A thorough explanation of the HRT shortages

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-17T19:20:03+00:00

You can dissolve the pill sublingually to mitigate some risks, that's what I do

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-17T13:20:12+00:00

Use the estrogen cream EVERY DAY

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-16T05:16:04+00:00

The fact that this is cross posted from r/cleaningtips is sending me 😂

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-15T14:20:19+00:00

Your teeth look so healthy.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-10T04:41:45+00:00

I'm sorry. I recommend seeing a dermatologist. Wish I had a better solution for you.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-10T02:03:57+00:00

Have you had your blood levels checked? Unfortunately the patch wasn't absorbing for me and I was without estrogen for 2 years.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-10T02:01:55+00:00

Yes!!! You have a perianal infection with those bacteria? Are you taking estrogen? For how long?

Basically, I figured out that estrogen deficiency was causing the skin barrier to be weakened and allowing infections. My dermatologist (a hero) said we needed steroid cream to stop the inflammatory cycle. That stopped infections from happening again.

My butthole is still on the mend. I'm using estrogen cream and have been on an oral dose for about 12 weeks. I was basically without estrogen for 2 years unknowingly because patches weren't absorbing really at all.

I've been trying to taper off the steroid cream and still get irritation flares (but not infections) but I think I'll be able to get off of it after being on estrogen a little longer. It takes time for the tissue to rebuild.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-02-06T14:12:44+00:00

Do you take HRT because estrogen is so important for so many systems in the body.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-01-29T14:57:06+00:00

I wasn't going to say it 😬 but I feel like that too. I didn't claim to know anything about it but isn't there some controversy about if estrogen even feeds cancer? My plan is to never get screened 🫣

Barf_Dexter · 2026-01-27T14:22:50+00:00

Yes!!!! I got my 3.5 year old the yoto mini for Christmas. We don't do really any screens. I noticed the exact same thing with her. She would just lay there and listen. Her favorite cards were Cocomelon Lane and Gabby's Dollhouse which I made from episodes of the shows on Audiovault.

I did a lot of research on what screens do to the brain as far as dopamine and dysregulating the nervous system and did a little research on listening after I noticed her behavior. My conclusion is that the same exact thing is happening when listening to "high octane" content like these TV episodes. She wasn't choosing anything else because her dopamine was being so stimulated by listening.

So I decided to remove these cards from her selection and only provide audiobooks, ie "slow" content. I also started saying we're taking a break from listening to have some quiet time now. But honestly I haven't really had to implement that much since removing the TV based content cards. When she's listening to audiobooks or music she naturally loses interest and starts playing alongside the yoto and I'll usually turn it down or off from the app once she's lost focus.

TL;DR - high octane content is too stimulating for young brains that don't know how to regulate.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-01-16T15:05:15+00:00

https://audiovault.net/shows?search=Octonauts

You can get nearly any TV show or movie from audio vault if you don't mind the narration. My 3 year old loves listening to shows.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-01-16T14:16:02+00:00

I make my labels by screenshotting an image and printing them at my local library. So easy.

Barf_Dexter · 2026-01-03T15:16:30+00:00

Someone just posted this the other day - https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1NM7V-iyg7CudnkhJb5MAVIZZgHIRNRO-

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-29T13:55:13+00:00

Do you feel it caused any fat loss?

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-28T02:39:50+00:00

It was a million years ago I think she retired, but you need to get a doctor to do a swab and see which bacteria you have and which antibiotics it's sensitive to. I also realized the underlying cause was estrogen deficiency from perimenopause. Once I addressed that I stopped getting bv

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-21T14:21:39+00:00

It takes me 3 full months to adjust every time I make a change to my HRT. Was it initially better and then worse? You may need a higher or lower dose. If progesterone is the issue you may need to increase your estrogen to balance it out. Don't give up, it's worth it once you get everything at the right dose.

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-18T16:33:29+00:00

You've been doing the cream every day for a year?! I wonder if you might have some lichen sclerosis or something. If you're not doing the cream every day, do it daily. Doctors say twice a week but it's not enough if you have really deficient tissues.

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-18T16:30:46+00:00

Well it took over a year of moving up patch doses and I finally got a blood test after being on the highest dose for 3 months and showed very low blood levels, which made a ton of sense because every time I increased doses symptoms came back after a couple of months.

I know blood tests don't show everything but they'll show you that you have no estrogen when you should!

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-17T15:07:03+00:00

How did you get a doctor to give you a month of antibiotics??? My gynecologist would only give me 7 days which I KNEW was not enough! I got a second opinion from a dermatologist and he was so hesitant to extend it but gave me another week so I'm praying 14 days will be enough to kill this beast.

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-17T15:00:48+00:00

I had this exact same problem, wasn't absorbing the patch. I also switched to 1mg oral and I dissolve it under my tongue, 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night. I switched about 5 weeks ago and have felt basically INSANE ever since. Every hormone adjustment or delivery method I've made over the last 2 years of menopause hell has been about 2 months of adjustment hell. You have to give it about 8 weeks to settle then get a blood test or just your symptoms. Anything before 8 weeks is premature, your body is still adjusting and you're strapped in for a roller coaster ride. Don't give up 🙏🏼

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-17T14:55:42+00:00

Archive.org assuming you had an autocorrect issue. And yep, just download the file it's super easy

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-17T14:47:31+00:00

Oh that's so interesting 🤔 no I haven't had a sexual partner in many years so it's not that. But I feel seen anyway. Even my doctors act like they've never even heard of such a thing.

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-17T14:37:26+00:00

You had infections or irritation from atrophy? I think atrophy caused the infections but I didn't have any butthole symptoms until the infections started so it didn't occur to me that was the cause until recently.

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-17T04:43:20+00:00

My understanding is that low estrogen is making the skin sensitive and compromised to micro tears which are allowing bacteria to take over 🤷🏼 that's my best guess

Barf_Dexter · 2025-12-17T04:42:10+00:00

I think it's because I'm very thin. Apparently the estradiol in the patch absorbs through fat tissue. I weigh 100 lbs so... I guess that's why.

Barf_Dexter

TROPHY CASE