Sooo question for all members on HRT! If you take your hormones orally, how often do you take them? Do you divide the given dose through out the day? Do you take it all at once? Sublingually / just swallow? Mine is as follows & I was hoping to get clarification on the most effective way.
Spiro - Once in morning with breakfast / once again in evening with dinner.
Estradiol - All at once sublingually about an hour or two after morning Spiro. (Larger moderate dose / could easily be divided into three times daily. *cough* *cough*)
So once again, how do you take your hormones & what's the most effective way?
Everything in the morning with breakfast. Think it helps to a routine. I even have one of the 7 day pill organizers my grandparents use
When I was on pills my doc prescribed me to take 2 in the morning and one in the evening and take my spiro in the morning. She left the P up to me to choose when to take it. I tried different times of the day and realized I was better off taking it before going to bed since it makes me pretty sleepy.
There really is no most effective general way. There are pros and cons to every method, its just about finding what works for you.
Sleepy, really! Never had that problem. I just figure better to take with food.
I take my E every eight hours and my spiro in the morning and at night about 12 hours apart.
My dosage was just bumped up to my full dosage on the 7th. My doctor said I could take it all at once if I wanted, but that it may cause nausea if I do. I just swallow all the pills except the Estradiol, which I let dissolve in my mouth under my tongue. I usually try to eat with my doses. My pill schedule is as follows:
7:30am
Multivitamin
Spiro
Estradiol
1:00pm
Estradiol
7:30pm
Spiro
Estradiol
^ Really not suppose to post actual dosages in a thread
Quote from: MyKa on November 14, 2014, 05:09:19 PM
^ Really not suppose to post actual dosages in a thread
Oops, sorry! I wasn't aware. I removed actual dosages from my post. Thanks!
Quote from: JustASeq on November 14, 2014, 05:12:29 PM
Oops, sorry! I wasn't aware. I removed actual dosages from my post. Thanks!
It's no biggie, I'm not the police I just don't want to see you get in trouble :)
Twice a day around 7 for both Spiro and Estro. Don't need food with it. Though this Spiro will be the death of me I swear. I pee so much every day and twice during the night >.< it's been this way for 8 months. I don't drink hardly any water what so ever unless it comes in my coffee or juice drinks already. I'm quite sure it's dehydrating me. ::) I took a break from injections, but will start back on that in like a couple weeks. Then it's back to the one shot IM every 10 days, but still that fricken pee pill Spiro twice a day..ugh.
Quote from: MelissaAnn on November 14, 2014, 05:02:50 PM
I take my E every eight hours and my spiro in the morning and at night about 12 hours apart.
Same here I take my spironolactone 12 hours apart, together with my estradiol divided morning and night. This way is extremely effective for me.
Divided doses are the way to go, not really for effectiveness but to minimize side effects like migraines and the like.
Most of my meds I take in the morning (also using a 7 day pill thing). I only take 1/2 of my E for the day then, and about 12 hours later I take the second half. (per Dr's orders)
The progesterone cream also gets one serving size in the morning, and another in the evening (same time as the E).
For me its - About 12 hours apart, morning and evening... say 8AM and 8PM which sort of ties in with the 2 main meals....
L Katy
Bi-weekly on alternate locations below my waist.
I kept forgetting if I took my pills or when to take them, so in the end went onto patches. I'm forgetful like that.
Currently I am Progynova only, no Spiro and No Progesterone. My Doctor reckons I don't need Spiro as my T levels are absolutely negligible now and e is very pleased with my progress overall. However despite requests to go onto a Progesterone (ie Prometrium) he will not prescribe it because of my age, although many of my friends are on it and all have experienced very good effects in development of breast tissue especially the milk products ducts and lobuli (I was on Progesterone some 20 years ago and even had a period of sustained lactation). However at the moment I just take my Estrogen at night time 10pm (with a glass of hot milk). However my Doctor now reckons that I should be starting to double the Estrogen increasing to twice a day so arouns 10am as well, as he feels that whilst my butt, hips and breasts are developing well, my facial features have still a way to go and he feels another couple of inches on my bottom and hips and some improvement on the bust (together with my weight reduction program on my waistline), will start to give me more of an hour glass figure thus accentuating my decreasing waistline and giving a much ,more overall female appearance.. I have noticed though that I am finding that most of my male clothes no longer fit on the hips and butt. My Doctor said that taking my Estrogen twice a day will really help now that the T levels are effectively zero and that any effects of Testosterone have been overwhelmed, such that at least hormonally I am now effectively female. He reckons effectvely the second "helping"will really power the feminizing effects!
Judith Lynn
I take my morning does at 4am every morning and the second does at 5 in the afternoon
Once a day ie when I remember to ha ha, its okay I turned out fine and my T stopped so all is fine :P.
Beth Andrea
Where do you use your Progesterone cream. Also what is the name of the medication as I am wondering if I can get it Online?
JudithLynn
Morning 2 E pills
Afternoon 2 E pills
Shower
Elestrin Gel
before bed 1 E pill
c :
No specific times and I've seen crazy results!
Spiro and dutasteride when I get up at 0500.
Progesterone after breakfast so usually around 0800
Second dose of spiro when I get home from work so usually around 1630.
Second dose of progesterone with my evening snack so 2030-2100.
I use the Vivelle patches for my estradiol so I change them Sunday and Wednesday.
Quote from: judithlynn on November 22, 2014, 10:44:54 PM
Beth Andrea
Where do you use your Progesterone cream. Also what is the name of the medication as I am wondering if I can get it Online?
JudithLynn
I don't think any progesterone creams can be applied on the body n instead has to be inserted vaginaly or analy, one of the nongenerics is called Crinone
I don't think this site allows people to pass on information about online pharmacys
Quote from: judithlynn on November 14, 2014, 11:30:09 PM
Currently I am Progynova only, no Spiro and No Progesterone. My Doctor reckons I don't need Spiro as my T levels are absolutely negligible now and e is very pleased with my progress overall. However despite requests to go onto a Progesterone (ie Prometrium) he will not prescribe it because of my age, although many of my friends are on it and all have experienced very good effects in development of breast tissue especially the milk products ducts and lobuli (I was on Progesterone some 20 years ago and even had a period of sustained lactation). However at the moment I just take my Estrogen at night time 10pm (with a glass of hot milk). However my Doctor now reckons that I should be starting to double the Estrogen increasing to twice a day so arouns 10am as well, as he feels that whilst my butt, hips and breasts are developing well, my facial features have still a way to go and he feels another couple of inches on my bottom and hips and some improvement on the bust (together with my weight reduction program on my waistline), will start to give me more of an hour glass figure thus accentuating my decreasing waistline and giving a much ,more overall female appearance.. I have noticed though that I am finding that most of my male clothes no longer fit on the hips and butt. My Doctor said that taking my Estrogen twice a day will really help now that the T levels are effectively zero and that any effects of Testosterone have been overwhelmed, such that at least hormonally I am now effectively female. He reckons effectvely the second "helping"will really power the feminizing effects!
Judith Lynn
I'm really surprised your doctor won't prescribe you progesterone, especially considering you've requested a micronized progesterone (Prometrium) because it's probably the safest oral progesterone around and even safer then a lot of injectable progesterones.
Progesterone is also used to lower risk associated with HRT, so maybe you could ask your doctor about that n if there's still a refusal to prescribe it, I'd start looking for a new doctor while staying with you current doctor.
Just a suggestion.
I take a small spironolactone tablet after breakfast and another after lunch. I have no testicles so I dont have to suppress the production of it. I wear a transdermal patch as well. I'm about to look into an alternate delivery method.
I used to take my pills in the morning with breakfast until they started to make me feel sick during the day. Now I have them with dinner at 7 oclock every night so I sleep the sick feeling off.
I do not take my hormones too far apart at all. So far they have always been administered by injection inside my doctor's office. He did redecorate once though, he moved the couch he has me sit on... so, I would say the farthest apart I have taken my hormones administered is about six feet, roughly. Give or take a couple feet. It can't be more than ten. Probably not less than four. Hard to say for sure. Six feet seems like a safe bet.
I take 1 spiro and 1 estro at 8am
When i get up then i take 1 spiro and 1 estro at 7:30pm seems to work fine for me :)
Quote from: Tori on November 23, 2014, 03:12:08 AM
I do not take my hormones too far apart at all. So far they have always been administered by injection inside my doctor's office. He did redecorate once though, he moved the couch he has me sit on... so, I would say the farthest apart I have taken my hormones administered is about six feet, roughly. Give or take a couple feet. It can't be more than ten. Probably not less than four. Hard to say for sure. Six feet seems like a safe bet.
Rimshot! :)
Here, Spiro every 12 hours, iinjections every 14 days
I drop my spiro every 24 hours after dinner. My T is still tanked the afternoon after according to my last blood test so it seems ok.
I am on patches for E.
I use to take 10 HRT pills a day and now I take 4 pills a day and IM.
10 pill regiment ( E and progesterone is sublingual)
upon waking
1 finasteride
3 estrogen
1 spiro
Home from work
3 estrogen
1 spiro
Bedtime
1 progesterone
Now I am on IM so the E is a shot every 12.5 days (working to get to 10 days)
I agree spiro is a real pain.
Quote from: Tori on November 23, 2014, 03:12:08 AM
I do not take my hormones too far apart at all. So far they have always been administered by injection inside my doctor's office. He did redecorate once though, he moved the couch he has me sit on... so, I would say the farthest apart I have taken my hormones administered is about six feet, roughly. Give or take a couple feet. It can't be more than ten. Probably not less than four. Hard to say for sure. Six feet seems like a safe bet.
**snerk**
:P
All at once in the morning.
Decent dosages, but am dealing with low levels right now as I am trying to go back to being good.
Going from self med to monitored sucks, at least when you have to stop taking your hormones so the doc can control the levels.
I am hating the moodiness I am having to deal with.
But it will be worth it to know my levels (hormonal and otherwise) are in the correct ranges.
But yes all at once. When I was doing shots it was one shot per week spiro in the morning (shots were sealed ampoules as opposed to a bottle and as such had a smaller dosage per shot than my initial Doctor monitored shots, which were about twice as much E per two weeks instead of weekly.)
Kami
Spiro I take 12 hours apart as far as the Estradiol I receive it through self injections.
Mariah
7 am:
Spirolactone
Estradiol
Biotin pill for skin, nail, hair
7 pm:
Spirolcatone
Estradiol
Fineasteride
Each and every day. I have an alarm set on my phone for both times so I never forget as humans now have their phone on them 24/7 lol
Every 3.5 days. ;) I'm another on patches.
E and Spiro when I wake up, which varies between 6:30 am and 9:00 am depending on what day it is. Then early evening as close to 12 hours apart as possible, my other combo of E and Spiro. I'm taking what you could consider high dose, which is 10 magic pills a day.
Morning spiro and finasteride. About 12 hours later, another spiro. I apply an estrogen patch every 3 to 4 days. Really wanting to switch to injectables soon though as the patches leave residue.
The residue was one of three things I didn't like about the patches. Patch didn't stay on as well as one would think, but the residue sure did.
Mariah
Quote from: AnnaCannibal on November 23, 2014, 05:19:23 PM
Morning spiro and finasteride. About 12 hours later, another spiro. I apply an estrogen patch every 3 to 4 days. Really wanting to switch to injectables soon though as the patches leave residue.
Quote from: Mariah2014 on November 23, 2014, 05:21:46 PM
The residue was one of three things I didn't like about the patches. Patch didn't stay on as well as one would think, but the residue sure did.
Mariah
They're causing a bit of a rash everywhere I have one on. I'd like to change to injectable but I know I can't stick myself. I can stick other people all day (and do) but I do not like getting shots from other people. Giving one to myself...not happening. :(
That was one of my issues as well. I was told it was a minor allergic reaction. It's one of the reasons I didn't waste much time getting switched to the shots think that I should have pushed for the shots in the first place. Who knows maybe someday you will be able to in he meantime you could still switch to the shots and even have everything sent to you and then get the shots done in the doctor's office by the nurse.
Mariah
Quote from: Wynternight on November 23, 2014, 06:26:07 PM
They're causing a bit of a rash everywhere I have one on. I'd like to change to injectable but I know I can't stick myself. I can stick other people all day (and do) but I do not like getting shots from other people. Giving one to myself...not happening. :(
Quote from: Mariah2014 on November 23, 2014, 06:32:47 PM
That was one of my issues as well. I was told it was a minor allergic reaction. It's one of the reasons I didn't waste much time getting switched to the shots think that I should have pushed for the shots in the first place. Who knows maybe someday you will be able to in he meantime you could still switch to the shots and even have everything sent to you and then get the shots done in the doctor's office by the nurse.
Mariah
I've thought about that but the issue there is I'd probably get charged for an office visit every time I went. That would add up if I was getting injected every 10-14 days.
True that could happen. Through my required training for doing self injection. I wasn't charged for my first visit because the nurse did it, but the second and final visit I was charged the usual copay because she had be able medically say yes I'm able to do it. Apparently her medical decision is what got the doctor's office to charge it differently. You could check with your insurance and the doctor's office. Who knows maybe it will be covered in full. My shots are 14 days apart right now. So those 2 visits were that far apart. Good luck either way.
Mariah
Quote from: Wynternight on November 23, 2014, 06:42:00 PM
I've thought about that but the issue there is I'd probably get charged for an office visit every time I went. That would add up if I was getting injected every 10-14 days.
I haven't had a problem with residue since switching to Vivelle Dot; it's more expensive than the generic, but less than two office visits a month would be!
Quote from: Jenna Marie on November 23, 2014, 06:51:39 PM
I haven't had a problem with residue since switching to Vivelle Dot; it's more expensive than the generic, but less than two office visits a month would be!
I'm getting back on the dots starting today. I like how much smaller they are compared to other patches.
Kind of stinks to be a nurse and scared of needles. If there was someone at work I trust I could ask them to stick me but the only person who knows about my transition is the EEOC rep there.
I take Progynova and Cyproterone in the evening. Previously I was on a higher dose of Progynova and Spiro so would split the dose morning and night. It really doesn't matter provided the half life of the medication is sufficient to keep levels where they should be until the next Disr. And of course if anything made me drowsy I'd be taking that in the evening.
Wynternight : Yeah, the tininess of Vivelle is one of my favorite parts. I hear you about the needles, too; I'm terrified of them as well. I don't think I could have handled nursing school, even!
I take my Spiro and Avodart twice daily once in the morning and once in the evening. As for my Estradiol I take that weekly through self administered IM injections.
Ally ;)
I take spiro and estradiol in divided daily doses (i.e. 1 tablet of spiro am & pm (+) 1 tablet of estradiol sublingually am & pm. I also take Estradiol Valerate every 2 weeks via IM injections.
I use an estradiol spray twice daily: once in the morning, between 5 and 9, and then again before bed, between 18 and 22. This is supposed to work for 24 hours, but dividing the dose yields a higher and steadier blood level, preventing the anxiety and hair loss that I can experience from low or declining E levels. I am aware this is not as effective as some other approaches, but I cannot have anything too strong while still in the closet at home. Oral E is impractical given my current eating pattern (one large meal in the early or mid afternoon), and I really do not care much for needles.
I also take Avodart when I wake up each morning, and receive a T blocker by IM injection once every 2-3 months.
Estrogen: self administered IM injection once weekly. Because if orchiectomy no anti-androgens taken.