numbing feeling on hand and feet! going out of my mind1

Posted , 7 users are following.

Hi ladies ,

hope you all are handling these symptons o.k .. just when i think i have a hold on them . BOOM ! another  new one or same symptom from a few weeks ago , Always say i`m going to remember that this happened and im ok. but for some reason i forget and panick again ! yesterday , i started feeling hot ,  mild thinging feeling on right arm , mostly on hand , and arm feels heavy when i lift, i never loose sensation, not numb that i cant feel but just off ! and sometimes on my right foot ! of course your mind  go`s thinking that your having a stroke or something i woke up today with same feeling it goes away for a while and then it comes back. i`ve had this in the past but i think this time i`m more aware of it.! ive been off the patch for 1 month which i had for only 3 months .been seeing an acupuntur and it has truly helped but i still have these wierd symptoms like cant sleep at night well stared taking 3mg of melatonin. that helps  sometimes ill have anxiety . but he tells me that since i was on birth control since i was 33 now 48. . my body is all out of wack do to the hormones , so he says that i takes a good 12-13 months before all gets balanced im in my 4th month. he says if i get a small patch (estragol)  at one point in my life maybe in 5 yrs when i stop  taking estrrogen all symptons will return! Any suggestions ?

take care , thanks for listening to this never ending story

terri

 

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  • Posted

    Terry, I know all the symptoms you are describing.   But I guess I would pose this as a statement and a question.  If you feel better on estrogen, and your body seems to do better, than why not use the patch?  And why would you decide to come off of it?

    There are many experts in this field who feel that long term estrogen is not a bad thing.  That a woman's body needs it and will long term be healthier because of it.

    I know that many follow that "Low dose for the shortest time possible" philosophy.  But not all do.  There are some who feel that the degenerative diseases of aging, are related to the changes in the endocrine system, which is significantly altered by the loss of estradiol and progesterone.  

    Just an alternative thought.  Only you can make this decision.  

    • Posted

      thanks gailannie,

      yes yes i know ..... im recently switched to a new ob-gyn .  im going to see her on sept 16 , it`s very hard to do this on your own when it comes down on you this strong , but my worry is  i guess to be 60 yrs old for example and going thru all this , i cant even imagine ! i was unaware that you can take hormones safely after 5 years of being on them. 

      i`m really trying to wrap my head around this , ill see what my new Doc. has to say  . thanks girl, for taking the time to connect , it means a lot to me . hope your good with all this what do you take and how  long have you been on it ? 

    • Posted

      Terri,

        My story is a little bit different, so please understand I may be coming at this with a different perspective.

      I had a horrible time in perimenpause in my early 40s.  I tried like crazy to get things to settle down.   I went to several specialist and tried bioidentical hommones.  Since your hormones are bouncing all over that place, it is very hard to regulate.  I finally quit and went back to "on my own" cycles.  After I got back to cycling, I did ok.

      Menopause came at me slow and gentle, my last periods was at 52 1/2.  Honestly I thought I got by easy, no hot flashes etc.  What I did have was pain.  It started in my lower back, then down my thigh, frozen shoulder, etc. Eventually it develpoed into constant chronic wide spread pain in my muscles and ligaments.  Saw a dozen doctors, but no one asked me when I had my final period.  I did 4 years of constant pain.

      A couple years later, vaginal atrophy and dryness set in.  Well then the doctors took notice and prescribed vaginal Estrace.  With regular use, all of a sudden, my ENTIRE body sprung back.  And I mean everything!!!!!!

      I slept like a baby, my nails and hair were growing again, my attitude and happiness returned, I had energy and pep.  And the very bet part was ALL THE CHRONIC PAIN WENT AWAY.

      Are you kidding me?  I did 4 years of horrible pain and what my body was screaming for was estrogen?   

      So here I am at age 58, trying to reestablish some estrogen in my body.  

      Look, I know that many people are frightened of this stuff.  But I'm not one of them.  I'll take estrogen till the day I die if it helps me feel normal.  I use bio identical estradiol.  My body has had that tiny molecule since puberty and apparently doesn't like not having it any more.  

      I have done tons of research and read hundreds of medical studies.  There are 400 known things that estrogen does in our bodies. 

      But while some woman do just fine without it, apparently I am not one of them.  No one thinks that a woman shouldn't take thyroid, or insulin (both hormones) if they need it.  And no one would consider denying a person with Addison's disease or Cushing's hormone therapy.   So for heaven sake why do the hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone cause such a panic?  

      I am currently working with an endocrinologist, and trying to turn things around.  I am on a Vivelle patch and progesterone suppository (14 days).

      I want to be one of those woman shouting the virtues of hormone replacement therapy.  I want to sleep good, have sex and enjoy life.  I want to be pain free and have some zip in my life.  

      This hasn't been an easy road, but I do believe my body will be healthier for it. 

      See the thing is, people shouldn't limit what menopause is, to just hot flashes and night sweats.  And just because you don't have those symptoms, doesn't mean that your body is adjusting well.  It may be something that comes at you years after your final period.  Or some non specific thing where you can't connect the dots to the lack of estrogen and progesterone.  Who in the world would have thought the pain I experienced was estrogen related?  The doctors sure didn't.  

      Good luck and just make a decision that seems right for you.     

         

       

    • Posted

      Thank you thank you a million, yes I'm a very healthy 48 , and always have been , eat very healthy exercise about 10 hrs a week cycle , run , lift weights , my mom never expeariced a thing !well, i got off the birth control pill about 4 months ago , but signs were there lactose intolorant , gluten also she switched my pill to slow estrogen high progesterone, and within that week I started having thiingling thought it wAsthe pill got off of it , did testing and yes I was in Pei haven't had a period in 6 close 7 months , when I got on a miniville 0.05 patch and 200mg of progesterone the thingling feeling went away after a month or so of course I did acupuncture that really helped ! I had thingling, out of focus feeling,ringing in the ears, I had also not being able to sleep but that all changed after the progesterone that knocked me out ! I felt it was to strong for me! I felt like I was starting to feel better but then amy acupuncture told me to cut down to 0,25 a had adjust later to nothing , now I can't sleep after 3am , ringing I ears , muscle and joint pain, worse 1week out of the month .,,anxiety , hot feeling, also stiff joints my bottom of my feet and arms sting some times in the month and last for days !
    • Posted

      Sorry I'm on my phone writing don't know what happened !i was praying for guodance, and I guess I got you , I agree why suffer now and , your quality of life suffer as well ! Thanks for sharing your story!

      Take care I m glad your doing well!

    • Posted

      You're welcome.  The thing about all this is that while you may have some symptoms initially, what I am concerned about is the long range issues.  

      No one wants to go back and say, "Oh, youe mean that if I had taken estrogen, then I wouldn't have osteoporisis today?"   "Oh you mean estrogen helps the heart and possibly I wouldn't have had that heart attack if I'd taken it?"  or something that seems superficial like, "I didn't realize that woman lose their hair when the estrogen goes away."  

      As long as you feel well and happy on estradiol, I think I'd tell the MALE acupuncturist, that he's doesn't have a clue and to butt out.  

       

    • Posted

      Oh and PS, I too did some low dose BCP in perimenopause.  Boy did they set me on my head.  I whole body would shake uncontrolably  and I'd cry for no reason at all.  Yep, low dose pills with high prgestins can really do a number on your body.
    • Posted

      Thanks again gailannie, for sharing , I'm starting to see things in a different way , and perhaps a whole different approach ,

      Blessings,

      Terri

    • Posted

      Gailannie, ditto, ditto, ditto - I am so glad someone else is saying the same thing.  I have been saying this in this forum for many, many posts but no one has taken any notice.

      I have been using oestrodiol hrt for 25 years now, NEVER EVER going off it.   You don't have to.  Don't believe myths, be assertive with your dr if he/she believe these myths.  The latest stats out is that one in 4 women die of heart disease after menopause because they don't have the oestrogen to protect their heart anymore.  Much more than breast cancer which has not really been proven to hrt.

      If you are afraid of breast cancer (which is curable these days), get rid of your ovaries.  That is the connection.

      I read about all these women taking all these terrible drugs to try to offset all the symptoms they are getting, yet all they need is oestrogen, which is much more natural to the body.

      Menopause is not cured by antidepressents, pain killers, nerve tablets, sleeping pills - what a cocktail - all ready to kill you and make you more unhealthy than ever.

      I hope I don't have to read of women purposely suffering menopause again.

      I even switched off the menopause forum, but somehow it was connected to me again.

      Now it is wonderful to hear another positive take on oestrogen.

       

    • Posted

      Sheryl,

           It literally makes me mad when I hear of woman who are in pain, can't sleep, are depressed........and like me, went to a dozen doctors.  Yet not one of these "experts" think to ask when she went into menopause.   This is about quality of life, not simply about getting through hot flashes.

           Glad you found your answer and I hoping to get my estrogen off the floor soon.  When my level was first tested it was 3pg/ml.   I'm climbing out of the hole!  But it does take time.     

    • Posted

      I feel that women need to be proactive and tell the dr that she thinks she is suffering menopause symptoms and she wants hrt.  We all know it is going to happen - it is not a rare event.  We have to do our homework and make sure we get the best hrt.

       

      I know it can sneek up on some women early, but you soon get the picture.

      I was "lucky" and mine was surgically caused but I knew that I would immediately be forced into menopause without hrt.  I did not let it happen and an oestrodiol implant was inserted by the gyne surgeon before stitching me up.  No stupid 'waiting period' to put my body into 'oestrogen shock'.

      But I know what it feels like, because for 6 years I had an undiagnosed prolactinoma which was making my oestrogen ineffective.  Just stupid drs did not know.  Now if menopause was not going to go away of its own accord in 6 years, then it is never going away, for me anyway.

      I once read that we are in menopause for an average age of 51 to 81 years - a third of our life - if we live that long.  As you say, we with hrt end up much healthier and happier than those who do not use hrt.

      gailannie, it sounds like your body was totally starved of oestrogen to be that low, and you will have lost some part of your health.  It should never happen, but the only way to prevent that is to be proactive until drs lift their game.  They do not keep up with new research.  We have to do it for them.

      I am so glad you are an enlightened one.

      PS:  My maternal aunt had breast cancer (she never used hrt) and it was cured.  That did not mean that I should not use hrt - it was her unhealthy lifestyle that caused it.

       

    • Posted

      Why are these doctors not aware of the damage and debilitating effects of the MENOPAUSE!  I was passed from GP to GP all of whom were unsympathetic and not knowledgeable (at my surgery), some women of middle to late 30's who obviously had not encountered peri-meno symtoms themselves. Finally, I saw the most experienced GP in the practice a man (middle aged) who seemed to know more about it. It really needs highlighting, It's just awful when professionals don't know their job, by the way I'm a nurse wink

      KEEP AT IT GIRLS WE MAY FINALLY BE HEARD 

    • Posted

      You know why?  It is because if we keep having problems we have to keep going back to them.  No money in keeping us healthy is there?

      It keeps their and the pharmaceutical companys' world going around!

      I found the best menopause dr at a Family Planning Clinic!  And she was young too, pregnant with her first baby.  Saw her for years before her husband moved her on to another city.  Then the gov decided to save money and shut these clinics down in my country.

      Maybe they still exist in your country.

      My normal gp believed in the myths, but now I have educated her with facts!!!!

       

    • Posted

      Ladies, I think it is about training.  They can't feel confident with this unless they recieved some specialized education about this female hormone system.  I am seeing a very specialized endocrinologist, and even she told me that in training, she was only give two lines about female hormones, i.e.  "If a woman has a uterus you give Prempro, and if not you give Premarin."  There was no individualized training on this issue, even for someone who was specializing in the the endocrine system.  Everything she learned about this female system, she learned after schooling.   HOW SAD IS THAT??

      So it became important to me to seek out a specialist that has really dedicated themselves to this issue of female hormones.  It is very complicated and the wrong things can actually make you feel worse.  

    • Posted

      Sheryl,  

      In some ways, woman that do have a hyster are a little better off.  The doctors know and expect she'll have a hard time.  But with a natural menopause, they just believe this is the normal process and for the most part we should just deal with it.  

      But what about woman like me?  A ton of symptoms directly related to menopause were completely ignored.  The only thing that got their attention was vaginal dryness and atrophy.  But I wasn't one of those woman running in and screaming about horrible hot flashes and night sweats.  So my low estradiol and progestone levels were completely ignored, even though they were causing life altering changes.  Trust me,

      I don't wish any woman go through the pain symptoms I did.   Every single day was a daily struggle.     

    • Posted

      Hi sorry to horn in, but what is Estrace? I started on bio identical troches, and the progesterone is helping some ( tastes gross though, and now has given me a canker sore) , but the bioest made me have worse hot flashes. I want something that actually works. Do you think I can get that here in the states? Thanks for your imput.

       

    • Posted

      Goatgirl,

          Estrace is the brand name of bioidentical estradiol.  It can be a tablet to be taken orally, or it comes in a tube as a vaginal cream.   

      But all Estrace is bioidentical E2  (estradiol), the most powerful estrogen that woman have naturally before menopause.

      When you are taking a biest, that simply means that they are using more than one of the estrogens.  E1 (estrone--the estrogen that woman have more of after menopause because it is produced in our fat cells.  E2 (mentioned above) and E3 (Estriol, which is the estrogen mainly produced in pregnancy.  While pregnant we have a ton of it, but it is the mildest form of estrogen.)  

      All forms of Estrace are made in the US, so yes it is readily available.  

    • Posted

      Thank you Gailannie!! I appreciate the info. I will check it out with my NP.

       

    • Posted

      You are too kind!  I think they only learn a couple of lines about everything then it is up to them to update their knowledge, particularly in line with the patients they are dealing with.  Same as lawyers, accountants, ITs, etc.  The excuse that "no one taught me any different' is no excuse.  Besides menopause and perimenopause is not a rare event.

      I got the same excuse for haemochromatosis - but we were only taught that it is rare and it only affects the liver!  I talked to medical students at our local university and they said they learnt more from me than they did in the class.  I inspired one final year student to do a study for her final year thesis on management of haemochromatosis.

      I taught them that the early symptoms are very much like those of menopause (and usually come on with menopause) and the boys got very concerned when I let them know that it often causes impotence.  So that year of medical students won't forget in a hurry.

      Drs are also prone to prescribing the brands that pharmaceutical distributors give them freebies of and special incentives.

      So the dr at the Family Planning Clinic did not learn any more than the others at medical school but she made a point of getting herself up to date  and more knowledgeable on the subject because she saw a lot of women.

       

    • Posted

      That is really quite possible (re having a hysterectomy).  Why then do I read about women having to wait ? number of weeks before she is allowed to go on to oestrogen?  It is so wrong.

      As far as dealing with it naturally, I think they take the lead from us mostly, unless we insist otherwise.  However, you struck a lot of ignorance.  I don't understand how they can ignore your symptoms - as I said before, menopause is not a rare event.

      That is why I say we have to educate ourselves and take in this information to the dr with us and say this is what I am suffering!!!

      There was no google back when I had a terrible 9 years of classic symptoms of haemochromatosis before my hip broke up and I was finally diagnosed.  If there was google or equivalent back then I would have been doing same.  And I worked at a university and was the first person to use a personal computer there, so I had access to it if it had existed.  Only "Readers' Digest" back thensmile

       

    • Posted

      Sheryl,

         I mentioned that I am seeing a very specialized endocrinologist.  What I didn't mention is that I had to flew half way across the country to see this doctor. She does more writing and lecturing these days than new patients, but guess why she took me as a patient?  

      I had done an extensive written history for her to read, and she said she took me because she couldn't believe how many times I had been mishandled by doctors.  She literally used these word, "I swear you were drawing a road map for every physician you had seen and everyone kept ignoring you."     I've been in treatment since April and while I am not 100% back to where I want to be, the changes thus far are pretty amazing. 

      I do have a friend that has harmochromatosis, she is a former nurse and is struggling horribly.  Anyway you might be interested in trying to help her?   

    • Posted

      Gailannie, it is shameful that you have to go to such extremes and costs to get appropriate treatment.  BUT gold medals to you for being proactive.  There are no prizes for those who just put up with it but keep complaining.

      Be like Mac on another post, who after finally getting a diagnosis of HH, made sure he let every dr he saw prior to that and who had ignored him, know about it.

      I have been reading up on pregnenolone for years and I keep thinking that I reckon I would benefit from the "grandmother" hormone.  Grandmother being that it is the start of our hormones, from good cholesterol to pregnenolone, to dhea to oestrogen or testosterone (whatever we need), etc.  It is freely available in the US but not in Australia.

      My last visit to my endocrinologist (I see him to monitor my prolactinoma) I asked him about it.  He said he could not prescribe it to me as there is still no scientific proof of its benefits and my oestrogen levels were normal (at the time I had the test!!!!), but if I was prescribed it by someone else, that would be ok.  So he was not saying it was a bad thing.  Perhaps you could ask your endo about it for yourself.  In the meantime I have been trying to improve my good cholesterol.  Although I have been eating the foods that do that for years.

      This is because my body uses up oestrogen very quickly and I am always on a razor's edge with the patches.  A slightest delay in replacing patches, or my body might use extra for some reason and I feel it immediately.  HH might have something to do with that as it can deplete our bodies of oestrogen or testosterone.

      I would like to communicate with your friend and see what advice I can provide.  She can PM me if she likes.  I will need to know her Iron Panel levels.

       

    • Posted

      Sheryl,

      I would love to put the two of you in touch with one another.  I assume that PM stands for personal message, but not sure how to do that.?  

      Her's is quite the story and you might be able to offer something.  

       

    • Posted

      Yes, it is tricky if she is not registered here.  I will PM you.

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