MattiesMom,
That is very interesting what you wrote there at about hormones. My Dr.(a naturopath) has tested my hormones again and again (24 hour urine tests, pricy!) and they are always whacky and he keeps having me try bioidentical compounded hormones in different combination and amounts (they are in a cream) and they never do anything!
Then I found some great info about perimenopause on http://www.cemcor.ubc.ca/ and my symptoms sure match up with low progesterone/high estrogen. My doctor agreed to let me try the medroxyprogesterone at the dose recommended for women with migraines, which is a HIGH dose and take it every day, not just the 2 weeks a month. Anyway, tried it and it did help with some things (finally relief from breast pain and swelling!) but I bled for a month straight. This is what happens when I have tried birth control pills a couple of years ago too. Something is very broken in my hormones because the amount of medroxyprogesterone I was on was more than enough to SHUT off the ovaries and menstruation, and yet it didn’t with me.
It just seems every time we try to do something with my hormones it never works out. I would be so very happy if that piece of this, if it is the vagal nerve, etc. would be worked out and get fixed in those of us that have this “endocrinology gone wild” problem.