![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by tiffanywp on September 16, 2005, at 21:13:45
hey - new here - posted this on another forem here too, anyway - long story short - am a 34 y.o. mom of 3 under 5. i just weaned (breastfeeding) 3 months ago - subsequently got my first period in 4 years (b/c have been pregnant or breastfeeding for past 4 years) since return of period, i am having major irritability and also some panic attacks (which i have had before in between babies) - but my panic attacks do not match the symptoms i read abt online. i think they are more anxiety attacks. def. do not fit the GAD description or any description. basically KNOW my symptoms are cyclical and hormonal. my OB recommends lexapro - i hesitate in taking a drug though. have tried natural methods - exercise , evening primrose, essential fatty acids. but today's random mother of all 'anxiety attacks' has prompted me to make appt w. OB - who i know will suggest, again, lexapro - which i am scared to take. i am sensitive to all drugs, antibiotics, birth control - all make me itch or crazy! what are your thoughts on this, if you dont mind? also afraid of weight gain, am a thin person by nature and since onset of period have gained 8 pounds - all in stomach (water weight?) - also making me depressed. am not a depressed person - but a vain one - and changes in my looks effect me greatly. anyone w. any ideas/ thoughts - pah-lease respond. i am losing my effing mind! :) thanks
Posted by JLx on September 17, 2005, at 12:27:49
In reply to hormone hell, posted by tiffanywp on September 16, 2005, at 21:13:45
I suggest magnesium. Preferably magnesium glycinate. If you can't get that, then magnesium taurate. The reason for this is that both chelating aminos, glycine and taurine respectively, are in themselves relaxing.
In fact, you might try aminos of glycine, taurine, or GABA as well. Sometimes you can get a "mood formula" that might have these in some combination with B vit or other things.
B vitamins would be my next suggestion, particularly niacinamide. Niacinamide on an empty stomach, 500 mg, taken by itself, up to 3 times a day. A B complex if you aren't already. B's are water soluable so a smaller amount more often is better than one large B-100. Also B12, preferably methylcobalamin, sublingual. A B complex will have 400 mg of folic acid, but you can take more, up to 1600. Folic acid and B 12 together are good for methylation which is helpful in neurotransmitters working well.
Also, take Vit C if you aren't already. 500 mg to 1 gm/day or more.
The irritability especially suggests to me that magnesium will be the most helpful. Other types of well absorbed magnesium are malate and citrate. Don't waste your money on magnesium oxide as its absorbability is said to be only 5%. Don't take magnesium aspartate or mg glutamate (excitatory to the brain).
The calcium/magnesium ratio is important so if you ordinarily supplement with calcium, try doing without it while first taking magnesium. Also cut down on calcium rich foods until more balanced. (It's more likely that you are deficient in magnesium than calcium. Magnesium is depleted by stress and ordinary dietary transgressions such as sodas, high protein, sugar, white flour, etc.) Check out the quiz and excellent info on this page (by a psychiatrist who treats alternatively):
http://www.thewayup.com/newsletters/081501.htm
Try soaking in an Epsom salt bath if you have the time, as that is magnesium sulphate and it will be absorbed by your skin.
Magnesium supplementation can cause diarrhea if too much all at once. Take it on an empty stomach, between meals, depending on what kind you get, it will probably be 125 mg to 200 mg per capsule/tablet. Take 2.7 - 4.5 mg magnesium per pound of body weight, preferably the higher end.
Also add more magnesium through diet (such as most nuts) and water. Some bottled water has little magnesium, or calcium 3-4 times magnesium. Fiji water has nearly as much magnesium as calcium. Some other brands, usually non U.S-based, also have mineral content on their labels.
Check on your water here if you live in a big enough city: http://www.mgwater.com/mgrank.shtml
On bottled water here: http://www.pmgeiser.ch/mineral/index.php?func=country&parval=112
Tons of info on magnesium here: http://www.coldcure.com/html/dep.html
Other here: http://www.krispin.com/magnes.html
I'm sure magnesium will help. The effects may be gradual or maybe not. When I first started taking magnesium, I felt like a million bucks. :) (That was mg glycinate and no calcium in diet.)
Good luck, let us know how you do.
JL
Posted by spriggy on September 18, 2005, at 17:45:18
In reply to Magnesium, B vits, C, aminos » tiffanywp, posted by JLx on September 17, 2005, at 12:27:49
Have you read anything about Dr. John Lee?
He has a website with a test/quiz that you can take to see if you are possibly suffering with estrogen dominance. If you are, it can cause panic attacks and maybe natural progesterone cream would be helpful.
My best friend swears this stuff saved her from hormone hell.
I hope you feel better soon!
Posted by tiffanywp on September 18, 2005, at 18:53:40
In reply to natural progesterone cream??, posted by spriggy on September 18, 2005, at 17:45:18
> Have you read anything about Dr. John Lee?
>
> He has a website with a test/quiz that you can take to see if you are possibly suffering with estrogen dominance. If you are, it can cause panic attacks and maybe natural progesterone cream would be helpful.
>
> My best friend swears this stuff saved her from hormone hell.
>
> I hope you feel better soon!thanks spriggy for answering my ??s on both forums - i checked this outt and will bring this up at my OB tom. i know they will push lex. i hope i can resolve this w/out an ssri
Posted by barbaracat on September 25, 2005, at 17:07:59
In reply to Re: natural progesterone cream??, posted by tiffanywp on September 18, 2005, at 18:53:40
I second the progesterone suggestion. Emeritas is probably the gold standard. You can give it a try to see if it makes a difference because I doubt you'll get much encouragement from any conventional doc.
Most women in their late 30's to mid-menopause start to become estrogen dominant because of a drop in progesterone. It takes an unfertalized ovulation cycle to shed the lining of the womb and progesterone is crucial to this shedding. If there's no ovulation, estrogen continues to merrily build up the womb lining preparing for a pregnanacy. Progesterone opposes estrogen, and is a calming and soothing hormone. Estrogen can produce anxiety, crying spells, muscle aches and weight gain. As if that's not enough, the fact that progesterone is not there to inhibit it, it keeps building in the endometrial lining and breast tissue. It's not estrogen that plummets in the years prior to menopause, it's progesterone.
Don't expect your regular MD or OB/GYn to be hip to this theory. Conventional medicine relies on blood tests which do no good in measuring how much hormones your cells are actually taking in. Saliva tests are a much more reliable method but even if you find an enlightened MD who believes in them, most likely they're not allowed to order them. I've found out about my severe hormonal imbalance from my naturopath. My progesterone was zilch, nil, and I had a high estrogen count. I also was bleeding post-menopause and having panic attacks and a wired insomnia. I had a pre-cancerous condition in my endometrium and the remedy was not fun. It could have been avoided if some tests were taken instead of just handing out the standard hormone doses.
This is not the whole story as to my mood disorders, but once I got my hormones balanced it made all the difference. In fact, I'm on progesterone only now since it is near the top of the hormone pyramid so to speak, and cascades down to convert into all the other sex hormones.
Transdermal cream or sublingual drops of bioidentical hormone are the only way to go. Please don't get talked into oral synthetics like Provera. Lexapro may help with the symptoms, and may end up being a good stop gap measure until things are sorted out, but how much better it is to get to the root of the cause. Good luck - BarbaraCat
> > Have you read anything about Dr. John Lee?
> >
> > He has a website with a test/quiz that you can take to see if you are possibly suffering with estrogen dominance. If you are, it can cause panic attacks and maybe natural progesterone cream would be helpful.
> >
> > My best friend swears this stuff saved her from hormone hell.
> >
> > I hope you feel better soon!
>
> thanks spriggy for answering my ??s on both forums - i checked this outt and will bring this up at my OB tom. i know they will push lex. i hope i can resolve this w/out an ssri
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Alternative | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.