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[Snowbear]

Hello

I wonder if anyone can help me? I'm a post menopausal woman (4 years since last period) and after nearly 4 years of severe symptoms and dabbling with hormone creams, I've decided to give HRT a go. I did a few weeks on Estrogel but decided to give HRT tablets a try instead.

I've been on Elleste Duet Conti (2mg of Estradiol & 1mg progesterone) for just over a month. My hot flushes are sooo much better (this is the only thing that's worked. I was getting them every half hour). My vaginal dryness is much better. My imsomnia is improving, I think and I'm having less internal shaking.

Apart from that, nothing else has changed. It would be very difficult to know if I was reacting to this HRT as I've been very ill for years after being given anti depressants and benzos after my last period, all of which gave me horrific lasting side effects and severe withdrawal syndrome. (I came off all these medications 3 years ago.)

Apart from the good changes (hot flashes and vaginal dryness) I've been crying a lot (although this has happened on and off over the years but had got a lot better), my boobs are very painful and swollen (a minor thing but a side effect nevertheless) and my brain zaps have got worse (these started after coming off antidepressants and haven't left since). I was hoping that the severe fatigue and all over pain, crushing fatigue, depression, anxiety, agitation, gastritis, visual disturbances etc and general inability to function would improve on HRT but so far, nothing.

As I say, given that I've been very ill anyway for years, I wouldn't know if the new HRT was causing side effects like increased fatigue or agitation as I have these all the time anyway!

As I've only been on the Elleste Conti Duet tablets about a month, should I continue as I am and then review things when I've been on HRT for 3 months?

Out of interest, is is possible to take Elleste Solo with bioidentical progesterone instead of taking the elleste duet conti? It's early days and I probably need to give this a proper trial but I wonder if the progesterone in these tablets might not be suiting me.

Thank you.

[MicheleMaBelle]

Hi snowbear
You sound as if you're having a horrible time of it.
Also sounds as if you've suffered from PMS for most of your life and that it's progesterone causing the problem. You may want to steer clear of any treatment with norethisterone as the progesterone element as it can cause nasty side effects if you are progesterone intolerant.
You can try a separate patch pill or gel for the oestrogen part and take Utrogestan separately ( micronised progesterone) Taking it vaginally can help with side effects.
Some women have problems ( me included) with any sort of progesterone and taking it at the recommended doses. If this is the case and your GP or consultant agrees, you can try taking it for a shorter period of time, under medical supervision and backed up with annual scans of your womb lining as the risk of endometrial cancer can be greater. BUT
You're not there yet...You do need to give it time and tweaks may be required. Some women just don't get on with HRT at all.
I would keep going with your existing regime ( if you can but if you feel increasingly worse, ask for another ) for another few weeks. You can then ask for a treatment regime that contains a kinder progesterone ( some women get on with Femeston, others a gel or patch with utrogestan. Have a read on the different preparations on this site and book a double appointment with your doc.)

Sorry you're having such a hard time and I hope you can get through this and find something that works for you soon.
X

[Snowbear]

Hi snowbear
You sound as if you're having a horrible time of it.
Also sounds as if you've suffered from PMS for most of your life and that it's progesterone causing the problem. You may want to steer clear of any treatment with norethisterone as the progesterone element as it can cause nasty side effects if you are progesterone intolerant.
You can try a separate patch pill or gel for the oestrogen part and take Utrogestan separately ( micronised progesterone) Taking it vaginally can help with side effects.
Some women have problems ( me included) with any sort of progesterone and taking it at the recommended doses. If this is the case and your GP or consultant agrees, you can try taking it for a shorter period of time, under medical supervision and backed up with annual scans of your womb lining as the risk of endometrial cancer can be greater. BUT
You're not there yet...You do need to give it time and tweaks may be required. Some women just don't get on with HRT at all.
I would keep going with your existing regime ( if you can but if you feel increasingly worse, ask for another ) for another few weeks. You can then ask for a treatment regime that contains a kinder progesterone ( some women get on with Femeston, others a gel or patch with utrogestan. Have a read on the different preparations on this site and book a double appointment with your doc.)

Sorry you're having such a hard time and I hope you can get through this and find something that works for you soon.
X

Ah, thank you Michelemabelle. Yes you're right, I have had PMS ever since my periods started and a history of hormonal problems and operations.

I will do as you suggested. I'm reviewing the hrt with the doctor in a couple of weeks and I can discuss options with him then. I want to try to keep going with the current hrt for the full 3 months to see if things settle down. Unfortunately they don't give out patches at my doctor's surgery. I like the idea of trying elleste solo tablets with the progesterone you recommended.

I really appreciate your help. Thank you.

[MicheleMaBelle]

You're welcome. Even although you're post menopausal you could consider taking the utrogestan on a cycle. It does mean you'd have a bleed though. Some women tolerate this better than taking it every day ( although it's a smaller dose if taken daily )
You'll probably need to try a few things before deciding if it's agreeing with you.
Good luck and keep posting x

[Snowbear]

Me again! I've been on the elleste duet conti (2mg estradiol and 1mg progesterone for nearly 8 weeks now and nothing has improved since then.

The hot flushes and dryness stopped something like 3 weeks after starting the HRT but I haven't had relief from the things I wanted relief from like severe anxiety and depression, severe pain and fatigue, dizziness, gastritis, etc etc. There's too many symptoms to go into!

Anyway, I've been having startup effects from the hrt which may or may not go away. It's difficult to tell whats going on because I was so ill anyway but I'm now getting all the things I used to get when I had PMT every month. I can't tell if the HRT is making the mental symptoms worse because they are dreadful anyway so I wouldn't know, but I'm still having very painful breasts, bloating, I've gained over half a stone very quickly, nightmares (I always had one or two nightmares just before a period and now I'm having them quite often) irritability, worse constipation than before, hair loss, more blurry vision, more eye floaters etc etc.

If this HRT doesn't work out for me my plan is to switch to Elleste Solo 1mg (I think I'd do better with less oestrogen) and utrogestan for the progesterone as I may not be getting on with the progesterone in my current hrt.

When I was on estrogel (no progesterone) I had swollen painful breasts too and a lot of PMT symptoms. Before menopause I had problems with fibroids, endometriosis, cysts etc and was told I likely had too much oestrogen. It may be that oestrogen doesn't suit me. Leading up to my final period I used some progesterone cream and it didn't causes the problems I'm having now, rather it helped them but it didn't get rid of the flushes or dryness. It's all so confusing!

I'm wondering what the best thing to do is. Is it worth giving it the full 3 months to see if anything changes (that means another month on my current HRT with side effects that don't feel like they will go anytime soon) or ask now to lower my oestrogen dose and switch to Utrogestan (is that the right name?) instead?

Sorry this is so long. I wish it was as simple as going on HRT and all symptoms would go away within two months!

[CLKD]

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