Hormone Replacement Therapy - Pellets

Haha! Yes he does have a sense of humor and is way more patient than I would be putting up with myself!! It wasn't hard for me to find treatment here. Honestly, my doctor wanted me to do this 1 1/2 years ago but I couldn't afford it then. My muscle aches have gone away but now my nipples are tender!! Ugh!! I wish this sh!t would balance already!!

Yes, the same questions are asked over and over again and I feel like I am repeating my responses over and over again.

One good thing is that I am seeing more interest in oestrogen pellet implants.  Maybe this increased interest might bring them back to the pharmacies instead of chasing them up from compound chemists.

How is your's going?

Hi, Sheryl,

I am feeling a bit better.  I don't feel so angry all the time now.  I guess that is a good thing, right?  It has been almost a month, or maybe only three weeks, so I don't know if I am just imagining it or not.  Either way, I feel better.

i am glad you are feeling better.

Hi, think mine has run out, feel awful, literally like running on empty.

Testosterone given to try and improve energy and libido. Not working. Guess Ive just got to hope that it'll build up with each implant but not sure how long I can cope like this.

Keep up your hopes.  Everyone is different, and I feel like if you don't get to feeling better with one doctor, and if they won't change things so that you do feel better, change doctors.  Maybe you will get to feeling better soon.  I know it is horrible to feel this way, like you are not yourself anymore.  I told the GYN nurse that I would rather blow my head off than to continue on feeling this way.  She looked at me and said, "I am sorry."  I was beside myself.  And if this is as good as I get to feeling, I will try something else, but I am hoping things get better than now.  I feel a little better, but not as good as I would like to feel in order to feel like a woman again instead of a spayed dog or cat who just feels like laying around all the time.  I know this is not how we are supposed to spend our "golden years."  Not feeling like this.

Thanks Kathleen, it's hard isn't it! What other forms of hrt have you tried? I've had everything so this is the last thing to try. I used to get good days but there was never consistency and I would get 2-3 bad days but my mood was good, was more joint pains and fatigue and I thought implant would have less fluctuations. Had bloods done so will see where I'm at.

How far on are you from hysterectomy if you had one?

Hope you continue to see some improvement

Yes, ma'am, it is extremely difficult, and medical personnel don't seem to care a bit.....or very few of them....  I had a hysterectomy in 1987 when I was 34, and they left my ovaries in, but when I was 36 ir 37, I guess, the doctor told me my ovaries were so shrivelled up that they were hard to discern, and that they were certainly not functioning at all.  So he gave me the patches, and I felt great.  Prior, I had been crying for no reason, anxiety attacks, etc...  So the patches.... they didn't stay on my skin worth a damn, and I had to use several a week, because they would end up on the pillow, in the wash, down in my shoe, you get the picture....  very expensive to say the least, and not effective at all when they came off.  So they tried the pills, and nothing worked like the patches.  Then after several tries, they came out with the "flawed research" that said if women took HRT they would die, and no more pills for me.  The doctors all of a sudden said instead of needing HRT, I must have all of a sudden become depressed, and needed antidepressant meds, which made me fat and made me feel like a spayed dog (how I would imagine one feels) and so I stopped those.  So since about 2008, I have felt empty.  Completely empty.  I don't know how else to describe it.  So it occurred to me while talking to my daughter, who had her hysterectomy long enough ago that she is needing hormone replacement, and it all fell into place for me, as to why I felt so crappy.  Duh, hormones!!!  She said she noticed the difference in me when I stopped the patches.  Well, OK!!  Now I know what is wrong.  So I go to the GYN's office and in the office visit, I ask for the HRT, and this 24 or 25 year old child tells me basically that I am too old for them, but that she would give me cream for vaginal dryness, which is the only symptom I don't have, and had told her that. (bug spray for the cobwebs down there would have been more appropriate, as I had told her I hadn't had any attention to the danger zone in over a year) And have been off the HRT too long, and that there are whatever % chances I could have a stroke, heart attack, get run over crossing the street, whatever... and no.  No HRT. I don't care about % chances of things that could possibly go wrong.  I 100% felt terrible, and that was no chance of something, it was a total reality.  I told her I felt like killing myself, and she said she was sorry.  I only hope she is treated the very same way when she goes through menopause.  I doubt this woman has ever even experienced childbirth, much less any hormonal issues.   So ya, the medical personnel are less than informed, or maybe they just don't care about their patients at all.  I tend to think it is a combination of the two.  I want to hope it is a combination of the two.  So far it is slow going, but I do seem to feel better.  It is gradual.  Waaaay gradual.  I am going to get more blood tests, and see if I need more of something because although I do feel better, I still don't feel like myself.  I can't pin point what it is that is better, and I think it may just be my feeling like I am doing something about how I feel, and that I now realize what it is that is making and has been making me feel so crappy all these years.  My wish list is:

Libido

Ability to sleep more than 3 hours a night

Looking like a grandmother, not a great grandmother

Energy

Patience

Less irrational fear and anxiety

Did I already say Libido?

Ability to concentrate

Less joint pain

Basically, I just want to feel like myself again..... is that too much to ask?

So there you have it.  My story in a nutshell.  I hope we both feel much better soon.  

Wow you have been through the wringer!! I think its criminal that a flawed study put so many women in that position 😠

Remind me what are you trialling now? What strengh pellets and for how long?

Ive gone so low on E that am barely functioning and am supposed to last till December. Waiting for bloods to see if can have another implant or supplement with patches x

I had implants of estrogen and testosterone in July.  It is 137.5 of testosterone and 12.5 of estrogen.  I can't believe how lackadaisical the medical community is about our hormones.  It does seem criminal.  And there are thousands in my position, it seems.

I too need more energy, libido, relief from joint pains, hair improvement etc. Mood was good till this dip, forgot how much worse things can get.

Are you seeing any improvement?

I don't know if I am or not.  Sometimes I think that I am feeling better due to doing something to advocate for myself.  I am just plugging away, doing what I usually do, and I noticed I feel hopeful where I didn't before, and I am not so angry all the time.  So that is good.  It is time for me to get blood work again.

I did get told by the nurse that it can sometimes take 2 to 3 rounds to get full benefit...only another year or so of this nightmare then! 😉

Oh, God, I hope it doesn't take that long for me.