topical hormone replacement

Liddle Noodnik · Mar 22, 2008

Hi guys...
Just curious, does anyone use topical hormone replacement, ie: progesterone, or testosterone or estrogen???
I just started mine last night.. a friend of mine at work is doing it too, she feels much better... She is post menapausal and I am perimenapausal....
Just curious if anyone is using or have had tried it before and the results...

I haven't but have been getting curious about what to do to treat my perimenopausal sx. My biggest complaint is mood changes, man do I get irritable. Ok, quite a bit worse than irritable ... Both my shrink and my regular dr think that antidepressants a few days a month would be helpful. Well, except that I am very sensitive to them and sometimes side effects lead to mania! Prob not good to be hormonal AND manic ... lol

Let me know how you do

penguin2 · Mar 22, 2008

I've been curious about this for perimeno sx (irritability!) too. I've seen some in healthfood stores, but do you mean the Rx kind? How long has your friend been using it?

buster4 · Mar 22, 2008

My friend has been using it for a few months, she used to use the hormone patche.. nothing really worked well for her... she is pleased with the hormones now... sleep, moods, hot flashes.. etc...

I am not in menapause, but she said I am in perimenapause... could go on for years she says... but it is by prescription.. she checked my hormone levels estrogen, testosterone, progesterone.. fsh.. my estrogen was ok but the testosterone and progesterone were both low... she says that is why I can't sleep, hair thinning, irritability, no sex drive... etc... her words yesterday were, there are still doctors will pat you on the arm and say this is normal honey, (to go thru all the symptoms) and no treatment..

the hormones (i got progesterone and testosterone) both separate.. they can be ordered mixed, but she ordered mine separate... by prescription and they are compounded at a pharmacy... I put 4 drops of both on my arm and rubbed it in... and went to bed... I did sleep well last night... so we shall see...

i hope i answered some of the questions... I am a newbie at this.. but myfriends friends also are very happy with using them also...

mc3, ASN, RN · Mar 22, 2008

Yes, I've used progesterone creme for night sweats for about 2 years and it works very well. I rub in about 1 tsp in to area of thin skin (forearm, upper chest, inner thigh) once my breasts become tender in my cycle. For me, when that happens I know night sweats are coming. I've not noticed any correlation between mood swings or irritability, though. Relief of night sweats has been a godsend to me!

mc3

Katnip, RN · Mar 23, 2008

I used the combo patch for a while. The silly thing wouldn't stay on. I must have slippery skin. I refuse to tape the thing. But it does help. My hot flashes are awful. And the moods, well it helped there, too.