Hey there beautiful ladies! Now that things have stabilized a bit with the twins and their ABA therapy is helping immensely, I finally have a little time to touch base. So I will fill you in on what's been going on in my world of POF.
I had been on estrogen cream for a while and while it was working well at first, it wasn't helping much with my sex drive (although neither was all the stress we were going through with the twins). It DID help with the wonderful thinning of the vaginal walls (which led to bleeding during sex- good times! 😐), extreme dryness and painful intercourse. So that was a win! But it just wasn't doing enough for me. So, I did what I do best... more research!
For a long time I had been reading about bioidentical hormones. Just about everything I read led me to believe it was the right thing to help my body feel like it's supposed to at my age. However, every place I found didn't accept insurance and cost an obscene amount of money of which there was no way we could afford. After searching until reaching nearly the "end of the internet," I came across an OBGYN that specializes in early menopause type scenarios and even listed "bioidentical hormones" on the webpage. Score! So obvi, I made an appointment immediately. The Dr. was awesome! He really knew his stuff! I gave him the lowdown of my situation and brought in all of my older and newer lab-test results so he had a visual of what we were dealing with. I explained that another specialist put me on the estrogen cream and that it helped with some things, but not as much as I had hoped. I also filled him in on my lack of libido and increase in brain fog and moodiness. He had a med student in the room with him and he then went over to her with my lab paperwork and asked her, "after hearing her symptoms, looking at her bloodwork does anything jump out at you that could be causing what she's been feeling?" The student looked at the papers quizzically, then shook her head no. "Check her B12..." The student replied, "hmm... well it's low, but it says within range." The Dr. scoffed, "Ah yes. And there in lies the problem. It isn't flagged as being below the 'normal' range, but look what it states on the side in fine print." The girl read out loud, "levels between 200-400 may cause adverse neurological effects." The med student was shocked, as was I. He said for that very reason, it is often missed as a cause for neurological symptoms such as the ones I was describing. It was right then I realized I had found the right doctor! He prescribed me B12 shots that I would get every week for two months which would then be reduced to every other week and eventually once per month.
As we moved on to talk about POF, he said with me still being 20 years away from when I would naturally go through menopause, I was at risk for osteoporosis, cardiac issues, premature aging and a handful of other dreary conditions as a result of not having my hormones regulated, especially estrogen. Yay.😐He wrote a prescription for Estradiol pills (1mg) and a Progesterone pill to take daily and that as I was not ovulating I could take it every day with no break. I questioned side effects, but he assured me it shouldn't be a problem, especially as I am younger than the typical menopausal woman. So because my body should still have those hormones for at least the next decade, I won't be at risk to adverse effects.
I was on the combo for about 8 months before I was due for my annual pap. At that appointment, the doctor suggested I switch to an estrogen patch in the same dosage, as to avoid taxing my liver unnecessarily with the pills. Other than that, we didn't change anything. It's now been a half a year since then and I've still had zero side effects. No weight gain or excess hair or any other crazy things you hear about being associated with taking hormones. Is my sex drive back and booming? Well, no. But some of that may also be attributed to the craziness I go through with the twins on a daily basis! I still have never had a period again since getting pregnant with the twins FIVE years ago (I can't believe it's been that long already!). So I know for a fact that it was all the alternative and eastern medicine/treatments/supplements I was taking that got me to ovulate back then. In the meantime, I haven't had any hotflashes or menopausal side effects at all this past year, which I completely attribute to the hormones so I'll be staying on them until I'm at the age where I'd naturally be going into menopause.
If you have any questions you can always get in touch with me! I am finally back to working on finishing my book!! It's hard to find the time, but my goal is THIS YEAR! So stay tuned, and I will try to touch base on hear again soon.
Still sending positive vibes your way!
Cole
