Vive la Vivelle!

Blood draw for hormone levels at 9:45.  Vivelle dot estrogen patch back on at 9:55.  Yay!  No, I’m not waiting for the lab results.  After 5 weeks of progressive physical chaos, I’m pretty sure I already know what they will be.

Vivelledotpatch

 


Related posts on Type 1 diabetes and hormones:

Medical Deja Vu

Is Type 1 Diabetes Different for Women than it is for Men?

Synthetic Hormones and Type 1 Diabetes: A Call For Sharing Personal Stories

First Things First: Hormones and Insulin Requirements

Medical Deja Vu

You know that restaurant you go to once a year because you can’t quite remember why you don’t like it, so you think to yourself “It can’t possibly be as bad as I think it was!”  Then you go…and you remember “Yeah, it’s that bad and then some.”  You say to your spouse “Honey, if I ever suggest we come here again can you please remind me how bad it was?”

Well, I’m having that kind of sudden bad-memory-recall with a medication change.  Why, oh why did I listen to the doctor’s suggestion?  It’s my body and I knew better.

Fitbit sleep Sept-Oct

This image is from my Fitbit sleep tracker. Note over 30 days without HRT how much more restless my nights have gotten even though I’m in bed for the same amount of time.

The super-short version of what is wrong with me (in this situation) is that I’m post-menopausal and have been for the past 5 years.  Yes, apparently my now 15-month-old son is a complete fluke of nature (another story.)  I’ve been on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) to relieve yucky symptoms such as horrible hot flashes (24 hours a day), completely irregular blood sugar readings, vertigo, trouble sleeping, joint pain, bleeding gums, weight gain, etc.  When I’m taking HRT, “Badda-bing!” I’m completely normal again…all symptoms go.  When I’m not, well obviously from the laundry list of symptoms, I’m pretty miserable.

A few months back I started having other female issues and the obgyn discovered a uterine fibroid that will have to be surgically removed (again, another story) but right before she found it she suggested that I go off of HRT just to see what would happen…to see if something had changed.  Gah!  I’d already had all these conversations with my NP but my medical team doesn’t communicate and I honestly think the obgyn just wanted to cover her bases.  Nevertheless after listening to “If it was my body, I’d do it” and “What’s the worst that can happen?  A few hot flashes?” I reluctantly agreed.

It’s been a month and all I have to say is “Never again!”  After all, my obgyn isn’t me.  She doesn’t have a myriad of other conditions to worry about, all of which are affected by drastic hormone changes.  She doesn’t really get type 1 diabetes or understand what I mean when I say “My BGs are really hard to control when I’m having all those menopause symptoms, not to mention that some of them mimic symptoms of low BG and it’s a real challenge.”  So, why on earth did I get talked into doing it again when I knew that wasn’t the issue?  Maybe I felt guilted into it?  Maybe, for once, I just wanted to be that round peg that actually fits into the round hole?  Maybe I simply let myself forget just how bad that restaurant was?  Regardless of the reason, for the next few weeks at least, I’ll be consciously only hugging my husband while I’m facing to the right because leaning my head back and looking left is guaranteed to bring on the vertigo.


You might also be interested in these related posts:

My Fitbit Flex: A Delightful Surprise

Is Type 1 Diabetes Different for Women than it is for Men?

Synthetic Hormones and Type 1 Diabetes: A Call For Sharing Personal Stories

First Things First: Hormones and Insulin Requirements

 

 

First Things First: Hormones and Insulin Requirements

TI diabetes, Grave’s disease, then early menopause….Geeezzz, what’s next?  Apparently, it’s not only pretty common for people with an autoimmune disorder to develop a second autoimmune disorder but also for women with T1 to have early menopause (or premature ovarian failure-POF).  Like my autoimmune disorders, I developed POF suddenly and acutely.  I was only 35 years old.  Without estrogen, my blood sugars skyrocketed and I was advised by multiple Drs to start hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and stay on it until I was 50 or 55.

I’m the kind of person that doesn’t believe a pill will solve all my problems (I wish!) and sometimes that we, as a culture looking for a quick fix, tend to take medications we don’t really need without considering long-term side effects.

I researched painstakingly to find the most bioequivalent (not the most convenient) versions of HRT available, settling on the Vivelle dot skin patch for estrogen coupled with cyclic Progesterone in the form of Prometrium…and (drum role please) they worked!  My blood sugars and insulin requirements went back to normal, I lost weight, and generally felt great!  Until 3 years later when I got pregnant…WHAT?!

So, despite my acute POF, my non-existent FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), and crazy-high LH (luteinizing hormone), miracles do happen.  Now, about a year after my healthy, happy son was born, both my hormones and my blood sugars are a bit choppy.  In the past, I used my consistent blood sugars as a barometer to determine what dose of hormones I needed to be on to get back to my pre-menopausal self.   But, since the pregnancy my blood sugars aren’t the shining example of regularity they once were, so this time I’m attempting to adjust the hormones first and then concentrate on the insulin requirements.  I suppose it’s a bit of a “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” situation.

Diabetes_chicken_HRT_egg

I’m currently on the same dosages of Vivelle and Prometrium that I was on pre-pregnancy, however what used to work so well for me….just isn’t working at all now! (Don’t worry I’ll save you the gruesome girly details).  The only difference in the HRT is that my insurance Co. started opting for a generic version of Prometrium and I’ve been on that since Feb.  My first step in getting the HRT right is to switch back to the Brand version and see if it makes a difference.  Here’s to hoping that it works and frees me up to move on to adjusting my insulin dosages!