Re: i'm not a doctor but i play one on myself

[Guest guest]

:

Have you thought about taking just a half a pill of the Loestrin to see what

happens? I know that 20 mcg of ethinyl estradiol is a pretty low dose, but you

might get some benefit without the bleeding on 1/2. Does the bleeding/spotting

stop with the higher estrogen doses?

And by " racing " , I assume for the purposes of this discussion, you mean heart

racing?

Avi

>

> Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my cysts.

>

> so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and iodine and

vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing. still not " optimum "

energy, but could definitely deal with life again and was very happy.

>

> then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did naturpoathically. so i

decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short term to see if they'd go away.

>

> loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg norethindrone

(progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i lost a

little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding 9 days into the

pack of pills, several tries.

>

> i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5 days, my boobs

were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was having racing heart at

night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept again. ortho novum has

..5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for the first 7 days, then goes up to

..75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for the 2nd and third week. doesn't matter because

i didn't make it through first week. weird, i never remembered these symptoms

with my body.

>

> now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has 1.5 mg

norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to the loestrin.

it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is .05 ratio whereas the

ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that makes me think too much synthetic

estrogen not good for me. and i need proper " ratio " to maintain weight.

>

> now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again, major heart

racing at night and insomnia.

>

> now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it in the

morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if this will

help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal with insomnia. i

can't win for losing it seems!

>

> anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef and treat

my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef first helps. so far,

i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve the cortef and the racing has

stopped for the day.

>

> its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing heart. ICK!

feels YUCKY.

>

> i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need " cortisol

and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have surgery for cysts.

so that's why i'm going the western md route here. i'm a big chicken when it

comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have any botox or any of that stuff

(because i'm too chicken)...

>

> any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at night?

>

> julie

>

[Guest guest]

Avi,

Actually i think the higher dose estrogen keeps the period from happening too

soon. that's why i thought to use ortho novum again. yesterday, i increased my

cortisol a lot, like 3 more pellets than usual (still probalby under the 20 mg

physiological dose since it's isocort, and it's not exactly 2.5 mg/pellet and

i'm waiting to get cortef)... but that seemed to help A LOT! slept like a baby

last night. no heart pounding or racing adrenaline.

i truly believe my issues are adrenal and thyroid and adding in ANY sex hormones

make it worse for me. however, i'm between a rock and a hard place: i sort of

need to figure out a non-surgical way to get rid of the cysts, since one of them

is an unknown " mass " (tho my ca125 test is normal/low)... so i opted for the

traditional synthetic bc pill simply because i just think i do not have a good

feel for dosing sex BHRT on my own. it's too hard for me mentally to figure it

all out. how the rest of you guys do it, is beyond me. but then again, we do

what we have to when we're faced with trying to get by in life.

i still have to go re-test my adrenals and thryoid again and interpret them and

do this thing on my own, because i'm not finding any doc here who gets it.

the best i ever felt was being off all sex hormones and just on isocort an

iodine. the next thing other than ovarian cysts i wanted to fix was thyroid,

meaning, i'd like to be able to not have to bundle up all the time from being

cold when it's warm out or have a little more energy to become a little more

(not much more) athletic. but since i've tried with docs and ND's who just can't

seem to make it work right, i think i'll go it alone. it seems like i'm my best

doctor in this capacity. i seriously envy the women who get to wear sexy tank

tops all the time because they have a normal metabolism and i'm all bundled up

like nun.

Sam, if you're reading, can point me to a link on either the hormonoe forum or

stopthethyroid where it lists optimimum results for labs (i know lots is based

on indidual feel) but for using labs and what i'm supposed to consider normal

versus abnormal. i'm looking at canaryclub but not sure what to do with results

once i get them. and what lab offers ferritin would be great too. i just started

re-reading everything again and the sites got reorganized and i can't seem to

find anything anymore.

thanks!

> >

> > Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my cysts.

> >

> > so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and iodine and

vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing. still not " optimum "

energy, but could definitely deal with life again and was very happy.

> >

> > then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did naturpoathically. so

i decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short term to see if they'd go away.

> >

> > loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg norethindrone

(progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i lost a

little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding 9 days into the

pack of pills, several tries.

> >

> > i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5 days, my

boobs were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was having racing heart

at night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept again. ortho novum has

..5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for the first 7 days, then goes up to

..75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for the 2nd and third week. doesn't matter because

i didn't make it through first week. weird, i never remembered these symptoms

with my body.

> >

> > now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has 1.5 mg

norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to the loestrin.

it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is .05 ratio whereas the

ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that makes me think too much synthetic

estrogen not good for me. and i need proper " ratio " to maintain weight.

> >

> > now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again, major heart

racing at night and insomnia.

> >

> > now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it in the

morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if this will

help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal with insomnia. i

can't win for losing it seems!

> >

> > anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef and

treat my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef first helps.

so far, i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve the cortef and the

racing has stopped for the day.

> >

> > its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing heart.

ICK! feels YUCKY.

> >

> > i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need " cortisol

and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have surgery for cysts.

so that's why i'm going the western md route here. i'm a big chicken when it

comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have any botox or any of that stuff

(because i'm too chicken)...

> >

> > any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at night?

> >

> > julie

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I'm quite a bit under the weather at the moment (hubby got it first)...so

I won't get too detailed...but here are a couple of charts that might shed

some light:

http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/sexh.gif

http://www.faqs.org/health/images/uchr_01_img0060.jpg

Ferritin? maybe Health Check USA:

http://www.healthcheckusa.com/lab_tests/Individual_Tests/Ferritin

There's a list of lab test places here:

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/recommended-labwork/

Sam

=====

> Sam, if you're reading, can point me to a link on either the hormonoe

> forum or stopthethyroid where it lists optimimum results for labs (i know

> lots is based on indidual feel) but for using labs and what i'm supposed

> to consider normal versus abnormal. i'm looking at canaryclub but not sure

> what to do with results once i get them. and what lab offers ferritin

> would be great too. i just started re-reading everything again and the

> sites got reorganized and i can't seem to find anything anymore.

>

> thanks!

>

>

>> >

>> > Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my

>> cysts.

>> >

>> > so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and

>> iodine and vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing.

>> still not " optimum " energy, but could definitely deal with life again

>> and was very happy.

>> >

>> > then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did

>> naturpoathically. so i decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short

>> term to see if they'd go away.

>> >

>> > loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg norethindrone

>> (progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i

>> lost a little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding 9

>> days into the pack of pills, several tries.

>> >

>> > i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5 days,

>> my boobs were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was having

>> racing heart at night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept

>> again. ortho novum has .5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for

>> the first 7 days, then goes up to .75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for

>> the 2nd and third week. doesn't matter because i didn't make it

>> through first week. weird, i never remembered these symptoms with my

>> body.

>> >

>> > now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has 1.5

>> mg norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to

>> the loestrin. it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is

>> .05 ratio whereas the ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that

>> makes me think too much synthetic estrogen not good for me. and i need

>> proper " ratio " to maintain weight.

>> >

>> > now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again, major

>> heart racing at night and insomnia.

>> >

>> > now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it in

>> the morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if

>> this will help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal

>> with insomnia. i can't win for losing it seems!

>> >

>> > anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef

>> and treat my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef

>> first helps. so far, i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve

>> the cortef and the racing has stopped for the day.

>> >

>> > its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing

>> heart. ICK! feels YUCKY.

>> >

>> > i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need "

>> cortisol and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have

>> surgery for cysts. so that's why i'm going the western md route here.

>> i'm a big chicken when it comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have

>> any botox or any of that stuff (because i'm too chicken)...

>> >

>> > any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at

>> night?

>> >

>> > julie

>> >

>>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Oh sam, I'm sorry you're under the weather. darn hubbies can be too sharing

sometimes!

i was actually referring to how to interpret results for adrenal and thyroid

labs (not sex hormone levels, which i know) but at this point, i'm thinking the

labs will include that stuff (like if it low or high). i thought maybe there'd

be a page discussing where a good result for free t4 and t4, and t3 and free t3

should be. i know somewhere above mid level...but thought there'd be some

documentation or maybe a thread/group discussion about it specifically. i

vaguely remember reading all this stuff here or on STTM and since then, pages

have gotten re-organized. i'm kind of familiar with the saliva for

adrenal...should be top end in the morning and should wittle out by midnight.

and i'm generally up on that. besides i dose by symptoms now and it seems to be

spot on when i do it (heart pounding goes away). I didn't need to know the sex

hormone levels, i know that stuff... but i did figure out any sex hormones, bhrt

or synthetic, bring on the adrenal fatigue and " racing " wired/tired and

insomnia. wild, huh? but not exactly surprising given what we know now.

i also know for " me " dhea is a nightmare. i know for you it did nothing. for me,

it made me fly high for a few days (like i could do anything in the world) then

turned into insomnia which of course is icky, and finally going off of it

crashed my adrenals. so bad choice for my body using dhea, tho the horomone

group seems to support it somewhat. i find it difficult to regulate it in dosing

so i don't bother with it.

anyway, i did FIND the STTM page for recommended labs and the first one does

have ferritin among others. so thank you for responding!

hope you feel better. it's not like our wellness/hormone supa-stahr to be under

the weather!

best,

julie

> >> >

> >> > Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my

> >> cysts.

> >> >

> >> > so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and

> >> iodine and vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing.

> >> still not " optimum " energy, but could definitely deal with life again

> >> and was very happy.

> >> >

> >> > then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did

> >> naturpoathically. so i decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short

> >> term to see if they'd go away.

> >> >

> >> > loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg norethindrone

> >> (progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i

> >> lost a little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding 9

> >> days into the pack of pills, several tries.

> >> >

> >> > i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5 days,

> >> my boobs were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was having

> >> racing heart at night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept

> >> again. ortho novum has .5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for

> >> the first 7 days, then goes up to .75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for

> >> the 2nd and third week. doesn't matter because i didn't make it

> >> through first week. weird, i never remembered these symptoms with my

> >> body.

> >> >

> >> > now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has 1.5

> >> mg norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to

> >> the loestrin. it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is

> >> .05 ratio whereas the ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that

> >> makes me think too much synthetic estrogen not good for me. and i need

> >> proper " ratio " to maintain weight.

> >> >

> >> > now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again, major

> >> heart racing at night and insomnia.

> >> >

> >> > now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it in

> >> the morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if

> >> this will help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal

> >> with insomnia. i can't win for losing it seems!

> >> >

> >> > anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef

> >> and treat my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef

> >> first helps. so far, i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve

> >> the cortef and the racing has stopped for the day.

> >> >

> >> > its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing

> >> heart. ICK! feels YUCKY.

> >> >

> >> > i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need "

> >> cortisol and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have

> >> surgery for cysts. so that's why i'm going the western md route here.

> >> i'm a big chicken when it comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have

> >> any botox or any of that stuff (because i'm too chicken)...

> >> >

> >> > any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at

> >> night?

> >> >

> >> > julie

> >> >

> >>

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, I love him no matter what, even when he gives me " things " from work.

Since I am hypO-pit, stuff like this seems to affect me times 1000...

Oh, how to interpret thyroid/adrenal labs? That's easy. You want the fakey

T4 fakey research crap run by big pharma made to fit the drug, or the real

life stuff (info from thousands of thyroid patients)? STTM has a great

reference page and bib... I'll give you the real life stuff reported by

thousands of thyroid patients:

Adrenal - high in the morning and gradually reduce thru-out the day, and

be low at midnight. Think, 'top of the range', to 3/4 in range, to 1/4 in

range, to bottom of range. I know you know the drill, but it's nice to

refresh...

Thyroid - Free T3 near the top or a bit above range with the Free T4 a bit

below the Free T3. TSH, if done, should be almost zero. Antibodies should

be zero. Body temp should be 98.2 or above, but under 99.0

That's all I can handle for no...

Sam

=====

> Oh sam, I'm sorry you're under the weather. darn hubbies can be too

> sharing sometimes!

>

> i was actually referring to how to interpret results for adrenal and

> thyroid labs (not sex hormone levels, which i know) but at this point, i'm

> thinking the labs will include that stuff (like if it low or high). i

> thought maybe there'd be a page discussing where a good result for free t4

> and t4, and t3 and free t3 should be. i know somewhere above mid

> level...but thought there'd be some documentation or maybe a thread/group

> discussion about it specifically. i vaguely remember reading all this

> stuff here or on STTM and since then, pages have gotten re-organized. i'm

> kind of familiar with the saliva for adrenal...should be top end in the

> morning and should wittle out by midnight. and i'm generally up on that.

> besides i dose by symptoms now and it seems to be spot on when i do it

> (heart pounding goes away). I didn't need to know the sex hormone levels,

> i know that stuff... but i did figure out any sex hormones, bhrt or

> synthetic, bring on the adrenal fatigue and " racing " wired/tired and

> insomnia. wild, huh? but not exactly surprising given what we know now.

>

> i also know for " me " dhea is a nightmare. i know for you it did nothing.

> for me, it made me fly high for a few days (like i could do anything in

> the world) then turned into insomnia which of course is icky, and finally

> going off of it crashed my adrenals. so bad choice for my body using dhea,

> tho the horomone group seems to support it somewhat. i find it difficult

> to regulate it in dosing so i don't bother with it.

>

> anyway, i did FIND the STTM page for recommended labs and the first one

> does have ferritin among others. so thank you for responding!

>

> hope you feel better. it's not like our wellness/hormone supa-stahr to be

> under the weather!

> best,

> julie

>

>> >> >

>> >> > Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my

>> >> cysts.

>> >> >

>> >> > so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and

>> >> iodine and vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing.

>> >> still not " optimum " energy, but could definitely deal with life again

>> >> and was very happy.

>> >> >

>> >> > then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did

>> >> naturpoathically. so i decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short

>> >> term to see if they'd go away.

>> >> >

>> >> > loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg

>> norethindrone

>> >> (progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i

>> >> lost a little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding

>> 9

>> >> days into the pack of pills, several tries.

>> >> >

>> >> > i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5

>> days,

>> >> my boobs were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was

>> having

>> >> racing heart at night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept

>> >> again. ortho novum has .5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for

>> >> the first 7 days, then goes up to .75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for

>> >> the 2nd and third week. doesn't matter because i didn't make it

>> >> through first week. weird, i never remembered these symptoms with my

>> >> body.

>> >> >

>> >> > now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has

>> 1.5

>> >> mg norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to

>> >> the loestrin. it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is

>> >> .05 ratio whereas the ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that

>> >> makes me think too much synthetic estrogen not good for me. and i

>> need

>> >> proper " ratio " to maintain weight.

>> >> >

>> >> > now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again,

>> major

>> >> heart racing at night and insomnia.

>> >> >

>> >> > now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it

>> in

>> >> the morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if

>> >> this will help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal

>> >> with insomnia. i can't win for losing it seems!

>> >> >

>> >> > anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef

>> >> and treat my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef

>> >> first helps. so far, i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve

>> >> the cortef and the racing has stopped for the day.

>> >> >

>> >> > its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing

>> >> heart. ICK! feels YUCKY.

>> >> >

>> >> > i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need "

>> >> cortisol and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have

>> >> surgery for cysts. so that's why i'm going the western md route here.

>> >> i'm a big chicken when it comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have

>> >> any botox or any of that stuff (because i'm too chicken)...

>> >> >

>> >> > any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at

>> >> night?

>> >> >

>> >> > julie

>> >> >

>> >>

>> >

>> >

>> >

>>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

:

I'm with you on the higher estrogen keeping the period from happening, but

wondered conversely if lower progestin might also be an option. If you're on a

stable dose pill and you're playing a doctor on yourself, I wonder what just

increasing the pill incrementally (adding little pieces of a stable dose BC pill

until you get to a dose you can tolerate that would hopefully not cause you to

have your period) might do.

I'm also between a rock and a hard place on the hormone replacement because of

the severe bone loss in my hips.

I keep hearing about iodine, but it also very much worsens Graves/TSI ab counts

in me..AND the racing.

Avi

> > >

> > > Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my cysts.

> > >

> > > so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and iodine

and vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing. still not " optimum "

energy, but could definitely deal with life again and was very happy.

> > >

> > > then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did naturpoathically.

so i decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short term to see if they'd go

away.

> > >

> > > loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg norethindrone

(progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i lost a

little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding 9 days into the

pack of pills, several tries.

> > >

> > > i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5 days, my

boobs were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was having racing heart

at night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept again. ortho novum has

..5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for the first 7 days, then goes up to

..75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for the 2nd and third week. doesn't matter because

i didn't make it through first week. weird, i never remembered these symptoms

with my body.

> > >

> > > now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has 1.5 mg

norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to the loestrin.

it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is .05 ratio whereas the

ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that makes me think too much synthetic

estrogen not good for me. and i need proper " ratio " to maintain weight.

> > >

> > > now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again, major

heart racing at night and insomnia.

> > >

> > > now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it in the

morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if this will

help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal with insomnia. i

can't win for losing it seems!

> > >

> > > anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef and

treat my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef first helps.

so far, i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve the cortef and the

racing has stopped for the day.

> > >

> > > its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing heart.

ICK! feels YUCKY.

> > >

> > > i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need "

cortisol and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have surgery for

cysts. so that's why i'm going the western md route here. i'm a big chicken when

it comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have any botox or any of that stuff

(because i'm too chicken)...

> > >

> > > any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at night?

> > >

> > > julie

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

well, so far, increasing the cortisol has done wonders. slept like a baby again.

yesterday i also napped during the day for 2 hours. not like me at all. when i

was at my worst a few years ago...a nap, no matter how exhausted i was, would be

torture...laying there while my body shook, and thoughts raced, and heart raced,

and i felt like there were ants in my pants or my skin crawled... yesterday i

just pulled a blanket over my head and dozed on the fluffy sofa. it was

wonderful...especially since i needed it after a few bad nights of sleep. my

life is so different from when i started this journey. i thought i was having a

serious breakdown then. psychologically, i was and still am happy. aside fromt

the insomnia which just drove me insane. I cried when i looked at the bed, as if

it was a symbol of failure. I tend to be a high energy person. i just think i

burned through all my stable fuel supplies in my mid 30s (meaning

adrenal/thyroid) and now they need to be healed/recovered or tended to. i'm very

surprised the medical industry discounts adrenals as they do and sloughs it off

as psychological. i can see now how some people go to " psych " hospitals that are

just worn out. I was the same way as most people with adrenal problems: loud

noises, loud music, parties, would bother me. my tolerance level for ANY PERSON

would be super low. my husband often noted how intolerant i was becoming to the

most benign things. I can understand why this would label a person neurotic or

eventually push them to become psychotic (with no sleep for several months)...

i'm pretty sure sam is right about the isocort not being stable becuase a while

back i had to take prednisone for poison oak. darn tootin' dogs give it to me.

typically, i treat it with zanfel but since it was ALL over my body and

recurring everywhere, i knew it was systemic so i went on short term predinsone

treatment (5 days with a slow ween off of it)... at the end of 5 days...i was

flying high and isomnia. so i know that too much can also drive me the other

way...also prednisone is really quite stronger than cortisol. and since i'm

taking more of the isocort w/o the high feelings, it's probably doing me better.

anyway, with this amount of cortisol, i am sleeping soundly and taking the pill

in the a.m. is helping too. going half on the loestrin would make my estrogen

AND progistin go in half, so i don't think that would help. i think i'd have to

take p and e separtely to see how they would be affected rather than in one

mini-pill, which is the point of bc pill...a stable ratio of p to e. and

further, i just don't have the patience to fiddle with p and e levels

separately. i think the .05 ratio in the loestrin and microgestin is probably

what i need to keep from gaining weight, but either one of those (the p or e) is

probably affecting my adrenals adversally causing " racing " ...the extra pellets

of cortisol seem to stop off set it.

also, i never took a full 8 pellets of isocort (which is the claimed 20 mg for

isocort) anyway. so going up to 8 even would be better, but i'm taking 10 now

until i get cortef and retest adrenals/thyroid...

i don't notice anything either way with iodine (meaning, on or off of it). but

since it doesn't do anything negative to me symptomatically, and i know i have a

thyroid problem, i figure it can't hurt, so i take it.

your problems sound very adrenal related. tho you say cortisol causes racing, i

wonder just how much you're taking and if you're taking it w/other hormones...

one thing i learned, taking, adding or subtracting even ONE hormone is like

moving a marble from a stack...it effects them all! so that's why i try to do

one at a time. that's why i started on cortisol. tho i wanted to do my thryoid

next, the cysts were too prevalant, and had to be addressed...so i started the

bc pill to deal with them and boom, just like i said...a stack of marbles! LOL!

anyway...gotta go do chores before i lose my marbles.

bye,

julie

> > > >

> > > > Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my

cysts.

> > > >

> > > > so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and iodine

and vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing. still not " optimum "

energy, but could definitely deal with life again and was very happy.

> > > >

> > > > then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did

naturpoathically. so i decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short term to see

if they'd go away.

> > > >

> > > > loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg norethindrone

(progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i lost a

little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding 9 days into the

pack of pills, several tries.

> > > >

> > > > i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5 days, my

boobs were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was having racing heart

at night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept again. ortho novum has

..5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for the first 7 days, then goes up to

..75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for the 2nd and third week. doesn't matter because

i didn't make it through first week. weird, i never remembered these symptoms

with my body.

> > > >

> > > > now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has 1.5 mg

norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to the loestrin.

it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is .05 ratio whereas the

ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that makes me think too much synthetic

estrogen not good for me. and i need proper " ratio " to maintain weight.

> > > >

> > > > now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again, major

heart racing at night and insomnia.

> > > >

> > > > now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it in

the morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if this will

help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal with insomnia. i

can't win for losing it seems!

> > > >

> > > > anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef and

treat my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef first helps.

so far, i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve the cortef and the

racing has stopped for the day.

> > > >

> > > > its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing

heart. ICK! feels YUCKY.

> > > >

> > > > i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need "

cortisol and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have surgery for

cysts. so that's why i'm going the western md route here. i'm a big chicken when

it comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have any botox or any of that stuff

(because i'm too chicken)...

> > > >

> > > > any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at night?

> > > >

> > > > julie

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

:

Again, we sound so much alike..the near breakdown, ants in pants feeling in

early peri (and again going through estrogen withdrawal from my last little

" surge " ); except that I ride horses/you ride bikes and generally (although I

woke up last night at 11:30 and couldn't go back to sleep until 4:) I sleep

pretty well.

I agree about the medical profession either minimilizing or completely

dismissing hormones in general, as well as adrenal hormone s in particular.

I don't know for sure if cortisol/Isocort causes me to " race " . I have only

tried it in creams largely because my stack of " marbles " was precarious to begin

with. You know how it is, you can dance pretty wildly unless you're close to

the edge and then you tend to be a bit more careful. Progesterone is what

caused the racing (I believe) to begin with..in addition to panic attacks which

I had NEVER had before, especially during work situations (I was in

Marketing/Sales in the Environmental Science field.. for 23 years before my

hormones went haywire)...That was early late 2003 and I have never been the same

since). Anyway, I didn 't notice much of an effect..maybe some chest rushing

sort of anxiety.

I'm asking questions and for people that have had similar experience to mine to

share not because I don't think adrenals are an issue..I think they certainly

could be..but because I'm unsure of where to start. Like I've said,

salivas/serums have been inconsistent..and while I know a lot about thyroid and

sex hormones, I still have a lot to learn about adrenal hormones.

I have gone to the proboards site that Sam recommended. I've read up and the

moderator there sounds VERY good and knowledgeable. But drat it all..he is out

on sabbatical due to illness himself for the foreseeable future.

I remember a similar experience with poison ivy and cortisone shot as well as

prednisone when I was 17 or 18. After I took it, I had a little bit of a

" flying high " period myself, but I was also in love :) with my first hubby so

I'm sure that that also had something to do with it.

I'm not, or at least never was before all this, " bipolar " (I hate that

diagnosis, I think it's an umbrella diagnosis and I wonder what percentage of

the time psych disorders are hormonally related). I have read that Jane ey

after a cortisone shot for poison ivy (presumably a pretty high dose) had her

first manic phase and is now on Lithium.

After reading a bit more, I plan to post my story and see if one of the

substitute moderators can help. I sure hope so..I'd really like at some point

to go back to work..

I think I've mentioned that I'm also being treated for Lyme by one of the best

Lyme docs in the business..ph Jemsek. I was a strong positive, so I'm sure

that has something to do with it. I've had to come off my antibiotics for at

least a week because although I've done reasonably well on them since October,

I've developed either a good case of Eczema or s- or I've picked up

poison ivy somewhere myself.

Anyway, thanks for responding and letting me know what works. I'm interested in

success stories with this particular symptom. My plan is to talk to the foks on

the proboard site and get their recommendations.

Also, interesting anecdote..I've noticed that if I take an Alleve or two that it

will also stop the racing dead cold for a day or so. It's mechanism of action

is theoretically unknown, but is believed to affect specific prostaglandins.

There is/was some supposition of its affect on cortisol as well, but a study

that I read said recorded " no " statistical " difference. :)

Talk with you soon,

Avi

> > > > >

> > > > > Ok, so here's what i'm learning about bc pills for " me " to treat my

cysts.

> > > > >

> > > > > so far, all i've been doing since detoxing the WP is Isocort and

iodine and vitamins. life changed, i could sleep again. no racing. still not

" optimum " energy, but could definitely deal with life again and was very happy.

> > > > >

> > > > > then the cysts came and never left no matter what i did

naturpoathically. so i decided to go ahead and use bc pill for short term to see

if they'd go away.

> > > > >

> > > > > loestrin was the first pill she put me on. it has 1 mg norethindrone

(progistin) and 20 mcg of estradiol. i felt GREAT on that. in fact, i lost a

little weight and was sleeping. unfortunately, i get bleeding 9 days into the

pack of pills, several tries.

> > > > >

> > > > > i re-tried Ortho novum, the pill i was on for 18 years. after 5 days,

my boobs were swollen, i gained weight for no reason, and I was having racing

heart at night and couldn't sleep. went off of them, and slept again. ortho

novum has .5mg nortehindrone and 35 mcg of estradial for the first 7 days, then

goes up to .75 mg norethindrone and 1 mg for the 2nd and third week. doesn't

matter because i didn't make it through first week. weird, i never remembered

these symptoms with my body.

> > > > >

> > > > > now doc tries me on microgestin (higher doses than loestrin). has 1.5

mg norethindrone and 30 mcg estradiol. I notice something similar to the

loestrin. it has same RATIO fo P to E in it as loestrin. that is .05 ratio

whereas the ortho novum has a .014 ratio...hmmm... so that makes me think too

much synthetic estrogen not good for me. and i need proper " ratio " to maintain

weight.

> > > > >

> > > > > now on the microgestin, so far, no weird weight gain BUT again, major

heart racing at night and insomnia.

> > > > >

> > > > > now i take my pill at night, so i think i'm going to try taking it in

the morning, slowly switching time from bed time to morning to see if this will

help. i know i can't deal with cysts. i know i can't deal with insomnia. i

can't win for losing it seems!

> > > > >

> > > > > anyway, just thought i'd share. i'm also going to go back on cortef

and treat my adrenals myself as well as my thyroid. and see if cortef first

helps. so far, i'm taking more dose of isocort until i recieve the cortef and

the racing has stopped for the day.

> > > > >

> > > > > its awful to go to bed with a racing heart and wake up with racing

heart. ICK! feels YUCKY.

> > > > >

> > > > > i don't think i actually " need " sex hormones. i think i just " need "

cortisol and some thyroid support, but there's no way i want to have surgery for

cysts. so that's why i'm going the western md route here. i'm a big chicken when

it comes to " the knife " ... i dont' even have any botox or any of that stuff

(because i'm too chicken)...

> > > > >

> > > > > any thoughts on whether taking bc pill in a.m. may help sleep at

night?

> > > > >

> > > > > julie

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>