Hi Bloss
What a bummer, thought you'd got all sorted! Don't despair, you will find a solution.
I didn't want to read and run but as I said before I'm no expert on HRT, no doubt a regular HRT poster will be along soon to offer advice. It sounds to me as if your own cycle is now doing the fandango which would indicate a move further into peri. Specialists tried everything to 'manage' my hormone rises and falls at this stage and it is awfully tricky. Trying to alleviate the oestrogen falls with gels, patches etc is very difficult as at this stage our cycles can be all over the place.
I'm flying out (hah, late should be there already!!) but will cut and paste from another thread a description of what happens to me in both ovulatory and anovulatory cycles, perhaps you can see some parallels. I would say that flushes normally indicate a fall of oestrogen in the early peri stages, thus just before a period, if you don't ovulate, the FSH builds again to try to stimulate another viable follicle so there can also be an oestrogen drop mid cycle too. Your vaginal mucus might be able to tell you what's going on here. (see my old post below)
Sorry to cut this short but friends will be cursing me!! I'll come back later.
Lots of love to you, you'll get this sorted! x
This is the old post.....
For many years I've had specialists from a number of disciplines trying to manage my chronic migraine. Bloods have been taken regularly; fertility monitors were used daily, temps were monitored and comprehensive daily records kept. All tests confirmed what I already knew was happening. I've been menstruating for 44 years now, despite the chaos of peri, I can still pretty much read my body like a book.
If I ovulate, slippery egg-white type cervical mucus appears just before ovulation, I get ovulation pain and a slight bloody show and front of breast tenderness. The mucus would last for about 2 days then disappear, as would the breast tenderness. The bleed would arrive about 13 days later accompanied by period cramps, swollen breasts, bloating and migraine that could rebound for anything up to 13 days. Then the whole thing would start again. If I ovulate, this happens without fail.
If the cycle is unovulatory, slippery egg-white type cervical mucus builds and front of breast tenderness starts. There is no ovulation pain and no bloody show. The mucus stops suddenly for a couple of days and then rebuilds, the breasts swell hugely, necessitating bigger bras and they become very, very painful. I start bloating and can literally put on half a stone. All can continue like this for anything up to 6-7 weeks. These oestrogen highs can be off the Richter scale, all has been measured.
A sudden drop manifests itself as a sudden cessation of all of the above symptoms: it feels like I've been slung against a wall. I pee constantly, a monster migraine kicks in which is what happened this weekend and which can rebound for ages. Sometimes I will then get an anovulatory bleed. The cervical mucus is still present and mixes with the blood loss. It looks different to the loss of a normal period. My body is pretty adept at shedding any endometrial build up from these oestrogen surges. It's had plenty of practice!
