I have been menopausal for 3 years. My gyno gave me Femhrt last year for hot flashes and night sweats. It didn't work. Last April, he gave me Estradiol to take in the am and Prometrium to take at night. I started to spot, so quit the Prometrium and was wonderful on the Estrdiol, not realizing that the 2 had to go together.
He had not stressed this to me. I went 6 months feeling great, then started bleeding terribly for about 1 week. Went in to Gyn and he was happy to hear that the reason for the bleeding was not taking the prometrium, b/c he was worried about endometrial cancer. Told me to get off of everything and the bleeding should stop, which it did. He then gave me Fosteum (which is for Osteoporosis, but helps women with hot flashes). Told me if it didn't work to go back to Femhrt (which never worked). After 1 month, I decided on my own to back to Estradiol and the prometrium, since I did wonderfully on the Estradiol. But decided, I would balance it as I should have previously, with the prometrium. Worked great for 1 month, then I started the heavy bleeding again. I got off of everything. I am using the progesterone cream, which is not helping. I am wondering if I am Estrogen dominant and maybe need just the prometrium. Someone please help. I know everyone is different, so I will see my Gyno in 4-2009, so I thought I would experiment on my own. I know I need to balance my hormones.

If I were you I think I might consider trying to find a different doctor who "specializes" in these issues. The way you describe what has been recommended to you just doesn't inspire confidence. It sounds like your doc is just writing prescriptions with little regard for your knowledge or the end results.

I had a similar situation with a nurse practitioner who prescribed topical Premarin and acted like it was no big deal. No mention about how you should not use considerable amounts of this long term as you may also need progesterone under those circumstances lest you increase your risk of uterine cancer. I read all of that on the insert myself and in other reference materials. Needless to say I never saw that NP again.

I think hormones are very tricky and have significant side effects - some dangerous. I don't think I'd experiment if I were you. I'd find a good health care practitioner who really understands this stuff and committed to helping you with your symptoms.

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