Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[KingLiz]

Hi all, new to site though scanning it for a while. Bit unsure where to find everything on it.  I am 46 and menopause range as per blood tests at 44. On hrt since Feb 2014  but now on evorel patches last month and concluding hrt may not be for me.  Struggling with low mood and insomnia.  KL

[Millykin]

Hi Kingliz and welcome,
Im 44 and have been peri meno for year and half ( probably a few years before that ). I first tried HRT last may, Elleste duet but didn't suit me after few months, gave that up, had a fews horrible months of anxiety and decided in april to try HRT again. This time i tried femoston 1/10 and started to feel better almost straight away, had a little blip couple months ago think my own hormones kicking in, but back to normal now. It is hard when our moods are low and don't feel right. Cant say if HRT is or isn't better, for me personally it is but i think you need to give it time, few months to settle in system. What types have you tried ?
Also this time of year isnt of great help to people, dark wet nights no fun

Millykin x

[KingLiz]

Thanks for welcome M.
 Tried Femoston 1/10 Feb to Jul 2014 and good but forgot them on holiday for 2 weeks and took a lull, though could have been a natural slump of hormone. Dr put me on Femoston 2/10 and it has not worked since my cold turkey 2 weeks without on hol. Now on Evorel 50 and combi last month and I really am unsure as I think I am feeling worse than better. Maybe I should return to 1/10 or come off.  Really unsure. KL

[Millykin]

Such a shame. it really is confusing. after my first attempt i swore i wouldn't take it again but did, was unsure and when i had my blip my GP was going to up it to the 2/10 but i said ill give it longer. I took a bleed the first 3 months but haven't had one since and i think that's why i feel ok who knows! for 3/4 years i had only been taking a period every 3 months and never thought it was peri meno until last year when i mentioned to GP that periods every 3 months and few night sweats and she just ran tests on few occasions to see and yes. I felt ok until that then anxiety and palpitations. which i never mentioned it  might have sailed through.
I hope you find the right thing for you HRT or not, life has to be better than feeling low and not sleeping wont help things

[Hurdity]

Hi KingLiz

 

Yes it does take a while to find everything on the site - there is so much information in the menu on the left - just take it a bit at a time!

re the HRT - how were your periods when you first started HRT ie what was the reason you went to the doc in the first place and had blood tests? Were you missing periods and having fluishes and sweats etc?

 As others have said it's tricky sometimes trying to find the right HRT and especially when you are peri-menopausal and your own hormones are still fluctuating so you never know whether what you are feeling is due to the HRT or just your cycle.

Are you saying you took Femoston 2/10 since July for a few months and it hasn't worked? By hasn't worked do you mean re mood etc? Sweats? This is the best type of combi pill HRT you can take (in terms of being closest to our own hormones) other than taking oestrogen and progesterone separately.

Have you felt better at all on the Evorel patches? Some women find that the Evorel combi patches cause side effects due to the synthetic progestogen ( called norethisterone) which can cause pms type symptoms. Then you may well get the usual pmt that most of us get during the progesterone withdrawal phase - which would be the first few days back on the oestrogen only.

Unfortunately while you are peri-menopausal you still have to have a cycle and all the hormonal changes and change sin mood that goes with that. The main thing is the hRT should make you feel better overall. If it doesn;t then maybe time to think about a different type.

However it is usually recommended to try each type for 3 months to give the side effects time to settle and for the body to get used to the new regime.

Have you seen this excellent article on the peri-menopause and what's happening to your body here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/article-perils-of-the-perimenopause.php

Hope you manage to find something that makes you feel better overall  at your age it is important to take HRT - at least until the natural average age of menopause of 52-ish - to help protect your heart and bones.

There was an article recently in the Mail-online in ewhich Dr Currie advocates using HRT in peri-menopause - in case you are wavering!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2800760/should-women-hrt-menopause-experts-say-s-best-way-ease-symptoms-avoid-long-term-health-problems.html

Good luck!

Hurdity x

[KingLiz]

Thanks M and H for your replies. I took the Femoston 2/10 from Aug after not being on 1/10 on hols.  It may be that my hormone slump was coincidental when I moved to 2/10.

 Had been on implant 3 years then pill a year but got terrible headaches and taken off pill Nov 2012. No periods for 7 months into 2013 and tests confirmed I was menopausal. I've checked the ranges and definitely seems to have been meno range not peri range.  No other real symptoms until Jan 2014 when I got quite down. 1/10 worked straight away and levelled things off.  All pear shaped since Jul 2014. Been stressed and had runny tummy, so Meno clinic suggested evorel patch in case I wasn't getting enough hormone. Thyroid fine. Anxiety has not lifted and have felt worse in last few weeks and while my bleed is due next week, I got a full bleed this week when only on 3rd patch on. Due to put 4th combo on tonight and cannot face it.

  Dr next Friday but I cannot wait until then, so I may revert back to Femoston and face music with Dr next week. Do you think that would be better than coming off altogether ie at least I would still have a form of hormone replacement. Insomnia and anxiety are the worst as I do not suffer from sweats etc, although the odd hot cold at night. Done hypnotherapy and reflexology but running out of ideas. I read the Mail article and I do feel I do not recognise myself.  Lost my self confidence and forgetful. Work part time but have been off last few weeks. Can't believe this is me I am talking about.  Sorry for this melancholic tale of woe. Losing hope which is such an awful feeling.

[Millykin]

Hi
You are in a bit of a state, I was like you last year couldn't see an end to it at all. Convinced I had something more wrong, couldn't go out couldn't get up from sofa during day list is endless. I don't think you are classed as peri meno until you don't have a bleed for 2 years under the age of 54 or 1 year bleed free after age of 54. You should stick to HRT probably for few more months, don't keep changing just now as it will upset your system, try eating regularly as well and doing things about house if you can it will all help. Easier said than done I know but it does ease off and plenty of women on her will tell you that. Bloods can be unreliable of there levels but are an indicater. Irregular bleeds, low moods anxiety and sweats are the real indicaters in this. I do hope you are ok. Keep reading on here you will find it helpful
X

[KingLiz]

Thanks M. I have not been comfortable taking HRT last 8 months tbh as both my sisters did not need it and one as younger than me when she had meno. As I have not had hot sweats etc, not sure I have been a good candidate other than my age. I think I may revert to the lowest dose again as it is better than coming off altogether. The blip in July may have just coincided with a further hormonal wave and I thought it was because i had not taken it, so the increase to 2/10 may have been premature. Patches not agreeing as I have felt woozy, had a full early bleed and feel that the dose is too high for me. Decisions decisions. Thanks for your advice. Site is good and i am glad I have finally joined it. KL

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome Kingliz
Reading through your posts, it sound to me as though your own hormones may have bottomed out or at least dropped - in other words you are now further into menopause. Through the peri stage and into post menopause our own hormones tend to fluctuate and gradually drop which explains why many of use experience good and back episodes through these stages. This would explain why you may need the higher dose of HRT now.  Having said this I think some women don't need too high a dose of HRT and perhaps as you were happy on the 1/10 Femoston you should go back to that.
Until you are 50 it is wise to continue with HRt to protect your heart and bones.  If your sisters also had a premature menopause and didn't use HRT then they really should get their bone density checked to see if they should take HRT or have alternative treatment.

The progesterone in Femoston is very similar to our own hormones so this is why it is well tolerated by many women.  The progesterone in Patches is more synthetic so can often cause more side effects - this may be why you aren't feeling so good.
Do read up all the info under the headings to the left of this screen - there's some great stuff to learn about.  Dg x

[CLKD]

   …… have a browse, menus left of screen: also we have a 'funny' room 

[KingLiz]

Thanks DB and H. Persevered with final 4th conti patch even though bleeding all week anyway which would not have been due until next week. Very tempted to return to the 1/10 on Monday when new 4 wkly phase of HRT commences. Also checking out a homeopathy contact this week. KL

[KingLiz]

Ps that was thanks to DG and CKLD btw.

[Millykin]

It is a tough one, can't tell you what to do but personally I would start Femoston 1/10 again and let it settle in your system, you seemed ok on this until you forgot it and then straight onto 2/10. It's horrible feeling that way but just focus on one type for now and getting through each day trying to take your mind off feelings (I know very hard ) I found I was thinking on it too much taking over my everyday life, just try to think positive each day, tell yourself each night tomorrow will be a good day, when we feel like this it's all to easy to go changing HRT all the time or looking for things to give us a quick fix. As DG said it really is best for you bones to take HRT and Femoston is a good one, just persevere,
I can honestly say I was just like you even a few months into Femoston but stuck with it and I do feel normal again ( one bad day few weeks ago just told myself it'll pass) it's days like that when you look for other things too help. Wow I'm full of it today 
Keep posting chin up it will get better x

[Kathleen]

Hello KingLiz

Sorry to hear that you are suffering. I remember insomnia being an early meno problem for me but that phase passed quickly and didn't re-occur so hopefully that will be the same for you.

There is lots of support on this site which I'm sure you'll find helpful.

Take care.

K. 

[Hurdity]

Hi again KingLiz

If you are still peri-menopausal (and as you were only 7 months without a period you cannot say - it has to be 12 months before you are classed as having reached menopause) then your own hormones may still be fluctuating - I think I mentioned this before? This means that even if taking HRT your own cycle/hormones may well override the HRT now and again - and for example may be responsible for the early bleed you experienced on the Evorel sequi patch combo.

Patch HRT does deliver a more consistent dose of oestrogen but also as I said below norethisterone (in the Evorel conti patch you take for the second 2 weeks of the cycle) can give rise to some strange feelings and side effects. I gather these do settle for many women but others like me, find they don't.

Your alternatives are to go persevere with the Evorel for a couple of months, go back to the Femoston 1/10, or try something completely different. I would be tempted to keep going with the patches for a while longer if you can cope - mainly because as you've already been told by your clinic, if you have an unstable gut then oestrogen absorption from tablet HRT can be variable.

This probably hasn't helped much but hope you feel better soon 

Hurdity x