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[pepperminty]

Hi ladies,

It was all going so well and now I am almost back to square one. I was feeling so much better after 6 months of Femeston 1/10. I looked better - no black zombie circles etc, and coped better. Now I am becoming a wreck again. I have upped my dose of femeston to see if this will help. I still feel awful. My aches are back again, I feel so unhappy and tearful.
I have the zombie look back - black rings around my eyes, which is strange as I am sleeping like a log every night. I have woken up with a banging headache , like I have a hangover,( I don't drink).
My hands hurt ,my feet hurt, my scalp hurts, and I haven't got a clue why. My logical brain is not working at all.
I haven't a clue what is the best action to take. Shall I finish the packet of 2/10 and go back to 1/10. But I had the aches back at the end of the last pack of 1/10.
The scared and desperate feelings have all resurfaced.
I actually don't even know if I am making sense at the moment.
At 48 the thought of going through this for another few years is daunting.
I am going to see if I can talk to the meno nurse today. I need to be well enough to work again , but I cannot function, think or rationalise anything at the moment.
I haven't a clue what the best thing is to do - more oestrogen- less oestrogen, different type, nothing, stay same ?

Pepperminty xx

[Hurdity]

Hi pepperminty

So sorry to hear you are feeling rough again.  It's so difficult to know what the answer is at this stage. How far are you into the second packet? Please just remind us where you were in meno when you satarted HRT ie re periods etc?

Do you think you are progesterone intolerant? Perhaps it could still be your own hormones fluctuating making you feel like this? Heacache and hangover feeling - I get this sometimes on the progesterone phase, and I used to get it after the progesterone withdrawal too. It's horrilble isn't it?

Have you had blood tests to look at other things too eg thyroid, blood sugar etc? Other metabolic areas seem to go awry sometimes at this point too.

Sorry I can't help further but just wanted to give you a and hope you feel better soon. Good luck with the meno nurse.

Hurdity x

[Mary G]

Pepperminty, I have just been reading up on your medication and it would appear you are on the lower dose version.  My guess would be that you are not getting enough oestrogen and you need to up the dose. 

If you go on to the higher dose and it still doesn't work, I would suggest you change medication.  I was on Angeliq (oral continuous combined) 1mg oestrogen/2mg progesterone and it was pretty ineffectual and I hardly knew I was taking it, so much so, I started topping it up with a 50mg oestrogen patch and that was just about acceptable.

As Hurdity said, you could be progesterone intolerant (like me) and that could be the problem.  With hindsight, I now realise that (a) I do not get on with oral HRT due to poor absorption and (b) the artificial progesterone content (which is completely different from the progesterone you produce naturally yourself in your reproductive years) in said product pushes my oestrogen levels too low rendering the whole process pretty useless. 

I have now changed my medication and use 3 pumps of estrogen gel every day plus 7 capsules of Utrogestan progesterone (used vaginally) every 5 weeks but I cheat and usually only use about 4.  I also use testosterone gel and DHEA tablets every day.  Unless I have a hysterectomy or someone finds a way of disabling the womb while taking oestrogen, this is as good as it will get for me but it does work and I would recommend it because it is the best regime I have had by far.  For those who are lucky enough not to be progesterone intolerant, I would say it is a near perfect solution.

Hope that helps.

[Kathleen]

Hello pepperminty.

Sorry to see that you are suffering.
I'm afraid I can't give you any specific advice but I wanted you to know that I share your frustration!  I am using Evorel Conti 50 mcg patch atm and whenever I feel normal and dare to dream that this whole meno rubbish is behind me, I seem to take a step back and feel rotten again.

I wish I knew the answer and I genuinely feel sorry for us all!

Take care and sending hugs to you.

K.

[pepperminty]

Hi,

thanks everyone.
To answer your question Hurdity , I am 48 and in the peri stage which has started at least 4 years ago (but I didn't know it then). I was having periods , but missing the odd month.
 I have been on Femeston 1/10 since march this year and have just changed to femeton 2/10 as I was having to up my dose with half a tablet of oestrogen from an old pack as it wasn't quite enough in terms of relieving the symptoms.

I am now on day 11 of the oestrogen only part of the pack. I have all my old symptoms back - aches , fog etc when I was taking the last pack of 1/10 that's why I changed to 2/10.But even though I am sleeping like a log, I feel and look more tired. The aches are back and I am on the verge of crying again.

I have had all the blood tests at the beginning of the year and they were fine.

I know in the peri stage it is ups and downs , but do I need more oestrogen now?
My skin has gone dry over night from being glowing and I look and feel like a zombie again.
I don't think it is the progesterone as when I do get on that part of the packet although I don't feel brilliant towards the last few tablets, it is tolerable.

I haven't a clue whether you need more oestrogen at this stage in the meno or not.

Perhaps I do need to up my dose?

Thanks ladies for your support, it is scary being/ feeling like this.

Pepperminty xx

[CLKD]

    it's probably your own hormones having a party  .  Ring a Pharmacist and ask if it is possible to up the dosesge?

[GypsyRoseLee]

Hello Pepperminty

I was wondering how you are. I am so sorry you have suddenly dipped again just when it seemed you had win through. I know how challenging you found those first few months.

One thing occured to me. Could you be struggling with progesterone withdrawal? You said you can tolerate prog fairly well? But now several days into the oestrogen stage you started feeling awful?

The only other thing I can suggest is possibly swapping to the Pill? I only say this because you are still young to be wrestling with Perimenopause and your own hormones could well still be too vigorous for HRT to subdue?

I wish I could wave a wand to make all this awful hormonal turmoil disappear.

[Briony]

Hi Pepperminty, like GRL, I too was wondering how you were  doing. Coincidentally, I was also about to start a thread along the lines of 'can hormonal treatments stop working?'. I've felt so well during the first seven months on a very low dose pill, but this month a few of my old symptoms have returned . I wonder if, in both our cases, we're now needing something stronger? X

[pepperminty]

Hi all,

Yes GRL and Briony, I think it has stopped working , from what I can make out the HRT is supposed to override your own hormones and it appears to have stopped doing that at the moment. My arms are now itchy too. I have a really foggy brain again and can't even spell words at the moment, or retain any information. I feel so crap mood wise too. This is all so frustrating as I was doing so well. I am waiting for the meno nurse to call and hopefully she will suggest something, but I bet she will say carry on with the 2/20 for another month or so and see what happens. This will mean that I cannot actually work as I haven't the energy to do much or the capacity to think clearly.
I would cry, but I can't even do that, I feel blank. What a mare.

I hope that you are feeling better GRL.
I am sorry that your symptoms are coming back Briony.

Pepperminty xx

[pepperminty]

Hi ladies,

I have an appointment with the nurse in 2 weeks. She said to take the 2/10 until then and we will discuss options then. I have been getting a period that lasts for 9/10 days and this may be contributing to my tiredness.
From what I know, and I could be wrong, if my period is this long it means that the progesterone probably isn't strong enough.
I hate feeling like this as there is nothing I can do about it. I am usually such a positive person and it is impossible to be positive when your hormones and your body are playing against you and winning hands down.
She also suggested I get tested for thyroid etc , but my doctor already did this at the beginning of the year along with all the other usual tests and nothing showed up.

Oh how I long to be one of those ladies who sale through, thought I was for one brief moment.

Pepperminty xx

[GypsyRoseLee]

It's a shame you can't see her for 2 weeks, it seems like forever when you're feeling so on edge and fraught.

Assuming that nothing untoward has happened in your daily life, it can only be something chemical/physiologically going on to suddenly cause your symptoms. And to me that is most likely your hormones at work causing havoc.

I wish I had been taking the Pill longer so I could give you hope that it is more effective than HRT, but it's only been 14 days. But very early signs are very positive.

I think when you are still peri menopausal it's very tricky for HRT to stabilise your mood swings because they're so erratic. HRT only really 'tops up' your own hormones. If your own hormones are constantly fluctuating HRT can only really follow suit. Whereas the Pill totally shuts down your own hormones production.

I really hope you get some good advice and support from your meno nurse.

[pepperminty]

Hi ladies,

another crap morning I am afraid. Aches are dreadful, I am weepy, exhausted and have bad headache. All this seems to have been worse since I started the higher dose, but I cannot be sure that it wouldn't have happened any way!! My life is fine at the moment , so it is purely hormonal. The nurse told me the 2/10 hasn't had time to kick in , but I am not convinced that this is the reason for all this as I had upped my dose by half a tablet anyway. I could sleep right now even though I had at least 7 hours last night and shouldn't feel tired.

Peppermintyxx