It's been a month since I ripped off my last patch after tapering down for only 2 weeks. I had intended to stay on the lowest dose a bit longer, but I felt well and didn't want to bother with cycling progesterone again, so I quit.
It's difficult to say whether I'm having any menopause symptoms since quitting. A round of flu and a GI virus have run through my house in the month, so my few issues could be pinned on the virus or the menopause. I had a migraine during the 2 weeks of tapering, almost certainly hormonal, then another just after going completely hrt free. The second headache may have been related to the GI virus. In the last week, I've had flushing and night sweats, but again, we have the flu.
What I can say for certain is that I am emotionally in a much better place than I was several weeks ago. Since December I had been suffering a frightening depression. I thought the cycling progesterone was to blame or the 200mg dose was too high, but 100 mg was equally dangerous for me, and even on only estrogen the depression lingered. All that is gone. My motivation is back! I'm not feeling fabulous, obviously, with the illnesses this month, but I feel more myself. Now when I cry, which I can only think of one cry in the month, it's me crying, not my hormones.
So I don't know what will happen as I go longer without. My last bleed was 6 weeks ago when I stopped the progesterone. Before hrt, I recall my problems seemed to build the longer I went without a period. I am nervous about the heat as we're moving into warmer weather soon. I have no idea how I will deal with symptoms if they come up. I do know now that the patch and progesterone weren't for me. That was not a fun little experiment!
