Posted by BarbaraCat on February 28, 2002, at 20:09:03
In reply to Re: Do ANY of the alternative supplements/herbs wo, posted by Cassidy on February 28, 2002, at 18:22:03
I too started on the Estraderm (estradiol) patch and was amazed at how much better I've been steadily feeling. I had stopped taking estrogen and progesterone because my insurance ran out and within 5 months I was like a raving banshee. I'm post menopausal, but stopping like I did kicked in full blown menopausal crazies like I'd never had before (having been on replacement for 3 years). I hope you're also taking progesterone. I'm on prometrium which is a natural form and like it alot. I also have to caution women going the premarin/provera route. These are **not** natural to a women's body and are known to exacerbate depression. BTW, I'm taking 400 mg of SAM-e and have also found it helpful. - Barbara
> I can report on SAM-e's effects in my situation. I had been on various SSRIs and a tri-cyclic over a number of years; going off resulted in serious symptoms, but each either pooped out or had problem side effects.
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> I started SAM-e 2 1/2 years ago and have generally used 1200-1400mg to control depression (yes, it's a lot of money, but gave me my life back). It has worked as well or better than any of the other ADs I used, and it has essentially no side effects for me (it does affect bowel habits). Still, the depression was not entirely gone (low energy, rather dysthymic, etc.).
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> The biggest change since starting SAMe was adding an estradiol patch about 10 months ago (body's form of estrogen). (Blood work through the years had not shown a need for estrogen replacement until last year, but based on the following experience, I no longer trust the blood level as a reliable indicator.) As soon as the estradiol kicked in, I found that I could reduce the amount of SAMe, and I started feeling better. By the time estradiol was gradually increased to .1mg (still MUCH less than standard Premarin dose) I found that I felt better than at any time in the last decade (!) and on only 300mg of SAM-e.
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> I have been feeling NORMAL again with this combination (.1mg estradiol, 300mg SAMe) for about 3 months now,and am SO grateful. I wanted to share this experience with other women who might benefit from it.
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:89549
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020222/msgs/95882.html