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[Honeybean]

Can HRT be amazing if you find the right one? Am I too old?

I am 49 and have had hot flushes for about 8 years and am still having the odd period. I tried HRT patches a few years ago and had some horrendous side effects of really painful bloating and very painful wind and decided not to bother with HRT.

I have suffered in silence and just got on with it dealing with my hot flushes and night sweats with alternative therapies but they don't seem to work for long. Getting really fed up and angry with my body. Could I possibly find some HRT that works without side effects or is that the trade off?

I am already taking Ovestin gel for VA and that works really well but I just want to get on top of the hot flushes and night sweats now.

My gp is quite an elderly old gentleman and has tried pushing me in the HRT direction for years and years and I keep turning him down and now that I acutally want them he is not so keen. Have I missed the boat?!

[westie]

Hi Honeybean

 No you most definitely haven't missed the boat, HRT is generally safe to use if it is started before age 60.

There is a really good website run by Louise Newson who is a menopause expert. It gives yo7 all the info you need and includes all the different types of HRT and the NICE guidelines which you can print off and take to your GP to help him with prescribing. Here is the link

https://www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/

I have just embarked on HRT myself and I am 56, it has certainly helped with the night sweats and hot flushes.

Hope all that helps. Good luck

W

[Tc]

Honey bean.

I just  wanted to.say. you have not missed the boat.not by any means. I started at 53. In fact I only started post meno. And so have lots of other ladies on here.

Good luck. Xx

[Honeybean]

Thanks Westie and Tc. That's really reassuring that I haven't missed the boat. I will investigate the Menopause Doctor website tomorrow. Thanks 

[Taz2]

Hi Honeybean. You definitely haven't missed the boat re HRT. I started using it at 53 and am still happily on it 12 years later. How long did you try HRT for the last time? It's advisable to try each one for at least three months to give any side effects the chance to settle down. It can take quite a few tries to find the right one.

Let us know how you get on.

Taz x   

[Mogster71]

Ahhh thank you very much for this link, Westie!! There is a clinic not too far from me, yes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mog x

[Lanzalover]

Good morning Honeybean

You definitely haven't missed the boat I wish I'd strarted earlier there really is no need to put up with hot flushes and the dreaded night sweats.

I started post meno and I'm now in my 60's and still using it I wouldn't be able to work without it so don't intend stopping anytime soon.

Do some research about the various types of HRT and go back to your GP at your age there shouldn't be any reason not to prescribe.

However as Taz has said it can sometimes take a while to find one which suits you.

Good luck do let us know how you get on.
Lanzalover x

[Honeybean]

Hi Taz, Mog and Lanzalover,

I was on patches, I think they were called Everol Conti or something like that. I know I should have persevered with the patches but the bloating was so painful and uncomfortable. I felt like someone had pumped my stomach up by twice it's size. I also had horrendous wind! 
It was really really bad. Don't laugh! It was like I'd turned into a massive very loud farting carthorse (no offence to horses!). It was actually quite embarrassing I couldn't even keep the wind to myself. It wasn't even silent!! 🤣🤣 It was horrible. It's pretty funny now but at the time awful. I checked the side effects and it wasn't mentioned. But anyway, I couldn't bear it. As soon as I took the patch off the farting and bloating stopped almost immediately. Thank goodness!! Pretty weird right?

Anyway, I have looked at the Menopause Doctor website and I think I'm going to ask for the oestrogen gel and progesterone gel pump stuff.

I haven't got a clue to be honest what is good or not so good HRT and I guess it's how our bodies deal with it individually. I guess no one can say x or y is the miracle drug?

Have a great day and don't laugh at my farting experience too much!! 🤣🤣🤣🤪

[Maryjane]

I have ladies in my VA group starting at 65 & Liz Earle's mother has started at 80 & no longer gets up several times a night to use the toilet.

Just having a HCP who listens to there patient thinks outside the box and doesn't fit everyone into the same box.

[linz57]

I started on a conti patch six  years post menopause at the age of 57  and I'm still on it now at the age of 62. How I wish I had been put onto hrt much earlier, it would have saved several years of anxiety, digestive issues, woolly headedness, dizziness, horrendous joint pain and VA.
Hope you find a regime to suit you Honeybean.

[VavaVroomGone]

I've just started using Evorel Conti at 59 - actually almost 60 - really to deal with VA which has just hit me like an articulated lorry. 

I tried for years to get HRT for insomnia,  low mood, weepiness,  loss of confidence, aching etc etc. All the GPs refused to prescribe it as I never had hot flushes, or I was too old or my symptoms were not bad enough. In the end I paid to see a private GP who told me she has an 80 yr old patient on HRT! 

I've only been on the Evorel  Conti patches for a week and I'm delighted to report that I haven't had any farting issues yet!