Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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Julie G
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

Post by Julie G »

New evidence that estrogen protects against dementia by preventing the hippocampal atrophy. This makes sense as we know estrogen aids in carrying glucose to the brain. Starting early seems to be most helpful.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... ceDaily%29
Following menopause, womens' estrogen levels drop significantly compared to levels before menopause.

MRIs of the brains of the women in the study showed that those who had taken estrogen supplements throughout menopause had a larger hippocampus. The hippocampus is one of the most important structures for memory and sense of place, and is one of the structures that is affected early in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

"We also examined the shape of the hippocampus and found that areas where hormone therapy had the greatest effect are the same areas that are affected by Alzheimer's disease in its early stages," says Pintzka.

Other studies have shown that women who start estrogen supplements several years after menopause do not benefit from the same positive effect on the hippocampus.
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Schnooks
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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I'm gonna stick with God being bigger than the lack of estrogen.. gotta say though.. at age 50 and 5 yrs post men.. I am confused as to whether I've totally missed the window or if it's worth pursuing. But am imagining that any doc I go to would say no to estro.

Just found the thread on 4/4 causing early meno.. aging inside speeds up.. hard to believe I'm so old inside when I look 35!

ok, I really need to stop reading and take a break from all this .. not good.
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KatieS
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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Don't despair, Schnooks, because looking younger than your age (Wow, 35, when you're 50!) is likely to be correlated to telomere length:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dharma-si ... 51388.html
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Schnooks
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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Well hot damn Katie! lol
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KatieS
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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Thanks for proving your point with the photo!
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Schnooks
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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lol .. I tried doing it the other day.. but I am pixel challenged
Jean
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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Maybe you don't need any extra estrogen anyway Schnooks. Not all postmenopausal women are low in estrogen.
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TheBrain
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

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Jean wrote:Prometrium is fine and bioidentical. These are new findings regarding the transdermal estrodial patch which lends credance to using a patch. I simply felt better on the patch path vs the oral estrogens. I believe dosage is very individual depending on the body type. I landed at 75 mg of oral progesterone and a .5 patch for most of the years I have been on HRT.
Jean, what brand do you use for 75 mg of oral progesterone? I've been using 100 mg oral progesterone (generic Prometrium) and have determined it's too high a dose for me (causes bleeding). Based on the searching I've done, I've found only two dosages: 100 mg and 200 mg.

Also, would you or anyone else know if it would be okay if I take 100 mg oral progesterone every other day? I have accumulated a lot of 100 mg capsules and would like to use them up, if doing so wouldn't mess me up.
ApoE 4/4 - When I was in 7th grade, my fellow students in history class called me "The Brain" because I had such a memory for detail. I excelled at memorization and aced tests. This childhood memory helps me cope!
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Stavia
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

Post by Stavia »

Alysson, a compounding pharmacy makes the 75mg or other doses.
A 100mg every second day may not be enough for endometrial protection. I wouldnt recommend you drop down to 50mg. Are you sure the 100mg is too high causing the bleeding? Progesterone shrinks the uterine lining usually ie opposes the oestrogen. Thats why there is the 200mg available in case the 100 isnt enough.
If you are getting breakthrough bleeding the usual thing is to increase the dose. Eg alternate 100 and 200mg in the first instance.
But if you are certain 100mg is too high I wouldnt halve it. I guess you could prick the capsule with a pin and squeeze out a teeny bit....but you are asking for trouble in terms of endometrial hyperplasia by dropping to 50mg yourself without endometrial monitoring.
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women

Post by TheBrain »

Stavia, I guess I'm not 100% sure it's the oral progesterone, 100 mg, causing the bleeding, but I'm highly suspicious. Your post showed me that I had forgotten how estrogen and progesterone work in the female body, so I did a little reading, and I see what you mean.

I have not been supplementing with estradiol, and Jean said that progesterone doesn't convert to estradiol, so maybe I'm having estrogen surges? But the timing of the bleeding suggests it's the progesterone, and vaginal bleeding is listed as a side effect on various web sites about Rx meds (but not as a common one).

Here are my test results from last year:

5/18/15
Progesterone: .2 ng/mL
Estradiol: 42.6 pg/mL

After adding 100 mg progesterone (and then up to 200 mg, then the bleeding started and only stopped after I stopped taking any progesterone for a short time, and then I restarted at 100 mg but then had more bleeding):
11/20/15
Progesterone: 6.2 ng/mL (noted as "very high" in my protocol)
Estradiol: 209.3 pg/mL

This last time, the bleeding started on day 19 of restarting progesterone, 100 mg, after a one-month hiatus. A previous time, it started on day 15 of restarting progesterone after a shorter hiatus.

I had gone five months without a period before starting the progesterone. I know that's not the 1 year required to be officially in menopause, but I figured I was done.

I'm not sure what to do.
ApoE 4/4 - When I was in 7th grade, my fellow students in history class called me "The Brain" because I had such a memory for detail. I excelled at memorization and aced tests. This childhood memory helps me cope!
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