Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[J.J.]

I have had a horrible time with two Drs around my perimenopause symptons and getting the right advice and moving things forward has been a rocky road with them, so my trust in the prescription this Dr prescribed me is zero. So I'm on here double checking and getting your opinion on this one, please. Any help would be gold as I am at my wits end with my Drs Surgery (Complaints will be made, but first...)

I am still bleeding, regular-ish (every 21 to 24 days).
Intense menopause sympton (various), growing worse for the past 4 years.
I'm 45 yo.

The prescription given Elleste Duet Conti Tablets 2mg/1mg (estradiol/norethisterone acetate)
The 'instructions' inside state "Elleste Duet Conti Tablets are used in postmenopausal women with at least one year since their last natural period."

I haven't started on them yet but I am keen to get going as I feel so dreadful.
Could anyone on here please give me their opinion on this. The last place I want to go and get advise is from a Dr right now...
Thank you x

[Dotty]

Elleste Duet Conti is for ladies who haven't had a period for 12 months or more.

You need Elleste Duet 1mg or 2 mg as you are still having periods

[Taz2]

I agree with Dotty. You need a sequential HRT which will give you a monthly bleed. Contact your surgery to arrange for another prescription to be issued for Elleste Duet 1mg or 2mg. Most women begin on the lower dose to see how they get on.

This happens to quite a few women - I was given the wrong prescription once.

Taz x 

[Tiddles]

Hi

I am also new to HRT.  Last period in August 2017 so not yet past the 12 month mark.  My GP had no expertise in menopause and looked up what to give me and prescribed Elleste Duet 1mg (for 3 months) as mentioned by Dotty and Taz.  Sounds like you need to go back ? x

[racjen]

Oh honestly, what is wrong with these f*****g GPs. It's really not that complicated and yet there are so many stories like this. I don't know whether to be sympathetic and put it down to a lack of time (but if that's the case it's worrying - do they really have time to pay full attention to anything?) Or is it the continuing insistence on ignoring the huge impact of the menopause on many women, despite continuing efforts by a few dogged specialists and the media itself (Woman's Hour's recent Menopause week for example). Are we just invisible in the end?

[Mary G]

racjen, I agree with you.  This comes up on here time and time again with women getting poor treatment (or no treatment at all) from their GPs, that is why so many of us go privately for help.  I sometimes wonder if GPs just fob women off with ADs or the cheapest possible stuff to save money.  Very little thought seems to go into what they are prescribing, they just seem to be text book doctors.  My GP was so useless I might as well have asked the cat for advice. 

J.J. how do you get on with progesterone?  The reason I ask is that your prescription contains norethisterine and progesterone intolerant women don't usually get on with it but if you don't have a problem with progesterone it could be OK.  Like the others have said, you should be on a cyclical regime as you are not post menopause and your doctor should know this. 

[Daisydot]

It's actually scary ladies isn't it,we seem to be more and more reliant on dr google and is it any wonder.I trust my own instincts an awful lot more than I do my gps I'm still in that elusive search for a decent sympathetic gp who doesn't intimidate me very visit I really do dread it.My cats all sit and patiently listen while I pour my ailaments out to them ,then walk away bored 😂😂

[Mary G]

Perhaps we should have a new section for googling doctors.  It's pretty scary stuff and a bad doctor can do a lot of damage to your long term health prospects.  When my GP refused to help me I said 'OK, I'll buy HRT myself' and next time I was in Spain I marched into a pharmacy and bought it over the counter.  I was confident in my own research abilities and had a Mirena coil at the time so I knew I could simply add in oestrogen.  I bought patches but now wish I had bought Oestrogel but that is another story.  One thing's for sure, I know a darn sight more about HRT than my useless (now binned) GP.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

The thing that worries me is that we are asking for help with the menopause, something that affects every woman of a certain age so surely doctors should be familiar with both the problems and the treatments.

Fortunately my GP is lovely and has read up on the research so I have a lot of confidence in him, unfortunately I have to wait weeks for an appointment.

Take care everyone.

K.

[sheila99]

The same thing happened to me, I was prescribed Everel conti instead of sequi. I think he is a good doctor but he knew very little about menopause, though he did tell me this at the time.

[J.J.]

racjen, I agree with you.  This comes up on here time and time again with women getting poor treatment (or no treatment at all) from their GPs, that is why so many of us go privately for help.  I sometimes wonder if GPs just fob women off with ADs or the cheapest possible stuff to save money.  Very little thought seems to go into what they are prescribing, they just seem to be text book doctors.  My GP was so useless I might as well have asked the cat for advice. 

J.J. how do you get on with progesterone?  The reason I ask is that your prescription contains norethisterine and progesterone intolerant women don't usually get on with it but if you don't have a problem with progesterone it could be OK.  Like the others have said, you should be on a cyclical regime as you are not post menopause and your doctor should know this.

Hiya, I dont know how I get on with anything hormones. This is my first fowray into all of this. I am flying blind - my GP wanted to end the appointment because he said that he was feeling 'stressed and upset' - suffice to say I was not leaving uintil I had a prescription. This is what he prescribed! Not looking forward to going back...

Could anyone suggest one to actually say to him : 'I want this exact one, please'. He caresmore bout his stupid ego than he does about actually being a proper physician, I suspect he hasn't a clue. So fustrating, so dibilitating. Thank you all for being here and being great! x

[Hurdity]

Hi J.J.

 

How very dare he? HE was feeling stressed???!!!!****&&&&$$$$!!!!

What symptoms are you experiencing? From the cyclical changes you describe with regualr periods of shorter cycles - you are probably in the Late Reproductive Stage - just before peri-menopause ie ovaries still functioning but hormones starting to go awry. Many women start to experience worsening pms symptoms at this point - mood swings etc as the hormones begin to surge up and down a bit more extremely.  Also some woemn start t get night sweats and flushes too which is a real blow to get them this early! Some women find starting a low dose HRT at this point is helpful but others prefer to regulate the cycle eg through the contraceptive pill.

You absolutely should not have been given Elleste Duet conti as per others. Have you ever been on the Pill? There are a couple that are a bit like HRT - called Qlaira and Zoely - both contain estradiol same as HRT but contain a higher dose progestogen as part of the contraceptive component. Qlaira in particular only has 2 tablet free days so. It takes a few months to settle into it but I gather this can do the trick for a few years.

Other than that I would suggest trying a low dose hRT - but would go for Femoston 1/10 - the progestogen is very similar to our natural progesterone. Do your homework and then go back to a different doctor - but complain about your "stressed" one - really he should not be practising if he has no sympathy underastandng or knowledge about women in mid-life.

Hurdity x