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[Sammiejane]

hi rosie 63 and jaycee

thank you both for your comments x

i feel i'm at crossroads as need to make a dicision but it's knowing the right decision to make not only for my health and wellbeing but also my husband and kids as they have to indure this as much as me.

the pros of the gel is that has helped with Va together with ovestin once a week , twice a week made me to wet down there and it has help dry mouth and eyes and obsorbing enough to protect bones, flushes gone.
the down side is i have now got hair loss mood swings depression aniexty weight gain. daily headaches  and increases to 3 pumps actually makes me constipated don't know why but i have IBSC which is irritable bowel syndrome constipation side plus slow transit through GI tract - hence why they don't want me on tablets as to much estrogen can circulate through my system and remain there ? not sure if this is right but i roll with it so i have options of patch or gel !
i tried the estradot patch it suited just remained having headaches and got sore boobs but i think because i jumped to quick from 50-75 patch as found the 50 wasn't keeping hot flushes at bay i still had hair shedding but was only able to trial them for 5 weeks because they went out of stock ! so not sure if  i had been on them longer hair shedding may of improved or made no difference . i changed from the gel to patch as when my bloods were taking it would appear i wasn't absorbing the gel.

so i'm back on the gel and my menopause want me to continue on it because i am obsorbing it now as my latest readings which i had to have two lots of bloods done 10days apart showed a level of 368pnol and then 113 pnol there is quite a difference and queried the high n low but they weren't bothered but i'm now wondering well maybe the fluctuation could be impacting my hair loss .

so i'm a cross roads as to whether too take a break establish if it is the gel causing shedding this will need to be done for 4 months due to hair cycle .

or add in progesterone rather then testosterone first to see if it's low progesterone or imbalance .

or do i swap the gel back to estradot patch now they are back in stock .

i don't know if any of you know but if a specific medication is causing hair loss i know if you stop it hair shedding should stop but do you know if you change the medication to one that potentially doesn't have hair loss as side effect would this also stop it ?

i just don't know what to try first do i stop or do go with an imbalance at play i feel i'm in a better place then a year ago mentally but that's about it x

thank you ladies any advice appreciated or if you were in my shoes what would u do ? i know your not doctors and of course i will run it by my Gp x oh and to add my testosterone menopause have said is low 0.9 nmol and SHBG 123.8 nmol x

[Wilks]

Hi, you might have missed my post at the bottom of the previous page. I think it takes a good few months of HRT to notice any changes in hair loss. If you've been switching doses and formulations it will take time to establish that.
As I mentioned in my other post, testosterone may not improve scalp hair loss even though it promotes hair growth elsewhere on the body.
It sounds like you are distressed about it, which is understandable, but stress could make the problem worse.

[sjpercy3]

Hi Sammie,

Yes this hs happened to me. It started off gradually and now I have bald patches at the back of my head/diffuse thinning and very bad receding hairline. I decided to stop all HRT to see if it improved. When I stopped the hair loss slowed considerably and I had baby hairs on my hairline. Adding testosterone/progesterone to Estrogen didn't help. It only stopped when I stopped taking it. I have decided that I cannot cope without medication so will be looking to get a wig/hair replacement system in the new year.

[jaycee]

sjpercy3 ;  your hair loss sounds exactly like mine, bald patches at the back of my head, hairline is not receding, but just behind hairline has got much thinner in the last few weeks,in fct a small bald spot
I had a conversation with someone a few months ago wh othis happened to, and she put it down to fluctuation in hormones ,changing from i type of HRT  to another
Since getting settled on another type her hair has grown back to as it was originally
Dermatologist said there is some very thin hair there and it will grow back,
When is the question ?

[Anaise]

Sammie, mine has stopped shedding since coming off Estrogel, only been off it for 1 week. So that puts the 12 week hair cycle scenario to bed.!

[Sammiejane]

hi anaise

well i've been of my estrogel 2 days ! lol not through choice but my little boy was rushed into hospital and we only came home tonight so haven't took my estrogen . hair shedding same maybe a few more x
sleep was ok first night but second night up n down but think that was more to do with my boy ! i've been on estrogel a year and have lost 50 percent hair so i don't know whether to continue to stop it ! and see
how have got on being off it for a week !

i'm so glad u posted as i've been wondering how u been and if you had stopped x are you remaining off or going on a different one x

[Sammiejane]

hi birdy

dermatology believe i have telegen effluvium and has been triggered by initiating hrt

i have receding hairline forehead mild and thinning slightly wider part well i have a parting u can see before my hair was so thick i never had visible parting . i've receding behind my ears and lost a lot nape of neck .

i'm currently 5 days off hrt and shall see how i go with hair shedding if continues i think i'll start hrt again but take all 3 hormones at once as i lost them altogether i may need to replace altogether .

when i read up hairloss on estrogel it says it's frequency unknown (cannot be estimated by the available data ) so u don't know if happens a lot or not much !
with estradot patch it list hairloss or alopecia as rare ! so maybe i need to swap.

as i've said before i have had no issues with hormones previously when taking combined pill microgynon with has teosterone derived progesterone and synthetic estrogen but then it's a specific dose and took together !

all a mine field one i'm getting tired or walking through ! lol

[Sammiejane]

hi birdy

thanks for the reply but i'm not stressed that's the thing i don't get stressed i have a chilled outlook on life i'm concerned about my hair shedding but i'm not stressed about it x

i've stopped my hrt day 5 and my mind and body feel great ! vaginally time will tell and hair shedding reducing so we shall see if it stops !

not sure what i will do then if it stops i guess next would be try all 3 hormones at once ! as estrogen on its own isn't an option as my hair will shed again well on estrogel anyway but can't see a patch being different or sandrena gel .

we shall see how it goes !

thanks

[jaycee]

Sammijane  ,you mentioned in an earlier post that if your hair didn't improve you might have a scalp biopsy, from further posts i assume  you didn't, but i am having it done next month,by the Dermatologist i have been seeing for my hair loss
He said to have it done at the hospital would take months of waiting,so doing it at the surgery
Hopefully will get some answers,but i have been reading on mumsnet about people using "Nice and Easy hair colour,who's hair has fallen out, so wondering about that too, as i used a new one of theirs just for roots,around the same time everything else happened, so very confused now, but i am going to find out what was new in the roots version, as it was a different ingredient , [chemical?]
Trust pilot have some very bad reviews on it

[Sammiejane]

hi jaycee

please keep me posted how u get on .

i didn't have biopsy as the dermatologist believed it was telegen effluvium due to pattern of hairloss .

i've been off my estrogel now 3 weeks tomorrow and feel ok but sleep is rubbish x
hair is still shedding though x

remind me again which hrt you take ?

my gp wanted me to have progesterone blood test because although i have no ovaries or uterus she wanted a baseline to see if it's an imbalance in the hormones at play x

i think i may just take all 3 together because i've lost all 3 and my mind is telling me to replace all 3 together as we're lost together x

i just don't know anymore and being only 40 do hard to be loosing my hair and when i took hrt i thought i'd feel great again but after a year not really and seem to have more issues now weight gain depression aniexty hairloss which j never had before x

it's strange because i've never had hairloss on the combined pill x which is stronger but then as it is set estrogen and progesterone and the dose is configured to a specific ratio to one another and that it overrides the ovaries it's more a steady consistent daily dose x

i'm just unsure what to take for the best i'm not over keen on patches as the thought of having something stuck on me and then on holiday ensuring it's covered over not in the sun etc x

i've been reading up on femoston conti and also sandrena but this list alopecia as uncommon but estradot patch list as rare and estrogel lists as frequency unknown in extensive post marketing results but not sure what this means does it mean that there's very few reports or they could be lots of reports but frequency is unknown ?

hope all goes ok and you find out your trigger x

[Sammiejane]

hi ladies

just to give you an update as it's been 3 weeks since stopping the estrogel x

the first week i thought great shedding has stopped however the 2nd and 3rd week i would say shedding is worse well more hairs in brush x

with regard to other symptoms the only difference i've noticed is my sleep is not as good flushes only one or two at night not bothersome really .

i don't know whether to continue a little longer off it as worried now shedding will continue to worsen and further symptoms may return the lower my level of estrogen goes x

my Gp has recently done a progesterone blood test to get an idea of a base level but i guess this will be non existent with no ovaries x so i'm thinking maybe to go back on the gel and incorporate utrogestan as well and see if this helps the shedding as in my case it maybe i need a balance or am i rushing things and really need to give it 3 months x

please help

[jaycee]

Sammiejane, i stopped the livial in case that was either causing the problem or exacerbating it, but still losing some when i wash my hair, don't notice it otherwise
My daughter was told it is the fluctuation in hormone levels,and keep changing HRTs wont help, but as the situation is with patches,there isn't much choice
The derm said mine was Telogen Efluvium but still want's to do a scalp biopsy,in case there is something else going on as well,as it considered chronic if lasts longer than 6 months

I think when it is said frequency ubknown it probably means not often reported, which might ,mean it doesn't happen a lot

[Sammiejane]

hi jaycee

it's funny because i'm loosing less when i shower and wash hair but then the days of not washing i'm loosing more in the brush .

dermatology have said to stay off minimum of 3 months due to hair cycle but surely if it was the medication it should decreasing in shedding not getting worse x

are you taking any hrt at the moment ?
have you had ovaries removed at all .

i think i will take all 3 together when i go back on it at least i've tried all routes then ie estrogen only , no hrt and then all 3 x lol

[Sammiejane]

hi stella jane

would you say that hrt has helped to skme degree you hairloss or has it got worse ?

what hrt are you currently on x

thanks

[Anaise]

Since coming off Estrogel my hair is growing back along with my eyebrows!