Serenity Cream

[bobsgirl]

I'm not suffering horrendously but am clearly on the way into menopause. A friend of mine who was suffering badly from mood swings has started using Serenity cream and says it's marvellous.

Has anyone else come across it and what do you think?

I bought some but never used it after reading negative reports. I read that no cream that contained amounts of hormone strong enough to have any effect could be sold without a prescription.

If you do some searching online there are conflicting reports. Dr John Lee is an advocate of it and there is another woman dr who is too, but overall it is not rated very highly.

I don't want to dismiss what your fiend has found but it could easily be the placebo effect- especially when it is something like moods.

Yes, I used it for a while. It's natural progesterone isnt' it? To be honest I can't say it helped or it didnt and after the couple of jars I had bought were used up (this was a couple of years ago) and I paid about £17 quid each over the internet after reading John Lee's book and thinking that the 'oestrogen dominance' theory seemed to match my own symptoms best and it was worth a try. I never bought anymore after that though. It didn't have any adverse effects, but I can't say as it made me feel any better that I was aware of? I just felt the same really and £17 quid a pop seemed a lot for something that didn't seem to be making any difference.

I'm still peri-menopausal, still getting (occasionally erratic) periods at 51, and what I've found works best is to just ride with it. For the past 6 years or so, I've had so many of the classic peri symptoms but what I find is they come for a while ... but (and I know this sounds daft) but if you can just put up with it for a few weeks/months, however long it lasts, then the body seems to take care of it, if that makes any sense, and that symptom fades away.

Admittedly, another symptom may emerge, and it's a bit like fire fighting, but I think as modern women we tend to forget that this time in our lives is entirely natural, same as puberty, childbirth and all the other cycles our body goes through. Yes peri can be a weird and uncomfortable time, but we are equipped to deal with it and with that mindset - I've come through it without too much trouble. Worst thing for me is probably the insomnia, but again, I've learned to live with it. Sometimes I just stay up till the early hours, sometimes I'll read or watch a film if I wake up in the night and not even try to sleep. I've also found (incredibly) that the old wives tail of a sweet, milky drink at bedtime really does work. For me it's proved to be the best sleep aid of the lot but that's a different thread entirely.

I've posted recently on the subject of recurrent cystitis and just spotted this thread.
I too bought a pot of Serenity hoping it might ease some of my peri- and actual menopausal issues but I too have to say I couldn't identify any tangible benefits and on balance don't think it was a good use of £17.
I agree with Fontella, for most of the issues - hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, early waking, mood swings, I have found the best way through is to just go with it. The individual symptoms, for me, seem to have come and gone and I have coped, knowing it won't last for ever.
The big overarching issue for me has been the urinary tract problems I've had - see my Recurrent Cystitis thread.
But Serenity? No, wouldn't recommend you spent good money on it.

The thing about Serenity is that your dr or gyane could prescribe natural progsterone for you if they think it worked.

My gynae says in his book that to get the right amount from natural progest. you would have to apply bucketfulls.

The other thing to consider is that the latest research into HRT and breast cancer seems to show that it is the progesterone part that causes cancer, not so much the oestrogen, as women who take HRT after a hysterectomy and use just oestrogen, have hardly anyhigher risk of breast cancer.

I think sometimes, when struggling with all these bodily and psychological changes and ups and downs, you get a bit desperate and this product I seem to recall is promoted quite seriously and persuasively; but yes of course I agree best to get advice from GP or gynaecologist. I am seeing the consultant who did my minor gynae surgery next Monday and this is an issue I plan to question him on.

I was very sceptical about using this cream. I was put on HRT Livial by my doctor but extrememly high blood pressure made it imposible for me to continue on it. My night sweats were so bad it kept me from sleeping and all this after I had already gone past the menopause. I have nt had a period for two years and was full of life until these night sweats and hot flushes just hot me.
I started using this cream after trying all other natural remedies and to be honest I have not looked back since. The hot flushes I still get occassionally but the night sweats have gone totally. I no longer have to get up at 3 or 4 in the early hours of the morning to have a shower because I was dripping with perspiration. Maybe it might be psychological I will never know but what I do know is that physically my symptoms are almost gone and I will definitely keep on using and recommending this cream.

lama night sweats etc do not stop after 2 years. When your periods stop you are in menopause for the rest of your life. My Mum had sweats/flushes into her 70s. The time when your periods are all over the place etc is called the peri menopause.

You might try to test the product by stopping and seeing what happens- it may be that you are over the worst anyway and the without the cream you won't have any sweats either?

I did a search on the internet for known relief of menapause related symptoms and Serenity Cream seems to pop up everywhere. I wanted independent reviews on the cream and this site came up.

I'm 53 and have recently started experiencing regular night sweats. Not full sweating, just hot flushes (I also get 1 before my period, which I still have regulary). I have been under a lot of stress and this seems to have triggered these regular episodes. I'm losing sleep which is beginning to make me feel depressed and moody. None of these things are a good combination for dealing with stress.

Izquierda, I also get recurring Cystisis and never connected it with menapause. The countless times I have seen my GP about this because the sachets just don't work for me, and I've never been told that this could be a symptom of menapause.

Based on what I'm reading here, paying £17.50 for a cream that appears to have more negative than positive reviews will not be the right option for me.
I'm not saying that it's a hoax, there's just not enough conclusive evidence that this cream works.

I have been using it for 3 months and it has really helped me. I feel noticeably different. I have less aches and pains, my PMS has almost vanished and my periods have been regular when they were twice a month before. I did experience headaches the first month but that has gone now. I don't care if it is placebo, I'd have eaten rocks if that would have lifted me from the nightmare of perimenopause. The GP had no interest in helping me so I helped myself.

I have researched this online. There is no evidence it works. The National Osteoporosis Society researched it as it is supposed to help with bone density but they found no proof.

Most of the research seems to show it is placebo effect or women's symptoms are declining naturally anyway.

What you will find drs saying is that it could not be sold OTC if it contained enough hormones, and the amount of natural progest. you need is far more than could be in a ot that size.

bought some last month as recommended by pag and have had improvements to mood, sleep and skin. Definitely worth it for me.

I have ordered the cream today after being on HRT for over 2 yrs with the greatest fear of breast cancer. My mother had breast cancer due to HRT & I really wasn't happy being on it. I have tried on several occasions to come off the medication but after 2-3 weeks my symptoms return. Therefore i'm willing to give this a go, i'll keep you informed of the outcome.

hell have you tried any supplements such as Menopace?
My gynae has written a book on meno and although he actively supports complementary treatments, i don't think he advocates S cream.

I am really surprised you were given HRT if your mum's cancer was proven to be oestrogen/hormone dependent. it's not advised if a 1st degree relative has had breast cancer.

I was having horrendous hot flushes and night sweats for about six months:15-20 flushes during the day and 4-6 sweats at night. They were truly interfering with my life as I poured with perspiration night and day. I couldn't sleep and I could feel myself becoming irritable and irrational. I did a lot of research into the menopause and peri-menopause; I tried Black Kohosh, Sage Leaf, Evening Primrose and Menopace and nothing worked. When I read about Serenity cream and having tried all sorts of other treatments, I thought it was worth a try and I'm so glad I did-I really haven't looked back. In the first 10 days my symptoms had reduced by half and at the end of the first month they had disappeared almost completely. I perhaps have two very minor flushes a month now, where I feel more of a gentle glow rather than a burn and I feel that I have got my life back on track. Why this cream works for some people and not others, I have no idea but I can assure anyone reading this that it IS NOT a placebo effect. NO placebo would have stopped my hot flushes and sweats! I guess we are all different and what suits one doesn't suit another. Pethedine had no pain killing effect on me at all during labour but I know that for some women it's brilliant. It's very easy to dismiss these things out of hand through what we read but I feel that we all have to make our own minds up through trial and error. Slating this cream isn't very fair if it helps some women as it has indeed helped me. We do not have to suffer as our mothers and grand-mothers did. There is help out there. If you can flow through the menopause unaided, then that's fine. I personally didn't want to embark on HRT, for personal reasons, prefering a natural remedy as opposed to a synthetic, man-made one. I'd say give it a try.

posy it might be worth pointing out that if anything like the cream is going to work, it has to have the same chemical structure as any hormones made in the lab.
I use oestrogen HRt and it is bioidentical- meaning it's the same as what my body produces. End of the day it's still a hormone as is the progesterone in creams made from yams.

strawb please can you explain what your advice means in practical terms?

I am getting on well with Serenity - does this mean I should stop taking it?

No- Of course it doesn't mean stop taking it. that is your decision. what I meant was that "natural" doesn't necessarily mean "harmless" or even "harmful". I was trying to say that the chemical composition of what you are using may in fact be no different to the manufactured progesterone ( because that is what it is isn't it- progesterone?) which you could get from a dr.

Do doctors prescribe progesterone cream? I thought they only did hrt pills?

drs can prescribe all sorts- especially if you find a gynae or a menopause clinic. if you want natural progersterone you might not find your "average" GP prescribing it but you should be able to source it somehow.

p.s- there are loads of other ways of getting HRt- notjust pills.. You can get sprays, gels, tablets and implants.

Thankyou strawb, didn't know any of that. I am quite GP averse but I guess I should get over that!

Strawberryjelly, your response was a bit confusing! The Serenity Progesterone cream and any other natural progesterone cream, i.e. that derived from yams, is infact bio-identical to the progesterone that we as humans produce in our own bodies. It is not bio-identical to synthetic progesterone produced in a lab. The chemical structure may be similar but anything that is synthetic cannot be the same as something that is natural. If you take perfume as another example, the smell of a rose or a lily of the valley is natural; perfumes that smell of roses or lily of the valley are synthetic. They may well smell the same but they are not the same.
Obviously the oestrogen HRT that you take suits you well and that's good. I prefer to use a natural substance and not a manufactured substance. I guess it's about choice.

Psoy-- I think you could be mistaken.

What I understand is that the actual molecular structure of anything that is oestrogen or progesterone is the same whether it comes from plants or chemical- plants are in fact made up of chemicals.

Everything is made from chemicals.

eg the ostrogen I use is bio identical meaning it is the same atomically as that produced by my body naturally. Provera for instance was produced from horses' urine and is not bio identical .

but correct me if i am wrong.

I don't feel that it is my place to correct you-maybe my understanding is different though.
There are natural chemical substances and there are manufactured chemical substances. These two things would have different molecular structures and that's why they are different. Natural progesterone, which comes from yams is natural, it grows naturally and is bio identical to human progesterone. If the progesterone that you use is bio identical then that's good but not all of it is. As you say, there is one produced from horses urine which is not.
Maybe the people to clarify this is the manufacturers of the cream. Wellsprings who produce Serenity have a very good web site-it's worth having a look at.