natural remedies during perimenopause?

Has anyone found an effective remedy for premenopausal problems such as excessive sweating and disturbed sleep...?

I have been on bio-identical estrogen and progesterone for the past five years, but they no longer seem to be working like they used to...I had labs in August and my doctor said that my LH and FSH levels indicate I'm perimenopausal but not yet menopausal.

I just read that recent research indicates that women suffer much longer from problems such as excessive sweating than previously thought...up to 7 years in many cases. I cannot imagine living like this for another 6-7 years...it also seems that, in rare cases, these symptoms never go away.

Has anyone else experienced this; that is, bio-identical hormones not helping 100% anymore...? They are usually said to be the best treatment during peri-menopause, but I have to admit I no longer find them to work the way they used to...I have no idea why.

I know there are many natural remedies out there, but rather than just ordering something randomly I'd like to know if anyone can recommend something?

[Lozzer66]

Hi Anna..are you still taking high doses of adrenal glandular and ndt?...could it be you are taking too much and that's why you are sweating excessively? Have you had your bloods done recently? ...Also have you considered that maybe the bio identical hormomes in themselves are causing the actual symptoms ?

[Hidden in reply to Lozzer66]

Yes, a month and a half ago my FT3 levels were above range so I decreased the NDT by 1 grain...maybe I should decrease it further and possibly add some T4 to the mix instead...

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

PS. One thing I have been wondering about lately: my hormone doctor prescribes Utrogestan (I take one 200 mg capsule at bedtime day 15-25 of cycle although, lately, my cycles have been erratic which makes this more difficult). However, I have read that progesterone cream is much more effective than pills, so I am a bit surprised my doctor (a Hertoghe doctor) would choose Utrogestan...not sure if I should try a high quality progesterone cream instead, such as Ona's...? It has been getting consistently great online reviews and seems to be one of the best OTC products on the market. It's also available in Europe so I would not have to pay prohibitive import duties.

I read in an article that, if you take a 200 mg progesterone capsule, your body will only absorb 20 mg of that, as the rest will be metabolised by the liver...another reason I find it strange that so called hormone doctors would prescribe oral progesterone.

clearwoman.com/natural-prog...

[Lozzer66]

Yes I agree regards taking hrt ..I think patches or cream would be better personally .when I was perimenopause I did try hrt and tried pills and patches of which I tried several but they didn't help at the time (although I wasn't having sweats)so came off it and I was just the same as when on it.Now at 50yr I haven't had a period for 2yr and my symptoms are way better than when I was several years of perimenopause.I think we can through too much into the mix and maybe you would feel better stripping it right back and seeing what your thyroid is up to and getting that optimal before adding in other things as it could be that causing your symptoms?

[Hidden in reply to Lozzer66]

True...we can use too many drugs and that makes it difficult to know what is causing what...however, I felt OK until about a year ago, which tells me my progesterone levels were probably sufficient until then when using Utrogestan pills, but that I could now be progesterone deficient if I am only getting 20 mg out of every 200 mg pill...

One thing is that I always thought that, when suffering from drug induced hyperthyroidism, you tend to sweat all the time, and not just get occasional hot flushes...I can feel completely normal one second; then, all of a sudden, I start sweating tremendously, sweat pours down my face and spine and I feel like I'm burning up...then, just as quickly, it subsides, and it can be several hours before it happens again. Some nights are fine and some nights I wake up feeling like I'm bathing in sweat...:-(I would just have expected to feel that way most if not all of the time if my symptoms were indeed caused by too much thyroid hormone, but maybe I'm wrong...?

[Lozzer66 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah I see what you are saying regards flushes ..It does sound more like that than over replacement of ndt ..but I wonder if the adrenavive could be too much ....maybe the adrenals gave recovered somewhat and now it's unecessay and adding to the symptoms? I don't know it's all such a balancing act !If you are carrying on with some form of hrt I would definately try cream rather than more chemicals going through your body.I would stay away from soya too in answer to your last comment it's not good for thyroid .

[marigold22]

I'm past menopause now but I used to use Progesterone Cream from Wellsprings. It did work amazingly for me, and also for more than one friend.

wellsprings-health.com/page...

[Hidden in reply to marigold22]

OK, thanks, it's good to have alternatives!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I have done some more research, and it seems it's possible or even likely to be estrogen DOMINANT (and not deficient) in your late 40s:

drnorthrup.com/estrogen-dom...

I was told six years ago by doctor (at age 42) that I needed both estrogen and progesterone as I was over 40...but that seems to be a controversial statement to say the least. Estrogen is not helping, so I am going to go off it and try Wellsprings progesterone. I am still having periods, although irregular.

[Hidden]

Also, I have read a lot about soy increasing estrogen levels in peri- and postmenopausal women, and the advice is to either eat more tofu and drink more soy milk or take isoflavones capsules. However, I always thought that soy was to be avoided if you have thyroid disease...?

[Hidden]

I found this article very interesting; describing estrogen dominance as a modern epidemic...

drrandolphswellnessstore.co...

I find it a bit worrying that most if not all hormone doctors here in Europe (that I know of) tend to prescribe both estrogen and progesterone to all women above 40, possibly even younger, and nobody seems to care about the E to P ratio...meaning you could have low-normal estrogen levels, yet be estrogen dominant so additional estrogen is the last thing you need.

I have now ordered Wellsprings progesterone cream recommended here. I have read such great things about it and cannot wait to try it out.

I have decided to stop Estrogel as I've been on it for six years and it does not seem to be working...