Hormones

[janelle]

Hi girls, Happy holidays first off. Hope all is well.
I am ready to check into hormone treatment & was wondering if any girls in Wisc. can help with this? I live in La Crosse so even Minn. would be ok too. I need to know where, how much & if you had a good response from the places you mention. I thank you for giving me any help you can as i really need to move on. In fact those were the words from my Psy. this A.M..
Again thank you & please help.
( perfer with Dr. as i know there are many risks with this step,Thanks)

:hugs: :love: ,Janelle

[Kimberley]

Janelle, your pdoc should have sent you back to your GP with a letter who would do the baseline tests then refer you to an endocrinologist for hormones.

Maybe check into this a little deeper?

:hugs:
Kimberley

[danadoll]

Hi Janelle, you might want to check out Dr. Anne Lawrence's web site, she is very informative and is also a TG woman her self.
www.annelawrence.com

Dana

[janelle]

Thanks Dana. I also e-mailed the U of Mn. to see if i could be evaluated. I really need to move on. Thanks.
:love: Janelle

[gerdani8]

Hello there,

Saw this thread and wanted to relate a personal experience.

I transitioned to living full time as a woman in August 1996. Around the same time, I started taking 1.25mg Premarin daily. This dosage was increased to 2.5mg about four years ago.

This past summer, I really got into the exercise thing. I quit smoking, walked over 220 miles, rode my bicycle and played golf as much as possible. By the end of September, I was feeling good.

In October I turned 60.

In October I started feeling "odd".

A shortness of breath after mild exercise, like walking 150 feet to the mail box and back. This wasn't right. Also in October, I had a spell where I was coughing up some bloody mucous. I was treated with an antibiotic as if this was 'bronchitis'. This seemed to take care of the condition.

However, in November, the shortness of breath continued. I went back to my care provider and they decided to send me to the local hospital for a chest CTscan.

I checked in through the ER, had an IV started, an ECG performed and answered many questions about my general health/lifestyle.

Finally, after a three hour wait, I was taken for my CTscan. The nurse brought me back to the exam room and told me it would be 45 minutes to an hour before the results of my test came back.

Fifteen minutes later, the ER doctor walks in, sits down and tells me I have blood clots (plural) in BOTH lungs! And, I would be admitted for treatment IMMEDIATELY.

The official diagnosis was: LARGE BILATERAL PULMONARY EMBOLI

I spent three nights there, being treated with Lovenox shots (in the tummy) two times a day, Coumadin pills, bed rest and diet consultation.

Today, I am back home, back to work, watching my diet, taking my Coumadin and trying not to cut myself(this medicine is an anti-coagulant).

I am also trying to get used to life WITHOUT estrogen. This is NOT a pleasant process, trust me. I made the comment yesterday, I have gone through puberty and menopause in eight years!

The doctors have told me I *CANNOT* take any more estrogen. This included prescriptions, herbals, bio-identicals and the so-called breast development pills & creams. We are discussing alternatives to estrogen therapy, i.e., a testosterone blocker of some kind.

Hopefully, I will be able to get back into the shape I was in a few months ago. I am feeling better than I did a month or so ago, but I know I am not completely recovered yet. And this recovery will not happen overnight.

If you are determined to do the hormone thing, please see a reputable doctor. Study up on the risks involved. Pulmonary emboli and heart attacks (I had two of them in 1999) are VERY serious and sometimes fatal. This is something you must keep in mind if you insist on traveling this path.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Gerri

[Scotty]

Good post Gerdani -

I posted my experience of yesterday in body issues - my understanding of PMS - as I've weaned down to being OFF of hormones in the past two weeks, yesterday as MAJOR PMS d ay for me........just wanted to kill something, anything.....LOL.

I'm doing it for health reasons as well, although my digestive system is having issues it's a wake up call, and I'm not sure I want my breasts to grow much bigger.

Anyway going off of hormones is probably harder than quitting smoking, and I'm not kidding......just something to consider.

So, speaking of, quitting next week (Smoking).....I should be really fun to be around!! (NOT!!)

[JenniferMint]

I transitioned to living full time as a woman in August 1996. Around the same time, I started taking 1.25mg Premarin daily. This dosage was increased to 2.5mg about four years ago.

...

The doctors have told me I *CANNOT* take any more estrogen. This included prescriptions, herbals, bio-identicals and the so-called breast development pills & creams. We are discussing alternatives to estrogen therapy, i.e., a testosterone blocker of some kind.

Do you still have your testicles?

[Stephenie S]

Dear Gerri,

Jennifer asked a very good question. Getting rid of your testicles would lower your need for estrogen and eliminate the need for a testosterone blocker. This would seem to be something to investigate.

Your experience underscores the need for competant medical monitoring during HRT. It's easy to go it alone, but it could be a fatal decision.

Stephenie

[gerdani8]

Do you still have your testicles?

Yes I do.

Their removal is merely one of the options I have looked into. Sometime in the next few weeks, I will be seeing a new doctor and we will have many things to discuss.

What with the stopping of my estrogen and the VA Pharmacy being out of stock of my Wellbutrin (for smoking cessation), life hit me like a ton of brick Tuesday, the 19th. It was a total, complete mental meltdown.

I told one of my friends at the office, "I have been through puberty and menopause in eigh years!"

Hang in there! I am...

Gerri