Thankfully you figured it out and are back on track.Stavia wrote:
Day three now and I feel like a new person. Omg the wasted months.
Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women
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Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women
Wonderful news that is surely applicable to more than N=1, Stavia. My formerly 53 yr-old, newly-menopausal self had no hot flashes and thought suddenly awful sleep and brain fog was just due to teens and job, and would have welcomed missing about 5 years of good sleep. My mega-dose of estrogen was all in utero, as a "DES-baby". Timing is everything!!Stavia wrote:...no brain fog whatsoever. Feel normal again. Totally normal. All those wasted weeks unnecessarily of feeling awful. (Sorry, Tapatalk bugged)
Lessons:
I am clearly very oestrogen dependent in terms of sleep and cognitive function. As a 4/4, this might be applicable to other 4/4s.
4/4 and still an optimist!
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Stavia, thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry you suffered for months, but I’m so glad you’re feeling better and back to yourself. One question: If you’re taking oral progesterone as well, did you increase your dose to accommodate the increase from 25mcg to 50mcg of estradiol?Stavia wrote:sarahb12 wrote:Its all n=1. I wanted to share this because I'm unexpectedly blown away by the difference in how I feel, sleep and how much sharper my cognition is within 2 days with a dose increase from 25mcg to 50mcg. I suspect there is a threshold effect in my brain, and if it is a 4/4 effect, others may be helped by my experience.
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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Nope, I dont tolerate more than 25mg oral progesterone (sedation) but I have a Mirena.TheBrain wrote:Stavia, thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry you suffered for months, but I’m so glad you’re feeling better and back to yourself. One question: If you’re taking oral progesterone as well, did you increase your dose to accommodate the increase from 25mcg to 50mcg of estradiol?Stavia wrote:sarahb12 wrote:Its all n=1. I wanted to share this because I'm unexpectedly blown away by the difference in how I feel, sleep and how much sharper my cognition is within 2 days with a dose increase from 25mcg to 50mcg. I suspect there is a threshold effect in my brain, and if it is a 4/4 effect, others may be helped by my experience.
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I've had estrogen positive breast cancer and am taking anastrozole . I'm confused about how to balance my need to suppress estrogen due to the cancer versus supplementing it due to Alzheimer's risk. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women
A warm welcome to our community Bobbi. Thank you for posting such a great question. I would certainly ask your doctor for his/her advice but the way I would look at this is that if you've had estrogen positive breast cancer, then the focus should be keeping estrogen as low as possible. There are so many ofter things that you can do, to reduce your risk of Alzheimer, which don't involve estrogen. There is a wealth of information on the site. If you haven't already found it the Primer is a great place to start (viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1418). As a community we're here to support each other and learn together so I hope you continue to post your questions and share with us. Again welcome.
ND, Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach
FMCA/Reversing Cognitive Decline - Pending Fall 2018
FMCA/Reversing Cognitive Decline - Pending Fall 2018
Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women
Thank you so much for the warm welcome. What you say makes a lot of sense and I appreciate it.
Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women
I wonder if looking into the diets and lifestyles of traditional Japanese women would help. I think they were relatively low in both breast cancer and dementia before westernization. Please confirm since I may not have that right. Many of us here avoid soy products, but eaten in their traditional, fermented forms may have its place. I’m sure there’s more to it than that. If you do explore this, I’d love to have you report back on your findings.Bobbi wrote:I've had estrogen positive breast cancer and am taking anastrozole . I'm confused about how to balance my need to suppress estrogen due to the cancer versus supplementing it due to Alzheimer's risk. Any thoughts? Thanks.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women
Question: Do most of you take a DHEA supplement, in addition to estradiol and progesterone? I am low in all three.
Also: How is progesterone measured? I know it needs to be 1-20 ng/mL optimally, but my doctor says it's "impossible" to measure progesterone with a lab test. My test shows it's 0.30 ng/mL despite supplementing 100-200, but to her, it's not a number that tells us much since progesterone is "everywhere" in the body. Are there different kinds of tests? What am I or she missing?
I am COMT++ but I am going to try Estradiol despite of this, starting today (I eat healthy, exercise a lot, don't drink, and am hoping that my family history of no cancers of any kind will make this doable).
Also: How is progesterone measured? I know it needs to be 1-20 ng/mL optimally, but my doctor says it's "impossible" to measure progesterone with a lab test. My test shows it's 0.30 ng/mL despite supplementing 100-200, but to her, it's not a number that tells us much since progesterone is "everywhere" in the body. Are there different kinds of tests? What am I or she missing?
I am COMT++ but I am going to try Estradiol despite of this, starting today (I eat healthy, exercise a lot, don't drink, and am hoping that my family history of no cancers of any kind will make this doable).
e3/4 MTHFR C677T/A1298C COMT V158M++ COMT H62H++ MTRR A66G ++ HLA DR
Re: Hormone Replacement Therapy E4 Women
Hi Plumster;Plumster wrote:Question: Do most of you take a DHEA supplement, in addition to estradiol and progesterone? I am low in all three.
Also: How is progesterone measured? I know it needs to be 1-20 ng/mL optimally, but my doctor says it's "impossible" to measure progesterone with a lab test. My test shows it's 0.30 ng/mL despite supplementing 100-200, but to her, it's not a number that tells us much since progesterone is "everywhere" in the body. Are there different kinds of tests? What am I or she missing?
I'm working with a functional medicine MD who appears to be very experience with bio identical hormone replacement. I was initially placed on topical estradiol, and oral versions of progesterone, pregnenalone, and DHEA. My estrone blood levels have been too high, so I was eventually was taken off DHEA with some improvement in the estrone. Some FM doctors use estrone as a surrogate for estradiol metabolites that have the potential to increase the risk of breast CA. I suspect that this is theoretical with no rigorous clinic trials.
Are you working with a bioidentical female hormone expert with additional post residency education, or a conventional MD? This will probably make a difference in the kind of monitoring you receive on hormone levels. I don't think that conventional doctors test hormone levels; they increase or decrease dosing based on symptoms (ex. hot flashes) and side effects (ex. tender breasts, vaginal bleeding). A conventional provider prescribes progesterone with any form of estrogen to avoid endometrial cancer in women with a uterus. Sure, progesterone is "everywhere" in the body, but so are glucose and vitamin D and we use blood tests to monitor these levels. I've been instructed to have my blood drawn first thing in the morning for consistent measurements . I've heard that some functional medicine doctors using saliva test for female hormones, but in my limited experience, this is more for women who are still menstruating and have fluctuating levels with their cycles.
So....I really don't have any advice on how to facilitate better communication with your current doctor. May not be a good match.
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