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Elderly mother with Alzheimers, prolapsed small intestine, full hysterectomy

by Susan Desmarais
(Aurora, Colorado, USA)

Hi Wray,

I am writing to you to seek some advice about my mum. She is 84, with Alzheimers, and she is in an Assisted Living facility.
She has had a pessary for six months now (as a result of a full hysterectomy years ago), that has to be removed monthly. Each time mum had to have the pessary removed to be cleaned, she screamed in agony, to the point where she needed to be given valium before the appointment. A new doctor has removed the pessary, and has prescribed a 1/4 applicator dose of Estriol Estrace cream everyday for 3 weeks to "rebuild the vaginal wall". She wants mum to continue the cream every other day thereafter. The doctor tried to prescribe Premarin topical cream as well, but we refused it.
Here is our conundrum. Being fairly well versed on bio identical hormones ourselves, my sister and I are obviously trying to find another doctor first of all, that is willing to work with bio-idents. But we are also trying to think of the most manageable way to have mum take hormones. Applying cream in a suppository or even in topical form each day is difficult for someone in her position. We thought that a minimum dose Estradiol patch plus Progesterone compounded pills could be the best combination. This recent doctor is not keen on progesterone (no surprise there), so we are giving it to mum (about 180 mg a day) with the Estrace for these three weeks. My sister is having to go every evening to apply everything at the same time. Mum is on two beta blockers (Hydroclorothyazide & Lisinopril), Celexa, Levothyroxine (hypothyroid), .25 mg of Lexapro daily, Melatonin (6mg), Probiotics, Cranberry tablets, Magnesium (400mg), Vitamin D and a multi vitamin. She was diagnosed with Alzheimers over 7 years ago, and strangely, she is still very aware of us and her surroundings. She is Japanese, was always pretty healthy, but she went downhill after her hysterectomy, when symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis began, the thyroid condition, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, "depression", etc. She has been on a number of different meds over the years. We now wonder, as we have with our own conditions which have been addressed by bio-idents, whether what she has is a severe Progesterone deficiency? And how can we get Progesterone to her in a way that can be applied or ingested easily whilst in a home?

Thank you for any insights you may have.

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