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Last Hope

by Haven Gillispie
(Jamestown, NY)

I am 29 years old, have suffered from severe anxiety, fatigue and every thing pms list for as long as I can remember. About 3 months ago I had a hunch it was all hormonal and have randomly casually talked to a few doctors, the woman that owns our local herb store and been reading like crazy!

I started paying attention to my symptoms, when they come and when they go and I can tell you like clockwork how it goes. I'm trying to make sense of it all to figure out how to treat myself because I don't know how much more of it I can live with. It starts about 10 days after the last day of my period. I feel myself getting impatient, short tempered and easily annoyed that's how I know it's beginning. Add in all the symptoms of pms and pmdd and by the end of the next like 14 or 15 days I am literally suicidal because I just can't live inside my own brain and body anymore. My kids hate me, my husband has dealt with about all he can take, my house is a disaster because I am so fatigued and detached that I don't care what it looks like.

It is easy for an onlooker to say "get ahold of yourself" I say it to myself over and over but I just can't. I can't change the way I feel no matter how hard I try. The day my period starts it all pretty much stops dead and that is the ONLY thing that keeps me on this earth- knowing that relief is on it's way. I can't live like this anymore. You can tell the day after my period ends though that I feel great. My house is spotless, I am energetic, motivated, kind, patient, thoughtful, I am me! I get one week a month that I really feel good. the week after my period. Which means if you really think about it, I feel good 12 out of 52 weeks a year. Over the next couple of days I am going to keep reading this web site and what people have had to say. I just found it moments ago. I have a tube of progesterone in my cabinet waiting to be opened. This is my last hope.

Comments for Last Hope

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Oct 08, 2010
 Don't give up hope - you have too much to live for
by: Michele

This site will prove to you that other women are wondering what the heck is going on, too. I first contributed my story last month, at the beginning of September. I have since taken bio-identical progesterone [first I did a high dose, to kick start- I took 400mg of progesterone troches per night; if you factor in half lost to absorption because troches are not the way to take progesterone, cream is, that was around 200mg per night] and now I am on cream [1/2 teaspoon per night]. Anyway, within literally a week, the yucky 'estrogen dominance' symptoms came back to fight me, but I remained strong [tiredness, feeling anxious, bloated, etc]. After 2 weeks, I was feeling much better and my chronic fatigue was lessened and, importantly, my Candida was gone! Absolutely vanished, after living with it for 3 years.

Now, weeks later, I am happy, energetic again, do my 4 workouts per week, even my friends have noted that I look heaps better. DON'T GIVE UP - you are a mum and the rock of the family and you want to live happily and free of sickness. Get on bio-identical progesterone cream ASAP. Meaning, the progesterone that you can get in cream either through this website or through a compounding pharmacist, NOT the progesterone from the big drug companies. Good luck.
Oct 09, 2010
 Last Hope
by: Wray

Hi Haven Well your symptoms fit a severe progesterone shortage, the timing too. We do have a graph you could look at, please see here. Oestrogen begins to rise in the follicular phase, peaking just prior to ovulation and assuming a 28 day cycle, this would occur ±14 days from the first day of bleeding. After ovulation it dips slightly, then rises again mid-luteal phase, to drop down again just prior to a period to it's lowest level on day 3. Progesterone is low the entire follicular phase, only rising after ovulation. It peaks mid-luteal phase, then drops sharply just prior to a period. I believe it could be you are not ovulating each month, or the corpus luteum is making insufficient progesterone to counter the oestrogen, or the maturing follicle/s in the ovary are making excess oestrogen. Something is upsetting your ovaries and they are not producing enough progesterone. It's the unbalanced ratio of the two hormones that causes the terrible symptoms, particularly when they both fall before bleeding. To check if you are ovulating you could take your temperature each month, see here, or get a mini microscope, see here. A saliva test would give the levels of the two hormones, which would hopefully prove my point! See ZRT Labs. I've found to feel really well the progesterone to oestrogen ratio should be over 600:1. If you should consider using the tube you have, please see this page on How to use progesterone cream. I recommend between 100-200mg/day, the worse the symptoms, the more progesterone is needed. But before you start please first read this page on Oestrogen Dominance. There are several nutrients which also help PMS, please see our page on Natural Antidepressants. Please have a vitamin D test done, most of us have far too low a level, and a lack of vitamin D affects the ovaries, and reduces the benefits of progesterone. Please see the Vitamin D council website. Please see here for tests. Finally, no matter how much you tell yourself to 'pull yourself together', you can't. Take care Wray
Oct 10, 2010
 Last Hope - I know the feeling well
by: Monica

When I found this website i was also feeling as you do, that it was my last hope. I thought I've just had enough, I can't go on and prayed like mad for help, then I found this website a few days later. My symptoms are different from yours slightly but the timings are the same from day 10 onwards. I have been using progesterone cream for 2 cycles now and yes things are really improving. I have been free of breast pain, which was the main issue for me, and my breasts have actually felt 'normal', I hardly know what that is, but they feel good. I started with a large dose I would say 200 mg per day but have reduced this month slightly. I'll let my body do the talking as to how much I will need in the future. Things can improve for you too.
Oct 10, 2010
 Last Hope - I know the feeling well
by: Wray

Hi Monica I'm so pleased the progesterone helped you and that you decided to use a high amount too. It makes all the difference between a slow if not impossible recovery, to one that can be fast. It's so easy to reduce or increase as needed, bearing in mind that stress drops progesterone levels, so symptoms can come back. Take care Wray
Oct 11, 2010
 Thank you all
by: Haven

I can't tell you how much better you all have made me feel! This web site has been literally everything I have been looking for for months!! Well, I took some bad advice in August and I made a mistake by going on birth control pills trying to correct my problem which once I started made me bleed heavier than I ever have in my entire life. So the doc that prescribed them had me take 3 pills a day for 5 days then quit for 3 then restart the pill as though I just had a normal period. What a nightmare. I have been bleeding (lightly) for 2 months now and have quit taking them. I am waiting to get a regular period before I start my progesterone cream. After everything I have read I firmly believe this is what I have been needing. Also excited to read more about a possible Vitamin D deficiency- which could possibly explain why I am so fatigued and miserable all winter.

I had a good appointment with my OBGYN today and was curious to pick her brain about estrogen dominance and progesterone therapy but was not the least bit shocked to find that she was sceptical. I have learned that I have to be proactive and know what my problem is and how to fix it before I go to the doctor!! I remain open minded and hopeful and very excited to try progesterone!!

Thank you all again very much for your feedback and support!
Oct 15, 2010
 Thank you all
by: Wray

Hi Haven Pity you were given the pills, but it's the normal approach by doctors. They come with other adverse side effects too, see our page on Contraceptives. If you do need a safe one try the copper T IUD, it leaks no progestin into the body, see here. Please don't wait for a regular period to start, it could be weeks before this happens. The pill can upset the cycle badly. I suggest you start it now and use it daily, it's very effective for heavy and/or continual bleeding. Oestrogen is a mitogen, it stimulates cells to grow. Vital in stimulating the endometrium each month to grow and thicken ready for a possible fertilised egg. But in excess it stimulates cells to continue growing. MMP?s are enzymes that break down protein. They play a role in the breakdown of endometrial tissues at the end of the menstrual cycle. If they are over active, as would be the case with excess oestrogen in the body, as oestrogen stimulates their production, the result is a pathological reaction. A high level of MMP?s can lead to inflammation and excessive bleeding in the uterus. If a low level of progesterone is present, and a high level of oestrogen, the lining will continue to grow. With a high level of MMP?s the lining will also continue to break down. Progesterone suppresses both MMP?s and oestrogen. I've found between 400-600mg/day is needed if the bleeding is very heavy, but you would need less, as you say it's light. I suggest you start with 200mg/day, using it daily till it stops. Then stop the cream and you should have a 'normal' period. If you know the length of your cycle, wait till ovulation before starting it again. Please see the page I gave you on how to use the cream. And your obgyn's reaction to progesterone doesn't surprise me either. Please have that vitamin D test too! Take care Wray

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