Thank you Michelle for your story in Paradise Mag. I like you have been tearing my hair out wondering what is going on with me. I finally put my foot down and demanded answers. I am 49 yrs old and was just told I am in menopause! I am reseaching the product SottoPelle the Bio Equivalent Hormonal Replacement Therapy. If anyone has some insite to the use of SottoPelle I would love to hear about it.Thank you Barbara
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I started using Sotto Pelle about 18 months ago. I am 46 but suffered from terrible migraine headaches every month. The headaches are gone and I feel great. At the end of 4 months I can really tell when I need another infection!
June 8, 2009 - 7:56pmThis Comment
Hi Barbara-
I wrote an article for EmpowHer on this exact topic. I think it would be of interest to you. Here is the link.
https://www.empowher.com/news/2008/06/23/shannon-koehle-exploring-hormone-pellet-therapy
Hope this is helpful and let me know if you have any additional questions.
THANKS!
May 12, 2009 - 10:16amThis Comment
Hi, I am 20 years old and have been diagnosed with a progesterone deficiency. I have been having symptoms of menopause such as: night sweats, hot flashes, urinary incontinence, no periods for over a year, exhaustion, extreme weight gain, dry skin, irritability and thinning hair. I have been wondering if Sottopelle can help... Do they even offer help to people as young as me? Please help.
May 1, 2009 - 4:25pmThis Comment
I received my first pellet insertion 3/16/09. I'm 58 & have tried the compounded prescription creams with limited success but had been off that for two years. My doctor told me my hormones were so depleted that it would probably take a month to notice real change. By 3/18, I was sleeping soundly and was no longer experiencing urinary incontinence. By 3/19, I could do a kegel while urinating and stop urine flow just like in my 20s and 30s. Then, after about five days, a creepy thing happened - it was like rewinding the tape - like reverse menopause. First, the mini hotflashes for two days followed by inability to sleep. Then cramping like ovulatory pain, then cramping like the world's worst period!! That lasted two days, followed by 2-3 days of intermitant cramps. Coinciding with this was very sore breasts like premenstrual soreness. On the other hand, my arm and leg skin has increasingly become softer and plumper - less leathery, Tomorrow will be 14 days since the pellet insertion (estrodoil & testosterone) and today I've had no cramping. I also take 200 mg progesterone nightly and I've read that can cause cramping. I also found a site where another woman wrote about experiencing 'reverse menopause' symptoms, then after a couple of weeks, she felt great, so I'm hoping for the best. If any other women out there have experienced early negative symptoms I'd love to hear about it!
March 29, 2009 - 12:16pmThis Comment
I had the pellets implanted about 5 weeks ago (am 56)and have been very disappointed so far. My levels of testosterone and estrogen were very low and my FSH very high before I began so when saw Dr. she said it would take a while to adjust. However, I feel angrier, more depressed, am not sleeping well, no energy, face has broken out, gained weight, and the prometrium (200 mg for 1st 10 days of month) makes me sick to the stomach so feel bad for those 10 days (dr. is going to take me off that and lower the dose). I can do more at the gym, libido is better, hot flashes are gone but that is it. While I had read everyone's praises of the pellets, I feel I had very realistic expectations (as a psychologist, I am very aware of the placebo effect and realized it would take a while to get my hormones stabilized) but to date have been very disappointed, particularly considering how much money they cost. Am trying to believe the Dr. and hope that something positive will happen but very frustrated, as I have not seen any negative comments about this therapy. If anyone else has had a negative experience, please post. Thanks.
May 12, 2009 - 9:27amThis Comment
Hera, I know your comment was posted almost 2 years ago - I hope you are still active on this site. I got the pellets for the first time on Feb 8th of 2011. I am 57 years old and my levels were very low as well BUT after all the years of hearing such incredible responses from people who got BHRT I was SO disappointed when I finally did ! While a follow up blood test shows my estrogen and testosterone levels to be in the normal range and my throid was also in the normal range, the way I feel has NOT gone through any great changes. My results have been almost identical to yours- no hot flashes, libido is better, I can do more at the gym. My doctor says I should be feeling 10 times better and I feel about 3 times better- so frustrating. I was wondering how you were doing or, if anyone else has had negative experiences?
March 26, 2011 - 6:41amThis Comment
"No hot flashes, libido is better and doing more at the gym" sounds pretty positive to me. Why do you think you have had a negative experience? Isn't 3x better still an improvement? I'm concerned that sometimes we can build something up in our heads that we expect a miracle, when no procedure can possibly live up to that expectation. Have you discussed your concerns with your doctor? What did he/she say? You also may consider that not all remedies are right for everyone. There isn't a one-size-fits-all potion or procedure. If you feel like this isn't working for you, after you've given it a bit of time, you can stop this process and try something different.
March 28, 2011 - 8:33amGood luck!
This Comment
Dear Hera,
December 5, 2009 - 8:43pmWhen I first started having just the estrogen pellets implanted two years after struggling with patches,pills etc I had a good effect but still not as good as I felt before my complete hysterwrectomy. The past year has been a living nightmare, as I had testosterone and estrogen implanted and felt the same way as you explained in your post. Agitated, irritated and completely PMSey, I am surprised my boyfriend of many years didnt leave me. I cried every day and smoked ciggys like crazy and was so anxious I couldnt even hold a conversation. Well I made it thru the first few months and it wasnt until the last two months that I felt good. This was last november and the pellets seemed to stay in my system for many months. Well a month ago I started not handling stress good again and was crying all the time and things seemed dark and gloom,and my fibromyalgia and other body aches started acting up again,so did a little bloating which told me I was off hormonally again sigh... So the doctor did a panel,at the time my FSH was high my testosterone had dropped to normal 49 but estradiol was 174 which they felt were good numbers but felt the problem was the drop in testosterone so the doctor said lets put 50ml of testosterone pellet in, I was so apprehensive as I had such a bad few months at first with the last pellets, I said lets play it safe and go lower, he assured me that I wouldnt even feel it if we went lower and insisted on 50ml of testosterone pellet only. This was a little less than two weeks ago the first few days I felt ok ,but now I am miserable again and so mad at myself that I chose this procedure again as I am back to square one. My face is red, I anger quickly, am pmsey, cant tolerate any stress or commotion what so ever and my lupus/fibro has acted up as now I am bloated and retaining water. I am both hot and cold and the only way I can function is with the help of taking 1ml of the antianxiety pill ativan three to four times a day. I called in despair and pleaded for them to take them out since it hadnt been that long and they said they cant be taken out, I felt in such a rage that they were trained to put them in but not to take them out.So he said well lets just work with what we got so he put me on spirolactone I could feel it block the testosterone and I felt good but its a diuretic which is not good for raynauds disease which is a circulatory problem in my hands in feet which comes along with lupus and so I could not take it. My stomach hurts from the testosterone and I cant even think straight, its christmas and I have parties to attend and I dont even want to do that. I pray i make it thru this awful situation. I called the doc again and pleaded once again to take them out now, I even had a dream that I tried to take it out myself. He said maybe he could refer me to a surgeon,or call my primary care doc to refer me as I have insurance but it probably has moved around by now and is like finding a needle in a haystack which I find hard to believe,and he said will leave a ugly scar on my hip but at this point I am thinking of looking into a surgeon because thats how miserable I am sniffle....the next thing he wants me to try is a little progesterone cream tonite.In the meantime my doctor has put me on an antidepressant as I am so upset in hopes to calm me down and help my moods. Anyways so this my friend is my experience. Please contact me if you know what can help, or anybody who reads this can give some advice as I am desperate and miserable. Some christmas huh, sniffle.....
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Wow, I am so sorry to hear your situation! Mine was no where near that bad. Obviously everyone reacts differently. I have actually been thinking of doing it again as the oral stuff isn't doing much and I am back to not sleeping, my skin is dry again, and not feeling the energy/strength at gym. However, I am still not sure about the prometrium as I could not stand that. I don't know it seems so unfair that they can't seem to get us balanced. I am really envious of those who go on about how well it works but I still wonder how much is a placebo effect--my dr. said there is no way anyone would feel anything immediately after the implants as they take a while to get into your body and build up so I have to laugh when I hear these women say they felt like a new person immediately. My skin was much better and I did like the increase in my muscle ability at gym--the sublingual testosterone is not giving me any of that although my libido is alittle increased--not like the pellets--still not sure whether I would want to go back to the roller coaster thing though. Asked the Dr. couldn't she just remove my uterus so I wouldn't have to take prometrium! Of course she didn't think that was a good idea. You obviously are having a bad reaction to the testosterone--my dr. likes to see it at around 80 so it's now like 49 is all that high so I think you are very sensitive to it and maybe the sublingual would have been better as it's much more gradual and you have more control. I don't know what to tell you--let me know if the progesterone cream helps--it's supposed to be calming
but just upset my stomach and made me bloating and crampy. It's too bad they have no way of seeing how people respond given the wide variation. What antidepressant are you on--is it helping--ativan is very addictive so you may want to see if there is anything else--some of the anitdepressants have a strong anti-anxiety component and they are not addictive (am a psychologist and work at mental hospital so know a lot about drugs plus have suffered low grade depression all my life so have a lot of personal experience too). ALso, it sounds like you have other physical problems that may be interacting with all hte hormones--how experienced is your hormone dr. I feel for you--my experience was not as intense a yours and only lasted a couple of weeks so I can imagine the hell you must be going through. Hang in there and tell yourself that it will eventually get better. I do hear you can't remove it--particulary once it's been in more than a couple of days. I would seriously think about finding a new Dr. Let me know how it goes. Take care.
Judith
December 6, 2009 - 4:32amThis Comment
I was reading your comments on Sotto Pelle. I have been on for over 2 years. I was on the pill until I was 55 and never felt better but then I new I was losing my hormones and going into menopause when my migraines started coming more often than the placebo week and I was losing the battle with my bones no matter how much calcium and exercise and food I consumed. I tried the Sotto Pelle and can say usually after the insertion it kicks in for me about a week to two weeks after and my breasts hurt for up to 2 weeks, and yes I do use oil of evening primrose 2 - 3 a day but I have not noticed a difference with it helping. The headaches are less frequent and finally the bones after 2 years are getting stronger. I also found Citracal is the best calcium because it has calcium citrate with 400 units of D. You need at least 800 units to 1,000 a day to absorb your calcium. I don't always sleep, well even with the hormones except when I start taking the prometrium 200 mg. That is really too high for me but they insist on it since I still have my uterus. It makes me sleepy all day with the dose at 100 mg morning and night. It also flares up a condition I have called interstitial cystitis so if I take it all at once at night I am up using the restroom so that does not work as well for me. The pellet is not always ideal for everyone since month to month you can get a mixed bag of symptoms. I usual run out of my hormones every 3 months and need a refill but my body is too sensitive to take to much at once so I nee mine spread out over 4 times a year. I am looking into maybe taking the pill form of the natural estradiol and prometrium and maybe a tad of testerone whereby I can regulate it day by day instead of hoping it releasing enough each day. Maybe even the creams would work better I am not sure..
September 21, 2009 - 2:28pmJanice
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