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Hormone Chaos/Depression/Feeling Crazy.. help please??

alice111

Senior Member
Messages
397
Location
Canada
I will make this relatively short.. I don't want to overwhelm with info. The gist is I have been dealing with horrendous (worst part of the illness.. ) PMDD/ general hormonal imbalance pretty much since I got sick.

I had a recent improvement when I started cortef (a few months ago) however that seems to have "worn off".. and I am now as bad as ever. My symptoms are:

-depression/ crying all day

-irritable, agitated.. insanely "wired" yet still tired.. feels like im going to explode.. bad.
-skin breaking out...

so pretty much the usual stuff you see under "estrogen dominance" or "pms" symptoms.. but day after day starts to feel like im losing my mind.

I have tried pretty much everything out there.. progesterone cream, oral progesterone, DIM, indol 3 carbinol, herbs, homeopathy... and im on a low low sugar diet. the only thing i have found that helps as a band aid solution to take the edge off is xanax. but sometimes even that doesnt work.

Please any suggestions???!!! -- really anything. short term solution, band aid, i dont care something to help in any way.
thank you
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Snowdrop

Rebel without a biscuit
Messages
2,933
Hi @alice111

That's a tough problem. I'm sorry to hear of your suffering.

As it happens though I was just looking at this estrogen issue for my daughter and I found the link below.
I have no idea if it will be helpful at all but seeing as how you said anything. . .
It may be that you've already covered what's suggested in the article.

Hope you find relief (if so please share)
SD

http://www.poliquingroup.com/Articl...01/10_Ways_To_Lower_Estrogen_Toxic_Load_.aspx
 

A.B.

Senior Member
Messages
3,780
Why are you on a low sugar diet?

People with lowish cortisol and reactive hypoglycemia tend to get worse on a low sugar diet. And for me it feels exactly like wired, extremely exhausted and restless.

Mood swings can also be caused by blood sugar issues as the body reacts with adrenaline which causes either fearfullness/anxiety, or irritability and aggressiveness.
 

minkeygirl

But I Look So Good.
Messages
4,678
Location
Left Coast
I am estrogen dominant even though I don't have any hormones. I found finding the correct OTC progesterone is key.

I use Ess pro'leve. It has no scent, no crap in it and works great to stop my nausea and headaches. http://www.natureshealthshoppe.com/index.php

@Sushi, @alice111 Please take the all caps out of your title, and in your post. It kills my brain. Also please put more paragraphs in your post. It was a nightmare for me to read. The only thing I was able to pick up was estrogen dominance.
 

Adlyfrost

Senior Member
Messages
251
Location
NJ
My daughter (only 21) has had those symptoms since puberty. She had the most extreme case of PMDD I have ever heard of. She has found prometrium (a peanut derived progesterone) and natural progesterone to be a life saver in sanity. She needs a high dosage- luckily her doctors have let her experiment with dosage. I think the prometrium is the strongest. Goodluck with everything.
 

minkeygirl

But I Look So Good.
Messages
4,678
Location
Left Coast
Fyi. Prometrium has a side effect of constipation. In my case it felt like my intestines were being twisted and that's why I couldn't "go". So it's not without problems.
 

Adlyfrost

Senior Member
Messages
251
Location
NJ
Thx @minkeygirl . Didn't know. My daughter has chronic diarrhea and weightless so it wasn't an issue for her. She actually gained weight on it and was happy about that. Natural bio-identical compounded progesterone may be a good option if trying to avoid those side effects.
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
Prometrium is simply the brand name for oral bioidentical progesterone. It is USP progesterone in peanut and/or sunflower oil meant to be swallowed. Dosages are higher than with creams to make up for all that is lost in metabolism though the liver.

There are pluses and minuses to every form of delivery. The key is bioidentical (or biomemetic to be precise) over synthetics.
 

Adlyfrost

Senior Member
Messages
251
Location
NJ
My understanding is that most compounded bio-identical creams are mostly soy based. And in my daughter's case, they worked differently- they had less side-effects.

The prometrium, on the other hand, made her much more sleepy, at least until she got used to it. She liked that though since she had insomnia.
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
I'm reviving this thread because I'm increasingly going mad with PMDD, which I handled before but nothing works now except high doses of oral Progesteron. Any suggestions are welcome.

I've had PMDD before I got ME and back then I fixed it with bio-identical progesteron cream, bio-identical oral progesteron pills, a Lithium food supplement, daily Valerian and stopping to eat oat bran (it depletes Zinc)(my GP told me).

Then I got ME and adrenal problems but I managed the oestrogen problem well by keeping that same regime. Additionally I found vit D is essential for me to keep a mental balance.

Now the PMDD is back, big time, and it's getting worse. I still do all the right things but now only the oral progesteron pills work against this, at double or triple the doses I normally take (normal = 100 mg per day). Surely I shouldn't take those amounts before ovulation date. Or can I?

It started 6 months ago after a big bout of stress. First it was the last week of the cycle, then the last two weeks and now it's 3 weeks or longer. It's the full madness too including suicidal plans in the last week before menstruation. The past couple of cycles I arranged not to live alone those last weeks.

Menstruation itself gives a few days relief. Which indicates it's a hormone thing and a brain chemistry thing. In 10 days I'm seeing my family doctor for psychofarmaca because it's getting out of hand. But AD will mask the true cause.

I don't understand what's going on, why the usual stuff doesn't help. Does anybody have any thoughts?

I'm on HC (20 mg per day, have been for 24 months now) and still take all the things I mention above. I do eat sugars. I'm 44 yo so could be perimenopausal.
I experienced severe stress 6 months ago. I relapsed because of it and have not recovered and I don't think I will. (yes, depression is probable). I have not re-entered the relaxed zone I was in before the stress happened.

@alice111, have you found relief? For me it was: npc, micronized prog., valerian, vit D, no bran and absolutely no hormonal contraception. And mind numbing distraction. This week I'm trying cannabis oil (CBD) but no result yet.

@adreno, can you explain a bit or point me towards info about HC making this worse? I've been upping the dose in days of stress but keeping it at its minimum on regular days (regular = 20 mg max per day).

When I'm at my worst, that last week before menstruation, I cannot handle any stress. None at all. Cat wants kibble? I cry in despair. Leaves outside my window move in the wind? I cannot handle that visual stimulation and want to die.

That's why I take the thing that works: 300 mg oral Progesteron. (diverts into 30 mg blood level). The worst that happens when I take too much is that I sleep and dismantle some Progesteron receptors. Or might that be the problem? More progesteron means less receptors but also more oestrogen receptors...

Any thoughts are much appreciated.
 
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alice111

Senior Member
Messages
397
Location
Canada
@WoolPippi ohhhhhhhh I'm soooooooo sorry!!!!! It really is the worst thing ever. For me it has been hands down my worst symptom, worse than pain, being bedridden, vomiting, whatever you name -there's nothing that's been quite the living nightmare that comes with the psychological maheam. I'm going to get back to you in a bit cus it's a big question with a long answer but I just wanted to tell you YES ITS BETTER!!!! Obviously u can see from my post things were bad, but holy crap I've managed to reduce it to about 3 days vs the three weeks AT LEAST I was getting. So it can get better!!! I will get back to asap
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
I've managed to reduce it to about 3 days vs the three weeks AT LEAST I was getting. So it can get better!!! I will get back to asap
what good news! I'm very curious to your answer. But no hurries :) Please, don't stress over having to answer.
Great news!
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
I had a few days of bliss and peace, together with my period. I also think taking some Zinc helped.

But today it came over me again, like a slow huge wave. It build and build and nothing stopped it. No supplement, no npc, no mindfulness, no diversions. What scorcery!

Some life stress and oat meal seem to make it worse.
it's bed time now and I just took a second 100 mg micronized Progesteron pill because the first one did nothing. I'm about to bury myself in sleep, I don't want to deal with the world right now.
 

AndyPandy

Making the most of it
Messages
1,928
Location
Australia
@WoolPippi That sounds hellish.

I had bad PMT for many years, then very nasty hormone hell for 3 weeks out of 4 for a few years in my late 40s. Ended up on Kliogest (HRT) after going to a specialist clinic. I am so very stable on it. Best I have felt hormonally all of my life.

This was well before I became sick. I'm still on it even though there are risks. I don't think I would be able to cope without it, particularly with ME/CFS to deal with as well.

Hope you find something that helps. Thinking of you.

Best wishes Andy.
 

alice111

Senior Member
Messages
397
Location
Canada
@WoolPippi ok sorry it took me a while to get to this! just to summarize for me i was getting 3 + weeks on end of hell. I now get about 5 days, and one of those days is a "xanax"day. if you dont currently have this I highly recommend having it on hand for those emergency days. with that said 5 days is TRILLION GAZIZLLION times better than 3+ weeks so here is what I am taking:


also i have cut waaaay back on the progesterone. like you i kept uping it thinking it would help with the estrogen dominance. since starting these things i have realised that it was actually making it worse.
I now only use
progesterone cream 2.5 mg days 14-25 of my cycle

a few other things:
-are you on thyroid medication?

-re cortisol - i was on this last year. for the first 8 months it was ok, but for some reason after that my hormones went all wonky. my period stopped, and i was literally in a state of constant "pms" symptoms :( :(
I have since weaned off the cortisol, my period came back. i think its possible maybe this is making things worse for you as well?

let me know if you have any questions!
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
@alice111 thank you very much :thumbsup:

no, I'm not on thyroid medication. Since I've been on Hydrocortison and an Iodine supplement I've not had that coldness I associate with hypothyroid function.

Thanks for your list, I'm researching it and will be ordering supplements.
In the mean time I took what I already have here but hadn't touched in weeks: mB12, Methylfolate, Zinc and Omega 3 (fish oil). Also I took more Lithium (carbonate) than usual. Will you believe I started to feel better within the hour? I went back to being myself. I'm really tired of this sensitive brain chemistry :ill:

It's like there was some sort of poisoning of the brain, as if I had too much of something in there. Perhaps cell process waste that couldn't be shifted until I took the mB12 and Zinc. Or not enough receptors or not enough things to attach to them. Some sort of shortage or some sort of too-much-age. I don't know.

I also stopped Valerian root since my husband found that too much of it can hinder GABA function. Your list put me onto that. I'm also looking into BH4. Thanks again.

In two days I'm seeing my GP to get some SSRI's. I'm not going through one more cycle without those as a back up.
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
@WoolPippi That sounds hellish.

I had bad PMT for many years, then very nasty hormone hell for 3 weeks out of 4 for a few years in my late 40s. Ended up on Kliogest (HRT) after going to a specialist clinic. I am so very stable on it. Best I have felt hormonally all of my life.

This was well before I became sick. I'm still on it even though there are risks. I don't think I would be able to cope without it, particularly with ME/CFS to deal with as well.

Hope you find something that helps. Thinking of you.

Best wishes Andy.
thank you Andy.

perhaps it's time for me to look into estrogenes, I read the Kliogest balances them. Currently I'm only doing Progesteron and assumed I had enough estrogen left in me. But I could easily be wrong, I've not had blood work done in a while now.

Thank you and best to you too.
Anna