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Post by redwood on Feb 10, 2011 17:11:57 GMT -5
I emailed her and she said to bump up to 200mg for the rest of my cycle. She said it would be nice to see if it balanced out in another month, but she also didn't want me to have to be pain again next month.....it's a guessing game at this point. I had bumped up to 150mg these past two days, so I'll do 200mg today. This period has been awful, pain-wise. Weird too, with a really heavy and painful first day and then two normal days and then it stopped! It's like it gushed out all at once. I've had pain almost every day since day 1, although days 2 and 3 weren't too bad. I still have the pain on day 7 and had to resort to painkillers. Bah. Hope it's better next month. This sucks. It hasn't been this bad for several months.
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Post by Karen on Feb 10, 2011 18:04:16 GMT -5
I had a few bad ones thrown in there for a while, and still almost expect to have one here or there (fingers crossed I don't, though). The last bad one was end of October. We've adjusted my dose since then, though, and I've been much better since. Fingers crossed the same goes for you, too, after this adjustment! So did you stop at all for your period? And if so, when did you start back up?
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Post by redwood on Feb 10, 2011 19:56:41 GMT -5
yes, I stopped for my period for 5 days, so I started up on day 6 again. I did that last month too and it wasn't that bad last month. Not pain free, but not that bad.
who knows, it could even be another factor in addition to the level of progesterone I took for that pain-free month. the month before the pain-free period was when I was eating all that moose and elk meat. that's the only big difference I can think of. hmmm, I did run out of vitex and was lazy about getting a new bottle this past month. Could even be that too. I hope this is gone by tomorrow.
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Post by claireboe on Feb 16, 2011 19:06:09 GMT -5
Karen, thank you so much for starting this thread. I have had several people tell me that my dd's (16yo) endo could definitely be treated with bio-identical therapy. We are currently treating with a naturopath who does not do bio-identicals, but that website you linked to had a page to get doctor info in our area. I am absolutely sick today because dd has been on Vicodin for the past week. I read all the testimonies here, and I get really depressed thinking about what kind of future awaits her if I can't find her help. Now, I just need to find a job to pay for the treatment.
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Post by Karen on Feb 16, 2011 19:10:52 GMT -5
Yay! Glad you have a start. I know this kind of treatment isn't cheap - doctor visits and labs can add up, BUT, I'm finding that the bio-identical progesterone itself is about what I'd be paying for a copay for birth control - around $30 a month. Insurance doesn't cover it, but for the quality of life improvements, it's well worth it. I had looked into it before but lost my job 1.5 years ago and had to postpone going any further for a while so I get where you're coming from!
I hope your daughter gets some relief soon, and I commend you for looking for other options!
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Post by redwood on Mar 11, 2011 23:02:25 GMT -5
So I have a better update this time. This period was light, not many cramps and only a tiny bit of endo pain on day 3 and that's it! So this time I took off 5 days end of last cycle and from day 6-27, I took 200mg each day of the progesterone troches. So that seems to work for me. Although, I must admit there were other changes in that I was strict on the endo diet for the past 6 weeks and I eliminated all dairy, wheat (cheated about twice when when I was out of the house), and meat, except salmon. I also ate a few cookies that had some cane sugar in them, but other than that I was pretty good. Also started taking tumeric again. So it could be a combination of all these or I don't know. But if worked. I may start adding back in yogurt occasionally to see if that has an effect and later on add back in some organic or wild meat here and there. My NP wants me to do a 24 hour urine test to test my hormones. It's very expensive (more than twice as much as a blood test), but it shows all 3 estrogens we have, not just the one that shows up on blood tests. As for the saliva test, she said it won't accurately show the progesterone since I am supplementing now, so that's why she doesn't want to do that. Not sure if it shows all 3 estrogens either. How are you doing, Karen?
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Post by Karen on Mar 12, 2011 1:04:03 GMT -5
Yay, that's so exciting!!! All of the things combined could have an effect, but the longer you keep up with them, the better things will continue to be (at least in my experience). Let me know the results of your urine test!
My doc is going to run a urine test to check my steroid cascade to see if there's something broken in the way my body converts all these different hormone levels. Seems like every test I take comes back low, which to me signals a bigger issue. In messing around with my new thyroid med and adding DHEA back into the mix, I totally messed with my cycle. I'm on day 64 I think with no sign of ovulation. I'm off the thyroid med, off DHEA, and starting on a very very small dose of a natural thyroid med. Here's hoping once I actually get my next period things will normalize a bit. But, still little to no pain, though I have had a touch of cramping this week which makes me think my period might be close. Who knows.
I'm so glad to hear things are going better!!
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Post by redwood on Mar 21, 2011 13:08:01 GMT -5
Does that mean you haven't had a period in 64 days?
I won't do the urine test until June. It's $550, so it's quite pricey. I need to wait until I pay my taxes before adding any more expenses like that. Is yours that expensive, or maybe it's covered by your insurance?
Something weird happened to my cycle this month. I just had a second period on day 14. It was a pretty light one and seems gone on day 3 of it now, but it definitely didn't seem like spotting. It was heavier than spotting and I had cramps too with. Just a twinge of endo pain now. Not sure what to think of why that happened. But have a period days 1-5 and then again on days 14-17 is not really appealing. Well, at least it wasn't painful. I just wonder what caused it and if my next period will come in another two weeks now. I do remember when I took the mini-pill (progestin) that I had a period every two weeks (light, short ones) for 6 months.
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Post by Karen on Mar 21, 2011 17:35:31 GMT -5
As of yesterday, I got my period! Took me 73 days? And so far, it's just heavy spotting, only some traces of a real period here and there... Interesting.
My urine test is about $250 and insurance won't cover it. I'm hoping my flex benefit will cover it, we'll see.
Strange about your mini period! Any chance it was ovulation spotting? Some women get just light spotting, some get actual bleeding... I find that I get spotting on day 15, 16, or 17. Like clockwork every time, though I typically don't ovulate until much later. It's really tapering off, though, and in January, it was barely noticeable. Perhaps the urine test will reveal that some things are still off a bit, explain the cause?
I'm taking my week off, then next time around I'm taking 75 mg until I ovulate, and only then will I up my dose. Now that I'm off DHEA and on a very low dose of thyroid meds and working up slowly, I hope I have a more predictable cycle... Fingers crossed!
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Post by redwood on Mar 21, 2011 18:25:38 GMT -5
I'd be happy not to have my period for 73 days. LOL I know it's not normal, but.....then I wouldn't have any pain.
So, you're only going to increase it to 150 if you know you ovulated for sure?
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Post by redwood on Mar 21, 2011 18:27:45 GMT -5
oh, and I normally never spot at ovulation. it really felt like a period. I had cramps and bleeding and it was heavier than spotting, red blood, not brown spotting. I'll ask my NP about it next time. I didn't have ovulation pain either, just menstrual cramps. So it didn't seem like ovulation bleeding/spotting. But you never know.....
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Post by Karen on Mar 21, 2011 21:44:13 GMT -5
I know, I shouldn't be cursing such a long break in between periods but I was just getting some regularity! And I was lucky - had very little pain most of the time with the exception of some cramping in the last week. Yup, I'm only going to up my dose once I'm certain I ovulated. We suspect jumping up to the higher dose on day 14 is what may delay ovulation, and I suspect it has something to do with my spotting around day 15-17!
Any chance you missed a dose one day? Or you took it really late? Perhaps that could explain the spotting? Just a random thought. Hope it doesn't repeat itself next month! How's the pain been in general?
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Post by redwood on Mar 23, 2011 12:47:14 GMT -5
No, I didn't miss a dose or take it really late. It seems to take 2 days to kick in my period after I stop taking it (end of cycle). It actually lasted 4 days and was much more than spotting. Weird. I'm not sure now if I should consider that my period and start it as day 1 again or not. I'll have to ask my NP.
When you were missing your period, did you still stop the progesterone end of cycle? My period always started after stopping two days. But then again, it always stared at the appropriate time even when I didn't stop, although it was late about 4 days when I had a higher dose and was taking it continuously.
My pain has been much less this past month (within both periods). Just a twinge of pain in the first one on day 3 and a twinge of pain (endo pain, I mean) in the 2nd period on day 2. So that's good, at least!
Did you get your period yet?
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Post by Karen on Mar 23, 2011 18:57:51 GMT -5
Nope, I didn't stop my pills until I got my period. When I first started, I would stop after 3 weeks on and it didn't prompt me to get a period, so my doc and I agreed for me to keep taking them until I actually get a period.
Super stoked you have less pain!!! That's progress, right?
I *kind* of have my period? 2 days of spotting starting Saturday into Sunday, then the bright fresh stuff came and it seemed like a regular period for 1/2 a day, then it's been tapering off. You'd think it would be a lot heavier... I'm almost wondering if it's going to be a marathon period because of it. We'll see... Whatever the case, very minimal pain, no more than a little cramp here and there or a little bit of throbbing in my typical pain area. So far, so good, surprisingly!!
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Post by redwood on Apr 19, 2011 18:17:30 GMT -5
Did you finally have a regular period, Karen? This month for me has been good. Very minimal pain - barely noticeable actually. It came on day 27, so more normal than last month. It wasn't a mini-period I had last month, but a regular one as it ended up lasting 7 days. So, I counted that as day 1 and so I ended up taking my progesterone continuously for 6 weeks as I didn't want to have yet ANOTHER period two weeks after period #2. Well, it worked and I didn't get a period in two weeks (although I did have some cramping for a day when I should have had my period if I hadn't had it already on day 14.
So, I think all in all this dose works for me. I have also been following the endo diet pretty strictly for two months now too. So I hope it keeps working!
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