Advice or opinions needed - I do not want to go to the doctors yet 😳

[KristinLynne]

Hi Quasicrystal, I am 49 and watched my mom deal with this for years without much relief. When this started happening to me I decided to go a different route which was the holistic way. I also had heavy periods during my life which would last a week and then after two weeks off they would start again. My diet and stress levels very much like yours too.

I can attest to the fact that changing your diet helps so much with the flow and the duration of the monthlies but I also can understand how daunting it can be when you first start out. My practitioner gave me something called Phyto B when the hot flashes started and it helps tremendously but some of the hot flashes are due to an imbalance in the gut microbes. For those she gave me a good probiotic and a Monolaurin Supplement to help get things back on track. I hope this helps.

 

[candasiri]

Hi Quasicrystal I admit my ignorance on this subject specifically but have gone through a lot of learning and exploration of how the female reproductive system works in trying to get pregnant. Learned a lot, been through a lot of testing, procedures of the Western variety and also many treatments of the Eastern variety. I learned from each. I second Gaby's suggestion that:

After a certain age, it's advisable to do a check-up. People will do check ups to their aging cars for safety reasons. It's not wise to think that you can avoid check-ups after a certain age. Diet and supplements go a long way in preventing disease, but then again, we're living in the 21st century.

I had so much resistance to this. In the end, it was somewhat helpful because it allowed me to start putting together a picture of what might be going on in my body. I wonder if this might be what is going on with your ovary (it could very well be not)
Ovarian Cysts in Post-Menopausal Women: What to Look For and What to Ask | Women's Voices For Change

My direction of questioning would be: do I have enlarged ovary because of cysts? Is it something else? And what causes these cysts? Is the enlarged ovary causing the heavy periods? Or are the heavy periods caused by a different pathology? Start from there IMO. I do wonder if eating only one meal a day is messing with your blood sugar and perhaps exacerbating the problem?
I do want to add that for sure progesterone starts to slowly decline over time as one is approaching peri-menopause. For me it caused very heavy and short periods. When I started taking progesterone intravaginally, things changed.

This is what I did--got an idea of a differential diagnosis then did my research. Because my diagnosis was so vague, I sought out answers through a medical medium who gave some clues but did not have the full picture, but was somewhat helpful nevertheless. Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine (aka herbal combinations that have been passed down from master to master through generations) could be quite helpful perhaps for you. I would emphasize that you need to find a master herbalist who really knows what he/she is doing. I found this guy in Boston (40 min away from me) who was quite amazing: E. Shan Tang I'm sure he's not the only one. He uses herbal formulas passed down from his mother who trained him. I guess, according to my acupuncturist, his mother was one of the foremost herbalist in China. He has drawers of traditional medicinal plants which his assistants cook up. He diagnoses by pulse. My point is, I think if someone is not trained in Chinese herbalism specifically, and just throws out some supplements to take, it might not be the right direction. I would also add that acupuncture/Chinese medicine is quite effective against cysts I believe.

Very best wishes and let us know how you get on.

 

[Gwenllian]

I started applying progesterone cream in the linings of the labia last week twice a day, but I don't seem to tolerate it very well, because it burns. So, I am now using it once a day and apply aloe vera gel in liberal doses to soothe the skin and that helps A LOT.

I did read in What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause that in the beginning when using progesterone cream estrogen receptors are becoming sensitised, but I don't know whether this is related to this burning and soreness? Vaginal dryness is a sign of progesterone deficiency according to this article:
Estrogen dominance / PMS

Then again, perhaps the lemon grass or another ingredients they use in the cream is causing me problems.

 

[Gaby]

Then again, perhaps the lemon grass or another ingredients they use in the cream is causing me problems.

Yeah, some creams are made for topical skin use only. You'll have to search for gel or mucosal friendlier products. If you can't find one, then get one with the least added ingredients possible.

 

[Gwenllian]

I switched to another progesterone cream and it seems to have helped. No more burning and other unpleasant sensations. That said, I started using the cream when the eczema on my hands, leg and feet was at its worst, and at the same time the basal cell carcinomas on my face had grown bigger, so I had all kinds of issues with my skin.

One thing I have been thinking about is that sometimes we don't know if a certain supplement or cream actually helps until we notice some positive changes a few months later which leaves me wondering whether the progesterone cream has helped calm down my skin a little together with some supplements I have been taking on top of my processing all kinds of events via the wonderful romance novels.

Until now I had been taking all kinds of supplements without noticing much effect or so I thought, but perhaps these supplements also prevent some disease to manifest or at least alleviate some symptoms without our being able to directly attribute changes to one particular supplement? It's hard to tell sometimes!

Since dr. Lee mentions the cancer-protective benefits of progesterone cream in What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause I am now thinking that perhaps the cream did help calm down my skin when it clearly was in uproar, so I am going to continue using it. And I have now grown curious as to how it will affect my brain for instance (pre-menopausal women have high(er) concentrations of progesterone in their brain if I understood it correctly) and if it helps with memory issues and so on. Learning is fun!

Added: I have also focused on detoxification these past few months.