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I ended up in the hospital with severe panic attacks and delusional thoughts after being given too little estrogen and way too much progesterone by an N. D. here in the valley. I have had a full hysterectomy and was told by three other doctors that I never should have been given the progesterone. This episode caused a chain reaction in which I was then put on too high of a dose of Lexapro and many other anti-anxiety drugs for the next two years. All of the side effects made me feel horribly worse and I ended up being weened off of everything except some Adivan. I feel better now, but still not right.
Thanks, Debbie O'Donnell
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Yes, I was tested. My practitioner has a good reputation, and has helped me in some other ways (nutritionally), so my inclination is to assume good intentions. I have friends who have been helped tremendously by bioidenticals, so I'm reluctant to believe they are terrible for everyone. Similarly, though, I think they are terrible for some, and I may be one of those people. My practitioner is stumped because these doses are relatively low, and she hasn't seen negative responses from other patients *at these levels*. She has, however, seen negative responses similar to mine with the use of testosterone at higher levels, so she has honed in on that as my possible culprit. I spoke with a couple of other practitioners who say the same thing. I'm still deciding whether I'll try estrogen and progesterone and lower levels of testosterone separately, or whether I'll try and solve some of my symptoms other ways. I'm curious whether anyone here has had any positive experiences with bioidenticals, or whether this is just the wrong thread for questions about good experiences with these hormones.
November 10, 2016 - 7:54pmThis Comment
I had a nightmare experience with brt that my dr said she had never seen. She prescribed some DIM which gave me headaches then herbal supplements to calm anxiety which was mild when i started. After 8-10 wks on progesterone pills and estrogen cream, the anxiety was so severe that i constantly felt like a caged animal yet when i tried to stand and walk i felt like i was going to fall. I had extraordinary irritability and zero patience because i just felt so terrified of the restlessness and muscle tension taking me over. The dr tried to tweak them but it got worse and worse. Needed to take xanax to counteract so i could work while tapering off. Six days after getting off, anxiety was reduced by 75%. Though i know some women who have no negative effects, it wasn't for me! I needed therapy after that experience lol!
April 22, 2017 - 2:38pmThis Comment
I am not sure how these comment replies work--I get notifications that new comments have been made, but at the actual website, everything is out of order and nothing's very recent. Anyway, just wanted to update: I'm the one who posted on 11/10/16 about feeling weird on BHRT (e2, e3, prog, test). After some trial and error (and expense), I gave up and quit. Muscled through the hot flashes. Hoped my brain fog/memory loss was temporary. Upped the omega 3s and Vit D and cleaned up my diet a bit (way more plants, way less sugar); started walking and doing a little easy strength training at home. Have a very low dose bioidentical estradiol vaginal cream I use twice a week. Six months later, I feel pretty good. Beginning to see that there's hope on the other side.
May 30, 2017 - 11:15amThis Comment
When did the intrusive thoughts stop and adrenaline rushes and heart palpitations? 2 years and 4 months for me so far
November 10, 2016 - 11:31amThis Comment
I think I also had a bag experience with hormone creams as well. I'm 52 and in menopause. I have not had a full period in 3 years. I bought O-T-C estogen and progestrone creams (suppose to be from wild yams) through amazon. Four week into apply the estogen and progrestone. I had a panic attack and serious rapid heart beat especially when I laid down. I went to urgent care and they identified a slight heart murmur (may have had it all the time) EKG came back perfect, but just to be cautious they suggested I see a cardiologist.
So I will schedule, but I started thinking back what had I changed in the last four weeks and the only thing I did was get on these hormones. Prior to taking the hormones, I was dealing with hot flashes and night sweats, but no heart palpitation at all. Now I'm seeing all these comments from women who have started on bio-identical creams or some form of hormones and it creating more problems with heart palpitations, etc. I think I'm done messing with my hormones.
I'm going to get back on Evening Primose Oil and Black Cohosh and call it a day. I think messing with your hormones by applying unnatural forms of it that your body does not produce itself is bad business. It's too complication and hormones regulate too many things to just be trying this stuff out without a lot of thorough in-depth knowledge (you gain on your own) because every single woman is different and some women are more sensitive to hormones than others. So I'm done.
October 10, 2016 - 5:01amThis Comment
I had same reaction exactly to the estriol cream . Very frustrating, because I am struggling with hot flashes frequently
November 17, 2016 - 1:06pmThis Comment
Hi, I'm puzzled on why my bhrt causes me to have hot flashes. I've went on and off a free times so, it's definitely the bhrt that causes them, i have a bi-est, testosterone and progestrone compounded. Any suggestions will be great because I want to use the bhrt as an anti aging protocol.
September 13, 2016 - 10:51amThis Comment
Glad I've found this post!! Hope someone is still active on here I am desperate!! My nightmare began in March 2015 when I was given provera tablets to control my period! I have always been sensitive to hormonal contraception and wish I had known better!! Provera is a progesterone only pill, after a few months experienced extreme anxiety like never before.. I couldn't really see what was causing it so I tried an antidepressant! What a nightmare, made me really sick only on it for 5 pills! Was told to come off provera and antidepressant Which was on Sep 02 2015. What a ride it's been! Intrusive thoughts that I've never had before consumed my head, dizziness, insomnia, anxiety, brain fog, fatigue.. To this day I don't know if it was coming off the provera or the ad. Anyway was a very slow process getting better and a long road. Got to March 2016 and was feeling better and better all the time, I had heard wonders about progesterone cream and thought I would try it!! What a mistake! Worked well for 4 weeks then just randomly had a terrible week of sadness and crying but so extreme felt so bad.. Came off the cream cause couldn't cope. Was okay for two weeks but pretty dizzy and not as good as I was before the cream. Then all went down hill again, just before my period have become exteremely emotional like really bad, anxiety is high, bad thoughts just so tired!! Guessing must be a big progesterone crash? Feels similar to when came off provera! Am soooo gutted! Really don't want to have to go on antidepressant as so scared what will do to me! Def feeling crazy!!
June 16, 2016 - 11:04pmThis Comment
Hello. I hate that you are going through this, but I am so thankful to find someone else with the same issues. I went on bio identical hormones in March 2016 too. Within 6 days my estrogen more than double, my testosterone did the same and my progesterone raised .01. It was the worst experience I have ever had. If there is one thing in my life I could go back and undo that would be my choice. I was having server anxiety and some panic attacks, and very disturbing thoughts. The nurse practitioner I was using told me to stay on them. I freaked out and made her see me. I quit them, but I am still having problems. I have had 2 periods a month, one lasting 17 days, lost 18 lbs in 2 weeks, then all the anxitey and disturbing thoughts come back 2 weeks before my period. In June I had surgery to remove endometriosis, endo scaring, cydt, and a d&c. My gyno thought this would all helo, but it flared everything up. Now their only suggestion is anxiety meds. As they are pretty sure this has all thrown me into menopause or premenpause. From my research that all lowers your serstonin levels, and I wonder if all the hormone issues have robbed us from serotonin. My dr wanted me to try a natural approach 1st, so I am trying tryptophan right now. Praying that something is the answer and soon!
July 28, 2016 - 6:40amThis Comment
Please let me know how you're doing now. I'm going through the exact same thing. I was reading that it could be the way our body metabolizes serotonin . The web page I had was saying that estrogen does the same thing
December 8, 2016 - 11:58amThis Comment