Sorry, me again! Just wondered if anybody (female only Iâm afraid) here has had help with hormones to help with MAV? I am 47 and have been going through peri-menopause for 5 years. At one point my GP said I had had complete ovarian failure after I had had no period for 9 months. That was when I was 42. Then, about a month or two later I had a period and they have been on off on off ever since. Sometimes I have a gap of 4 months, sometimes 6 months, sometimes normal patterns. My last period lasted 5 days stopped and then started again and was excruciatingly painful and heavy and lasted another 6 days. My dizziness and heavy right head, wooziness, night dizziness, nausea and ear fullness all increased during this âsecondâ period and before that my boobs had been horrendously painful.
My mother is convinced that I need HRT to solve all my problems: I am convinced that I donât âŚbut I have moments of wavering when I think âhell, maybe sheâs rightâ. But surely if Iâm still having periods, I am still producing oestrogen so donât need to add more oestrogen to my body via HRT?
Has anybody seen a website for the Womens Health Institute of Texas? The director there seems to have a miracle hormone cure for all migraine. He seems to be quite kosher. Just wondered if anybody has tried this route?? :o
Ali,
there is a story in the link âPOST YOUR STORY HEREâ by âgaylaâ posted 8/16/05. She talks about estrogen solving all of her problems. I havenât read it in a long time, so I canât remember the details, but you may find it interesting, regarding the hormone issue.
Julie
â Begin quote from âAli1360â
But surely if Iâm still having periods, I am still producing oestrogen so donât need to add more oestrogen to my body via HRT?
â End quote
My comments are for women in their 40âs naive enough to think that if you are having a period you are producing enough hormones.
The answer is NO, you are more than likely not.
I am currently going through hormonal hell (age 46) and I did my hormone tests repeatedly to see how horrible the levels were.
Progesterone was virtually non-existent and estrogen was insanely low in the 14-21 pg/ml area.
To feel human and healthy, a perimenopausal womanâs estrogen should be about 100-120 pg/ml, not 14!
Hell, there are women in menopause with higher estrogen levels than mine.
I highly recommend ladies reading Dr. Elizabeth Vlietâs books. I call her the hormone queen.
That is how you will learn what hormone levels are healthy, and what levels are pathetic (like mine) Lol.
Since my hormones crashed, my health has gone into the toilet and I can barely function.
I went 7 months with no period and then whammo, got 2 periods, and now nothing again.
The results of this have been nothing short of a violent assault on my vestibular system.
Heather
regarding estrogen - Read Gaylaâs story in POST YOUR STORY HERE. I think itâs the first post.
I read Gaylaâs story, but found a huge error in that story.
It does not cost 800.00 to pull your estrogen serum blood level.
I have no idea who could have told her such a thing.
To all the ladies, lab costs for serum blood level estrogen (estradiol) range anywhere from 60 bucks to, oh, maybe 150.
Progesterone is more expensive. A couple hundred. (blood level, not saliva)
But 800.00? Only a criminal would charge that. Itâs unheard of.
So if a gyno says itâs too expensive, find a new gyno!
Every woman has a right to know where her hormone levels are, even though they do go up and down.
If you want to see how pathetic your estradiol level is, test in the late afternoon.
Thatâs when I caught my low 14 level. ugggghhhh.
Itâs also the time of day when I would be nearly out of control with anxiety.
(Hello Xanax) Lol.
Heather
Hi every one,
Ok correct me if Iâm wrong,
a few points,
- Some women with migraine disease get better after meno?
- Some of the girls from mal de debarquement site use progesterone cream bought off the shelf at a shopping center in the states. They say it helped their mal de and put them into remission???
Sad thing is YOU wouldnât find progesterone on the shelf here in oz. no way!
Maybe it was a natural herbal form of this drug and not synthetic.
3.most migrainures canât take the pill or HRT as migraines become worse???
I could never be on the pill and neither can most of the women in the family, it effects us badly and makes us all go nut, (mood swings)
- In oz they have just started commonly prescribing, the MARINA.
Itâs a contraceptive device that has a hormone laced end, and my Dr said it only hits the parts of the cervix ect, which stops the hormone from going into the blood then the brain, with many women it also stops the period completely until removed, I was thinking of using one as my migraines do get out of hand around menses,
It only takes 48 hours after removal for your body to be rid of the hormone, and to fall preggy.
Itâs also used to stop heavy periods, during peri stage
I just wonder if it would be a good tool for us migers
Any one know of this contraception?
thanks jen
All I know is that it is used quite frequently in my locale, but I didnât know why - youâve just educated me, Jen 
Ok gals, educate me. Please!!!
Heather, your levels are insanely low, have you tried to fix it to see if it helped your MAV stuff? If not, how come?
Also, I stupidly bought some progesterone cream off the shelf at the health food store, right in the beginning of all this (my sister told me, âyeah - its your hormones, it hit me at 40 tooâ). That night after using that cream, I laid in bed all night unable to close my eyes because of the âflashingâ (strobe-light effect - Julie?) It was God-awful⌠I have to wonder -maybe it was the cream?
Iâm extremely stupid when it comes to this hormone stuff - please clue me in!!! 
Great forum to join:
Everything from hormone discussions to perimenopause symptoms.
BTW, stay away from that OTC progesterone cream.
You need to see a Doc to balance your hormones right.
I initially started out on the estrogen patch but it turned into a nightmare because I wasnât adding progesterone. (my theory)
Also, my body did NOT like the patch, so route of delivery matters.
I ahd too many horrible side effects from the patch.
Plus, my headaches got WORSE.
This is where the balance comes in. One needs both estrogen and progesterone.
I plan on eventually giving Prometrium (micronized progesterone) and oral Estrace a shot.
I just donât want to complicate things yet until I see where some things are coming from.
But yes, my estrogen is insanely low.
Itâs part of why I feel like a corpse every day and cannot function, let alone walk much.
The hormone queen is in Arizona-- Dr. Elizabeth Vliet. Sheâs in Tucson.
Heather
Thanks Heather!
Kim
Yes, Kim, thatâs the strobe light effect - wild, huh?
all heck broke loose when I got perimenopausal also and it was then, only looking back, that the MAV was surfacing, very slowly. Just slight rocking - nobody wanted to treat that. I tried progesterone cream OTC, mistake. I started having raging yeast infections, couldnât sleep. I tried a bunch of other OTC stuff, but quit it all and thought I would just get through it like our mothers and grandmothers did. when I talk to my Mom and others about why our generation seems to be having so many more problems with menopause than they did (and everyone Iâve spoken to so far agrees that we are) I get the same answer: Our generation is sicker. Everyoneâs theory includes environmental factors, antibiotics, immunizations - things that people from âthe old countryâ werenât exposed to.
Who knows.
Iâll check out the hormone site - thanks Heather.
Julie
Chiming in with my two cents & more questions âŚ
Doesnât hormone therapy add to the heart disease/stroke risk? I was kinda worried about that aspect. Iâm 47, too, & peri-menopausal. For the last couple months Iâve been teetering on depression with a side order of caustic. My sonâs going off to college this fall ⌠12-yr-old dtr just started being âactively hormonalâ if you know what I mean ⌠husb is disabled & chronically depressed. It doesnât make for a happy house when âMom gets hormonalâ and stays that way.
Can one take Atenolol AND Valium or Prozac?? I canât live like this for the next few years! Are there any ânaturalâ ways to get leveled out? Iâm talking mood swings - not just fixing the hot flashes. I know those can be bad, but I donât have that yet. (Probably just jinxed myself.)
Going to sign up on that power-surge site & see if anybody has any suggestions.
IF I have tests and my estrogen is low - what can I do with the information? Add more chemicals to the mix?? I mean, my family has a history of heart disease so I donât want to exacerbate that ⌠my cholesterolâs already going up. I had really hoped - as Julie said - to just tough it out. Iâm starting to think Iâm not nearly as âtoughâ as I thought.
Itâs to the point where I know I will have to do something about my hormones.
Itâs like I have been ill ever since I lost them, every day.
The swings are not just about âmoodâ with me, they are affecting my ability to see, walk, function etc.
Ever since losing my hormones my heart beats through my back like someone kicking you on an airplane seat from behind.
When I first tried hormone therapy, it took at least a .50 estrogen patch to make it stop.
So for me, hell, Iâm seeing a cardiologist in a few days.
I never had any heart issues until I lost my hormones.
Low hormones are what start causing heart disease and circulatory problems.
Estrogen aids in blood flow to the brain.
My symptoms have been sudden and severe.
Itâs not about wimpy things like hot flashes. Who gives a hoot about that?
Iâm talking about your whole life going down the tubes since losing them.
Thatâs what happened to me.
Iâm in a state of exhaustion, every single day.
Not fatigue, exhaustion.
I just need to find the right formula that my body can handle, without side effects.
Otherwise, Iâm screwed.
Heather