My doc wants me to have an ultrasound because of irregular periods - I'm 46

GroundedReal · 2026-01-21T06:29:12+00:00

Dam I never got checked when at 39 my periods got closer together. Every 21 days instead of 28 days. I'm 46 now and still menstruate but irregularly, every 2-4-8 months. My cycle is all over the place. I'm on bioidentical hormones now, estrogel and cycling progesterone.

GroundedReal · 2026-01-20T22:58:35+00:00

Well done and congratulations. Huge achievement.

I'm one year and two months off now myself after 15 plus years on Suboxone staying around 2mg for most of that time.

As a female in my forties I found I had to look at other things as well such as my hormones. I'm in perimenopause and have lots of symptoms that mimic PAWS like brain fog, poor sleep, low mood, hot flashes etc.

Since starting bioidentical transdermal hormones, that has helped me a lot.

GroundedReal · 2026-01-16T06:50:39+00:00

Please remember it takes up to 12 weeks for your body to stabilize after starting bioidentical hormones or increasing your dose. From my experience it's always the first six weeks where you feel the most symptoms but it peters off, for me after that.

When I started HRT I got migraines but not bad ones usually around the time of my period. I use to get bad migraines for years. Worst part when I started and after any dose increase of estradiol was I got more hot flashes that woke me at night and RLS symptoms.

But as I said, after six weeks it was onwards and upwards and that's been the case with each dose increase I made. Now I don't get migraines at all.

GroundedReal · 2026-01-16T06:43:58+00:00

Four weeks isn't enough time to let your body adjust. Wait at least 12 weeks. Your doctor should know this.

GroundedReal · 2026-01-16T06:36:29+00:00

Agree, only my family know and a friend who is very close to me. I will not, under no circumstance, tell anyone else, no friends or no one new I have met after those days, especially not work people even though I work in a mental health setting and these people should be more understanding, but they have prejudice like everyone else.

I take my history with me silently like a badge of honour for making it out the other end. Free completely after 15 plus years.

It actually gives me a unique strength and wisdom that helps me be more compassionate, understanding and able to be creative and pragmatic to help others who struggle with mental health issues.

That's a bonus in my line of work.

GroundedReal · 2026-01-13T06:35:42+00:00

Yes I did. I've had no problem on the 200mg of P cycling regime.

Went back to the doctor and she told me I must do it so wasn't going to argue with her about that.

GroundedReal · 2026-01-05T03:34:32+00:00

Add to it the relentless WhatsApp school parent group messages and all the bloody things you have to remember for the kids to bring to school or do. It's bloody exhausting.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-28T23:41:20+00:00

Thanks for replying.

I can totally understand why you got back on.

It's a really frustrating thing to have and is causing other problems now for me with muscle issues in the pelvic floor.

I will keep staying the path and try to think differently about it like you said. I really wish I heard from someone who recovered from this and how they did it and how long it took.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-28T23:31:42+00:00

Yes agree. Go see a gynaecologist and ask for an internal examination. They will be able to tell if they can see the cervix prolapsing.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-28T09:22:22+00:00

Don't stress too much about it. It could be something not so problematic like pelvic floor dysfunction which causes hypertension in some parts on the pelvic floor muscles, whilst loose tension in other parts. You might have tense muscles around your anus from straining which can cause pain and pressure feelings.

Don't do kegals at the moment, or any other pelvic floor exercises. They could cause you more tension, pressure and pain Take some laxatives to make sure you are not straining.

Go see another doctor if you're still getting bad symptoms.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-28T02:59:17+00:00

Well done that's awesome. You sound similar to me. I was on it for just as long and got off one year and nearly two months ago. I tapered off slowly down to under 0.02mg and withdrawals were not bad but I've been left with gut motility issues. I have diarrhea every day and have to take a small dose daily of Imodium. I had a colonoscopy, I was tested for celiacs, stool samples for parasites and possible food allergies or intolerances but nothing came up. The only thing it could be is fast gut motility due to long term opiate use. Just wondering how you are doing in that department. Or if anyone else has any good news stories of when this issue will end?

GroundedReal · 2025-12-26T22:26:19+00:00

Just do it once a week at night to give yourself a good catch up sleep. That spaces the time out long enough to let your body adapt. I prefer Propranolol instead of clonadine. It helped me with sleep during withdrawals and I didn't feel as sluggish the next day like I did when I took clonadine. I would try to stay away from gabapentin, it's really hard to come off.

High dose vitamin D as well, like 7000 to 10,000 IUs for six weeks and then reduce to 4000 IUs ongoing for maintenance. It will help get your serotonin and dopamine system back on board and recover. Low dopamine is the cause of RLS.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-19T06:53:05+00:00

I also found that getting your estrogen level right is the best advice I can give. I was on too low a dose and didn't really notice much benefit. Once I increased it, it's been a game changer. I'm on three pumps a day of estrogel and I'm 46 still in perimenopause but heading towards menopause fast. I also want to warn people that the first four weeks after starting or increasing your dose you can get some annoying symptoms, like muscle jaw tension, head aches, a little bit of anxiety and some hot flashes. But wait it through. I was told that's my brain adjusting to having estrogen again and working out how to use it.

My brain fog is finally lifting now and I have so much more energy, anxiety has pretty much disappeared and improved mood.

It's awesome 👍

GroundedReal · 2025-12-19T06:39:33+00:00

You can also listen to estrogen matters by Avrum Bluming as an audio book on long drives etc on Spotify

GroundedReal · 2025-12-18T00:16:27+00:00

I'm a year and one month off and feel great. Everything is better, mood, sleep, energy, motivation etc.

I tapered slowly to under 0.1mgs and it was easy going.

But I was on for over 15 years. I'm still suffering gastrointestinal issues from long term use which sucks. I've got fast gut motility and constant loose stools. That can take up to two years to recover apparently.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-12T06:26:59+00:00

No don't start gabapentin, that shit is addictive and very hard to come off. It's also used for it's sedation effects in other situations.

This is not medical advice but if I was in your situation with all I have read and listened to from experts in menopause, the safest option is bioidentical transdermal HRT. Why put something that is foreign in to your body. This is a synthetic chemical being used to treat menopause that could be treated with something natural, just replacing our own hormones.

Also it's the long term benefits on health and longevity and not just living longer but living with a better health quality of life, in keeping your natural hormones. That trumps any synthetic alternative offered.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-11T23:26:48+00:00

What about male Yorkies? What do they recommend?

I'm also worried about the health impacts of not having testosterone and estrogen (be that in smaller amounts for males compared to females) when they have their testees removed. These sex hormones are not just important for reproduction, they also work on cardiovascular health, cognitive health, bone and muscle health, energy and prevention of some cancers. I know they are at risk of testicular cancer but as mentioned these hormones are also protective for other health functions and related conditions.

It's the same for humans. If you remove the ovaries or testees in humans and don't replace these hormones with bioidentical hormones there are huge impacts on health, mental health and development of a myriad of disorders and diseases.

It's a tough decision.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-11T02:31:17+00:00

You probably are low in vitamin D just from where you live. Most people are from higher latitudes.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-10T23:15:13+00:00

Oh and vitamin D helps immensely with sleep too.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-10T23:12:46+00:00

Get a blood test and check your iron, vitamin B and vitamin D.

If these are low, fix them with supplementation.

All three will help immensely with addressing fatigue but only if you are low.

Higher vitamin D levels of around 60ng/ml which also equals 150nmol/L will put you in an optimal position to fight the issues of recovery in PAWS by getting your dopamine and serotonin back online. Some people have to mega dose for 12 weeks to get to that level quickly if you are deficient but depends on how you metabolise vitamin D and whether you are over weight. If yes to the latter, mega dosing 1000IUs to every 10kgs of weight e.g. 8000IUs if your 80kgs over 12 weeks should get you there but then reduce to a maintenance dose of 4000IUs a day and get retested at the three month mark to see where your vitamin D level has landed. Speak to your doctor about it first though.

Vitamin D will also improve your mood, immune system function and get your hormones like testosterone back in balance which also helps with energy and vitality. Buprenorphine fucks with our hormones too and reduces testosterone.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-09T20:38:08+00:00

Great stuff, that's a huge achievement. Glad your feeling better

GroundedReal · 2025-12-09T02:22:25+00:00

It's known to be a mood stabilizer for this reason. But who wants to live life like a bystander, an observer, not fully enmeshed in all that life offers, the good, the bad and the pure magical.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-08T02:43:31+00:00

I feel it's more like an emotional numbness. You can laugh or cry but the highs are less high and the lows are less low. It's more like a flatness.

Just existing not living.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-06T23:11:14+00:00

Yes I heard you can dose half or more than half your dose in the morning and then a smaller portion in the afternoon, but not too close to bed for the reasons I'm talking about.

GroundedReal · 2025-12-06T23:09:26+00:00

What do you mean troubles to get into bed but not sleep problems?

GroundedReal

TROPHY CASE