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[sev70]

Hi everyone! I am fairly new here (this is only my second post), but this forum is brilliant!! However, I am at a stage where I am SO fed up with feeling like a human guinea pig!! There is NO memo clinic around here in Brighton (both my GP and I have searched and there is none - the closest one being London!).

In 5 1/2 years since being diagnosed as peri (at age 39), I have been given as many different HRT. None agree with me. Back on Tibolone for 2 days, my right onside pain is back (I was put on patches before and that stopped the pains and constant nausea but they didn't stick well at all).

I am SO sick of it all!!! Has anyone here decided to stop HRT all together and go through the hell that comes with it? I had forgotten about pains and chronic diarrhoea while I was on patches but now I am back on Tibolone, I REMEMBER!! I remember I even HAD a gallbladder scan (that revealed a very healthy gallbladder apparently) at one stage while previously being on Tibolone, and it's all coming back to me now (the memories of the pain on right onside and nausea!)

Should I just stop it all and "sod my bones and the rest of it"!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[CLKD]

   I am sure that you need some bone and heart protection which is what HRT can do.  How is your diet and exercise? 

I am sure that someone with HRT knowledge will be along ……… have a browse of the pull-down menus, top of screen.  Ask away!

[Joyce]

I'm on oestrogen only, but know what it's like to come off it. I felt awful! I'm already lactose intoleran,  so take calcium supplements which GP advised. Also taking Omega 3 which is meant to help the heart. Now on very low dose oestrogen.

Sure someone else will post & give more advice.

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome sev70
Do tel us all the different HRt types you have tried.  DG x

[sev70]

Thank you for ur replies everyone! To answer ur questions: I walk about an hour a day (brisk with dog), I have a BMI of 21, I smoke and don't want to stop because I am a rebel haha!, I have been given calcium and vit D but stopped taking that unpalatable chalk long ago. I asked for a different brand but they refused, saying the one I want is not prescribed on the NHS. So that's that. I already have to pay for my prescription and between the antidepressants and HRT, I already spend a fortune.

HRT I have been on:
1) Cyclo progynova 2mg - after 2 years, suddenly bled heavily for 6 weeks so they changed it to
2) Elleste Duet mg - gave me terrible depression and hair loss, so they gave me antidepressants and changed the HRT to:
3) Tibolone - after 2 years on it, they discovered a cyst on my ovaries so changed me (against my wish) to:
4) Climagest 2mg - this flared up my IBS massively so I ask from transdermal patches so they gave me:
5) femseven Sequi - no IBS but patches week 1 never stayed on so night sweats returned with a vengeance.

At that point, I made a complain at GP. Saw a memo specialist who told me that her colleague got it wrong and if I was well on Tibolone, I should get back on it straight away.

So now I am on Tibolone again, but IBS is back with a vengeance, side pain and nausea as well.

I know I need the oestrogen for bones etc, but I'm sick of feeling sick!!

What else is there on the market?

I met an incredible woman in the waiting room of the gynea on Saturday. She was 89 years old and showed us all how high she can kick. She does kickboxing can u believe it?

She told me the chalk given by GP do nothing more than deposit itself in the kidneys but nothing to ur bones. She was well educated on the subject (her medical explanation were really thorough and I can't repeat what she said word for word), and so she said that unless there is citrate in with the calcium, there's no point taking it. And there is no citrate in the gp's prescribed calcium.

I hope that info help. Shame I was called in then because I wld have asked her advice on HRT haha!!!

Thanks for reading this!!

[honeybun]

How about Evorel Sequi patches.

I have digestive problems and they suit me fine, and they stick really well.


Honeybun
X

[Dancinggirl]

Hi sev70
I think you need to come at this from another angle.
If you are happy on the Tibolone then I would stick with this.  I somehow doubt that this will be having that much effect on your IBS and I am wondering if you need to address the IBS rather than chop and change the HRT in the hope you will find something that will improve the digestive problems. Your posts sound as though you are really stressed out -  sometimes lifestyle changes will allow the body to sort itself out.
Have you had investigations regarding the IBS? I would discuss your diet and lifestyle with a qualified dietician/nutritianist (perhaps ask your GP for a recommendation) - mental stresses and anxiety can trigger and effect our digestive system so even trying some CBT or Mindful Meditation could be beneficial.

You say that you smoke!!!! I'm afraid smoking does have an effect on everything and it's all very well being a rebel but if you want to feel good then giving up smoking could be the best thing you ever do. Smoking effects the way your body absorbs HRT so maybe this is why you are feeling sick and suffer with IBS - perhaps find a healthier way to 'rebel'
You could try Oestrogel with Utrogestan but I find the Utrogestan (micronised progesterone) triggers a bit of IBS with me so I doubt it would be any better for you.
I hope that helps.  Dg x

[sev70]

Ooooh Honeybun!! No I haven't tried those!! Thanks for that, I will take note!

Dg: thank you so much for ur reply. Well, with reference to the stopping smoking business, I have tried and tried to stop in the past but it made me very ill. I had dreadful shortness of breath, a chronic cough and cold, flu symptoms for the best part of the first 3 weeks, and I became Cruella Devil to the point of my family and friends telling me to have one!! I now smoke an ecig and a couple of real cigarettes a day in the evening "if I have been good and restrained myself (ie ecig only during the day". That's the best I am prepared to do. I use to smoke up to 40/day for 20 yrs+++, so all in all, I think I will "plateau" there. Smoking is an addiction. If I don't REALLY want to stop, there is no point even trying. It's ALL in the WANTING to stop, and I cannot envisage myself smoke free FOR LIFE. The thought of that horrifies me. I just can't see it happening! The fact that I saw my dear father dying in agony from smoke related cancer 11 yrs ago does not budge me either. It's very odd... And yes, I must sound crazy and irresponsible to u but I can't help but be me.

I do practise mindfulness meditation as often as I can (in the evenings, that's how I fall asleep. There is no other quiet time during the day. I have had 5 years of therapy after being married to a nasty nasty man who destroyed me completely and have also had CBT and ongoing counselling for the past 20 yrs, so I do know well about anxiety and depression. But I still have scars, visible or not.

As for my IBS, I was diagnosed at age 16 after scans and tests. I have seen a dietetician back then and continue to educate myself in what's a trigger and what isn't. My IBS and anxietr have been going out of control at the beginning of meno and now they are managed with antidepressants.

Thank you so much for having given me the time to read me and reply. It is very much appreciated.

[LW44]

hi. can i just ask.. was it the progestrone tabs in the elleste duet which caused depression? just asking as i had to stop the green tabs as couldnt tolerate..so just take the white oestrogen only ones..but still suffering low mood.. not tried anything else yet..

[sev70]

Hi LW44! YES!!! It did!!! I "dipped" terribly when taking the blue pills!! Eventually, I dipped and stayed there. It was becoming dangerous. That's why my GP changed it!

[sev70]

Oops!! We're the pills green or blue?? Now I can't remember! 😳 I don't think it matters. What matters is that the "non white ones" were pulling me down...

[Dancinggirl]

Yep, progesterone is usually the problem. It's about finding one that suits you.  As I mentioned before, you could try the patches HB suggested or Oestrogel with Utrogestan - Utrogestan has a slightly sedative effect  and you have to take it on an empty stomach before bed but it does give you a better nights sleep!!!!
I do understand about the smoking and it sounds as though you are trying to control the amount you smoke which is a good step forward.  I think he ecigs are probably and good compromise.
Keeping anxiety and low mood at bay is probably the hardest thing to control with the meno  - again it's about trial and error till you find what works for you. Just keep trying new strategies  - perhaps keep a diary to see what things effect you and when.  DG x

[LW44]

green ..blue... cant remember myself ! went in the bin...awful..dr told me to stop them straight away..said my mood would have been down to floor if i carried on with them ! scared me to death.. so just taking baby steps with yhe oestrogen only till next appointment.. but still terrified these are giving me low mood... x

[LW44]

ps. i was a smoker for year... and understand about not actually " wanting" to give up... went on e cig two years ago before all this peri kicked in.. not had a cigarette since - have to say e cig is a permanent fixture in my hand !  also.. and i know this isnt great advice..i dont think if menopausal i could have given up..would have tipped me over the edge.. x

[Mary G]

sev 70, I was also going to suggest oestrogen gel and utrogestan 100mg progesterone but I was beaten to it by dancinggirl!  The specialist I see does not recommend Tibolone for younger women (only his opinion I suppose) but always recommends oestrogen gel every day (two or three pumps rubbed into your arms and thighs) plus 100mg utrogestan (taken vaginally in my case for fewer side effects) for 7 days per month.  The oestrogen gel is easily absorbed into your blood stream and is more effective with fewer side effects because it by-passes your liver.  Your doctor sounds helpful, why not ask her to prescribe it for you?

I think you will notice a difference with this regime, I know I did.  Like yourself, I had tried many other forms of HRT before this but I can honestly say that oestrogen gel has changed my life.  Other forms of oral HRT gave me indigestion and itching and were pretty ineffectual.  The only problem I have now is progesterone intolerance but I hope you don't have this problem.

Please let us know how you get on.