Hi Annie
Welcome to MM!
Read lots of earlier posts and comments to help get a general idea of the current information re HRT.
Your symptoms are really common and can be significantly helped by daily continuous oestrogen gel i.e. Oestrogel (transdermal gels or patches are a much safer and more effective HRT compared to oral/tablet HRT), a very small dose of daily Testim gel (testosterone) and a short dose of micronised of progesterone (Utrogestan) at 100 mgs daily for 7 days.
I had all the symptoms you have. My GP said I was too old at 55 (!) to up my crap tablets HRT (Femoston 1/10) and offered me anti-depressants, which I didn't want as I knew my problems were hormonal in origin, which subsequently proved correct (I had incredibly low oestrogen levels despite being on Femoston, plus the progesterone aspect of Femoston really adversely affected me)
So AD's wouldn't work for me and I didn't want to spend the last third of my life as an anxious walking zombie, semi bald, my own beard and eyes like two dead oysters. I'd quite like a date before I die.
Long story short, paid £300 to see Prof. Studd privately, was prescribed his treatment regime (see above) back in April this year.
Since then, my aches, pains, low mood, crap skin, loss of libido, VA, etc., etc., have all gone and I feel better than I have done for years, compared with oral HRT.
I can only suggest that like me (and I was a real numpty re info about HRT before I decided to do something about my hormonal problems as my GP was clearly not interested in helping me) you read the posts on here, get as much info as possible and then go back armed to your GP with the right and up to date information re HRT?
Deffo transdermal options for oestrogen and testosterone (gels, patches or implants) are the preferred clinically proven option, as they are a much safer and far more effective option to use, as compared to the oral (tablet) forms.
Why any medic would suggest using oral forms of these forms of HRT is debatable, other than a) ignorance, b) it's a bit (but not much) cheaper and c) a belief that that the "one size fits all" of the current NHS guidelines is appropriate. It's not. Women vary, so HRT should be given at the right hormones, at the right dosage and in the right format.
So if you can read previous posts on MM - there is plenty of information in different threads- you will get an idea of current views.
But I can recommend getting the HRT transdermal gels, plus micronised progesterone for 7 days at 100mg a month. The latter is lower than the NHS recommends but you still get the necessary monthly withdrawal bleed but without the horrible side effects you can get on the NHS regime and which puts a lot of women off from continuing with a HRT regime and all the very many positive benefits it gives when appropriately prescribed.
In the last four months since I've been on the regime, I have found it life changing. Plus I get it prescribed on the NHS via my GP.
So read around on MM first and come back with more questions if you have them?
Freckles x
