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[Dandelion]

This question relates to my last thread, but I made a separate thread so it would not get lost.
I was taking 200mg utro 12 days a month, until I realised i was addicted to valium.
As valium  and prog are cross tolerant, on the non prog days i wasnt sleeping and goinga bit mad.
I now take 100mg prog daily and have stabilised mentally but what can this do to my womb?
thanks, flushes started before periods stopped. Dunno if periods stopped as beeen on hrt for 3yrs

EDIT, I still use 100mcg patches, tried to reduce to 75mcg but flushes came back after a month so back on 100mcg.

[Dandelion]

nobody knows?
I'm a lot more mentally stable on conti.
I was a wreck on sequi, cos of my valium ddiction, val and prog cross tolerant.

[Taz2]

How often are you having your womb lining scanned Dandelion? I would think that this is the main problem with taking a conti HRT at a younger age in that you wont be having a bleed and the lining could build up too much.

Taz x

[bramble]

Can't remember now but conti only given to women over 50, or is it 55? Best to talk to your doctor. And wean yourself off Valium asap. You seem to be saying that you are taking a high dose of Valium on a daily basis?

Bramble.

[Dandelion]

How often are you having your womb lining scanned Dandelion? I would think that this is the main problem with taking a conti HRT at a younger age in that you wont be having a bleed and the lining could build up too much.

Taz x

I've got a ultra sound coming up.
Shouldve mentioned in first post, a month after starting conti hrt, i bled really heavily it piured out of me, then no period since.
I dont want periods, im done with them.
I hope womb lining not too thick.
I need this polyp or whatever it is taken out, but I know that progesterone's matabolites act on the saem receptprs as diaz, wat with me being addicted, I dont want to be messing arond with my prog dose or prog tpye..
Apparently, people in valium withdrawal, or tapering like me, have most problems when using synthetics and taking a 16day break with every cycle, cos its like  taking less valium for two weeks, you just switch your receptors on and off, and these receptors are very easily injured.
They re in the gut. the brain, those two areas are where i had prolems befopre hrt, thiings like ibs, anxiety, partly why i started taking diaz, tapering off now though and bottom line is that the medication for these growths messes with the same receptors that diazepam hits, so messing with my hrt means messing with my diazepam taper efffectively, making me really poorly, as I am on a high dose of diazepam.
I know i shouldnt have abused diazepam, lesson learnt, down from 75mg to 59mg, and going down - wanna stay functional, keep myself and everyone else safe, dont want sudden drop in gaba levels, causes hyperexcitability, crawling the walls tpye of stuff, angry etc, scares me.

I guess i will need one of those hysterrospopies to take whatever is in my womb out, deffo someting, I can feel it, it interferes with my bladder and know its not bladder, due to unscheduled and irregualar bleeding on sequntial hrt.
In the us women are allowed to use prog daily.
I dont wantn to up the dose of prog, because at 64 i will ave to come down to 100mg as ill be put on conti, if allowed to stay on hrt and still needing it.
I tried to drop to 75mcg and flushes came back in a month, can you believe it
Night sweats.
Also on sequential hrt, had runs when not on prog. more gaba recetpor trouble. Scuse typos, hands stiff for some reason.

[Dandelion]

Can't remember now but conti only given to women over 50, or is it 55? Best to talk to your doctor. And wean yourself off Valium asap. You seem to be saying that you are taking a high dose of Valium on a daily basis?

Bramble.

im weaning down from 75mg to 59mg, so doing well.

[Dandelion]

Even if your flushes started before your periods stopped, if you've been on HRT for 3 years, I think it would be likely you've crossed over into post menopause by now. I reckon that was about the timescale for me anyway. Ideally you would have a scan to check the thickness of your endometrium. Many of us have these done privately - it costs around £80.00 where I went most recently. Definitely worth it for reassurance. However, why not ask your GP if you can have one done on the NHS in the first instance?

GP aarrranged one cos i complained of bladder always feeling full and unscheduled bleeding.
Kinda wish Id stayed quiet, cos i dont want my hrt messing wth esp prog.
Progs metabolites are like benzodiazepines, and messing about with those levels, can turn me into bad withdrawal like symptoms, as its messing abut with same receptors.
I'm trying to come off valium smoothly and slowly as I have seen teh damge too quick can do and it aint t pretty and thats doses lower than me.
Women taking the BCPill have problems coming off benzos cos they take prog 2 weeks a month, switching on and off their receptors, damaging their brain.
The womb thing isnt bothreing me, i dont worry about cancr.

[Tempest]

I really feel for you! I've just been diagnosed with a major mood disorder and I'm working with my psychiatrist and I'm seeing my hrt specialist in 2 weeks again. It can't come quickly enough! I can confirm that I go bonkers on estrogen alone, which is what I've been using as no womb. My psych. wants to start quetiapine in January and i think this is the only way I will be able to continue hrt. I can totally understand how you've become dependent on the valium again!

Despite having no ovaries, if I can't tolerate hrt as its sending me crazy, I'm going to have to find other ways of dealing with my symptoms. I found the patches particularly problematic as there are definite ups and downs when changing patches, and folk such as us really feel the associated shift in brain chemicals that even subtle shifts in hormone brings. And estrogen is particularly stimulating to our brains! Our brains are different, and we have different needs. For instance, I cannot no way, no how tolerate SSRIS. I go completely crazy on them!

If you pop over to hystersisters (I know you still have your bits and are BPD), you can read some invaluable threads over there about how folk with bipolar manage their menopause. Psychiatrists in the US acknowledge that this is a really challenging time for women and often a complete treatment change and close review is needed. If you're not currently under services, please see if you can get referred back. They should then liaise with either an endocrinologist or menopause specialist to get the right treatment plan for you.

And please don't beat yourself up about relapsing with the diazepam. You're doing good, but you just need extra help. I can understand how using the diazepam was only way you could get relief!

Sending you biggest hugs, as I really DO know how you feel! xxxxxx

[Lizab]

I've read that women in peri can start continuous hrt after being a year on sequi, so taking continuous shouldn't be an issue for you. I don't know anything about valium so I don't know if the situation would call for something different, but aside from that, it would be ok to switch. I believe the main reason to start with sequi in peri is because with the body's own hormones not yet settled, ladies can get unpredictable and inconvenient bleeding on conti. Continuous progesterone should keep the lining thinned even without a bleed. It's not so much the shedding of the lining but the prevention of thickening that the progesterone performs in continuous hrt. In sequi, the lining is permitted to thicken some during the estrogen only time, then the progesterone make it slough and shed. So the progesterone works a little differently depending on whether it's used continuously or cyclically.

[Dandelion]

I really feel for you! I've just been diagnosed with a major mood disorder and I'm working with my psychiatrist and I'm seeing my hrt specialist in 2 weeks again. It can't come quickly enough! I can confirm that I go bonkers on estrogen alone, which is what I've been using as no womb. My psych. wants to start quetiapine in January and i think this is the only way I will be able to continue hrt. I can totally understand how you've become dependent on the valium again!

Despite having no ovaries, if I can't tolerate hrt as its sending me crazy, I'm going to have to find other ways of dealing with my symptoms. I found the patches particularly problematic as there are definite ups and downs when changing patches, and folk such as us really feel the associated shift in brain chemicals that even subtle shifts in hormone brings. And estrogen is particularly stimulating to our brains! Our brains are different, and we have different needs. For instance, I cannot no way, no how tolerate SSRIS. I go completely crazy on them!

If you pop over to hystersisters (I know you still have your bits and are BPD), you can read some invaluable threads over there about how folk with bipolar manage their menopause. Psychiatrists in the US acknowledge that this is a really challenging time for women and often a complete treatment change and close review is needed. If you're not currently under services, please see if you can get referred back. They should then liaise with either an endocrinologist or menopause specialist to get the right treatment plan for you.

And please don't beat yourself up about relapsing with the diazepam. You're doing good, but you just need extra help. I can understand how using the diazepam was only way you could get relief!

Sending you biggest hugs, as I really DO know how you feel! xxxxxx

Hi Tempest, thanks for your understanding re the valilum.
In the US woomen with no womb still get progesterone as its the happy hormone, it is probably more expensive than the cheaper more profitable pharmecutical psyche drugs doctors keep trying to push onto us. i took quietapine and upped it after pressure from my c/cord at the time, and my ankles swelled.
I don't know why uk woman are not allowed prog if they have no womb, all it will do is make them a bit more calmer.
I can't imagine the amount of women who dont know they are lacking progesterone, and think they have psychiatric illnesses or mood prolbems, when all they have is hormone imbalances.
I think the US tailor hrt and psyche meds to each indiviual woman where here its more one size fits all.
I get scared reading others experirenes, like women going onto synthetic progesterones while withdrawing valium and going crazy, thats the last thing I want.
I feel half a mind to  ignore this womb issue, but I feel guilty, cancer isnt worrying me as I have depression and lots of other problems not related to health, so it would be an escape, but i feel I need to attend to the womb issue because others would be bothered if it was cancer and i ignored it.
The nhs have offered me a diazepam script but they want me off really quick, they dont acknowledge that quick detoxes from benzos injure the CNS unlike heroin or other drugs. Quick detoxes mean long period of incapacity after coming off, slower ones allow you to recover as you reduce, that's how I got to 0mg feeling fine the last time I got addicted to valium.
Thanks 4 the hug, I'll befriend you on my profile.

[Dandelion]

I've read that women in peri can start continuous hrt after being a year on sequi, so taking continuous shouldn't be an issue for you. I don't know anything about valium so I don't know if the situation would call for something different, but aside from that, it would be ok to switch. I believe the main reason to start with sequi in peri is because with the body's own hormones not yet settled, ladies can get unpredictable and inconvenient bleeding on conti. Continuous progesterone should keep the lining thinned even without a bleed. It's not so much the shedding of the lining but the prevention of thickening that the progesterone performs in continuous hrt. In sequi, the lining is permitted to thicken some during the estrogen only time, then the progesterone make it slough and shed. So the progesterone works a little differently depending on whether it's used continuously or cyclically.

Hi @Liab, I read something like that as well.
Depending on if ive got a fibroid or a polyp, medicataions for both will adversely affect my taper in a bad way, so, I might ask the doc if I can ignore the problem, as Im not worried about cancer, plus, at 54, they'll want me on 100mg prog a day anyway, and im on that now, instead of 200mg 12 days a month, so there won't be that horrible crazy period some women, who have withdrawn from valium report, when they go from sequi to conti, due to the sudden prog drop affecting their receptors, which have been affected by valium.
Actually, when my first cycle was due after i'd moved to conti, the blood was literally pouring out of me like lightly pouring tea into a cup, so, hopefully, that was my lining coming away, and hopefully this ultrasound will show a thin lining.
I just want that gynaecologists letter to come so i can get this thing out the way.
I'm on 100mcg oestrogen and 100mg prog, so i hope the prog is stopping the thickening.
I did try to reduce to 75mcg evorel patches, as I heard fibroids and polyps like oestrogen, but the flushes actually came back intolerably, plus more of that special type of anxiety that oestrogen eases for me, (prog does also in a a different way) and I was once again sleeping with a fan in bed, with sub zero temps outside.
I have a water meterr, so I cant afford to be washing sheets every day either.