Premarin for older women

To dbmenger: What a super great testimony of the difference in a woman’s life long health by maintaining estrogen! Thank you for sharing her story!

Have you ever tried to see what estrogen injections do for you? My body does not produce any sex hormones,and I inject estradiol once a week for several years already.. I am 78 years old, and feel great with the injections

I’d like to suggest (from my own horrible experience) that no one get those hormone pellets in your butt cheek. I felt awful, my hair fell out and none of the promises came true.
One of my doctors (Does anyone else have a veritable clinic like I do?) said those clinics are unregulated and dangerous. - I wish I’d talked to him beforehand.
A substitute gynecologist (male) suggested them to me. I should not have trusted him. Also, it turns he was an all-around awful doctor anyway but he’s making a lot of money from these things.

At 41 severe hyperthyroidism caused my periods to stop and after three radioactive (I-131) isotopes over 2 years, couldn't get periods to start. Without hot flashes, I got a call from Dr. saying I had no estrogen in my system. Was put on Premarin to kick start, but didn't. Years later a non-endocrinologist took me off it. Then 24/7 hot flashes started, to the point where I had no quality of life and wanted to die. Begged to restart Premarin. Now I'm 75 and still taking. Every time dosage reduced or stopped, 24/7 returns. Now I'm 75. Tried lowering dosage and tried estrodiol and still constant 24/7 hot flashes. Now I'm back on Premarin, 250mg/day. Lower amts didn't stop the 24/7s. I now get 90 day script from Planet Drugs Direct in Canada for $125, or so, for a 3 month supply. I dread the day if it's no longer prescribed. I always have to go to an endocrinologist to have an full understanding of the issue. I'm told that Premarin has some other estrogens that my body must be responding to as the estrodal didn't work and should have. I pity anyone with this degree of hot flashes and most other women who have gone through regular hot flashes simply do not understand and accused me of trying to stay young which is totally preposterous as age is age and doesn't affect anything except your health and well-being.

I always thought that DHEA is the wonder hormone to make us stay young? And now I find out it is estradiol. Well, my Mayo endocrinologist prescribed both for me, does that mean I will get younger now instead of older?
Higher amounts of estrogen seem to keep the skin looking younger, but that is it as far as staying young is involved. And i take high amounts of estrogen, I take an estrogen shot each week, and if this makes me stay young, I must have missed the signs for this. I am pretty happy that I get this high dose of estrogen, because I never will get any menopause syndromes this way.

Hey, hi! Your story is my song too! Hot flashes out of nowhere after a hysterectomy 25 years ago. I’ve tried everything and am now on 20 grams of black cohosh.
I also quit taking a collagen tablet every day. I tracked back to when the flashes started and it coincided to when my sister-in-law gave me collagen capsules to take daily.
I go to an acupuncturist (who’s also an MD) and he’s helped too.
I use Estradiol cream three times a week.
Finally I think I’ve gotten a hold on the flashes by trial and error. I had four doctors working on it and they were no help. The moral is read and try everything. Really at 75 we shouldn’t be having these things!
Blessings!

You can never give up trying. I'm glad you're on your way to no hot flashes. Mine became very debilitating and women who have had the regular dosage of them after menopause can not appreciate how good they had it. Don't know how long I'll be taking them, but I hate to think about the consequences if I don't. I really did get to a point where there was absolutely no quality of life. Thanks for responding. It's reassuring that there are some women out there who really know how tough it can get.

I fired two gynecologists until I found one that would continue to prescribe Premarin and fax the prescription to the online pharmacy in Canada, where it costs $86 for a three month supply unlike here in the US where it's $220 for a month. My insurance Express Scripts now won't cover Premarin, but I have no intention of experimenting with Estradiol. You shouldn't have to live in fear of hot flashes if there is something you can take that will prevent them like Premarin. Listen to your body and stay on the dosage that works for you. As for your friends who accuse you of trying to stay young, I suggest you get better friends. I am 81, work full time, and have never had a hot flashes because I never have gone off Premarin and don't intend to.

@jumbley39 I wanted to give you some feedback on estradiol. I do take estradiol as a cream that I apply to my arms daily. The benefit is that it is bio-identical and is compounded at a compounding pharmacy. It must be balanced against progesterone (also compounded). The doctor who does this for me is a functional medicine doctor. The problems that happen because of estrogen use happen because estrogen is too dominant (out of balance with progesterone) or the body does not detox the end products of processing the estrogen. There are supplements that aid in this detox that were designed for heart health. One of these is Methyl Cpg from Orthomolecular. "Methylation" is a detox pathway in the body. Hot flashes happen because of a change in the estrogen levels. When the doctor finds the right dose so your body does not run out in a day, the hot flashes are controlled. They look for the lowest dose that can achieve this. My functional medicine doctor told me that bioidentical (estradiol) hormone replacement lowers the risk of colon cancers. Other benefits of estradiol are that it can benefit women in helping prevent dementia. There are estrogen receptors in the brain, and other organs. There are some risk factors of Premarin and also bioidentical compounded hormone replacement as well as benefits. Here is a link to a Stanford study that compares Estradiol and Premarin regarding dementia.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2014/03/estradiol-but-not-premarin-preserves-key-brain-regions-in-postmenopausal-women-at-risk-for-dementia-study-shows.html

@jumbley39
Hi,

I have used estradiol in a vaginal cream for 3 years with no menopausal symptoms whatsoever. The only menopausal side effect during actual menopause that I can remember was an occasional feeling of warmth around the neck. Otherwise I didn’t even know I was going through it. I had friends who went through difficult times so I consider myself lucky.

It works for me but good for you for getting what you need. Why try something else if you found what works for you. And I agree with the remark about trying to stay young. Sounds like catty jealousy. We won’t even go into Big Pharma’s disgraceful prices here in the US.

FL Mary