Topic: Estrogen ....... increased cancer risk, very low CD57
robi
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5547
posted
My PCP wants to add estrogen to my progesterone cream. It is true that my estrogen wass way low but I am concerned about taking estrogen. I am only 45.
There is an increase in the risk of breast cancer in women who do not have kids.
So here's my thinking ..... I have no kids and I am at an increased risk for breast cancer. Add to that I have almost no CD57 Natural Killer cells.
Seems to me it would be a bad idea to take estrogen. What do you think ?
Thanks for the insights, robi
-------------------- Now, since I put reality on the back burner, my days are jam-packed and fun-filled. ..........lily tomlin as 'trudy' Posts: 2503 | From here | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Robi, I would not do it if it were me; the jury is still out on HRT, even natural and estrogen can be a trouble maker. What is supposed to happen when you take it BTW? LL
Posts: 484 | From Fredericksburg, Va USA | Registered: Sep 2004
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
I can trace one of my bad relaspes almost to the day I was put on hormones for heavy periods.And they were the low dose.
Wouldn't take them now if you paid me.No way no how. That's just me.
Take care and blessings
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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robi
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5547
posted
Thanks LL and dana .....
Dana what type were you on? Estrogen , progesterone? Natural or synthetic?
Anyone else have experience with HRT?
robi
-------------------- Now, since I put reality on the back burner, my days are jam-packed and fun-filled. ..........lily tomlin as 'trudy' Posts: 2503 | From here | Registered: Apr 2004
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suki444
Unregistered
posted
Hi I think I remember Dr B saying oestrogen flares Lyme, And he advises not to take the pill if you have Lyme.
Have you had a full hormone profile done including androgen? - I was slightly high in testosterone but he said it would normalise with treatment.
henson2
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 463
posted
Robi,
Do you have any symptoms associated w. this low level of estrogen? If you don't have any symptoms, I'm not sure why you would need it. (?)
I would also perhaps want an ob/gyn to make that decision for me.
I have no choice but to be on a progesterone supplement (Megase) because of a pre-cancerous uterine condition I had (probably due to too much estrogen, but not sure).
The Lyme by itself has messed up my hormones terribly.
The Megase always does a number on my Lyme sx, not when I take it, but for a few weks afterward! I take it for 2 weeks every 2 mos.
I would have an ob/gyn make a final decision for you.
Warm wishes for feeling well Posts: 1066 | From East Coast | Registered: Dec 2000
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hiker53
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 6046
posted
I'd skip the estrogen. I had to take birth control pills when I had an ovarian cyst, soon after I contracted lyme. What an awful two months! I felt better after stopping the pill. Hiker
-------------------- Hiker53
"God is light. In Him there is no darkness." 1John 1:5 Posts: 8878 | From Illinois | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I agree that if you're not having symptoms [such as hot flashes, etc] then why do it? I know Dr C believes in balanced hormones to get us well. He says our bodies will be better able to heal if they are balanced.
however, in light of the increased risk of cancer [and I'm not so sure i even believe those studies] then I wouldn't do it.
I have no ovaries and have been on HRT 15 yrs. The two years I was switched to estrogen cream was pure h*** because my body wasn't absorbing it.
I'm not willing to do without the HRT. I now take a hormone shot once a month. It's heaven to be without hot flashes again!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Andie333
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Member # 7370
posted
I'm with Lymetoo...
I started taking estrogen and progestin (both natural) quite a few years ago, when I was in my mid-40s.
At that point, I was having severe hot flashes and a lot of other peri-menopausal symptoms. I did know about the risks, but the hormones helped eliminate nasty hormone migrains I'd get pretty regularly.
They also helped keep my moods more balanced and eliminated those hot flashes.
I'm still on the hormones (no kids). I realize now many of the symptoms I had then may have been Lyme-related, but I just wasn't dx yet.
I saw my gyn last week, and he agreed it was best to keep me on the hormones, because I seem to be getting steadily better (with the Lyme). He didn't want to do anything disruptive to my system.
So... I couldn't argue with that.
I suspect each person is different.
Andie
Posts: 2549 | From never never land | Registered: May 2005
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breathwork
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 567
posted
I had a total hysterectomy a year ago and went on HRT... Started with the oral meds from the GYN.
Went to an endocrinologist for work up and advice about HRT.
He did specialized tests to determine how my body was processing the estrogen...Mine wasn't doing very well, way too much estradiol...
So he switched me to a natural estrogen that comes in drops from a compounding pharmacy.
I like this kind as it is much easier to titrate the dose to what your particular body needs...add a drop, leave out a drop....and do bloodwork to see how the body is processing it.
Every doctor that I have seen, including GYN, endocrinologist, lyme doc and breast surgeon ( for a cyst), has said that the study is flawed, that there is a safe way to replace hormones if monitored carefully at first.
I wouldn't do without them. I was an insane woman after the surgery. My family would not be pleased to have the crazy lady back in town if I stopped either. It's also wonderful to sleep through the night without hot flashes. Now I can tell when the babesia is flaring up rather than a hot flash from lack of hormones...
Carol Ann
Posts: 1062 | From CA USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
Bb contains a protein kinase C (PKC)INHIBITOR. The inhibitors COMPETE with one another.
We have developed a man-made protein kinase C inhibitor called Tamoxifen...to directly kill estrogen dependent cancer cells.
Tamoxifen blocks estrogen receptors. Therefore, it is effective in treating women whose breast cancer has lots of estrogen receptors.
However, clinicians noted that to a degree women whose breast cancer does not have estrogen receptors also responded to treatment. How? Research has now found that Tamoxifen is also a protein kinase C inhibitor (Kruiper).
Protein kinase C is a signaling pathway within nerve cells. Perhaps a rather simplified way to understand its role is to view it as part of a very complex system for communication within a neuron.
Protein kinase C "regulates how fast nodes fire; how much neurotransmitter is released. It brings about changes in gene expression, turning on and off genes that will come back to you" (Manji). (For more on neurotransmitters, see Messengers of the Brain.)
Disregulated kinase activity is a frequent cause of disease, particularly cancer, where kinases regulate many aspects that control cell growth, movement and death. Drugs which inhibit specific kinases are being developed to treat several diseases, and some are currently in clinical use, including Gleevec (imatinib) and Iressa (gefitinib).
An inhibitor is a type of effector (biology) that decreases or prevents a chemical reaction. They are often called negative catalysts. Inhibitors are often used as medicines to decrease the rate of enzyme mediated reactions, but they can also act as poisons. Other examples include ***antioxidants*** and antipolymerization agents.
(This maybe why the antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes are critical to combating Lyme disease.)
Protein kinase C ('PKC', EC 2.7.1.37) is actually a family of protein kinases. They are divided into three subfamilies: conventional, novel, and atypical protein kinases C.
Conventional protein kinases C require Ca2+, diacylglycerol, and a phospholipid such as phosphatidylcholine for activation. Novel protein kinases C do not require Ca2+ for activation, yet still require diacylglycerol.
Thus, conventional and novel protein kinases C is activated through the same signal transduction pathway as phospholipase C. Atypical protein kinases C, on the other hand, are dependent on neither Ca2+ nor diacylglycerol.
At least twelve members of the protein kinase C family have been identified in mammals, due to their high sequence homology. The term "protein kinase C" usually means the protein kinase Cα enzyme, a conventional PKC.
And we KNOW...Bb stimulates a rise in Ca (calcium)
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