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[Aine67]

Hi all
Been a long time lurker and was always going to sign up to join, but just never seemed to get round to it until now, where I'm in need of some help.

I've been menopausal since around age 41 and taking Elleste Duet on an off for most of that time.  I didn't stay on it continuously until around this time last year as I was hoping to manage without eventually, but the symptoms (night sweats, confusion, aches etc etc) would always come back with a vengeance.

Recently the night sweats got too much to cope with so I went back to my GP (who btw is very good with regard to prescribing HRT) who has now put me onto Elleste Conti 2mg.

I don't think my body is coping with it very well   My breasts are swollen and tender (worse than how I remember when breastfeeding!!!), I feel bloated all over, I have uterine cramps and have been spotting since around day 3 of taking the Elleste Conti and generally feel not well

What I'm wondering is whether this is normal and it's just my body getting used to it and should I persevere?  Or should I go back to my GP and ask to go back on to a cyclical HRT but with a higher oestrogen dose?  Or are there any other options I'm not thinking of?

Thank you ladies for a great resource, if it wasn't for this forum (even though I've never posted until now) I would have thought some of my symptoms were down to getting older instead of the blooming menopause!

Aine

[Dotty]

Hi were you still having periods when you started on Elleste Duet Conti ?

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome to mm Aine67

As you have gone through the menopause so early, I do hope your GP explained to you the importance of having HRT to Leyte the your heart and bones for the long term?

I had a premature menopause and use hrt for nearly 25 years. I tried just about every type of HRT there is - I'm afraid it is trial and error.

Firstly, as others have said, when was your last natural period?
If it has been over 12 -24 months since your last period then you are starting this hrt with a very low baseline of hormones - your body will take time to adjust, especially with this higher dose of hormones as starting on a lower dose would have been more sensible.
Starting on a medium dose HRT from the outset is not a good idea generally and certainly not a conti hrt either.

Oestrogen usually gives the good benefits but finding a progesterone that suits you can sometimes be challenging.

A sequential HRT will result in monthly bleeds but these types of HRTs allow you to ascertain whether the progesterone suits you or not, as you only use progesterone for half of the cycle.  Having trialed a particular HRT  type on a sequential basis for 3-6 months and if you then find you are ok on the progesterone, you can then move to the conti version if you wish, however many women stick with sequential hrts to avoid using progesterone all the time.
The side effects you are experiencing right now are all very normal as this is the body adjusting to the hormones and this should settle in the first few months. A good gynae I saw described these early side effects as the body “waking up”.

My best tip is to try Femoston1/10 sequential next  (this has a kinder progesterone) and see how you get on. There are many options and you can see the various hrt options under TREATMENTS on this site. It can be helpful to print my this info off to show the GP.

Th best hrt regime I ever had was having the Mirena fitted and then using Oestrogel alongside. This allows you to use as little or as much oestrogen as you need to feel good and is usually bleed free. I suffered awful cramps with most other hrt types but the Mirena gave me the least side effects.
Keep us posted. DG x