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[Taz2]

Hi shazzie - sorry you had a disappointing visit but do go back. Before you go print off info from this site about how, nowadays, it is considered ok for women to be on HRT at least until 60 (where benefits exceed the risks) and even in your sixties (risks and benefits equal). I haven't got time to find the links at the minute but it would be worth having a good look around the various threads and the info under the drop down menu at the top of the screen.

I've been off mine now for eight weeks - I feel much better in myself in that I have lost weight, feel much less depressed and energetic (surprisingly) but the flushes and sweats are just beginning to become more regular - every forty minutes now - so I will probably restart soon.

Taz x

[Taz2]

Have had a quick look at the drop-down menu while waiting for the washing machine cycle to finish before I visit the supermarket (exciting life I lead!) and the first thing I found was this which says that if you are under 60 and experiencing menopausal symptoms then the benefits outweigh the risks http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/balance.php

Taz x

[Shazzie]

That's a really helpful link Taz.  Thanks so much and sorry you are starting to suffer again after eight weeks.

I've managed to get an appt with my own doc on 23rd Feb so fingers crossed she will be more helpful. 

xx

[Taz2]

Exactly Stellajane! HRT used to make me feel good - it's strange how now that I'm older a lot of "me" doesn't seem to benefit apart from the pelvic floor and the temperature control!! It's so annoying. Last week there were slight warmer moments...the beginning of this week I was waking up in the night throwing the covers off... last night when out for a meal the first "real" one hit and I tried to follow the thread of conversation while that all too familiar trickle began under my breasts and then the make up felt like it was sliding off my face and my fringe stuck to my forehead... today it's every forty minutes on the button!

Taz x

[Hurdity]

Shazzie

I agree with Taz - you should be able to continue with HRT as long as you want and especially as you are only 55 - I didn;t start it until I was almost 54 and still on it 9 years later!

Taz I didn't know you'd stopped HRT again and wondering why at this point when you went through all that suffering a while back, and especially as you don't have to take the dreaded prog any more? Since my last attempt at reducing the dose even marginally - and the consequent return of flushes and sweats, I've wimped out of even trying to come off despite the dreaded prog - at least for the time being!!

Hurdity x

[Taz2]

Hi Hurdity - I should have posted about it really but it was an experiment to see if I could stop feeling so anxious. Just before Christmas the anxiety was really bad and it had tipped over into the agoraphobia type which affects quite a few people who have a panic disorder (didn't know that was what I had until the GP said!). I could still go to work but anything that involved travelling too far or meeting up with people for lunch or dinner was getting very difficult. It was as if I had a piece of elastic tethering me to the house! I wondered whether the HRT could be to blame so decided to stop it. Within a couple of weeks I felt much less anxious and able to take on stuff again and my mood has really lifted too. It could be coincidence of course. I have also lost 8lbs in weight without changing anything and feel less bloated. The low stomach pain I've been experiencing has almost totally disappeared and bowels are much better.

The downside is the hot sweats beginning to return. A bit of vaginal and bladder discomfort (the main reason the doc gave me HRT back) a real increase in my Rosacea, very dry skin and not so good sleeping.

Without the HRT I know that I am at risk of vaginal vault prolapse - this is to do with tissue type as much as anything and although I can help by remembering the pelvic floor exercises every day there is still nothing like oestrogen to help keep the tissues strong. I had persuaded the doc to give me a prescription for Estradot 75 but now think that I will restart the 50 instead. Damned if you do and damned if you don't as the OH said last night!

Taz x 

[Hurdity]

Oh dear! Taz  . It's all a bit of a mystery really what everything is due to. I still think that some of us need a much higher dose of oestrogen to give us that feel good factor - I know in my case for example that I feel flat a lot of the time (but much better in the summer!) - not depressed or anything but just lacking in oomph like I did when I was fertile.

However replacing this through HRT obviously isn't the whole picture - after all our endocrine system is complex and all sorts of other hormones that we barely know anything about also milling around so HRT only approximates this! Not only that we all react differently to replacing it through HRT and added to that if you've had a hysterectomy this may also affect the impact of added oestrogen.

Did you actually try the 75mcg oestrogen? In your position if you are still feeling low on the 50mcg I would be tempted to try it for 3 months after getting used to the 50 mcg again just to see if I felt better - as you don't need any progesterone, but this may not do the trick!

The weight gain is not so good though - I can understand your not being enamoured of this! I have to be permanently on quite a strict diet to keep my weight down - but not sure if this is because of the HRT, thyroid, age or what!

Anyway as you say it could be coincidence but you can't really know - at least I hope you feel better overall back on the oestrogen - that's the important thing - and to protect your bladder etc

Hurdity x

[Taz2]

I didn't change to the 75mcg because I wondered whether the stomach issues would get worse with the higher dose, plus the anxiety too? Also, my blood pressure was raised - 135/88 and the doc didn't like that. She is a little bit wary (new doctor as my lovely one has left) about me being on HRT at this age and was only really swayed by the letter from the pelvic floor specialist so the blood pressure increasing (it was always around 120/70) spooked her a bit. I was supposed to go back to the machine in the waiting room three times in the next week to take it and hand the results in to reception but ... I didn't. Just the thought of sitting there with all those eyes on me ( ha ha like they would even be bothering to watch ) while I used it would send it up I'm sure!

Friends are always saying that I should try anti-d's as they are convinced I am depressed but I just think that at this age then there's not that much to look forward to which I guess could be depression! I do miss that ooomph feeling too Hurdity - got and go has got up and left as my mum used to say!  It's so hard to work it all out as to what causes what but I was surprised to feel better without it. I really did think it was the progesterone which was the culprit.

I've decided to restart it tonight and make an appointment for next week or next month knowing the long wait at our docs at the minute to discuss the anxiety part of it.

Taz x 

[coldethyl]

I know nothing about HRT Taz, but would think that feeling anxious is as likely a cause of your rising BP as the HRT. Mine was really high at times when I was very anxious over Xmas and New Year to the point that my GP told me to stop taking it as I was just giving myself white coat syndrome at home!! Hoping it's ok when I go for my diabetic check up as thought of more pills is a big mehhhhh.