Hi, i have been researching natural progesterone creams for a week or so now, and they all say that progesterone cream rubbed into fatty areas of your body, thighs, upper arms and lower abdomen are fully absorbed into the body, and used as your body needs it, but estrogen will be produced by the body by taking progesterone, and its quite unusual for people to need to take extra estrogen, its also not advisable, as this has been the many problems for years in that women have been given estrogen by Drs thinking that it needs to be replenished during menopause, whereas now the general way of thinking is that this actually procudes estrogen dominance, Dr Lee goes into this in great detail and by eck it all makes sense at last. Good luck. Fiona (UK)

Just adding my ten cents worth, having read everybody's different experiences. I was seeing pink streaks of blood on the toilet paper after urinating, and at first thought it was a urinary tract infection. Antibiotics for that didn't make any difference. Then I tried to determine if it was really urinary, or perhaps vaginal instead. It seemed like it was both which seemed crazy and impossible and scared me half to death. And it was only apparent when I wiped after urinating. It wasn't like I was bleeding like with a period or anything like that. Long story short is doc explained that the urethra and the vagina share a wall, and that as I'm nearly 65 and about 13 years past menopause, it was probably that shared wall that was atrophying (drying out) and causing the light bleeding. Which made sense as my husband had major surgery about a year ago and as he's 78 years old, we just haven't gone back to regular sex which had probably been keeping my vagina well lubricated. Anyway, doc prescribed a pea sized amount of Estrace externally three times a week. I tried that for four weeks and it made no difference at all. I did some research and as I trust the Mayo Clinic, I went with their recommended dosage of 2 grams daily, some just inside the vagina with my finger, the rest externally, for one to two weeks. Halfway through the second week the bleeding had completely gone away. Mayo then says half that dosage for the next one to two weeks, which I'm trying now, and then 1 gram three times a week for three out of every four weeks as a maintenance dose. I'm going to try the pea sized amount three times a week instead and see if symptoms come back - hopefully they won't. I want to use the minimum amount possible, yet keep the problem under control. Only side effect I noticed was when I went to the 2 grams daily, my nipples were very sensitive but that has improved.

I have been using an estrogen gel for several months. It does help moisturize the vaginal tissues. I used it daily for I think a week, then cut back to a maintenance dose of once a week. I noticed a difference after a few weeks. The gel is a bit messy as it liquifies quicker than the cream, but I had a reaction to the cream. I get the gel from a compounding pharmacy. The gel doesn't tackle my other symptoms, the main one being hotflashes, so I take a low oral dose of estradiol daily. The only side effect is breast sensitivity(from the oral med), but I can live with that. I can't live with the hotflashes. I've been on HRT for several years. I tried many types of estrogen after trying natural remedies(and other meds)first with no success. I get my blood tests done regularly and take the lowest dose that stops my symptoms. I would go ahead and try the cream to see if it helps. Just pay attention to how your body reacts and let your doctor know how it's going.

The question is one of uterine lining growth. The idea of cycling is that you prevent the lining from building up endlessly to the point where it can become carcinogenic. For many, however, taking the combo continuously suppresses uterine lining growth enough that it's not a problem. If you otherwise like the idea of what your doctor is proposing, you can try it for awhile and then have your uterine thickness measured. That would give you an indication as to whether continuous-dosing is okay for you or whether you might need to cycle. Also, an intermediate sort of plan that some women use is to cycle only every three months or so. You might discuss these options with your doctor, and ask how he routinely monitors his patients on this regimen.