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[Anjia]

I have been taking elleste solo 2mg for about a year and have found them fine I was feeling good with lots of energy,the past few weeks though I have started to get aching muscles lower back when I take a long walk ,fatigue is also back this I find the worse as I am so busy with my grandchildren I had a hysterectomy two years ago so I was hoping to reduce the hrt ,I don't think that's a good idea now though maybe I need to up It.

[Annie0710]

I've been (and still am) on elleste solo 2mg for years and they've always told me it's the max they will prescribe , I have same symptoms too
If you get lucky and that's not the case please share as I'd be interested

Annie xx

[Dancinggirl]

Unless you are having health problems that mean you need to stop the oestrogen, then there is no reason you can't continue indefinitely with HRT. 2mg is quite a high dose so, unless you are getting flushes, I doubt more oestrogen would help ?  Maybe you need some vitamins  - B12, Zinc etc can help with energy.  Backache can be variety of things - a bad mattress or you may need to do some Pilates?!  I wouldn't consider lowering or stopping HRT for quite some time.  Poor energy levels happen even when on HRT - it's just life and ageing - but it could be worse if you came off HRT. DG x

[Salad]

I've been experiencing excruciating lower back pain and fatigue which seem to indicate my oestrogen dose is too high.
When this happens I cut a third off my patch and within a couple of hours, I'm feeling a lot better.

[Anjia]

Thanks so much ladies I am really interested Salad that this happens to you when your estrogen is high.I have had bad anxiety and this used to happen thinking about it when I was trying different hrt to get a balance I will take a tablet every other day for a while to see how I go, that way I can always change it again.

[Dancinggirl]

Anjia - if you switch to using oestrogen transdermally - as either patch or gel - you can adjust the dose more efficiently.  I wouldn't take the pill every other day or you will experience too many fluctuations.  Why not ask for some Oestrogel (I apply this to my inner thighs once a day) as you can then adjust the dose more easily e.g. start with one pump per day for a couple of weeks and then increase a bit if need be - you can use up to 4 pumps per day (2pumps morning & 2 evening as a maximum dose).  I believe using hormones transdermally like this is more efficient as it doesn't have to go through liver where some is lost. DG x

[Anjia]

Thanks dancing girl I am going to give this a try see if it works for me wish me luck x

[Briony]

I've been experiencing excruciating lower back pain and fatigue which seem to indicate my oestrogen dose is too high.
When this happens I cut a third off my patch and within a couple of hours, I'm feeling a lot better.

This links in with what I said the other day about the causes of fatigue  http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,28295.0.html   It's worth reading Hurdity's reply which essentially says high oestrogen should never cause fatigue - if anything, it's the progesterone that will. I had to totally rethink my theory at that point and am now thinking a lot more about the (synthetic) progesterone I take.

Similarly, when I took a low dose of oestrogen, and my anxiety was bad, I was convinced it was due to having too much oestrogen and cut my patch. Now, 7 months later, I am on a dose 2-3 times as high as before (in pill form), and my anxiety is definitely better.

I guess it only goes to show how we're all different - that's half the problem, isn't it?!!

[Anjia]

It really is difficult to understand sometimes Is oestrogen to high or low in the past when I thought it was to high because anxiety was hitting me so bad I would cut down on it and feel better but not for long , It always came back I really do think sometimes that it has no effect on anxiety at all .

[Dancinggirl]

I am personally in no doubt that HRT has an effect on our mental state. Last year I had a year out from HRT and the difference in how I felt mentally was not dramatic but I certainly felt less engaged with the world and the fatigue made me bad tempered and irritable. I did get horrid nightmares that left me feeling depressed and anxious in the mornings.  Now back on HRT I definitely feel generally more positive. Having said this I really don't think we can expect HRT to cure anxiety. I think we need to try a variety of strategies alongside HRT that help to control how we feel. I started Mindful Meditiation when I was off HRT which I found very helpful so I have continued with this and there are many women who do need a SRRI alongside HRT to really get their mood to where they want it.
There have been one or two threads on MM posing the question; "do we expect too much from HRT"? My answer would definitely be "YES".
DG x