Man, I miss Doctor Hamilton!!!!! :-(

I argued and got the new guy to authorize bloodwork to check my estrogen levels. Would have liked a full hormonal workup but just getting the estrogen part done was like pulling hen's teeth. How dare I ask for something he didn't come up with by himself????

Frickin' idiot acted surprised when I pointed out that all my numbers started going out of whack when I went thru menopause, got worse when I had my hysterectomy, and then got even worse when John's cancer went Stage 4 (and not even gonna talk about the numbers last fall when I was still buried in grief, my basement was trying to collapse, and the contractor was trying to rip me off).

He also never would acknowledge that high cortisol levels could be part of my problem. And wouldn't agree to testing for it either. (I assume there is a test? That's somethng I didn't research.) Anyone who knows me knows the stress I've been under for the past couple of years. Stress=increased cortisol numbers=increased cholesterol.

AND.... he insists that since I won't jump on the statin train, I have to have a full cardiac workup (including the test you describe to check for plaque buildup) done so that the cardiologist can force me to go on statins. @$)*&@(#&!#)$Y@$(H*(W(*#&

And I just got into it with his scheduler because the cardiologist he referred me to is well known as a complete quack who is only interested in throwing prescriptions right & left at people with no explanations. I told them to CANCEL that appointment & find another cardiologist for me or I wouldn't be going.

AND.... based on the infamous bloodwork just a few months after John died, he INSISTS that I'm diabetic. In 60 years, I've had ONE bad reading... after months of eating nothing but fast food & sandwiches, not sleeping at all, getting no exercise, and being under ungodly amounts of stress and grief. All the rest say I'm not. 70+ finger sticks I've done over the past 3 months say I'm not. The latest A1C testing says I'm not. Regular blood glucose testing says I'm not. But he insists that I am & tried to force me to strat taking metformin. I told him flat out that I would not! That I was well familiar with my test results & that they showed that I was NOT diabetic & furthermore shoudl improve even more as I continue "eating clean" over time. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

He also insists that my blood pressure is high and that I need stronger meds. I refused. Which pissed him off yet again. I showed him my log where I check my blood pressure at least once (and sometimes several times a day using 3 different BP cuffs) as well as having a friend who's a nurse check me with her equipment every few weeks. ALL OF THE READINGS ARE NORMAL. In the 110-130/60s-70's. I walk into his office and immediately develop "white coat syndrome" (probably because I'm already anticipating getting pissed off) and it shoots to 140/89. He insists that that ONE reading tells the entire story - when months of normal readings are worthless.

I.DO.NOT.LIKE.THIS.GUY!!!!!!!!!

I hope the oral and topical HRT give you some relief. I honestly don't have ANY menopause symptoms at this point. I went thru all of that years ago - they were over & done even before I had my hysterectomy. EXCEPT.... I still can't sleep 90% of the time. My average daily sleep for 2025 was only 4 hours and 55 minutes per day according to my sleep tracker. I've got it up to 5 hours & 37 minutes so far this year but that's still waaaaaaay less than I need.

p.s. After seeing it advertised so many times, I tried some zzzquil the other night. Ha!!! I was wide awake and climbing the walls all night long - only got an hour and 45 minutes of sleep that night. That stuff went in the garbage!!!!!