I started progesterone (sp?) on Sunday

I sucked up my pride, after being in immense pain and being prescribed Naproxen (prescription muscle relaxant) because I HURT. A LOT.

So I talked to my doctor. Since I'm disabled (wheelchair user) the risk of developing a blood clot are pretty bad - which is a risk when taking estrogen. So I was prescribed a progesterone based pill - no estrogen. I hope it helps.

I just want to NOT want to rip out some body parts once a month.

(And apparently there's a good chance I'm almost PMDD since my doctor looked a bit shocked that I was far from being socially wellbehaved during that time of the month... I get rather... evil, I guess. Not violent, but the mindset scares ME!)

... dont forget the Celexa for PMDD - it was a life saver for me (and my husband - lol)

I was on Cipralex originally for my depression - but it made me gain weight. So I switched (now) to Effexor, and works wonders! Thanks Rhapsody Nice to see you!

Hi Chris.......excellent about Prog......it may make you feel a bit tired or moody, but that should pass.

If you don't get any of that and you start to feel better, well that is excellent!

Take care, dear one....

Mics

I feel for you. I think I had PMDD before I became perimenopausal and it sucks. I hope the progestone helps your symptoms.

About the naproxen - there are prescriptions for higher dose, I believe Anaprox is one, and you may do better with prescription if you have good insurance. Take a look at the over the counter naprosyn which will be lower dose and calculate difference in cost. Naprosyn, naproxen sodium, there are other names. BTW Naprosyn is often used for muscle pain but it is an anti-inflammatory not a muscle relaxant. You may need to take it with food but I am not bothered by it on an empty stomach. We all differ.

I hope you feel better soon.

I wonder how much higher it goes up... I've got 375mg tablets from the doctor... they work... decently, I suppose.

Michah - wish I had seen your comment earlier. I'm UBERLY moody. Like crying at the drop of a hat or just plain crazy (more than normal )

I'm hoping that side effect goes away soon! I really need my sanity back.


... now, TMI but I really hope the spotting goes away soon. It's really... unpleasant.

Uhhhhhhhhh... hate to ask, because this is awkward... but exactly how much spotting is something I should be worried about?? It's like I'm having my period, which of course is impossible given the pills I've now taken for two weeks...

Help?? Will go a-Googling now.

(((((Chris))))

Okay, are you close to entering menopause, or have gone through meno? Do you think you may be in perimenopause?

Some spotting is expected when taking prog. As progesterone levels rise before menstruation and prepares the womb by thickening the endometrium for embedding the fertilised egg, it may be that the introduced hormones are upsetting the balance. If it continues for a long time, without stopping, you will need to speak to your doc babe. Be careful of aneamia, or low hemoglobin.

If you can, next time you see your doc, maybe ask for an Iron levels test, Full blood count, LHFSH, E2(oestrogen) and TES(testosterone) or full androgen panel........a full thyroid panel might also be a good idea.

Take care dear one.......there are alternatives if you want your period to stop or deal with the PMDD symptoms a bit better. Maybe check with a gynea.

Mics

Sorry, just a thought........and this HRT is not available in the US but you can buy it online with support from a good gynea. I am on a synthetic hormone replacement for peri. It is a hormone(steroid) that behaves in the body like sex hormones(which are also steroids). It is not true eostrogen/prog/tes, but a steroid that mimics it. It comes with the same sort of disclaimers.....blood clots, high blood pressure, cancer and so on......but it is better in regards to this. it is made in Switzerland. It is not a contraceptive. It is usually used to treat the symptoms associated with peri and meno, but I wonder if it may help you in this case if you are nearing this time in your life. It is called LIVIAL(tibolone)......I wonder if you would be able to take half an aspirin a day to help thin the blood. I know of a few women who do this who are on conventional HRT for post meno. Throwing it out there without really knowing your full history......but you doc may say no. Also have you been tested for adenomyosis/endometriosis/cysts?

I'd hope I'm not in menopause!! I'm only 23!

I'm borderline anaemic, but according to the doc I'm fine to donate blood. I've got low iron stores (like most women) but not in any dangerous zones. I had blood work done a few months ago when I wanted to be tested for hypoglycemia. I'm not sure if the estrogen and testosterone tests were a part of it though...

I'm not sure about all those other things, I'm going to say "no" to the cysts at least, since you're supposed to be in pain if you have them. I'm not - just more emotional than usual. And wondering if you need to be sexually active in order to test that sort of thing - I'm not.

Thanks!

Sounds like the direction I was going before I had to have my hysterectomy. But alas, no more pain, no more of the icky bleeding to deal with 20 days out of the month. Lifes been good that way, except for the fact I couldn't have kids. But there is more to life than that. Ever consider a hysterectomy ? Might be worthwhile to ya. Course they may make you go thru A D&C or other means of trying to control all that too. And the moodiness is ick too. I know how that goes. Best of luck to ya.

Hi babe,

Sorry about the Meno comment I didn't know how old you were

No you do not need to be sexually active to have cysts......I wasn't sure if you were in pain or not......had a brain train there, just went off on my own tangent! and in some rare cases, you can have endo or adeno with no pain, but it will increase bleeding, spotting and I am not sure of the relation between PMDD and endo/adeno, but I have all of it, so it is YUCK!

Testing for these things requires an ultrasound/sonogram........it was just a thought at the time dear one. Looking at things from all angles....

Take care babe....how is the prog going?

Mics

Hi,
I hope the progesterone works for you. I was put in it many years ago for bad PMT and cramps etc (I have endometriosis). It worked for the cramps but turned me into the absolute ***** from hell moodwise - PMT had nothing on it - I could have happily killed someone for looking at me and thought it was justified. So I came off it after a few months.
A couple of years ago I had a mirena coil put in for the same symptoms, being stupid I didn't realise that the active ingrediant was progesterone. The mirena is supposed to act locally with no systemic effects so had I know I prob would have still tried it. Unfortunately it did have systemic effects (and talking to my GP and researching online it seems it does for many women) once again I started turning into the litch from hell, I became very depressed and put on 20kg in 9 months (welcome back ED, I was doing ok until then!). I had it removed, I'm not nasty now (or no more than usual!) have lost the weight (not entirely in a healthy way) and am glad I had it removed.
That said it works really well for most women, I just seem to be very sensitive to low doses of it. Just be aware of the possible side effects and monitor yourself for them. Good Luck.

Christina cannot take these mood swings anymore. I feel more crazy NOW than I feel once a month for a few days... and that's pretty crazy.

So I'm going to tell my lovely psychiatrist, and he can tell me what to do since he's a medical doctor and I am not.

So incredibly tired of being angry, irritable and crying over random crap.

Hey Christina,
How are you doing? Did you stop taking the progesterone or did the side effects settle down?

ahahaha. Ooopsies. I forgot to update! (thanks for bringing it back up!)

Yep, I talked to my psychiatrist. He said he doesn't know much about drugs outside of psycho-pharmaceuticals (psych drugs) but that if it wasn't working for me and was making me WORSE that I should stop taking them.

So I did. And was in agony up until last week when the blood finally ended. Never ever again... blargh. So instead I'm going to see about something not so bad for my system or perhaps just talk to the psychiatrist again and see if there is any non-hormone drugs I can take to regulate my moods during "that time of the month".

(It was awkward talking to him... veryyyyyyyyy awkward.)