Mary, help my partner please

A question for mary or indeed any one, I need to help my partner, bless her , she had a full hysterectomy about five years ago ( she was 40 then )and she aint happy , more over her body aint happy. Please tell me after afull hysterectomy , does she need oestrogen and progesterone, or one or the other. She was on oestrogen patches with no joy , now on oestrogen tablets and the weight gain and bloating is making her very unhappy , the doctors say the weight gain is nothing to do with the operation..that is the biggest load of codswollop even i have heard. I have watched a beutifull young lady size six disappear infront of my eyes and re appear considerably bigger and all since the operation . I love her dearly what ever, nothing will change that. She is my lady but she is at the end of her tether with it. I am now reading about bio identicle creams etc, is this the way forward and if so do you use them in conjunction with Hrt or on there own and bin the other stuff. Some one help , I want her to be happy again.

Many thanks, help ,

[Mary 53]

I'm glad I checked this forum tonight!

I'm so sorry to hear that your partner has had such a rough go of it.

There's a great website which has a ton of good information, in my opinion. It's called, "A Survivors Guide to Menopause..." Google that and you should get it. It is quite exhaustive, but this is an exhaustive topic as it seems you are imagining. I'm sorry the doctor thinks that the reprecussions of a surgically induced menopause deso not carry any concerns.

I'm sorry it's so late here in MN (I am assuming you might be in the UK based on the European spelling of Estrogen)... would your partner be willing to fill out a profile page... or would you be able to do that more fully even for yourself. It helps so much when we respond to posts.

You don't say what type of estrogen your partner was on (was it Estradiol? Estrone?). Most patches from what I can tell are bioidentical (the newer term now is Human-identical. It is confusing. A hormone can be bioidentical or synthetic. I am wondering if she is on a synthethic right now. I would not be happy on that either! There are some bioidentical products that are delivered orally. Estradiol is the estrogen of choice after menopause whether it is surgically induced or not. As far as the progesterone goes, the website I mentioned does a great job of explaining that whole arena. You want to make sure you are at the optimal (I cannot repeat that enough) dose of estradiol before adding anything else. If one does not have a uterus there is usually not really a need to use progesterone but some women do use a tiny amount after making sure their estradiol is at the optimal dose (you'd need a blood test to determine that ... but in the range of 100 - 120 ng/ml (I will have to check on those initials.... cannot remember how it goes... ml/ng???... I think I say something on my profile journal article about hormones... anyway, I have not used progesterone for about three years now and I feel much better without it. I was on an excessive dose because of some misguidance by one of my doctors. I switched doctors. All I use now are estradiol (in a patch form) and a small amount of testosterone. I used to be the first to say we all need progesterone, but there is newer research on this, and again, the website I mentioned goes into a nice explanation.

The protocol I use now is based on the work by Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet and it was her book, "Screaming to be Heard" that I found about three years ago that proved to be most helpful to me. She says no progesterone at all if you do not have a uterus. And, I have found her recommendation most helpful for me, but again, do the research because there might be a handful of women out there who need a little bit (Vliet also says that, though, come to think of it). I am going to send this because my computer is acting up... more in a minute.

[Mary 53]

Sorry about that... I was so afraid I was going to lose all that I'd just typed.

Anyway, take a look at that website (they give a nice grid of hormones for both the US and the UK and they indicate the way the hormone is used and the type of hormone it is). I would only use a hormone that is bioidentical, but it sounds like your partner was on one in the patch. I just wonder if the dose was not high enough.

Dr. Vliet has a book on Hormones and Womens' weight issues and it is excellent. Optimal estradiol again is key... along with exercise. I know how frustrating all of this is, though... but there is hope. Estradiol levels affect over 400 bodily functions alone. Why wouldn't we want to use it even though we don't need as much as we did during the years we were fertile, there is still a dose that is considered just right so you get the benefits to your heart, brain, blood sugar, joints, muscles, feet, etc....on and on and on.

Keep researching and stay in touch.

Mary

[nelly555]

Mary ,thank you so much for getting back to me. Your right it is a mine field out there. I was stuck to the screen researching  and researching yesturday and in the end was more confused than before but being a man that probably is not hard , Ha Ha !! I  hope that more partners will get involved in their lady's issues with this subject as it is fascinating and certainly gives me a better understaning as to the hell you ladies have to go through.....MEN  do not take a back seat on this , help your ladies, they are going through hell at times!!
I will keep in touch Mary when we have researched more.
Many thanks , Nelly   UK.( Neil Actually )
  

[Mary 53]

Hi Neil,

It's always nice when a poster gets back to us after a response. Please know that it is really appreciated. I wanted to say more last night but I was exhausted and just had to stop at some point. I can collect information from other posts and send them to you either here or through your profile page where there is an area where  you can send messages. Make sure your settings on Medhelp are set so that you will get an email notification whenever anyone sends you a message or a note. We don't see your email address... but it's nice to know there's a message sitting there and if you're not checking the site regularly, at least the email will tell you to do so.

Dr. Vliet's work is on Amazon, by the way. She also has a website and along with the website she has included radio archives which are very helpful.

There is more to the weight issue than I spoke of last night so that's why I want to collect my information and send it to you. It might take a while though since I am on my way out the door right now, but if you don't mind waiting I will see what I can do.

I totally agree that more men should try to gain an understanding about all of this. Good for you. I will admit to being confused by your screen name... and I just figured that Nelly and this gal going thru the problems were just super-great friends. Sounds like you are a great friend at that....

Until later,

Mary