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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Anon,
Thanks so much for telling of your experience. And your question about testosterone spikes is really interesting -- the nearly manic behaviors that you didn't have control over.
What does your SottoPelle doctor say about all this? I'm really interested.
January 13, 2010 - 9:15amThis Comment
Annonymous from the Midwest again.... I last had the pellets in July 2009. I didn't stop bleeding until mid January then began bleeding again in April. I woke up one morning with the worst cramps ever - felt like I was on fire. The best part was having to go to work bleeding to death with hideous cramps! I also had burning with urination. Tests showed I had a UTI & uterine polyp. However, I had a uterine polyp in 2002 & never bled a drop. I also have thickened endometrial lining. I began taking prometrium again which keeps the bleeding to a dull roar but makes me mildly nauseaus & dizzy. I can't afford a hysterectomy so I guess I'll have another D & C. I feel like I've lost a year of my life to the hormone therapy. Yes, it helped with my arthritis, skin tone but it's not been worth it to me. The testosterone caused me to make bad decisions - I broke my ankle because I was out places I didn't need to be trying to get laid due to the horrendous sex drive. My life was fine prior to the hormones & I feel like it's been turned upside down - as much as when I went through menopause.
May 19, 2010 - 5:22amThis Comment
I got my first pellets in July of '09, just had my 3rd insertion a few weeks ago, a booster as I was suddenly not feeling as wonderful as I had been. My testosterone level was 32 to begin with and the 1st pellets just tranformed me, loved it and so did my husband. Two weeks ago I began to feel horrid, my head was numb, I was so crabby I couldn't stand myself, very sleepy and crazy tired. I lay in bed in a stupor for 3 days and when the holiday weekend passed I contacted the dr. who ordered lab work and it turns out that I'd had a testosterone "spike" and my level was at 400! They had no explanation for this, the nurse said she'd had it happen to her twice over the many years she'd used the pellets and recommended I exercise to burn some of it up. Wellll, I did not feel like exercising! I felt ready to die. Has anyone else experienced this spike? It's pretty scary and to find nothing can be done and I'm left feeling like this for who knows how long is extremely discouraging.
January 12, 2010 - 9:26amThis Comment
Anon,
Are you still feeling this lethargic? Even though it has been two weeks since that holiday weekend? Have you contacted the nurse since she recommended exercise to "burn some of it off?" They gave you no idea how long this effect might last or whether there was anything they can do to counteract it?
January 13, 2010 - 9:11amThis Comment
I still feel horrid, very angry and irritable all the time or depressed because I don't seem to have any control over my emotions and barely the energy or desire to get myself showered and dressed every day. They told me it would take time to allow it to be used up and I have not called them back as she did not tell me to check back so I assumed there was nothing more to be done. I am in the process of becoming a new patient with another pellet dr. but that first appt. is not for 4 more weeks and I have begged them for some advice before that appt. but cannot get beyond the receptionist. despair is my constant companion
January 13, 2010 - 9:28amThis Comment
Anonymous from the Midwest again---- Today is Jan 7 & I've been bleeding daily since Nov 1. It tapered off some in December but seems to be coming back as I'm trying to take less of the prometrium. My nipples have been itching like crazy & have a rash - when I take less prometrium it's not as bad. SInce my last insertion was Julyv 27, I'm starting to regain the 10 lbs I'd lost, my arthritis pain & GERD are getting worse (pre pellet state). However, anything is preferable to daily cramps. daily bleeding & nearly being mentally ill from the testosterone. I can think straight again, remember to pay bills & concentrate on my work - things that just 'went out the window' on the testosterone 'high'. If I ever stop bleeding I may go back to the creams. I saw one post where the person's doctor said no to removal of the uterus so she could stop taking the prometrium & my doc is just the opposite. Very strange.
January 7, 2010 - 2:25pmThis Comment
Anon from the Midwest,
I'm very concerned that you've been bleeding daily since Nov. 1, even if you do have an explanation for it (trying to take less of the prometrium). Should you go see an ob/gyn unrelated to your SP doctor to check things out? At the very least, I think it's possible for you to become anemic from losing so much blood.
When you discussed your bad side effects with your SP doctor, what was her or his response?
January 12, 2010 - 8:39amThis Comment
I too asked my Dr. about just yanking out my uterus as when I had the pellets I loved the effects--skin was great. But the prometrium was AWFUl--pills I cramped and felt like shit--vaginal cream was bloated and as I already have IBS that was unbearable. I finally just couldn't take it. THe testosterone was only a little bad for about 2 weeks when I guess I was peaking--very jittery, couldn't sit still but asidefrom that I loved it, great for working out at the gym and libido--although I am single which was a pain but had my toys. Anyway, now am taking testosterone by compounded pill and back on a low dose oral HRT which does nothing for my skin. I so wish she would just remove my uterus butshe says no. YOu didn't have a bad reaction from prometrium from creams. The only thing about them is it sounds like a realpain, twice a day, letting it absorb. HOw did they work for you.
January 10, 2010 - 4:13amThis Comment
I had a hysterecotomy at 33, in 2003. I tried SottoPelle once in 2006 after a physical therapy friend advised that I may benefit from it. I was treated by a Doctor in Rome, GA. He was a very nice man, who I thought had my best interest at heart. My body began to show significant changes in about two weeks. I began to want to make love to my husband again and it was a wonderful sharp spike in our sexual relationship. I had not felt that way since being in my early twenties. By the third week I began to feel energy that I had not felt in over fifteen years. It was wonderful. My breast were firm and responsive to touch. I felt as though my head was clear and I could remember things and carry on sharp conversation. In the fourth week I began to feel aggressive in the bedroom. I began to crave sex, not merely want to share my body with my husband, but expect things that we had never encountered. I wanted to watch porn and do things we had never done. It wasn't healthy and I knew it, but I couldn't do anything about it because the SottoPella was in my hip. I couldn't stop taking it, or applying it, it was in my body and I couldn't get it out. At the beginning of the fifth week I began a sudden drop in energy, sexual desire, and patience. It was terrible. The worst mood swing I have ever experienced. I made an appointment to see my doctor and told him that I wanted to try another month, but my husband would also like to try it. We both went. His cost $650 because he had to have 11 implants. Mine only cost $250. They gave my husband his implants, and forgot to schedule me. He didn't see any difference at all in the implants he received. I also did not see any change in his performance sexually, or in energy. He reamained the same. The office I visisted did not conduct themselves in a manner I though was professional. I would like to try SottoPelle again because I had decent experience while trying it, but it would need to be a different office.
January 4, 2010 - 7:25pmThis Comment
Anon,
ou
Yours is certainly a rollercoaster of a story, isn't it? I cannot imagine how frustrating it must have been to first get such help and hope from a product that then seemed to turn negative. Did you ever get an explanation from the doctor as to why you would have had such a severe mood and energy swing in that fifth week?
Did that office conduct themselves in such an unprofessional manner that you should report them to a higher medical authority?
January 12, 2010 - 8:36amThis Comment