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[Kathleen]

Hello Ladies

Tracey  E - If you are reading this I hope you reconsider your decision to leave.
One of the benefits of this wonderful forum is that it attracts women with a wide range of experiences so that all and every symptom and treatment of the menopause can be fully shared and discussed.  I certainly feel relieved when I read that other ladies feel exactly as I do and for the same reasons. We all want to feel better so it's important to exchange stories of success, failure and everything in between.

Take care and I wish you well whatever you decide to do.

K.

[Anaise]

Hi everyone, my hair is thining on HRT, I've lost over 50%. My estrogen levels are fine, I have them checked on a regular basis. All my bloods are ok, no obvious issues. Considering giving up HRT for good.

[Sammiejane]

anaise

sorry to hear you have suffered hair loss on hrt as have i and again was told it's low estrogen everyone assumes it's low estrogen and couldn't possible be hrt well i take oestrogen only the hormone which is supposed to help hair loss but so many women i know who just take this hormone have had hair loss when prior they didn't myself being one of them infant my hair after my hysterectomy was thicker and grew quicker now i've lost 50 percent and dermatology want me to stop for 4 months to see if shedding stops as swapping from the gel to a patch or tablet will make no difference as it's all estradiol ! my estrogen levels are 368 so i know it's not low estrogen and as i never suffered after my operation in which my ovaries were removed to when my estrogen was low and if it was thinning it wasn't noticible hrt has excelerated it so agree with u can i ask what hrt you take

[KiltedCupid]

This is quite an interesting article on female hair loss and indicates an anti androgen - spironolactone - to help as well as some natural alternatives. I hope it doesn't confuse further the T is good/T is bad debate but hopefully will give help to some. Spironolactone is closely related to drospirenone which is used in Angeliq hrt and is apparently a more potent anti androgen than spironolactone, although not sure if it's still available in UK.

https://www.forhers.com/blog/female-hair-loss-101-why-it-happens-and-how-to-treat-it

[Hurdity]

Maybe someone could start a separate thread on hair loss?

Hurdity x

[Sammiejane]

i would start a separate thread but never get a response so giving up now

[Anaise]

anaise

sorry to hear you have suffered hair loss on hrt as have i and again was told it's low estrogen everyone assumes it's low estrogen and couldn't possible be hrt well i take oestrogen only the hormone which is supposed to help hair loss but so many women i know who just take this hormone have had hair loss when prior they didn't myself being one of them infant my hair after my hysterectomy was thicker and grew quicker now i've lost 50 percent and dermatology want me to stop for 4 months to see if shedding stops as swapping from the gel to a patch or tablet will make no difference as it's all estradiol ! my estrogen levels are 368 so i know it's not low estrogen and as i never suffered after my operation in which my ovaries were removed to when my estrogen was low and if it was thinning it wasn't noticible hrt has excelerated it so agree with u can i ask what hrt you take

Sammie we are very similar, I'm debating coming off HRT as I don't want to lose the rest of my hair.

[Anaise]

anaise

sorry to hear you have suffered hair loss on hrt as have i and again was told it's low estrogen everyone assumes it's low estrogen and couldn't possible be hrt well i take oestrogen only the hormone which is supposed to help hair loss but so many women i know who just take this hormone have had hair loss when prior they didn't myself being one of them infant my hair after my hysterectomy was thicker and grew quicker now i've lost 50 percent and dermatology want me to stop for 4 months to see if shedding stops as swapping from the gel to a patch or tablet will make no difference as it's all estradiol ! my estrogen levels are 368 so i know it's not low estrogen and as i never suffered after my operation in which my ovaries were removed to when my estrogen was low and if it was thinning it wasn't noticible hrt has excelerated it so agree with u can i ask what hrt you take

Estrogel Sammie.

[Alicess]

Tracey E, I'm sorry if I offended you in any way with my comment  I do take your experience very serious because I had a horrendous experience with HRT myself and still searching for answers.  I hope you reconsider your decision as I truly believe we can help each other.

[Alicess]

Sammiejane, for me personally I wouldn't rely on bloodtests only but go by symptoms. There are many complicated processes involved before the estrogen in your blood reaches its destination a.k.a the estrogen receptors. And those processes within your body are, for the most part, difficult or impossible to measure. Estrogen levels also vary throughout the day or within days so you're measuring just a moment in time.
Some women have normal estrogen values but still don't find relief of symptoms. On top of that our system may respond differently to exogenous estrogen compared to our own estrogen. It's also possible you're not absorping enough estrogen and you may need another route of administration.
I wish I could give you a definite solution for your hairloss but I can only repeat what I know from my own experience, the experiences of other women (and men) and the research I've read. That's:

hormonal imbalances; adding one hormone will affect the whole system
low estrogen,
low testosterone,
testosterone converting to DHT,
high or low SHBG
dhea,
progesterone,
progestins
starting, changing or stopping hormone therapy (HRT and BCP)
thyrroid
low iron
low ferittine
vitamins like B12

There are more causes but these are the ones I know of for sure.

Aniase, I hope the above will give you some inside too.

Alicess

[Sammiejane]

alicess

it is true about fluctuating levels of estrogen as i have just had to have my bloods re done as they missed off shbg test and within a week my estrogen has gone from 368 to 113 a massive nose dive so in some ways maybe this is what's causing my hairloss it's not consistent enough ! i never had symtoms prior to starting hrt really a couple hot flushes a little bit more emotional crying and vaginal dampness and i feel worse now as have hairloss weight gain fatigue  irritable aniexty depression all brought on by the not so wonderful hrt ! i have more dampness problems with bladder in that i feel i don't empty properly and increase discharge very watery ! i think i need all 3 hormones to help all the above !

[Hurdity]

Thanks Alicess - very helpful to set it all out like that.

Sammiejane - hopefully Alicess's reply can help you see it's not about actual levels of one particualr hormone at one point in time - lots of factors involved....I don't think you need extra progesterone as it is only needed in higher doses to prepare for and caryy a pregnancy and then as part of HRT to protect the  womb.

Hurdity x

[Sammiejane]

anaise

are you on estrogel only ? how many pumps ?

do u have ovaries ?

i think for me being oestrogel i've just found out through my blood levels is that it's up and down as in a week i've gone from 368 to 113 and prior to this in june was 104 so it could be that up n down that triggered my hair shedding but as i had it on the patch i was on before gel i think it's hormone imbalance between estrogen and progesterone so i've got menopause thursday and will either go on the combined pill or stop it for few months ! the other issue i have though is my vagina as been using ovestin cream but things are worse now then ever irritates my bladder in the sense of needing to go when just been discharge is worse although this did improve the times i have taking progesterone too as i believe estrogen makes fluid progesterone dry u out ! lol it's so hard getting g a balance and has exhausted me the last year and i'm no further forward can't tolerate high doses of estrogen was hoping to get testosterone but they wo t give it me on estrogen at 113 even though last week was 368 so i'm in a mess and right fed up but can see me given up even if it's to reset body and start again on different regime

[Anaise]

I'm coming off HRT, it's totally screwed me up..

[Alicess]

Sammiejane, I agree with Hurdity, I don't think you need progesterone. A combined pill will give higher estrogen but also increases SHBG much more so you will have less testosterone available. Some progestins like Levonorgestrel have more androgenic properties. You could give it a try and see how you go as you're not seem to be doing well on HRT. Ethinylestradiol alone seems to be also available in dosages of 10 uq. You could try it in a very low dose (10 uq) But you should discuss the different options with your specialist or gynecologist.