anyone take natural hormone replacement therapy?

[3girls]

i have heard that there is a "natural" hrt that is inserted into the vagina and was wondering if anyone else takes it? i heard about it on Oprah and just not quite sure what the benefits are?
anyway i also heard it can help ic any thoughts.....
thanks!

[Nonna]

There are several natural HRT meds that you may be referring to (I didn't see the show)...there's Vagifem which is a small white estradiol pill that you insert vaginally; there estrace cream that you also insert and there's also a rubber ring type thing called Estring which has natural estradiol on it that's gradually absorbed into the tissue. I've tried all of them at one time or another and think all are good--it's kind of a matter of personal preference because the medicine in all three is the same: natural beta estradiol, and people who don't want to take estrogen systemically often do this locally instead or, in my case, in addition to estrogen delivered via the patch.
For me taking it in any of its forms is essential as part of my IC treatment because it very much helps my bladder tissues, but it's not the entire answer. And it seems that there are a number of IC'ers that say that they do worse with more estrogen. I would definitely talk to a doctor about it if you think that you're in need of estrogen replacement therapy. Hope that helps, Nancy

[NancyB]

Dear 3Girls -

In addition to my oral estradiol, I use a vaginal compounded cream called Estriol. It is one of the three natural estrogens produced by the body (estrone and estradiol are the others). Not a lot of women use it in the States. You find it widely in Europe and is supposed to have a protective effect on breast tissue. It does the same thing as the other vaginal estradiol products. However, I tried all three products that Nancy in the prior post mentioned and they gave me abdominal and vaginal pain. The estriol does not do that to me.

Hope this is helpful.

NancyB:)