Latest Update

Hello, fellow menos   Here's what I did:  When I started taking HRT over two years ago, the prescription said to take for a month. Whenever that month ended, I would still feel bad, so I'd stop for 24 hours, then start up for another month (This is Vivelle Dot, the estrogen. The first 10 days I'd supplement it with Prometrium which is progestin). Anyway, I finally felt okay at the end of a one-month period (which was in October), so I stopped the HRT entirely. The next three days, I not only felt good, I felt GREAT! High energy, vivacious, happy, and wonderful! I immediately made an appt. to discuss this with the doc two weeks later. Since then, I've had a month of basically feeling good with a couple off-days and days of extreme low energy (feeling okay, just totally fatigued, so I slept).   The doc saw a copy of the chart I have been keeping, utilizing the face system used here (great/good/okay/bad/horrible) along with when I was on the HRTs, when my periods were, and when any seizures occured. She agreed that I should wean myself off the HRTs, which is great because I was always concerned about the side effects.    But I had felt SO GOOD when I'd stopped the medications that I've decided to go cold turkey. So far, I've had a fairly normal time of it, with the mornings sometimes being rougher than the afternoons and evenings, and some days being lost completely. BUT I haven't had any of the Really Horribly Bad Episodes that I used to have (see earlier journal entries). Oh, I've had times of depression, crying,  dizziness, mood swings, and feeling physically bad, but as I said, no where near the hell I used to go through.   Be warned, though, that this may not be simply the ceasing of the HRTs. Maybe this is finally the beginning of the end of meno for me, and my need for the hormones is diminishing. I still have bad days, and my libido is completely gone. (I got a perscription for something called "love cream" as well as testosterone; haven't tried them out yet, but will post the results in the Discussions section). So I keep doing what I've been trying to do: not put so much importance on little things, be flexible so that if something doesn't work out, the whole world doesn't come crashing down, try not to take things personally (this was and still is hard), have back-up plans for those days when I wake up and the brain and body tell me that I'm not leaving this bed today, and do whatever I can do to STAY HAPPY. Saving the money to go get that massage every two months, allowing myself to indulge WITHOUT GUILT (as long as I stay withing budget), things like that that keep me happy not only makes life easier for me, but easier for my family also. I know for a fact that my husband and daughter would rather have a pizza delivered if it meant I got some extra sleep and was therefore in a better mood than if I prepared a three-course meal and served it snarling at them.   So that's what's been happening to me. I will most probably still be coming online here; I don't see a total end to this condition immediately (it usually lasts 5 - 15 years), but at least it's not nearly as hellish as it used to be.  To whoever's reading this, may your troubles also ease away and your path become smooth.   And I'll let you know how that love cream works (I hate the term, though; it sounds like something advertised in the back pages of the complimentary weekly local periodicals along with the "realistic" dolls).