I have recently switched to Duavee, after various bioidentical estradiol/progesterone combinations have led to thickening of my endometrium - even at low dose. I also have dense breast tissue. On the whole, my experience of searching for positive reviews of Duavee (and Premarin) has been disappointing (not to mention scary as most people seem to emphasise the negatives if it’s not bioidentical HRT!) So this is welcome news, if still in early stages. Can you point me towards any other Duavee research?
Thank you for sharing. I have similar issues. Also I don’t feel good with natural progesterone ( makes me tired, cranky and anxious). How do you feel on Duavee?
I too experienced both feeling tired and moody with progesterone and also spotting and bleeding with estradiol and progesterone. Duavive (that's the name in Canada) has eliminated my night-time hot flashes and I've had no bleeding at all. The reduction in breast soreness and density was an unexpected bonus.
I think HRT can be a difficult journey for some! On the whole, I feel as well as I did on estradiol (I had no real problems with estradiol and progesterone except that too little left me prone to osteopenia and gusm symptoms and too much enlarged my fibroids and endometrial stripe (hence regular spotting and bleeding). I tried so many combinations of method and dosage 😖. I think maybe the Duavee dose is quite low for me and I did ask the obgyn if I could take progesterone (not progestins) for sleep as that suddenly started suffering. I am two months in and determined to give it a go though! My problem is that I currently live in the US but will be moving back to the U.K. at some point…where it is not sold
Thanks! This is fascinating. I have been intrigued by this medication for bone health (maybe osteoporosis treatment not just prevention) as well as for patients at risk for breast cancer. The basic science and pharmacology is so intriguing; I am anxious to see more long term trials. This could be a great option for many people- I wish insurance were more excited about paying for it…
I started Duavive a few months ago as I was feeling too groggy on the 200 mg dose of Progesterone I needed to control the effects of spotting I was having.
It is easy to take and it did the job but am now investigating the effects it has on my TSH results.
I take Synthroid after having a Thyroidectomy 12 years ago and my goal TSH is between 0.4 -2 mIU/L which I have been able to maintain for the past 12 years without much change in my Synthroid dosage.
After 3 months on Duavive my TSH rose to 6.19 mIU/L, the only change has been switching to Duavive. There is nothing in the package insert regarding the drug interaction but I did find some information online indicating there is moderate interaction with Synthroid.
We are just starting to change my Synthroid dose in hoping to get me back on track, I hope it works because I like the ease of Duavive.
Dr. Jen, have you heard of other women on Synthroid having this issue while taking Duavive?
I am using a topical Premarin cream for vaginal dryness (which has completely changed my life (in a good way, to be clear!)) and I’m wondering how many of the results/outcomes that we see about Premarin from studies like these ones, can be extrapolated to vaginal/topical estrogen? Is there a difference between a topical and an oral Premarin? Could a topical Premarin also help with bones? Or provide some protection against breast cancer? Whenever I see studies about Premarin, I always wonder if it applies to what I’m using.
And I want to mention that a huge criticism of Premarin in the ‘wellness world’ is that its ’PREGNANT MARES’ URINE! Ew!!’ I believe the thinking is supposed to be: would you rather have hormones taken from a waste product of a completely different animal, nothing like a human, or a ‘bioidentical’ hormone which must be, by its name, identical to what is in your own body.
I also see critiques of the treatment of the horses. I know Dr. Jen wrote an article on that but as I recall much of it relied on information from the horse breeders themselves. I tried looking into it in more depth myself but couldn't get very far. I would love an update on this topic from Dr. Jen. I don't care that I'm using a product derived from horse pee to treat my symptoms, but I would rather find a different product if the horses are suffering.
SERM use, including BZA has been studied extensively in the context of cancer prevention. A recent retrospective cohort study found, "SERM therapy administration is associated with a decreased incidence of cervical, ovarian, and colorectal cancers."
Unfortunately, outside of research use, it cannot be prescribed independently in the US. I researched BZA before I started on Duavive. It's cancer-prevention properties were impressive. I would have stayed on Duavive but it went off the market for YEARS here in Canada, and I've since switched to transdermal estrogen and progesterone.
What I'd like to see studied is the impact of DUAVIVE on cardiovascular disease, clotting factors and risk of VTE, thrombosis and stroke, given that those risks were higher with premarin in the WHI study. I felt GREAT on Duavee and zero brain fog too. One of my friends had the same great response to it. We were both devastated when we had to switch to transdermal/progesterone. My GP insists on the lowest dose, and it's just not hitting all the symptoms. I still cannot convince him that putting me on the full dose of transdermal estrogen is NOT going to substantively increase my risk of VTE (and I've NEVER had a blood clot, stroke or CVD to date).
I was shocked at the change in my mammogram results after I started taking Duavive. My breast density went from type D to type B in less than a year.
My mother had breast cancer so my gyn switched me to duavive. I too wish there was more info/study on this product.
I have recently switched to Duavee, after various bioidentical estradiol/progesterone combinations have led to thickening of my endometrium - even at low dose. I also have dense breast tissue. On the whole, my experience of searching for positive reviews of Duavee (and Premarin) has been disappointing (not to mention scary as most people seem to emphasise the negatives if it’s not bioidentical HRT!) So this is welcome news, if still in early stages. Can you point me towards any other Duavee research?
Thank you for sharing. I have similar issues. Also I don’t feel good with natural progesterone ( makes me tired, cranky and anxious). How do you feel on Duavee?
I too experienced both feeling tired and moody with progesterone and also spotting and bleeding with estradiol and progesterone. Duavive (that's the name in Canada) has eliminated my night-time hot flashes and I've had no bleeding at all. The reduction in breast soreness and density was an unexpected bonus.
Same issues with spotting and I also have dense breasts. I may give Duaveea try.
I think HRT can be a difficult journey for some! On the whole, I feel as well as I did on estradiol (I had no real problems with estradiol and progesterone except that too little left me prone to osteopenia and gusm symptoms and too much enlarged my fibroids and endometrial stripe (hence regular spotting and bleeding). I tried so many combinations of method and dosage 😖. I think maybe the Duavee dose is quite low for me and I did ask the obgyn if I could take progesterone (not progestins) for sleep as that suddenly started suffering. I am two months in and determined to give it a go though! My problem is that I currently live in the US but will be moving back to the U.K. at some point…where it is not sold
Thanks! This is fascinating. I have been intrigued by this medication for bone health (maybe osteoporosis treatment not just prevention) as well as for patients at risk for breast cancer. The basic science and pharmacology is so intriguing; I am anxious to see more long term trials. This could be a great option for many people- I wish insurance were more excited about paying for it…
I started Duavive a few months ago as I was feeling too groggy on the 200 mg dose of Progesterone I needed to control the effects of spotting I was having.
It is easy to take and it did the job but am now investigating the effects it has on my TSH results.
I take Synthroid after having a Thyroidectomy 12 years ago and my goal TSH is between 0.4 -2 mIU/L which I have been able to maintain for the past 12 years without much change in my Synthroid dosage.
After 3 months on Duavive my TSH rose to 6.19 mIU/L, the only change has been switching to Duavive. There is nothing in the package insert regarding the drug interaction but I did find some information online indicating there is moderate interaction with Synthroid.
We are just starting to change my Synthroid dose in hoping to get me back on track, I hope it works because I like the ease of Duavive.
Dr. Jen, have you heard of other women on Synthroid having this issue while taking Duavive?
Thanks, Dr. Gunter - helpful review.
I am using a topical Premarin cream for vaginal dryness (which has completely changed my life (in a good way, to be clear!)) and I’m wondering how many of the results/outcomes that we see about Premarin from studies like these ones, can be extrapolated to vaginal/topical estrogen? Is there a difference between a topical and an oral Premarin? Could a topical Premarin also help with bones? Or provide some protection against breast cancer? Whenever I see studies about Premarin, I always wonder if it applies to what I’m using.
And I want to mention that a huge criticism of Premarin in the ‘wellness world’ is that its ’PREGNANT MARES’ URINE! Ew!!’ I believe the thinking is supposed to be: would you rather have hormones taken from a waste product of a completely different animal, nothing like a human, or a ‘bioidentical’ hormone which must be, by its name, identical to what is in your own body.
I also see critiques of the treatment of the horses. I know Dr. Jen wrote an article on that but as I recall much of it relied on information from the horse breeders themselves. I tried looking into it in more depth myself but couldn't get very far. I would love an update on this topic from Dr. Jen. I don't care that I'm using a product derived from horse pee to treat my symptoms, but I would rather find a different product if the horses are suffering.
1) Is BZA used (elsewhere in the world) for osteop. tx/prevention?
2) Any chance that BZA will hit the US mkt alone, not combined w/ CEE?
3) Can path. reports stratify hi vs lo risk on DCIS? I haven't heard about that.
SERM use, including BZA has been studied extensively in the context of cancer prevention. A recent retrospective cohort study found, "SERM therapy administration is associated with a decreased incidence of cervical, ovarian, and colorectal cancers."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39115280/.
Unfortunately, outside of research use, it cannot be prescribed independently in the US. I researched BZA before I started on Duavive. It's cancer-prevention properties were impressive. I would have stayed on Duavive but it went off the market for YEARS here in Canada, and I've since switched to transdermal estrogen and progesterone.
What I'd like to see studied is the impact of DUAVIVE on cardiovascular disease, clotting factors and risk of VTE, thrombosis and stroke, given that those risks were higher with premarin in the WHI study. I felt GREAT on Duavee and zero brain fog too. One of my friends had the same great response to it. We were both devastated when we had to switch to transdermal/progesterone. My GP insists on the lowest dose, and it's just not hitting all the symptoms. I still cannot convince him that putting me on the full dose of transdermal estrogen is NOT going to substantively increase my risk of VTE (and I've NEVER had a blood clot, stroke or CVD to date).