Progesterone Cream update after 2 cycles

[weekari]

Hello

I have been using bio identical progesterone cream for about 8 weeks now. I had planned on updating more regularly than this but to be honest, not that much was happening, plus I felt I needed to take a step back from 'all things endo'. I had been very active on this forum for a few months and had been working a lot on trying to figure out what was going on with my body. I had requested my medical notes and from that discovered a mess and wrote a long letter to the endo specialist. It had been a bit all consuming, so I decided to try take a step back from it all to help my mind.

In terms of my experiences with using the cream. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. I upped the dose for my second cycle and I think that I've seen some worsening of my fatigue but not much else. Since using the cream, my back pain seems to have been worse- more consistently sore but it was getting worse anyway so it's hard to tell. My weight is the same and my measurements are the same. My abdominal pains are a lot worse- there have been a lot of quite severe stabbing pains that I didn't used to have. Some have woke me during the night. I've hoped this was things changing (I have a huge fibroid/tumour/mass growing off my uterus) and maybe breaking down. I started taking serepatese to hopefully help with this but I don't know if it is helping. I also started taking the supplement DIM but didn't notice any changes after starting that.

With all of this, I've been feeling really low. I had hoped so much that estrogen dominance was the source of my issues and that by 'correcting' it, I'd see some major changes. This has not been the case and it's really had a knock on my mood. I feel that my hope is gone. I've been really struggling with that the past few weeks.

I've still not heard back from the consultant after my big letter of complaint- that's been about 4 weeks now. I've been informed that it was passed to another consultant 2 weeks ago and that it was copied to the complaints department. So, I know something is happening but it's very slow.

I've decided I will continue with the cream (but the lower dose) for another month and will measure for estrogen dominance again while using it. I did this test before I started the cream. This will help me see what, if anything, the cream is doing. I'll also be getting an ultrasound in 4 weeks so this will maybe give info too as to whether the fibroid thing has reduced in size. After this, I will decide whether to keep using it. At this point, I'm thinking that it's unlikely.

I don't have many of the typical endo symptoms- my periods are not that heavy or painful. They have been noticeably lighter since using this cream so it could potentially be helpful to someone with bleeding issues.

I hope all of this is helpful to someone.

[JL0ck]

Hi Weekari, thank you for updating us on the cream - I was keen to see how you was getting on with it. I’m so gutted for that it doesn’t seem to be helping you you must feel so deflated and drained with it all. I really hope you get some positive results from your next scan.

I also have been trying to have a break from ‘all things endo’ althought it’s always there and a constant reminder when you are suffering 😪 xxx

[weekari in reply to JL0ck]

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes, deflated and drained is exactly how I feel. I just want to find something that helps and I feel drawn towards researching more. But, I also don't want to be defined by this disease and be spending all my time and energy I do have researching it and fighting for help and answers. It's so hard to get the balance. As you say, you can never fully put it our your mind anyway- endo sure has a way of making sure you don't forget about it!!

I'm beginning to wonder if I should have just tried the Zoladex and wondering if I'd be feeling the benefits of that. But I know it's hardly a wonder drug and it might not even help me. Blugh. There's just no simple solution is there?!

xx

[JL0ck in reply to weekari]

I completely understand how you feel.... just want to live your life don’t you but the constant pain and symptoms don’t let you plus you sound like you have an awful lot more to deal with than me!

It may we’ll be worth giving it a try to see if it helps at all as you seem to suffering a lot I tried it for 2 months (monthly injections) I felt rubbish with all the side effects and stopped the course but it definitely helped with the pain. It’s been around 11 weeks since my last lot of injections so things are starting to revert back to ‘normal ‘ again. Iv had around 5 weeks with the fake menopausal symptoms worn off and no heavy bleeding or endo pain and it has been great! However the last 2 - 3 days I have been in a lot of pain and feeling really tired again x

[SimplyDeeDee]

Ahh hun I’m so sorry to hear this hasn’t helped in some way, I was praying it would give you some relief.

I too had to step back it’s exhausting sometime especially when you are feeling low; it’s all very challenging mentally.

Hospital are being very slow with everything at the moment, consultations, letters, procedures.

Just last week I received a letter from the hospital to my GP explaining the bowel specialist had seen me and and issued a test - I’d already had the test a month ago and I’m still awaiting results.

They’ll get back to you soon but if another week passes see if they have a department like PALs you could contact and they should push it along for you. It will stop the added stress or being passed from pillar to post; another thing I’ve noticed they are doing and I think 5 weeks is more than enough time to wait for acknowledgement.