Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
General Discussions
The Watercooler
Got an appointment with a hormone specialist
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 153208" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Witz, I've got a couple of ideas.</p><p></p><p>First, has anyone suggested testosterone to you? As women we tend to focus on the need for female hormones, but we're supposed to have a certain amount of testosterone too. if your hormone levels ACROSS THE BOARD are low, you might be a mess because simply increasing a few hormones is only making imbalance worse.</p><p></p><p>The OBGYN sounds like a good idea, but is there any chance of finding a good endocrinologist? Or failing that, will this OBGYN look at things like your pituitary function, or your hypothalamic function? Cortisol levels, for example, could be low.</p><p></p><p>husband has problems a bit like this. Our former GP (a genius, who is now specialising and therefore no longer available as a GP) found the problem, just as we were going on holidays. We were on a train heading south, mostly out of phone range, and the doctor was trying to contact us. he finally left a text message on my phone to ring him when we got to Melbourne. So we did, even though it was late at night by then. While husband drove our hire car the doctor gave me the list of hormone deficits over the phone - it was horrific. We were told to get to a GP along our route who was open, get that doctor to ring him and he would tell him what to prescribe. It had become medically urgent. It can get that bad - husband's cortisol levels were dangerously low, plus most of his other hormones were "out of whack". He's now on his own version of HRT and while on it, just about everything stays normal. It's been tricky to manage but he has a brilliant endocrinologist, who also happens to be the bloke who cured our genius GP of thyroid cancer.</p><p></p><p>About Depo - my best friend has been having Depo shots for contraception, for decades. Her daughter has had either Depo shots or implants. When the daughter lost a lot of weight (due to coeliac) you could see the implant under the skin of her upper arm.</p><p>My friend is in her mid-50s and commented last week that she still hasn't had a period even though she's about a year overdue for her shot. Could this be menopause, she asked. Lucky cow, I replied.</p><p></p><p>I could never use anything strong, hormonally. My body seems too reactive.</p><p></p><p>I hit 50 and hit menopause, almost to the day. My GP corrected me - peri-menopause, he said. It's a stage you go through for years sometimes, as your body slows down its reproductive functions. My sister in law went into peri-menopause very young, while still trying to have a family. She needed hormonal assistance to get pregnant.</p><p></p><p>Symptoms I've had to deal with - no hot flushes to speak of, no irritability. But periods that were dangerously heavy and that lasted for ten days or more, then after a few days' break, they started again. As I can't take iron-containing medications, not even iron in trace amounts, I was watching my haemoglobin levels drop measurably, every month. A few more months and it would have been a trip to hospital for a blood transfusion. </p><p></p><p>The doctor wanted to know HOW heavy, and when I described it, he thought I was exaggerating. So I did something slightly 'yucky' (but as a scientist, I felt it appropriate) - I weighed the output. I have cute little kitchen scales that I can tare (or zero) with a container on it; so I can weigh out flour into a jug, for example, by taring the scales with the jug, so it reads zero.</p><p></p><p>I tared my kitchen scales with a fresh tampon and a plastic bag. I then took out the fresh tampon, replaced it with the loaded tampon in the plastic bag, and weighed it. The weight difference was how much I had lost per tampon. I did the same with pads (I was using both, changing them every half hour). I also estimated any other incidental loss (sorry if this is grossing people out, I'm trying to be discreet here).</p><p></p><p>The point was, I was able to go back to the GP and give him a volume figure and confidently say, "I am losing 200 ml a day," knowing that 20 ml a day is considered normal. Over 8-9 days of this, I was losing a litre and a half (which translates to two and a quarter pints). Then a few days break and it would be on again. No wonder I was rapidly becoming anaemic. Blood loss quickly gets replaced with fluid (from the next glass of water you drink) but replacing the lost red blood cells takes longer.</p><p></p><p>I also was getting both panicky and cranky, feeling like I wasn't believed (until I did the measuring thing) and desperate to avoid a transfusion. So I used humour to help - I wrote a series of jokes along the lines of "You know you have heavy periods when..." </p><p></p><p>Such as "You know you have heavy periods when you finally understand why menopausal Meditteranean women wear black."</p><p></p><p>Or "You know you have heavy periods when your bathroom looks like the shower scene from Psycho".</p><p></p><p>I had a few embarrassing (but funny in hindsight) incidents because of it all - at a theatre party with five of us, I knew I wouldn't be able to get to the loo and back at intermission so I sat still and didn't dare move for the entire play. Afterwards I stayed sitting until the crowds had moved out sufficiently for me to make a bolt for the DISABLED loo (under those circumstances, you NEED the disabled loo). I locked myself in (having pre-warned husband, who is a darling) and cleaned up as fast as I could, hand-washing underwear and trousers (thank goodness I'd worn black trousers) and then standing there naked from the waist down while I was waving my now clean but wet clothing in front of the hand dryer (now you know why you need the disabled loo!). As it was, I still had security pounding on the door asking why I was taking so long. I estimate I was ready to move on after about 15-20 minutes. I was tempted to tell the security guard that I was operating an illegal Chinese laundry - the theatre was in Chinatown.</p><p>We had an hour's drive home. I sat in my seat in the car (on a waterproof sheet we use for wet swimsuits that husband 'forgot' to remove from my seat before I sat down - bless him) and didn't get out at any time on our journey home. Once home - same story. Make a bolt for the bathroom, and go through the strip-down, wash-off routine all over again. Amazingly, our friends didn't realise I had a problem (other than taking a long time in the loo). I told my best friend when I next saw her, she would have told me if she had realised.</p><p></p><p>If you have to deal with all that, you will be cranky and miserable. If you've got hormonal problems on top of all that - it's wrist-slashing time. If not your wrists, then somebody else's.</p><p></p><p>Witz, I hope this guy can help you. It's a big problem and very hard for some people to talk about it. It's not exactly something you can readily discuss over coffee!</p><p></p><p>Oh, one more thing - my OBGYN put me on HRT. It was like turning off a tap (no, really). Everything just stopped. I was doing great for two years, then my BiPolar (BP) went up. Over the next few months while doctors argued about what to do and t hey tried to put me on blood pressure medications, the BiPolar (BP) climbed higher. I finally asked, "Can I just go off the HRT and see what happens?"</p><p></p><p>So I did. I had to taper off, but although periods have occasionally made themselves known, none have been so heavy as they were. One or two came close though. But in general - it would be spotting every few months, for a day or two. In the last two years, the worst seems to have passed. Here's hoping.</p><p></p><p>All the best, Witz. Hope you get some help. This is no fun.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 153208, member: 1991"] Witz, I've got a couple of ideas. First, has anyone suggested testosterone to you? As women we tend to focus on the need for female hormones, but we're supposed to have a certain amount of testosterone too. if your hormone levels ACROSS THE BOARD are low, you might be a mess because simply increasing a few hormones is only making imbalance worse. The OBGYN sounds like a good idea, but is there any chance of finding a good endocrinologist? Or failing that, will this OBGYN look at things like your pituitary function, or your hypothalamic function? Cortisol levels, for example, could be low. husband has problems a bit like this. Our former GP (a genius, who is now specialising and therefore no longer available as a GP) found the problem, just as we were going on holidays. We were on a train heading south, mostly out of phone range, and the doctor was trying to contact us. he finally left a text message on my phone to ring him when we got to Melbourne. So we did, even though it was late at night by then. While husband drove our hire car the doctor gave me the list of hormone deficits over the phone - it was horrific. We were told to get to a GP along our route who was open, get that doctor to ring him and he would tell him what to prescribe. It had become medically urgent. It can get that bad - husband's cortisol levels were dangerously low, plus most of his other hormones were "out of whack". He's now on his own version of HRT and while on it, just about everything stays normal. It's been tricky to manage but he has a brilliant endocrinologist, who also happens to be the bloke who cured our genius GP of thyroid cancer. About Depo - my best friend has been having Depo shots for contraception, for decades. Her daughter has had either Depo shots or implants. When the daughter lost a lot of weight (due to coeliac) you could see the implant under the skin of her upper arm. My friend is in her mid-50s and commented last week that she still hasn't had a period even though she's about a year overdue for her shot. Could this be menopause, she asked. Lucky cow, I replied. I could never use anything strong, hormonally. My body seems too reactive. I hit 50 and hit menopause, almost to the day. My GP corrected me - peri-menopause, he said. It's a stage you go through for years sometimes, as your body slows down its reproductive functions. My sister in law went into peri-menopause very young, while still trying to have a family. She needed hormonal assistance to get pregnant. Symptoms I've had to deal with - no hot flushes to speak of, no irritability. But periods that were dangerously heavy and that lasted for ten days or more, then after a few days' break, they started again. As I can't take iron-containing medications, not even iron in trace amounts, I was watching my haemoglobin levels drop measurably, every month. A few more months and it would have been a trip to hospital for a blood transfusion. The doctor wanted to know HOW heavy, and when I described it, he thought I was exaggerating. So I did something slightly 'yucky' (but as a scientist, I felt it appropriate) - I weighed the output. I have cute little kitchen scales that I can tare (or zero) with a container on it; so I can weigh out flour into a jug, for example, by taring the scales with the jug, so it reads zero. I tared my kitchen scales with a fresh tampon and a plastic bag. I then took out the fresh tampon, replaced it with the loaded tampon in the plastic bag, and weighed it. The weight difference was how much I had lost per tampon. I did the same with pads (I was using both, changing them every half hour). I also estimated any other incidental loss (sorry if this is grossing people out, I'm trying to be discreet here). The point was, I was able to go back to the GP and give him a volume figure and confidently say, "I am losing 200 ml a day," knowing that 20 ml a day is considered normal. Over 8-9 days of this, I was losing a litre and a half (which translates to two and a quarter pints). Then a few days break and it would be on again. No wonder I was rapidly becoming anaemic. Blood loss quickly gets replaced with fluid (from the next glass of water you drink) but replacing the lost red blood cells takes longer. I also was getting both panicky and cranky, feeling like I wasn't believed (until I did the measuring thing) and desperate to avoid a transfusion. So I used humour to help - I wrote a series of jokes along the lines of "You know you have heavy periods when..." Such as "You know you have heavy periods when you finally understand why menopausal Meditteranean women wear black." Or "You know you have heavy periods when your bathroom looks like the shower scene from Psycho". I had a few embarrassing (but funny in hindsight) incidents because of it all - at a theatre party with five of us, I knew I wouldn't be able to get to the loo and back at intermission so I sat still and didn't dare move for the entire play. Afterwards I stayed sitting until the crowds had moved out sufficiently for me to make a bolt for the DISABLED loo (under those circumstances, you NEED the disabled loo). I locked myself in (having pre-warned husband, who is a darling) and cleaned up as fast as I could, hand-washing underwear and trousers (thank goodness I'd worn black trousers) and then standing there naked from the waist down while I was waving my now clean but wet clothing in front of the hand dryer (now you know why you need the disabled loo!). As it was, I still had security pounding on the door asking why I was taking so long. I estimate I was ready to move on after about 15-20 minutes. I was tempted to tell the security guard that I was operating an illegal Chinese laundry - the theatre was in Chinatown. We had an hour's drive home. I sat in my seat in the car (on a waterproof sheet we use for wet swimsuits that husband 'forgot' to remove from my seat before I sat down - bless him) and didn't get out at any time on our journey home. Once home - same story. Make a bolt for the bathroom, and go through the strip-down, wash-off routine all over again. Amazingly, our friends didn't realise I had a problem (other than taking a long time in the loo). I told my best friend when I next saw her, she would have told me if she had realised. If you have to deal with all that, you will be cranky and miserable. If you've got hormonal problems on top of all that - it's wrist-slashing time. If not your wrists, then somebody else's. Witz, I hope this guy can help you. It's a big problem and very hard for some people to talk about it. It's not exactly something you can readily discuss over coffee! Oh, one more thing - my OBGYN put me on HRT. It was like turning off a tap (no, really). Everything just stopped. I was doing great for two years, then my BiPolar (BP) went up. Over the next few months while doctors argued about what to do and t hey tried to put me on blood pressure medications, the BiPolar (BP) climbed higher. I finally asked, "Can I just go off the HRT and see what happens?" So I did. I had to taper off, but although periods have occasionally made themselves known, none have been so heavy as they were. One or two came close though. But in general - it would be spotting every few months, for a day or two. In the last two years, the worst seems to have passed. Here's hoping. All the best, Witz. Hope you get some help. This is no fun. Marg [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
General Discussions
The Watercooler
Got an appointment with a hormone specialist
Top