Jak03, if I were you, I would immediately increase the dose to 2mg Ellesse and it that doesn't work, swap the tablets for Oestrogel and I will explain why. Obviously this is just my own personal experience and opinion but (most importantly) I hope it helps you and others reading this.
I originally had a Mirena coil in 1998 for contraception but once my oestrogen started dropping drastically in 2003 (aged 42), I started to have real problems.
The very first problem was what I thought to be thrush and cystitis but it was vaginal irritation and drying caused by lack of oestrogen and too much progesterone in the coil even though it was about to expire - I was told in 1998 that the Mirena had a 10 year lifespan. The other problem that kicked off in 2004 was silent migraines also caused by too much synthetic progesterone and very low oestrogen. It was at this point that I started sweating far more than before and it was horrid although to this day I have never had a hot flush or night sweats.
I had various tests and my oestrogen levels were frequently rock bottom and FSH sky high so I immediately started on oestrogen patches (with the Mirena still in place) but they didn't work and I couldn't get anything like enough oestrogen out of them. So I felt very much the way you do now, very flat and very low and wondering why none of the HRT I had tried was working. In the end, I gave up on the coil and had it removed. I had a year off HRT altogether (no periods so post menopause) but got sick of the sweating so I tried Angeliq (continuous combined form of HRT) and failed, tried Angeliq plus top up patches for extra oestrogen which was somewhat better but I still felt half backed, tried oestrogen patches (I got up to 100mcg) and Utrogestan and failed. I would add that I was completely on my own with this because I had a useless GP so I had to work it all out for myself and buy the various types HRT (but not the Mirena of course) over the counter in Spanish pharmacies.
I finally reached breakthrough after wasting a lot of time on stuff that didn't work and I am now on the Oestrogel (oestrogen gel you rub on your skin) and Utrogestan (you won't need this if you have the Mirena coil) regime and it works extremely well. I don't have any menopause symptoms or any of the problems I had before as long as I keep to a super low dose of Utrogestan. I am now 56 and about 10 years post menopause.
As I regularly say on here, I wish I had tried Oestrogel with the Mirena coil but I had never heard of it until I consulted Professor Studd. I think the gel would have worked better with the Mirena because it is flexible, you can easily adjust the dose up or down and it is easily absorbed. The progesterone in the Mirena is very strong and it does get into your overall system so you will probably need quite a high dose of oestrogen to counter the side effects (low, flat mood) and frankly, 1mg of oestrogen is not enough.
I hope that helps! I can't guarantee that any of this will work but it has to be worth a try.
I joined MM in the hope that my terrible experience and endless failures can help others fast track to something that works better.
