My Message Board

Acne

Toni — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:37:50 GMT

I have a daughter that is 20 years old and has severe acne. We have tried the B-5 therapy which has worked wonders for her, but it is given in mega doses. She takes 7500 mg a day. For the last two months she has been experiencing severe fatigue. She has been to the clinic at her university many times. It just dawned on me that maybe the B-5 is contributing to her fatigue by being out of balance with the other B vitamins. I have told her to stop - but now the acne will be back. Is there a solution with bioidentical hormones that can help the acne in a 20 year old? I take them - but want to know if it can help her. I understand that maybe hormones are the main reason for acne? We have been all over the medical map looking for solutions to both of her issues. Can you help??? We can't get in to see you till the end of December!

"MY DEMON CURSE PERIOD"ALMOST 10 YEARS

poemvision — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:06:19 GMT

''ENDOMETRIAL ABLATION"Yes I had this operation Jan-2007.I've heard it's works only 85 to 90 percent.Well either way it doesn't matter to me now,because it didn't work.My doctor told me it might take time,so I waited for a year,
but still went through hell with my period.Now he says I should have it out.
I've heard of this new hysterectomy,it's called DA innsurance ,it uses a robot machine which the doctor controls.It make 6small holes,and you are in hospital for
maybe one day and recovery time is very short.I would like to know how new this is,and that all I have heard on it ,is still true.and are there any problems with this operation.I would like to also know approx.(can't work with this problem, so no insurance) how much this operation cost.You see normally I would have to do the old way,which is at least a 6inch cut,which means more recovery time and more pain I also would.like to know of doctors that do this,in Atlanta Ga.or closest area.
Thank you for your help

Help!!!!

mdossett — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:30:55 GMT

I am a 42 year old single mother with a high stress job. I have an appt. with Dr. Rabun on the 26th of this month. However, I feel so crazy, I feel like I might not make it. I am angry and exhausted all at the same time. I feel like my hormones are raging out of control. The anger over anything is the worse. Is there anything I can take supplement wise that might get me through to the 26th?

Supplements and DHEA

micheleliz — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:41:44 GMT

Hi Dr. Rabin,

When I was at your office 4/6/09, I discussed what supplements I take with you among them: Multi Vitamin, Vit D 1000u, Fish Oil, Bentothiamine. What other supplements do you recommend? Am I taking enough Vitamin D at 1000u daily? What are your views on DHEA?

You gave me progesterone 200mg to be taken day 12-27 of my cycle.

Thanks for always listening!
Michele

Weight gain in pregnancy

mymemories4ever — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:38:49 GMT

Dr.Rabin how much weight should be normal to gain in a pregnancy for a very tiny person? Should I expect to gain more than 40 pounds if so, what could it due to me or the baby? My starting weight 93 I am now at 165. Everyone says anything over 40 or 50 is not healthy. Off course I am very swollen.Thanks

Low AMH, Hormone Replacement and Pregnancy

Mary_in_NC — Thur, 26 Feb 2009 23:15:45 GMT

I have a question for you about HRT and pregnancy. Has there ever been a study done on HRT helping one to get pregnant and to keep a pregnancy? I am asking because I am 31 with a AMH of 0.3. I have 2 boys, but we have been trying for another child for 2 years now. We have had 4 miscarriges. 1st at 4 weeks, 2nd at 9 weeks, 3rd at 6 weeks, and 4th at 4weeks. We had never had a miscarriage before these, and never had a problem getting pregnant either. I have hot flashes, mood swings, head aches, and trouble sleeping at night.

Any Information you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Soy and Hypothyroidism

scared_silly — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:43:40 GMT

Hi Dr Rabin,

About a month ago, I started Weight Watchers to lose weight and change some bad eating habits. I have hypothyroidism and take Armour (a lg dose) daily. I've gotten back in the habit of taking daily vitamins too. So far, I've lost nine pounds and am starting to feel better.

Now to the soy question. In the last week, I've started to enjoy soy sausage on a lt whole wheat bagel as a tasty alternative to a sausage biscuit. However, I've read that soy has a negative effect on hypothyroidism. Is there an amount that is ok or should I totally avoid it?

Another consideration is that I take Prometrium (Biodentical progesterone) to regulate my cycles and balance my excess estrogen. Does soy interfere with hormones as well?

Thanks so much!

Kris
(happy to be a patient of Dr. Rabin )

synthroid and estrogen

Susansmith — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:52:23 GMT

Recently diagnosed with hypothyroid and put on Synthroid 50mcg. Experiencing major shedding of hair. Began bio-identical hormones in the last week or so and now I'm wondering if synthroid would need adjusting as I've read that estrogen is not "friendly" to the thyroid.

Hair Loss

lmq78 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:55:28 GMT

I have been seeing a dermatologist concerning hair loss. They ran several blood test and everything came back normal with the exception of DHEA. She explained to me that this would not cause my hair loss. I was told to follow up with my primary physician, but have scheduled an appointment in your office within the next few weeks. Is the low DHEA levels something you can address or would I need to schedule an appointment with my primary? Can low DHEA cause hair loss? Thank you and I look forward to my appointment.

Progesterone Paradox?

thekmeister — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:29:26 GMT

Doctor,

I have recently discovered the book Natural Hormone Balance for Women by Dr. Uzzi Reiss. The idea of managing my well being with bio-identical hormones was so exciting that I had my CNP call in a prescription for progesterone (prometrium) for me asap. I started the prometrium (100 mg) pills last month. It went really well, but I wasn't really sure about what was happening.

This month I was a little cavalier and really started experimenting. I started on day 10 instead of 14 and then increased the dose to 200 mg at day 16 when I felt like I needed more. I experiemented with taking a dose during the day and at night. Unformtunately, now I think I am sporting some serious progesterone excess. But, as I have no support from my doctor (she is very skeptical and not knowledgable on the subject) I am very confused as to where to go from here. By day 21 I had water retention, VERY swollen and tender breasts and if I didn't take the progesterone at night, I got very irritable and did not sleep well.

Am I experiencing some kind of progesterone paradox or did the large doses of progesterone jump start some kind of a crazy wave of estrogen production?

I do not ususally have these kind of symptoms at day 21 of my cycle. ( I am usually dealing with estrogen/prog. deficiency symptoms) I never have swollen or tender breasts before my period. However, the large doses of progesterone made me feel so calm and ... well ... happy I was able to stop taking my prescription for Lamictal at day 22 (mood stablizing drug for depression and anxiety).

I am determined to find my true balance. Can you help me figure out how my body is REALLY responding to the progesterone?

Thank you for your time

Teenage Daughter

tahumphreys — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:22:59 GMT

My youngest daughter who is 15 is struggling with her weight. Since she began her periods two years ago she has gained weight. She is extremely athletic, playing competition volleyball year round. In addition, she works out with a personal trainer (speed and agility) twice a week. We have been regularly monitoring her food consumption this summer, and she is eating lean meat, fruit, veggies, and low fat/sugar desserts occasionally.

Our primary care physician has tested her thyroid twice now and declared it normal. The last time she had blood work performed, she was tested for fasting sugar. The doctor said it was "borderline" and advised her to lose weight. When I received the numbers, it was not borderline, but within the normal range. That's when we also noticed her thyroid was "low normal."

At the recommendation of a friend we went to an doctor of internal medicine. He looked at the numbers and said everything was OK. He also took a blood sample (with about 5 hours of fasting) which turned out normal. He recommended losing weight, and coming back in a month. This doctor also noticed that her cholesterol was slightly above 200 (about 202), and recommended reducing her fat consumption.

Both doctors seem sympathetic, but we don't think they are not listening. My daughter watches what she eats. She exercises daily, sweats profusely, always hungry, drinks lots of water, has started having heavy PMS symptoms, and has always had heavy bleeding.

At this point, I don't know what to do. A friend is a patient of yours, and swears that you have helped her menopause symptoms. I do not want to keep switching doctors, but we need help.

Can you help? The internist agreed to see my daughter even though she is a teenager since she is mature with adult problems. Your web site does not mention teenagers specifically, but do you work with them.

Thanks for listening, and, hopefully, helping.

Hoping someone has an answer

Donnahartpence — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:20:18 GMT

I am currently taking a microbiology class and our professor gave us a question to find the answer to over the weekend. The question is why is gonorrhea referred to as the clap? According to Wikapedia, the answers are

Reference to a traditional treatment used to clear the blockage in the urethra from gonorrheal pus, where the penis would be "clapped" on both sides simultaneously.
Reference to the painful sting in the male urethra, which feels like the sting of a clap (as in clapping hands) when infected with the disease.
From the old French word "clapier", meaning "brothel".

Does anyone know if it's any of these for sure? I really appreciate any help.

adrenal fatigue

realkid2 — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:36:44 GMT

If you are diagnosed with adrenal fatigue, how often should you test or re-test to determine progrss and adrenal recovery?

Thnak you

Natural progesterone supplementation and cycle regularity

bea — Thur, 01 May 2008 12:53:16 GMT

Last August I had my hormones tested. The test was done on day 10 of my 24 day cycle. After reviewing the results my gynecologist said that my estrogen level was extremely high and progesterone level very low and recommended the natural progesterone oral supplementation. Before I started the supplement my cycles were pretty regular lasting about 24-25 days. The first month I took the progesterone my period started on day 21. I was a bit surprised since I thought the progesterone is supposed to make by cycles longer. My doctor said that it might take a few months for it to start working. Since then I had 2 cycles that were 17 days and once I had spotting on day 7 ( 2 days after my period). I also started having pelvic and breast pain on a consistent basis. I went back to my doctor and asked him to review my original test results again. I told him that the test was done on day 10 and that I was probably ovulating at that time ( based on my own observations and on the fact that my period started on day 24). This time he said that the test results are consistent with somebody who is ovulating ( this explains high estrogen level and low progesterone): estradiol: 428pg/mL, estrone: 184 pg/mL, progesterone: 1.3 ng/mL. So last month I stopped taking the progesterone.
My questions are:
1.       What happens once you stop taking the progesterone supplement? I read somewhere that initially when you start taking progesterone it actually stimulates the production of estrogen as well so if I now stop taking progesterone, wont my estrogen levels be too high in comparison to progesterone?
2.       Why is it that my periods started so early even though I was taking 100mg of progesterone at the time? Shouldnt taking progesterone prevent the onset of bleeding? One time when my period started on day 17 and I had the blood work done that day, the progesterone level was at 8.1 ng/mL. There were several times when my period started while I was taking the Progesterone so it seems to me like the progesterone was not working properly at increasing the length of my cycle.
3.       Shouldnt the test for progesterone levels be done at a specific time in the cycle ( around day 17)? Also, I ready somewhere that you should start taking progesterone the day after you ovulate because if you take it too early it can prevent you from ovulating. Is this true? Is it possible that by taking the progesterone on day 10 I actually prevented my ovulation from happening?
I just wanted to add that during the same time I took the progesterone I was also under a lot of stress and I know that this can affect the cycle as well.

thank you,

what would cause

thop — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:41:14 GMT

Hello Dr.Rabin,
I have a question and I was wondering if you could lead me in the right direction. I am 38 yrs. old, and am taking no medications, and don't take any birth control. I have been having issues that I assumed were hormonal issues for about 3 1/2 to 4 yrs. I went to see my gyn last year thinking that she would find that I needed testosterone or something and I would be on my merry way. Well, all the blood work came back "normal" and I was told that I was no where near perimenopause, it was just stress, try to relax. Needless to say I was devastated. My symptoms started with what I thought was low/non exist. sex drive. Now I realize that it is more of an issue with arousal. The mind and heart are willing but the body doesn't seem to have any signal to the brain. There is no pheromone activity, no musky scent, no tingles of any kind. Is there a specific hormone that you could check that would fit the bill? My chiropractor actually recommended that I look up a Dr. that uses the bio identical hormones. So, I found your name and this web site. If you could help me I would forever be in your debt, and I am looking for a new Dr.

Thank you so much in advance.
T.