I’ve had two internists and my gynecologist all supportive of using HRT even at 60. I made the choice to go to just estrogen cream.
One issue not mentioned is that insurance companies don’t always pay for hormones. My estrogen cream even when prescribed by my urologist and compounded was not covered even though it was prescribed as a tool to reduce UTI. I also noticed over the years that depending on what company I had would cover one drug but not the other. Whenever I pick up my cream the pharmacy tech always asked me if I know how much it is and if I still want it. I keep my receipts and over the last few years it has fluctuated between $90 and $165.00. The cost is prohibitive for many women.
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I really tried to phrase that in such a way as to not imply in anyway that one can ‘listen’ and stop cancer. I’m sorry if it came across that way.
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Hey all, I wanted to also put out a note here to encourage everyone to get their ferritin and iron levels checked - you can be iron deficient without anemia and it will cause a whole host of symptoms. Especially in the years leading up to menopause (when periods can come more frequently and more heavily) your iron stores may be far lower than you or your doctor realize, and the subsequent symptoms can be mistaken for so many other issues.
Taking a single iron supplement each day (typically an 18mg capsule) will not fix your iron levels if you’re menstruating and deficient, and the majority of iron supplements on the shelf also cause stomach upset and other gastro effects when taken at higher doses. However, iron bisglycinate is an available option and it does NOT cause gastrointestinal side effects - it is so worth seeking out if you’ve had a bad experience with iron supplements in the past.
Additionally, taking iron supplements in higher amounts every other day (instead of a lower amount, daily) leads to greater absorption in the body.
I suffered from the symptoms below for years, plus hair loss - and I’m only now beginning to see an improvement after several months of taking 150mg iron bisglycinate every other night at bedtime along with 1000mg of ascorbic acid (i.e. on an empty stomach, with ascorbic acid to also enhance absorption). I don’t get an upset stomach from this, and it’s essential to take this much to correct my levels.
And yes, that is a tremendous amount of iron (especially when an iron supplement bottle states that 18mg is the RDA), which is also why a person won’t improve if they think they should take the RDA dose, and 18mg is all they’re getting.
Get your ferritin and iron levels checked - ensure that iron deficiency without anemia isn’t a compounding problem in navigating peri and menopausal symptoms.
…prolonged (1–35 years) fatigue, brain fog, muscle and joint pains, weight gain, headache, dyspnea, palpitations (sometimes associated with sleep disturbances), arrhythmia, lump in the throat or difficulty in swallowing or restless legs. Over time, the patients have often received a spectrum of diagnoses and corresponding treatments: subclinical hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, burnout, overtraining, asthma, somber mood extending from melancholy to severe therapy-resistant depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic Lyme disease. It is important to include iron deficiency without anemia as a differential diagnostic possibility, because this type of iron deficiency is very often associated with symptoms that severely impair the patient’s performance and quality of life and may even hinder the patient from overcoming the ordinary challenges of everyday life and may cause permanent disability.
and
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That’s exactly what I did. My new GYN was supportive of my choice to remain on HRT, in contrast to our PCP. Medicare has covered it, too. So far, so good. I hope you can get the care you need for the best possible quality of life.
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Likewise, don’t ever supplement iron w/o getting your iron levels checked. “Iron Overload” or hemochromatosis can be truly debilitating, even deadly, and can cause liver disease, heart disease, diabetes, other organ damage, joint trouble and more. I have a friend who has this and has to go get blood drawn every so often to reduce the amount of iron in the system. They are lucky the docs caught it because early on before the damage is done there aren’t really many symptoms. It was just caught as part of a routine physical.
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Oh absolutely - I hope my message was clear on getting checked - because you do not supplement with iron without ascertaining that it is necessary and monitoring levels continuously every few months to ensure you’re at appropriate levels.
Thanks for flagging the importance of testing no matter what.
Any suggestions for managing anxiety and depression? I have never had problems with those, other than what anyone might have from time to time, but it has gotten really bad during the last year. Sometimes I can calm myself down and other times I can barely function, it is awful.
Are you wanting medication, therapy, or self-care suggestions?
Finding a good therapist is wonderful. They should be able to give you good strategies and help you pinpoint your triggers.
I also think medication can be very helpful, but what works varies greatly between people.
Mindfulness and guided imagery are also very helpful. If you practice regularly, they can give you skills to use when your anxiety flares.
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The Sunday read. It’s a podcast
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I made an appointment with the ob/gyn(I haven’t been in 12 or 13 years) but it’s not until May so I also made an appointment with my primary care doctor for Wednesday to see if he can suggest anything for now. I would love to do therapy but will have to check on how it is covered by my insurance and what times would be available, because I would have to drive out of town to one.
@HeartofDixie, I don’t know if you are comfortable with it, but since the pandemic, most therapy providers are able to use secure applications such as Zoom (the clinic where I work has a HIPAA-compliant secure version of Zoom; other therapists utilize similar secure applications) so clients do not have to travel to receive therapy.
Perhaps your PCP or ob/gyn will be able to suggest a provider.
I hope you find relief!
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I’m so glad you made some appts - you can be your best advocate and asking for help is the best way to improve areas of life that are a roadblock for you!
Explain your roadblocks to things like traveling to therapy to your doc - I hope you leave the office with a few choices of intervention !
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Many insurance companies offer EAP which is often phone counseling.
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I was paying $70 for estradiol cream at CVS–my insurance did not cover. Switched to Amazon with prime and it is only $18/tube. Definitely worth looking around.
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Thanks, I’ll definitely look into that.
Happy report.
Had my appointment with the gyno today after the PCP was not going to continue writing my prescription. She had zero issues with my continuing with the PremPro. Basically, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” She did emphasize to keep up-to-date on my mammograms.
She says she sees a lot of referrals from PCPs who simply refuse to write scrips after a certain period of time.
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This thread is so timely! I read the NYT article (okay, so I listened to the podcast tbh) and felt grateful my gyn suggested HRT a few years ago. She is a terrific, feminist, pro woman doc who herself leads a large and active life.
Menopause was pretty easy for me. Done at age fifty without awful symptoms. But then my urethra began to be super sensitive. Not a UTI, just sensitive. Was it too much bike riding? I did not know. My doc examined me and suggested HRT and the problem went away.
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What brand of cooling materials type sleep wear do you guys recommend? I can’t wear normal pajamas anymore.
I have not tried, but I think Soma has some it advertises as cooling.
Silk is supposed to be cooling. I have not tried that personally so no experience.
There are cooling bed toppers. SIL wants to get Eightsleep. It isn’t cheap! There is also Bedjet.