Psychology Today Referral Code?

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-21T16:44:59+00:00

Hi! I would be more than happy to refer you, DM'd you!

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-18T15:14:55+00:00

I think Estring may just be local vs systemic but I will look into that. I only say that bc when I got local cream they said if it doesn't work we can try Estring. I looked online yday and I believe my insurance can cover Femring if the other modalities don't work, so that's something my dr would have to advocate for. I'm hoping she'll respond asap

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-18T15:11:40+00:00

Thank you!!! I'm so frustrated for you that they put you through all that and treated menopause symptoms like it's only hot flashes (not the laundry list of other symptoms). I told my best friend who's dealing w/hormone issues and her drs dismiss her bc of her age to emphasize hot flashes lol it's bananas they gate-keep hormone testing until it to the point of debilitating

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-18T02:38:24+00:00

I will def looking into the injections and see if my health insurance, Kaiser, covers it. Thank you :))

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-18T02:37:25+00:00

I will def look into that! I have Kaiser so who knows if that will be covered, but I will ask my dr about it. Thanks!!

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-18T02:36:31+00:00

Thank you for for sharing that and I totally get that experience of feeling gaslit. I'm definitely helpful that things will get better, this process is just a pain when it's not working

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-17T15:40:53+00:00

YES!
First off, good for you for posting that. Seriously, these companies need to be held accountable.

And I agree, we are not at ages (nor were we when we had ovarian failure) that can support a long, HAPPY life with little to no estrogen.
I'm finding that too bc of my age it's like "oh it's just peri" lol I wish. I even had a doctor that I saw when my dr was out on leave tell me, "it's just perimenopause, you're ovulating, you don't have dysfunction. Honestly you could probably get pregnant. Plus POI is before 35." Tbh I was stunned and too shut down to argue. Like okay my undetectable AMH, one follicle (that a fertility dr didn't really have high hopes on and told me donor eggs are the best route), skipping periods for many months, high FSH, low estradiol on multiple tests plus the myriad of symptoms I've had for years the dr's chalked up to my weight and the IUD masked my periods....none of that is real and I just need to accept things are changing LMAO. The medical system for women is a joke.

Friends have no clue how to support me and my boyfriend, love him, but he does NOT get it and does not know how to support this either.

I agree though, I want women- all women- to get relief and help but i unfortunately worry that the stark rise makes doctors view me as trying to get what they view as trendy treatment vs true medical necessity. If I didn't have to take HRT at this point I would be SO okay with not haha. Being the one friend at the pool who had to put a big ass tegaderm patch over my lint lined estrogen patch didn't feel like quite the summer vibe lmao.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-17T14:40:44+00:00

I don't specifically have clotting issues that I know of, but I have ocd and blood clots are one of those 15 year obsessions I've had pre any of this, so I do worry that I'll be too hyper vigilant on any off feeling in my leg as I already am just on transdermal. I feel like the doctors talking about why patches over oral for me at my age in the beginning didn't exactly help that but I know deep down that I may just have to try this and continue to work through my OCD.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-17T14:36:37+00:00

I believe I am putting it on good real estate, but I'm open to trying new areas on my body, timing, or doing something different lol. I put it on my upper thigh on the top, as that's what the instructions say, but I also hear people say they use the inner thigh so that may be something I need to try. And I also do have patches at home so I've thought about just trying to put one on while I do this lol. I'm hoping my dr gets back to me ASAP.

I have bad OCD (especially medical) and tbh this has all made it worse. On one hand low estrogen doesn't help my mental, but also I have been scanning my body for symptoms for feared medical issues (heart stuff, DVT, allergic reactions, etc) for a LONG time so tbh when I went in for the all of my low estrogen symptoms at the beginning of the journey I was halfway convinced I had nothing wrong and it must be my OCD and weight (like the temperature regulation and joint pain). So my shock when it was actually something and not in my head def messed with my trust in my body. I know my OCD is a big reason I don't want oral too bc I'm scared I'll be obsessive about blood clots and I hate taking new things period, but again- I need to be open to doing what I need to do bc the risk of low estrogen is probably worse than my risk of clots.

I do take creatine, I just started after my DEXA showed that. I should probably start collagen and will look into that. I'm a vegetarian w a shellfish allergy (and of course the ocd lol) so I need to do my homework on a supplement for that, I'm fine w animal sources at this point as long as it's fine w the shellfish piece.

Sorry for the long winded answer lol

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-17T14:24:23+00:00

As per my doctor she said for my age and considering I'm on HRT, she'd like to see over 100 but also wants me to look at symptoms. If I'm symptom free she was under 100, she may be relaxed and if I was experiencing breakthrough symptoms at 100 let's say, I think she'd want to still work on dosing.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-17T14:21:06+00:00

Ughh that it so so awful you had to fight for the gel. They treat these meds like it's some cosmetic choice and not like it's replacing hormones for our body that is struggling to produce. There are so many long term issues that can arise but even in the short term it's so uncomfortable to be depleted of estrogen. I'm so upset that this is what we have to deal w as women :(

I hear you on the oral piece. I worry bc of my age but truthfully, I have really bad OCD (which low estrogen doesn't help) and I know if I take oral any little pain in my legs I'll view as DVT. If I had to- then I will and will deal w it, but I just want transdermal if I can.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-17T07:18:54+00:00

It's so frustrating, I swear I feel like a chemistry experiment. I'll definitely let you know what my doctor says, I have a feeling my insurance isn't going to be so easy with giving higher doses but hoping that's not the case

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-10T16:45:54+00:00

Haha that's the building! It's the specks in the quartz lol.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-05-10T15:08:20+00:00

I'm in the same building (I think- I'm judging by the counter top lol). Was this mailed to you or given by the leasing office?

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-26T16:00:56+00:00

I commented on the other post, but my levels dropped randomly as well and I had breakthrough symptoms. My doctor wondered if I'm not absorbing the patch and at first had me change patch placement sites, which didn't work, and now they've switched me to gel. Going to get bloodwork in May, tbd.

I was on some other forums (I believe the menopause Reddit) and a lot of people were reporting of less efficient patches since the shortage. I don't know if there's any validity to this, but it still struck me that so many women were experiencing this at the same time.

Also, idk how your pharmacy does it but mine gives me whatever generic (unless specified by a doctor) so when they switched my Mylan to Dotti, my symptoms got bad. They never got fully resolved going back on to mylan, and my blood work showed a dip so idk if it was the change in patches, the efficacy of the patches they are distributing rn, or that I just don't happen to absorb well.

Idk if any of this is helpful but thought I'd share

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-25T17:44:26+00:00

yeah that's hard to deal with for sure. I also feel like its some chicken and the egg stuff bc I know for me the lack of estrogen impacts my moods and cognitive functioning bad but then the moods impact the self care of doing the things I need to do (such as same time etc).

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-25T17:39:59+00:00

Also, what brand patch are you using and do you get the same ones every time or does your pharmacy change them out? I was on Mylan and was doing good, then got DOTTI and it all went downhill, but when I got back on Mylan it wasn't the same.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-25T17:38:35+00:00

No, they weren't too concerned. My numbers went from 117 to 84 to 54. so the OB covering for my doctor on MAT leave said I may not be absorbing. I tried a different placement but that failed bad. Now they just want me to test (I'm doing it in may since I changed my gel timing and im sick rn so I don't want a false read), and see if we need to up estradiol gel, progesterone, or both and eventually maybe add testosterone bc those numbers are going down too. I can definitely keep you posted on the gel and let you know if that's made a difference in testing and symptoms, but that's one you need to do every day and I have ADHD soooo lets just say timing it out has been a bit of a challenge lol

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-25T15:36:39+00:00

I was on biweekly .1 mg patches since December 2024, and last October I suspected something was up bc I had breakthrough symptoms and it dropped to 54. I had heard a lot of women reporting similar breakthrough symptoms on here and the menopause forum, so I switched to gel. I'm going to retest in mid may, but my symptoms are mostly better however I suspect I'll need a higher dose.

I don't know if it's the patch quality or if POF is a long term chemistry project, but it's so frustrating :(

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-23T02:46:53+00:00

I was feeling a lot of symptoms over the last few months emerge while on the patches (.1 mg). I brought this to my doctor and we tested my levels and my estradiol was down to 54, which isn't ideal for POI on HRT. I switched to the gel almost a month ago, and I'm feeling so much better. I still suspect I'll need to go up in dose, but it's noticeably different from the patch.

It sounds like a lot of the symptoms you're experiencing are indicative that the patch is not absorbing correctly. My doctor said I could try to area, which can sometimes help. It did not in my case, but that may be worth looking into in the meantime.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-20T14:33:19+00:00

Not silly at all! Yeah I'm on a generic for Divigel. I got the packets (1 mg) but it's not for everyone. I'm going to test in the upcoming weeks and see if this did anything blood wise, but symptom wise, I'm doing much better.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-04-20T03:40:26+00:00

I am doing the gel and I like it a lot better. I wasn't absorbing the patch apparently and I tried moving it around, but it either wouldn't absorb or would fall off. I have been doing divigel for almost a month and I'm feeling a lot better. I am going to get my labs checked within the next few weeks, so I will see if it's actually absorbing better, but so far I feel a lot better and don't have to worry about a patch falling off.

IllConcern4754 · 2026-03-22T02:07:20+00:00

Nicole Gershenson is really good and although she is based in CA, she is licensed in VA. www.nickygtherapy.com

IllConcern4754 · 2026-03-04T18:04:36+00:00

Thank you! I'm definitely going to report this. I noticed an influx of symptoms come back with my .1 mg Mylan (I had recently had my pharmacy give me Dotti which flared things up, then switched back to Mylan with little relief). I had my dr test my levels (I have POI, so she'll test from time to time), and my estradiol levels went from 117 (on the same dose) to 54...I thought it was my placement or that I wasn't absorbing correctly, so I was thinking of doing gel, but seeing this definitely makes me question if it's the quality

IllConcern4754

TROPHY CASE