/8/2005 9:16 PM (GMT -5)

Why don't you take a trip across the border with your current bottle of hormones in hand. You probably won't need a prescription in Mexico and if you do it will be very inexpensive to see a Dr. I go to Tijuana for my dental work and have been really impressed with both Drs and Dentists there. My hubby's Cytomel cost us $35 through our mail in drug plan through his insurance for a three month supply. I bought the same thing in Tijuana for $8.50.

If you go to a reputable drug store in Mexico you will get good products. They are the same manufacturers as in our country. Don't believe the horror stories you may hear. Some of them are true about buying via the Internet, but with your being in TX already, you could make the trip down and back in one day.

ALH
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 25

Posted 7/19/2005 2:17 PM (GMT -5)

Leppert: could you post the name of a good dentist in Tijuana?

lei.talk
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2004
Total Posts : 408

Posted 7/19/2005 5:19 PM (GMT -5)

Valerie Jo

i knew a woman that did not wish to use hormone replacement therapy.

she rubbed a tiny bit of progesterone cream on her feet, each night.

every one noticed the improvement.

it must have been a popular product,

she was buying it at the health-food store.

perhaps, some one else knows the details of the product.

Post Edited (lei.talk) : 7/21/2005 1:54:40 AM (GMT-4)

leppert
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2001
Total Posts : 537

Posted 7/23/2005 10:32 AM (GMT -5)

There are a gazillion dentists in Tijuana. I've been going to Dr. Javier Morales lately and he is the one who surgically removed my 8 root canal teeth and four cavitations. Great job!

Unfortunately the fitting of the bridges has not gone so well and I've made some trips down (six hour drive and over night stay) and the bridge either did not fit or not ready ... so at the moment I am not a happy camper. My last trip down this last Sunday/Monday was fruitless and I have yet to get this finished. His US phone # is (619) 734-2359

Here is another dentist I'd been going to before Dr Morales. Dr. Sergio Penunuri US # (760) 594-3958 enudent@telnor.net">penudent@telnor.net He is not a "biological" dentist but will make things right and is alway ready when he promises. I wish now I'd gone back to him for the partials and bridges ... He is cheaper than Morales too.

http://www.dentistasdetijuana.com/index.html

This is a web site that should help. The ones who advertise the most aren't necessarily the best. There are a lot of good dentists there and they conform to the US standards.

leppert
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2001
Total Posts : 537

Posted 7/25/2005 10:26 AM (GMT -5)

Even the prescribed progesterone creams aren't always enough. It is best to have the testing done so you know what you need and how much. In my case my Dr said I could sleep in a tub of the strongest progesterone cream and I wouldn't have absorbed enough.

There are a number of commercial over-the-counter products, but again, it is best to test first to make sure what you need and how much. Maybe you need testosterone and not progesterone? Won't know unless you get tested.

lei.talk
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2004
Total Posts : 408

Posted 7/26/2005 8:04 PM (GMT -5)

Maybe you need testosterone and not progesterone?

the flow-chart of human metabolism

shows progesterone preceding estrogens and testosterone.

in response to stressors,

your body produces estrogens and testosterone from progesterone

in amounts appropriate to your activity-levels.

if testosterone is taken,

your body shuts down it's natural production

and any excess testosterone

will degrade to estrogens and di-hydro-testosterone

and cause health problems

(moustache, acne, male-pattern baldness in men and women).

after forty or fifty, many cancers are caused by excess hormones.

by excess, i mean unused - more hormones present in the body

than are being used by exercise or sex.

Post Edited (lei.talk) : 7/26/2005 8:16:13 PM (GMT-4)

Valerie Jo
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 5

Posted 7/29/2005 4:22 PM (GMT -5)

Valerie Jo here. For the kind person who suggested that I go to Mexico to get hormones, it's interesting because this is exactly what happened. I've been on (not the same hormone) for a month now... and I've gained 10 pounds when I eat like a bird. My whole body has changed. I'm not at all depressed anymore (and this is wonderful) but oh my gosh... my joints hurt and my whole system is different. My digestion is terrible and all that follows. I tried getting off of them and I felt like I would loose my mind there for awhile. So, still unemployed I don't really know what to do. I don't know if anyone understands or relates, or can even say anything that can help. Maybe a job door will open soon and I can just go get what I need done.

Thanks you all for your sweet advice ... and for just caring enough to respond.

Valerie Jo

valeriejo@nts-online.net

leppert
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2001
Total Posts : 537

Posted 7/29/2005 9:47 PM (GMT -5)

Are you on the bioidentical type hormones?Aall natural? Also are there three of them or just the one? My Dr has me do three, even though I basically need the progesterone. She said something about needing to have the other two, slight though they are, for balance.

You may also need some other stuff like DHEA. What did the tests indicate? This is not an exact science and basically you have to find the right amount for you body. I was started with just one capsule 2X a day for several weeks and then it gave my body a chance to adjust. Once we determined that the hot flashes hadn't abated completely my dose was upped. I've been doing fine and hope to eventually get off them completely but at least right now I've felt great, lost weight and sleep like a baby.

Just reread your original post and I think that you may need to get your tests done again. You are probably in full menopause and probably don't need all that estriol and perhaps more progesterone. Time to recheck everything with blood and saliva testing. The LEF blood tests aren't too expensive.

lei.talk
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2004
Total Posts : 408

Posted 8/1/2005 10:48 AM (GMT -5)

Valerie Jo said...

... and I've gained 10 pounds when I eat like a bird. My whole body has changed. I'm not at all depressed anymore (and this is wonderful) but oh my gosh... my joints hurt and my whole system is different. My digestion is terrible and all that follows. I tried getting off of them and I felt like I would loose my mind there for awhile.

i think your description of your experience

using hormones demonstrates my point.

i wish some one would volunteer the name

of the phyto-progesterone cream that is available

from health-food stores. it works much better.

if you are active,

your body will make the appropriate hormones

in the appropriate ratios.

the phyto-estrogen creams will cause

the same problems that the hormones did.

one other point,

body-fat is made from carbo-hydrates.

menopausal women that do not wish to get fatter,

need only delete carbo-hydrates from their diet.

adequate consumption of life extension mix tablets

and high-quality protein will prevent the hunger.

Post Edited (lei.talk) : 9/1/2005 9:55:35 PM (GMT-4)

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