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[Sjays]

 hi ladies, im at my wits end, im on 4th week of provea 25mg i take pm and sandrena 1mg x 2 am.
first 2weeks wr great, then started to bleed, still bleeding but light,this week has been awful, feel very flat, the flushes are still going on, night sweats, achey joints, headache, sore boobs, zero energy, this is my 10th trial on hrt, ive been referred to meno clinic, which at the moment have no appontments😡
i just want my life back, i know there isnt a wonder drug out there, i just want to feel ok, i am considering stopping hrt but am a bit scared, do you think upping the provera to 5mg will help, when i used utrogestan i felt sleepy all day,please could somebody help

[coldlittleheart]

I'm sorry to hear you're having such a hard time of it. I can't give you any advice as I am not really experienced with HRT so this is more a little bit of support. Hopefully you will be able to get help, is there no other GP at your surgery who is more experienced with treating menopause? I spoke to a different doctor than my regular one yesterday as I am struggling with my symptoms at the moment and feeling very very low, no energy, anxious and he prescribed HRT (3rd trial for me) but said he would also have a word with the other GP at the surgery who is more of a menopause expert and if this doesn't work they will refer me to menopause clinic too, but I have no idea how long that will take. Good luck and hope you feel better soon, sorry I couldn't help with the actual question

[Ladybt28]

Personally I would say that if you have symptoms of flushes, night sweats etc then you are not on enough sandrena Sjays.  4 weeks on a new regime is quite early...it can take a full 3 months to settle...mine took 5 months to settle.  The sore boobs can be a sign of too much gel but not at this early stage it is just your body saying that it is getting something different.  I had all the issues you describe when I first started on the oestrogel and utrogestan.  I started on 2 pumps of gel but needed to go to 4 because my symptoms didn't come under control.  My meno consultant and GP here go by control of symptoms rather than hormone testing cos what is right at one level for one women doesn't control symptoms in another.  I personally tried 6 types of hrt over 3 years before getting to the right on and then it took 5 months to settle.  Now pretty much all my symptoms have gone and I was particularly bad.

So utrogestan when taken orally (you can use it as a pessary vaginally without the side effects you might get if you swallowit) is known to have a sedative effect.  Provera you can only use orally.  Personally I can't take it, it sends me off my head, so I use utrogestan vaginally on a cycle despite being post memo and really shouldn't need to bleed but I choose to do it that way because it suits.

Generally you are on a very low dose of hrt Sjays...it is likely that upping it may well bring things under more control but it wont work quickly...and things may seem worse before they get better...you just have to hang on in there...for a minimum of 3 months to see what works and what doesn't and adjust accordingly.  After 7 months I had reduce my gel to 3 pumps as it seemed that 4 had got too much and my body chemistry had levelled off...I got the sore boobs back which after such a long time is a sign of too much oestrogen...Everything is back on track now.

Just out of interest what are the 10 you tried and over how long?

[Dancinggirl]

Sjays - welcome to MM
Finding the right HRT balance can be tough especially if you want a non bleed regime.  Would you consider having a Mirena fitted? I found this my best option in post menopause and it is the most effective in terms of protecting the womb lining (therefore reducing the chance of any bleeding) and allows you to adjust you oestrogen use to control the menopause symptoms. The Mirena delivers the progesterone more locally, less is absorbed systemically and, after the first few weeks following the fitting when there can be a bit of a hit of progesterone, I found I had fewer progesterone side effects. 

Have you tried Oestrogel or oestrogen only patches instead of Sandrena?  Many women do very well on Estradot patches. 

It is worth sticking with you current regime for another few weeks to see if things settle - the body does have to adjust to everything we try. If you increase your oestrogen use then you are ore likely to have problematic bleeding. I wonder if you are absorbing the oestrogen properly?

Needless to say, lifestyle is also very important - HRT won't fix everything and if there are some small tweaks you can do to your diet and exercise regimes and learn to do some Mindfulness or other relaxation techniques, this can make quite a difference. In my experience is it a range of strategies that make life better but sadly there is only so much one can do to prevent the inevitable changes - you can't turn back the clock to be 40 or even 50 again.
DG xxx
 

[Sjays]

Thank you all for answering my queries, I contacted the doctor, she told me to keep as I am for another month, then she will look at changing the oestogen to a patch, I have been on her for about 7years now which started when I was 48, I had the mirena coil and premarin tablets, had that for 5years, I seemed to be ok, had no hot flushes, but was tired a lot,sleep was okish, then had premarin & provera, elleste duet, tibilone, venlafaxine antidepressant 150 which I still take now, femseven patches which seemed to be ok, then discontinued, everol 50, which gave me bleeds and have bled really since then, I had a scan and biopsy which we all fine, had estrogel and utrogestan, that made me so tired I couldn't wake up all day, kliofen,bloated and moody,  now sandrena and provera, phew, there's not much else is there but I won't give up, Hense the referral to the Meno clinic, sorry for being long winded  xxx