The vast majority of people seem to live Mirena. That is why I kept going for 5 years. I hoped it would get better, or maybe I was just imagining my symptoms. Nope, once it went, so did the symptoms. It helps to hear from those who had reactions like mine, since hearing all those “I loved mine” comments made me feel crazy and abnormal.
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I considered going on Premarin a few years ago, but it was so expensive. Has the price come down or are there any reasonably priced effective alternatives?
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My D had to have hers removed. She had terrible side effects. She has plenty of friends who love theirs, but she can’t tolerate it.
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My doctor was a bit old school. He delivered both of my kids. When I was going menopause he advised me to let the nature take its course because he thought I would get over it quicker. He told me to wear airy layered clothing to help with hot flashes. I was more irritable, had hot flashes, irregular periods, but I didn’t have a lot of other issues. This is the doctor who referred me to a psychiatrist and prescribed me with anti-depression medication when I went through postpartum depression after birth of vD2.
I am not sure in my case if addition hormonal treatments would have been helpful and I don’t think my doctor had misled me.
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No. There is no generic for it. I get my PremPro for $65 per month but ONLY because I pay $2,400 more per year for a prescription plan on my insurance. It’s high-tier cost-wise. Also, part of my frustration. It’s the only thing I take and the only reason I have the added on cost for the prescription plan (because I still come out cheaper than if I had to pay full-freight for it). So, I am stuck paying that $2,400 this year and may will likely get zero benefit for it. All because of the timing of my annual physical which is in January.
I specifically asked my doc (gyno)this before I started taking the PremoPro. Asked how long would I have to contend with symptoms. Because I figured if I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel and it wasn’t ridiculously long, I would power through. His reply was that there was no way to know. Could be months/could be years and years of symptoms. He was fine prescribing it at the time (age 54 for me). Don’t know how he would feel about keeping me on it in perpetuity because we have moved, and I have a new doc.
I agree to a point. Where are the women doctors and researchers? Have they been rebuffed in attempts to acquire funding for research? Are they dismissed in their quest to develop drugs at pharma companies? Talk about a steady and continuous consumer base.
My prior OBGYN was a woman and treated menopause as no big deal. It’s not just men that may need to rethink their attitude and approach.
This 100%! I experienced this as well…not quite as severe but it often woke me out of my sleep like a bizarre panic attack. I was also told it had nothing to do with menopause. It absolutely does and it sucks.
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Asking again - has anyone used the pellets?
I’ve had the pellets for about six weeks. So far I’m very happy with the results. I’m sleeping better, my brain fog seems slightly better, my last period was much lighter, and my sex drive seems to be coming back. The only issues were that I was a bit sore for a week or two at the insertion site, and my skin and hair are a bit more oily. (From the testosterone, I assume.) My doctor went over all of the research with me, and I felt comfortable with the slight increased risks of breast cancer, as we have zero family history of it. My mom has been on the pellets for at least 15 years (she’s 75 now), and she swears by them. I honestly felt like I had lost a bit of myself over the last year or two, and I’m starting to feel more like myself. Let me know if you have other questions.
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What a wonderful sharing thread.
You all ROCK. 
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Me three! I also get palpitations after eating as well as the weird ones in the middle of the night. It’s funny, because they start and then I can feel my body/brain starting to get anxious. Part of my brain is asking the other part “hey! I think we’re getting stressed. Let’s find a reason to be stressed. Kids? Work? Anything?” and the other part of the brain, the more sane part, has to respond “nah! We’re all good, it’s just menopause”. 
Last year I stopped getting periods and thought I was done, but now they’re back. 
My doctor said it could have been a Covid vaccine side-effect, the stopping part. My daughter also became irregular after her shots. I hope that the irregularities are temporary. My doctor also said to just wait it out. My mom was done by my age, so I’m hoping sooner rather than later. I’ve been in this perimenopause weird place for over 7, 8 years now. Estrogen is certainly plummeting. I used to see babies and melt into a puddle when I was younger. Now, not so much.
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When I had postpartum depression, my doctor explained this to me, “it’s normal to have big mood fluctuations when there is hormonal change in our bodies. If everything was going well in your life then you would be able to handle it. In your case, there may be things in your life that are not balanced for you to have big mood swing.” He prescribed medication to stabilize my mood first, but ultimately he encouraged me to get psycho therapy to get to the root cause.
When I was going through menopause I trusted the advise he gave me to let the nature to take its course because I knew he would have prescribed other treatments if needed.
I am also not in the camp where I would assume male doctors just do not how to treat female menopause because they have not been through it. I could say the same for young female doctors or older female doctors who never experienced bad menopause. You don’t need to experience an illness in order to treat it. Some of us have worse case of menopause which may require more medical treatment, and most of us can just let nature take its course.
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I don’t ascribe to the theory that one must experience something to be qualified, but one must certainly show some compassion, empathy and humility in realizing that they have not experienced it and that does not mean it doesn’t exist.
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I told my sister (an OBGYN) that I had been taken off BC with estrogen after 40 and warned about risks, etc. My sister went berserk: “Why are they always telling people this!? They’re going to have to pry my estrogen from my cold, dead hands! It’s not like you’re throwing blood clots! Don’t they know you only need a tiny dose of estrogen to get rid of all these symptoms? If I see this one more time…”
So I got some Lo-Lo Estrin and it’s all good. 
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Thank you @oldmom4896 for sharing the article.
I was pushed into menopause after having an ovary removed. I started having problems sleeping and I was always overheated.I didn’t wake up drenched in sweat but I’d wake up and feel like I needed to go outside to cool off. I got rid of all my sweaters and didn’t buy anything that was remotely warm. My gynecologist suggested HRT. She said you are miserable and she felt it was worth trying. I used a combination patch for several years and later switched to an estrogen patch and progesterone pill. I also used Estrace vaginal cream. For awhile I switched to an estrogen ring that needed to be changed every three months. I was concerned about staying on it long term. Both my internist and my gynecologist supported me staying on it till 60. At 60 I went to just using the estrogen vaginal cream. I have a long term history of UTI and the cream helps reduce infections. I take very little medication and I have no regrets. My quality of life was much better. I was lucky when I went off that the hot flashes didn’t return. I’m now happy I can again wear a sweater.
On Mirena, my younger daughter was given Mirena and she had terrible side effects. It triggered severe headaches and vestibular migraines that continued long after see got it removed.
I assume you have, but I have you tried coconut oil?
The problems described are more during the process of menopause, not after menopause. When hormones are sputtering, up and down, you get a lot of symptoms, including mood, bleeding (from build up in the uterus due to not ovulating sometimes), and hot flashes. Once you have a steady situation post-menopause things quiet down (though hot flashes may continue). There are gels for vaginal dryness that don’t contain hormones.
I assume that eventually everyone has to stop hormones and go through the same process, perhaps at an older age. For the 50’s you can get some benefit along with the risks. But then at 60 you will go through the mood, bleeding, dryness, hot flash issues.
I am surprised so many mention Premarin (horse’s urine). If anyone wants HRT I would look into bioidentical forms. But know the risk versus benefit balance for you personally. I don’t have any genetic reason for getting breast cancer so you cannot rely on that.
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I’ve tried every cream, oil, suppository out there. I have an appointment with my oncologist soon to discuss any new options.
Menopause for me was easy. One day my periods stopped and honestly the severe PMS I had disappeared. I felt calmer and happier. Strange. I was also over 50.
Reading this thread is very making me very anxious for my daughter. Who’s in forced menopause at 33 due to her cancer treatment. I’m not sure if this will be her new normal. I know the plan is to remove her ovaries. I know she’s getting bone scans. She’s like me, a small boned white woman.
My mother in law was on HRT for years and years. My mother in law whose mother died from BC, 2 of her sisters had cancer and one died. Why in gods name would you ever prescribe HRT? I guess what you didn’t know then?
I’m so confused.
HRT is such a complicated topic. There are so many aspects to balance, like: Breast cancer vs endometrial cancer, stroke risk vs heart attack risk, osteoporosis, recurrent UTI, sleep deprivation, quality of life, etc. We don’t have enough research for really clear answers. For example, cancer is a multifactorial disease, so it’s very difficult to isolate the potential effects of HRT.
The Women’s Health Initiative study (WHI), which prompted a huge drop in HRT use, came out in 2002. However, the incidence of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer in the US increased to a maximum in 1999. A downward trend started in 2000, at least two years prior to the WHI publications. Plus, after several years, there was a new rise in breast cancer incidence (for both lobular and ductal breast cancer), and by 2012, the rates were the same as they were in 2001.
I got the info above from this research which also discusses HRT and endometrial cancer, cardiovascular disease, and fractures: The Controversial History of Hormone Replacement Therapy - PMC
One small example of the tradeoffs from my perspective: My mom has never been on any hormone therapy due to the WHI study. She has suffered decades of recurrent UTI’s. The effect on her quality of life is big, and I worry about the antibiotic resistant bacteria inadvertently created.
There is a sublingual anti-bacterial vaccine in development, which has been shown to be protective against UTIs for a lot of women, so that would be great. I hope it’s available soon. In the meantime, I will definitely want to use hormone therapy to prevent the cycle of UTI’s and antibiotics. I think it should be readily available to me without barriers, so that I can decide the risk/benefit ratio for myself.
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