I understand exactly where you are coming from. I don't believethe Estrogel reall gets to the heart of the issues. When I had my hysterectomy my doctor said it was up to me if I wanted to go on hormones. Nice guy, but in hindsight I now think that there should be more concern about my hormone levels. I live not far fom the lady in Burlington. Our area here does not seem to offer an solutions to the bio issue. It will be interesting to see what you come up with!

Well, I had my appointment with the doctor. He gave me the "Lots of women your age have those problems" speech! He put me on meds for my IBS but didn't really pursue the hormone issue again. I put myself on the waiting list for Bio-Identicals and am talking to a couple of doctors to see what they have to say. I'll keep you posted. At least I have relief from the IBS, at least that's a start!

I'm sorry that you had this experience with your doctor. A similar thing happened to me before I got help with bioidenticals in that my GP told me, "well, you're just getting older." I remember thinking "how horrible!" I was only 42 at the time (I'm 48 now) and I felt 70! So I thought, "this is terrible, this is what I have to look forward to?" How was I going to feel at 70 if I already felt so bad at 42? He had no advice or help for me. He told me to live with it because this was how it was!

Your scenario and mine play out day-in-and-day-out all over the country. It's terrible what happens. Tradionally trained doctors are not properly trained about hormones by any stretch of the imagination, so when you start to exhibit the symptoms of hormonal imbalance they have no idea how to help you. (Make sure you read this all the way through to find out what I say about IBS, because you can actually fix what is likely wrong (likely yeast overgrowth and possibly hypothyroidism) and not just put a band-aid on your symptoms.)

There was help for me and thankfully, I found it! There is help for you too and others, but your chances of getting it from a conventional doctor are very low. If they do even agree to help you, personally I would not want them to because they will not know enough. They will need to figure out what hormones you need, in what dosages, and how to tweak them after you get started. This is not something that they have been trained to do.

Some on this site have said that compounding pharmacists will work with doctors to advise them. We have a compounding pharmacy where I work, so I asked one of the pharmacists about this. (I had to ask her because where I work the doctors know what do, so there is no need for one of our doctors to ask a pharmacist.) She told me that most compounding pharmacies that give advice to doctors do not address the thyroid and the adrenal glands, which is crucial. So, just make sure that if a pharmacist is going to work with your doctor that they are going to address your thyroid and adrenal glands.

After I got well, I became passionate about helping others get well too, so I went to work for the wellness clinic that restored my body and my life! I am now one of the consultants that prospective patients speak to before coming to our clinic. I evaluate them to see if and how we can help. This is why I am well aware of what women are experiencing all over the country with their traditional doctors. I have heard your story and mine repeated literally thousands of times.

I urge all of you to break free from your traditional doctors that know very little about hormones. Find a doctor who is experienced in treating with bioidentical hormones. Here is what the best bioidentical hormone doctors will do for you:

Look at your symptoms, not blood work to determine if your thyroid and cortisol are low. Looking at the TSH is what traditional doctors do (every day all over the country) and thus women and men with hypothyroidism go undiagnosed an untreated. If they are treated, doctors usually give them synthetic thyroid that doesn't work well and they rarely address the adrenal glands, which are crucial to all of us. (Therefore, if you have ever suspected that your thyroid is low, do the "test yourself" questionnaire on the Hotze Health & Wellness Center website. I also suggest that you do all the other "test yourself" questionnaires as well because usually more than one hormone is low and you may have the other issues mentioned and not know it.)

He or she will also evaluate your symptoms to determine if your sex hormones (for women - progesterone, estrogen, testosterone; for men - testosterone and also progesterone believe it or not) are low.

Based on the above he or she will get you started on bioidentical hormones and then tweak them after you start based on how you feel rather than testing. (Sex hormones are constantly fluctuating, and the ranges are too broad with the thyroid and adrenal glands to balance them by blood/salvia.)

Consider whether you have yeast overgrowth and allergies. This is because there is a CONNECTION between hormones, allergies and yeast overgrowth. If you have taken antibiotics two to three times in your life and have some of the following symptoms: abdominal bloating or cramping, gas, belching, cravings for sweets, bread or salty foods, skin rashes/hives, toenail yellowing or toenail fungus you probably have yeast overgrowth, not IBS! Men and women are misdiagnosed with IBS daily when in reality they have yeast overgrowth. Please see the website I mentioned above for more information about this.

Treat you for yeast overgrowth if you have it in order to resolve these symptoms and because by doing so your own hormones and the supplemental hormones you will be taking will all work better. This includes an optimal eating program, a probiotic and a prescription to kill the yeast.

Treat you for allergies if you have them. When your thyroid and adrenals are low, your immune system is low and thus you are more susceptible to allergies. Moreover, yeast overgrowth makes allergies worse as well.

Recommend nutritional supplements that will be helpful in resolving your symptoms and to help you to obtain and maintain overall health and wellness naturally.

The above approach works to restore health and wellness naturally. If you can find someone who will approach bioidentical hormones in this manner and address the connected issues, you are definitely on the right track. You may want to read Hormones, Health & Happiness by Steven Hotze, M.D. if you are interested in learning more about a comprehensive approach to health and wellness.

To Your Health, Terri

Hi Terri

Thanks for sharing your story with me, and providing me with all the information. I really appreciate it! I took the quizzes and it appears that I have most of the symptoms. I will use the information to help me in my quest to have a better life. Thanks very much!

My pleasure! Congratulations for taking charge of your health! I suggest that you read Hormones Health & Happiness for even more information. The soft cover version is very inexpensive.

You may also contact Physician's Preference if you want to pursue the yeast detox on your own as not all bioidentical doctors do this. Google them in Katy, TX. You will need three products. Hotze Optimal Eating Cookbook, Acidophilus and Natural Yeast Cleanse. The HHH book is also available here.

Keep me updated on your progress! You may private message me with a specifc question.

Hugs, T.

Actually, Estrogel is bio-identical. It just happens to be one of the FDA approved bio-identicals which people seem to be confused about. There are several FDA approved bio-identicals and you don't always have to go to a compounding pharmacy in order to be treated with bio-identicals. Some of those estradiol products are Climara patch, Vivelle Dot patch, Alora patch, Estrogel, Divigel, Estring and others. I initially started out on Estrogel and I wasn't getting enough symptom relief. After some research, I discovered a chart from actual FDA approval documents that showed the average and the maximum blood levels achieved with the use of several bio-identical products. The thing that jumped out at me was that the Estrogel product delivered the lowest amount of estradiol than any of the other products. The reason for this was that the FDA approved dosage that was tested was only for one "pump" per day! In Europe, where it has been used for 30 years, the minimum dosages are for 2 pumps per day, but up to as many as 4 pumps per day!! Unfortunately, most doctors in the USA just automatically prescribe the FDA tested dosage of only 1 pump per day! Once my doctor upped me to 2 pumps a day, my symptoms greatly improved, but not enough. I realized I could get more delivered to my system from a patch product which would be more convenient and cost effective for me personally than going to 3 or 4 pumps a day. It is working beautifully! I would suggest you try upping your dosage to multiple times per day or look into a different product. I don't know what all your symptoms are so it's hard to say, but you may also benefit from other hormones as well as the estradiol. I know I have had to add additional hormones (Testosterone and Thyroid) to my regimen with the careful help of a knowledgeable doctor and my life is like night and day! Good luck to you! I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info. I did know that Estrogel was a Bio-Identical, but was trying to find out more about my options. Sounds like you are where I'd like to be. I have adhesive allergies, so I might need an alternate option to the patch, but your info will definitely point me in the right direction!

Hi Terri

I know it's been about 3 months. I finally got an appointment with a Bio-identical doctor, and I am really looking forward to making some progress on this! I'll let you know how it goes.

M.E.

Wow! Just read your post, after I posted a message that I was looking for a traditionally trained dr?

I suppose what I am looking for is someone who might have been traditionally trained but has expanded their practice to include other avenues of hormone treatment.

For more than 13 years (Yes, I was in a fog, but hung on to the 13 year mark as a passage), I have been suffering from hormonal inbalance.

It started at 36, but my dr. did not recognize it (in spite of my efforts, lists of symptoms) unti 45, when I added hot flashes (and also a report from an endrocronolgist...that my blod works showed no estrogen).

During those years, I sought help from other kinds of doctors and was on everything from ritalin to the last, low dose of Lexapro.

After seening the Oprah show, and hearing some very brave women, reveal their darkest secrets about how they suffered, I realized I was not crazy or alone!

Armed with information from the web site, show and my research, I went to my dr.

I went on 0.01 clamara patch and three months later, added a medroxyprogesterone 2.5 mg.

The first 4 months were a mircle. Also a rude awakening in all the things I had let go...from friends to housekeeping to nearly everything.

It's been 7 months, from my research, I think I had early ovarian failure (at 36 periods were reg/but fogginess, sleep issues, aching joints to out and out forgetfulness).

The patch and medroxyprogesterone created a feeling of wellness ... although as time went on....I found a pattern of changing feelings and moods correlated with how long the patch was on (day one vs day 6).

I also developed unpredictable moments of "tearing" ... literally tears pouring down my face...not always connected to an emotional moment...although I also have unpredictable crying jags. Talk about curbing my social interaction!! How many times do I have to weigh whether to say "Oh, ignore this, it's just a hormonal imbalance!" Truthfully, I have coped with it by saying "I just received bad news today" -- but even that will get old.

During my last visit, my dr. said the tearing or crying is due to hormonal fluctuations. But that was basically it.

(No solutions, no tweaking).

Obviously, I am on the right path to dealing with the hormanal issue, but also obvious that I need someone more specialized.

I am in my 50s. I have to be careful because of the health insurance issues we are all faced with...but will go with private pay if I find the right dr.

Like thousands of women, I responded to all the people/medical clinics that I heard about on Oprah. They were all booked, and located too far away ... I didn't even get to the pricing. However, I felt the documentation was very good.

Where I live, it is hard to tell who is really legit. in this area from those just venturing into it.

My dr. said I could get a 5th patch (use 5 a month, instead of 4).

From what I have learned, it could be I need more estrogen...AND it could also be that I have too much estrogen.

I do know, it takes an expert to tell...that's not me....

Terri, I don't want to spend another 6 months with these new symptoms...nor do I want to go back to being so disfunctional.

I can get the book you recommended, but what I really need is to find another doctor.

Where do I start and what do I look for (so I don't find someone who is too new to this nor someone who isn't getting involved with the latest advancements>

I have a list of resources to help anyone who wants to find a doctor in their area, how to check out a new doctor with state medical boards/board certification, as well as a list of recommended reading --- just shoot me an email at holyhormones@gmail.com. If you need a BHRT expert in Southern CA or Charlotte, NC, I can help with that, too! Have a happy, hormonally balanced day!