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[nan24]

Hi. I'm new to the forum and I'm looking for input/advice. I had a full hysterectomy at the age of 44 because of endiometeritis.  I was given elleste solo 2mg and after 5 years changed to patches . I then went back on oral elleste 1mg and remained on that without problems until 3 years ago when I was advised at age 55 to come off HRT as is been on long enough. My mother had breast cancer but we were told it was not the hereditary type at the time. Long story short since coming off my HRT my health has gone down hill dramatically. I have trigger fingers and extreme joint muscle pain especially at night. I only suffer sweats at night thankfully. I am seriously considering going back on to HRT (IF I can get doc to prescribe) to get my quality of life (sleep/sex / mobility ) back! Would I benefit after 3 years absence or is it too late? And I'm hearing lots about the new bio meds? Any advice welcome. Thanks in advance.

[nan24]

Thank you Hasty. No I've never had progesterone. Just wondered if I'd be at lower risk with tailored bio meds? I forgot to say I have high cholesterol too and take statins but I'm working on that with diet.

[Joaniepat]

Hi nan24, welcome to the forum.

Yes, I think you would benefit from resuming HRT and I don't think it is ever too late. I had my hysterectomy in 1997 and was given oestrogen replacement afterwards. Six or seven years later I was told I had been on it long enough. I was just 54 then. My GP refused point blank to prescribe any more. After a gap of 13 years, at the age of 67, I restarted and now use Oestrogel, Testogel and the Estring (the latter for urogenital atrophy). I am doing OK and stamina, mood, joint pains and libido are much improved, as is the atrophy.

Try to get your HRT back if you want it, don't let them rob you of any more years of your life. Transdermal preparations, patch or gel, are best for women in the seventieth decade, as they bypass the liver. If your GP is obstructive, ask to be referred to a menopause clinic.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on!

JP x

[Annie0710]

I feel sad when I read stories where women have been made to stop hrt because ‘they've been on it too long'

It happened to me too in @2004, I've been on oestrogen only hrt since my hysterectomy when I was 32 and I'm 52 this year.  I refused point blank to come off but last month I had to change gp surgeries because I have moved and they called me in to discuss my hrt, they're not happy I'm using testosterone and won't prescribe any more until I see the gynae they choose and he said he wants me off oestrogen by the time I hit 60, well I politely told him that isn't going to happen ! He questioned my daily use of vagifem too and again I said unless he's ever suffered VA it's not fair to try to get me to reduce that either

Don't give in ladies, fight for what you believe in, try a fifferent gp xx

[Daisydot]

Annie' and JP are right Nan I've battled like hell to get this sorted,my story mirrors yours,I'm 61 next month and I had 5 years of torture after they'd taken me off the hrt so battle for it there are no age limitations on hrt now it's up to the patient to discuss by all means and decide what's best for them.theres no way I'm coming back off it now I've been back on it around 6-8 months I think now and there's a huge difference in everything.im not quite where I want to be right now so I'm seeing another consultant to try and resolve a few other things but you will soon see a difference,ask to try the Oestrogel pump and vagifem pessaries,it's transdermal and much safer and less complicated for us ladies who've had hysterectomies.good luck and stick to your guns and life will be sweet again xx

[nan24]

Thanks everyone for your input. At the moment because I'm feeling quite ill with a lot of left sided pain the g.p. is reluctant to put me back on any form of HRT. However she is not prepared to dig deeper to find the cause and wants to just stick me with a fibromyalgia label.  I just know my health has been slowly declining since I came off my HRT. And cannot just be a coincidence. Also all the other problems of night sweats and lack of sex drive and low mood she cannot explain and dismissed that after three years off HRT they could possibly  still be connected to the menopause. . I will do more research into different types of HRT and the ones with the lowest risk. I would really like to have my hormones tested and have my HRT tailored accordingly but dont know how i go about it or where to start?
X

[Hurdity]

She's quite wrong to suggest that some of your health problems are unconnected to coming off HRT. Absolutely you do not want to be fobbed off with a fibromyalgia label without trying other avenues because those symptoms won't go away by themselves.

Obviously it is very important for your other health problems to be investigated and I presume your left sided pain is being looked at - is this abdominal pain? As long as it is not ovarain and you do not have any other risk factors then it should be fine to re-start HRT.

However if you have had endometriosis and took HRT without a progestogen - this could cause endometriosis to continue. I presume the deposits were not outside the womb? Could this be the cause of your pain ( although it would be odd to get it now 3 years after stopping HRT)?

Depending on what they found re endometriosis if you re-started HRT it is sometimes necessary to be offered a continuous combined HRT ie one with a progestogens to prevent stimulation of any deposits in the body.

This is what it says on this website:

Endometriosis   
    There is a small risk of reactivation of endometriosis with HRT use and any recurrence of symptoms should be reported. If a hysterectomy has been performed for endometriosis, the choice of HRT use thereafter should be influenced by the extent of endometriosis at the time of the operation. Since hysterectomy often causes a premature menopause, it is often advised to take HRT until the average age of the menopause; 51 years. HRT after hysterectomy usually consists of estrogen only. However, in the presence of endometriosis, estrogen may cause stimulation of residual deposits and consideration should be given to using continuous combined (estrogen plus daily progestogen) therapy, or tibolone, though little research has been done on the effect of different types and duration of therapy. Medical treatment of endometriosis often involves ovarian suppression which, along with ovarian removal, may increase the risk of osteoporosis.

https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/atoz.php#GlossE

If all is OK re the endo then you would definitely benefit from re-starting - and a patch oestrogen owuld be the best way forward. You don't need tailoired meds as in private compounded creams etc. These are unregulated and extremely expensive as well as unnecessary. Bio-identical = body-identical HRT - is available on NHS in the form of oestrogen patches pills or gel, amd micronised progesterone (which you may need due to endo).

Hurdity x