Start high or start low?

[Guest guest]

Hi all. I'm on day 4 of WP and so far it's going okay, except I feel

bloated and constipated. I've been reading, reading, reading and am

unsure how to proceed. Seems to me I have 2 options if I want to

continue forward, which I do. One is to continue on the full WP as

prescribed and then deal with the side-effects if they become

intolerable, either by upping E as Wiley recommends or cutting down P

until side-effects are manageable. Other option is to do a reduced

amount of P (and maybe E too?) from the start, which is more

complicated since it would be my own invention. If I choose this

route, I also have to deal with what to tell my doctor. I dread

getting into conflict with her since I tend to be a push-over when

dealing with the medical community.

Option 1 scares me because, if I understand correctly, by the time

side-effects become intolerable, you've already OD'd and P has been

stored in fat cells, taking months to correct. Option 2 seems easier

to control, since building up levels would presumably cause less

trouble than cutting back.

Does anyone have details about how they did a reduced WP? i.e. how

much of each hormone did they use, in what rhythm... How did your

doctor react to a reduced WP?

I'm trying to understand what the risk is in doing reduced levels. Is

it that unless you get to full pre-menopausal levels you don't fully

shed the uterine lining and thus have higher cancer risk? (I'm sure

this is described fully in various places, but I'm just trying to

assimilate reams of data and my memory is still lousy, so please bear

with me). I mean, if the only downside is not getting full benefit

(as opposed to increased cancer risk), I'd rather do that and increase

levels as needed.

Thanks,

Frances