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[Rosie63]

Hi ladies

I know some ladies had posted towards the end of last year saying that they were stopping HRT and I wondered how they were getting on ?  I'm still struggling with side effects after trying several regimes over the last 2 years +.  I've been trying gel with Utrogestan over the last 3 months but still feeling pretty rubbish most of the time, the latest side effect seems to be a flare up of Rhinitis. 

I've decided to take a break to see if things settle down but having tried stopping before, I'm not that hopeful that I will be able to manage without anything. 

I was wondering if those ladies who were successfully managing without could give me any tips, in particular how long I should expect to give it before I would know whether symptoms might be returning.

Thank you.

Rosie x

[Hurdity]

Hi Rosie63 - I thnk those that have had success have got up and gone! ie moved on with their lives and don't need to come to this forum - hence lack of replies.

I tried coming off briefly - but that was 9 years ago now - and it was because doc put me onto (Evorel) conti HRT as I was post-meno and got a migraine so stopped in disgust! I lasted 3 months only until symptoms returned fully and some which I had not previously experienced as I started in late peri. I also tried to reduce the dose 6.5 years ago due to spotting etc and doc suggested going down to 37.5 mcg from 50 mcg but also flushes came back after 3 months so went back up to 50 mcg. When I also briefly changed to Sandrena gel on the basis of the many gel users on here singing its praises - the dose was a lso obviuously too low because flushes returned withibn a month. That was about a year ago. I've come to the conclusion that i would have been a long term flusher had I not gone onto HRT. Having said that I haven't ever given it a chance by stopping say for 9 months to a year to see how I feel and whether obvious symptoms would resolve. Oestrogen deficiency would of course begin to take effect immediately so I would still experience the consequences of this for however long I'm going to live....

So sorry you still feel rubbish - did you ever try patches and did you try a cycle? I have to say I have never felt rubbish since starting HRT - except of course due to other things eg when I get migraines, or under the weather etc, and I always hope that others will find a way to feel like this too...

Hurdity x

[Rosie63]

Hi Hurdity.  Thanks for taking the time to reply.  I think you're probably right that ladies that have successfully come off HRT don't come onto the forum and are just getting on with their lives, and that's the way it should be 😊

I have tried patches, both Evorel, which I didn't get on with at all, and also have tried Estradot.  I've tried so many different ones now, continuously and cyclically, I just think I'm one of those people that will never find something else that suits me, which is depressing 😞 I was on Prempak for years with no issues so all I can think is that it's the Estradiol that I have a problem with. I just don't know what else to do other than trying to stop and hope for the best.

Thanks again.

Rosie63 x

[NorthArm]

Hi Rosie

I'm similar to you, in that nothing I've tried in the last 2.5 years has work adequately, or for very long. And I've tried several - femoston 2-10, Livial, Estradot plus Utrogestan plus testosterone, mirena coil plus Estradot plus testosterone. At the very beginning my gp put me on prempak with extra norethisterone, I have never felt so awful, but I think that was directly attributable to the norethisterone as it's notorious for sending people a bit nuts...

Have you tried the newer one - Duavive? That has the same oestrogen as prempak, so you might do better with it. It would be worthwhile checking with your doc xx

[Rosie63]

Hi NorthArm.....thanks for replying.  Sorry to hear you too have not been able to find something that does the trick for you.  I have thought about Duavive but I understand that's being discontinued too.  The only other one that might work is Premarin which, again, is similar to Prempak I think.  Anyway, I will see how I get on with coming off altogether first.  I need to find a way through this because I almost feel as if my body's being poisoned and that can't be right can it !

Stellajane - I wish you lots of luck coming off HRT this year.  I have a feeling you are one of the more mature ladies on here, as I am, and I know when I was taking cyclically, I hated having bleeds at my age.  Let us know how you get along.

Rosie x

[Sammiejane]

hi rosie63

i'm still here ! lol

i've stopped the estrogel i was taking for 1 year mainly i would say is because i've experienced hair shedding ! i have stopped for 4 weeks and the first thing i've noticed to be effected is my sleep can't fall asleep toss and turn and at the moment i don't work as had to give up work through mental health due to menopause ! but i don't want to get up in the morning . the second thing is a couple of hot flushes have come back in the evening not bothersome and i'm not drenched i have to kick my legs out the duvet have heating off at night which i do anyway and then i'm cold so back under the duvet i go .

things i would say have improved is my mood on estrogel or estradiol in general i found my mood unstable up and down , now this may also of been to not enough estrogen or imbalance of hormones as i don't take progesterone or testosterone but i don't think i will be able to go much longer without x i'm not as bloated either but again this could be again due to imbalance . i've had hysterectomy and ovaries removed some women think we are lucky that we don't have to take progesterone but personally i find it's just as hard to find a balance if not worse because you have no back up resources of own hormones . i consumes my life in 2019 of watching various medical doctors utube videos on the importance of progesterone in the body and not just for endometrial mainly surrounding hairloss and conclusion i've found is low estrogen causes hairloss in the frontal region diffuse thinning all over can either be low testosterone or thyroid but my thyroid is fine my testosterone is low due to the rise in estrogen and then progesterone natural they say won't cause hairloss but dosent help it grow either but what it does to is balance estrogen and keeps a balance to avoid excess of estrogen and side effects so i'm currently in talks as to whether to try gel or patch with progesterone and T together or try just E and P then add T later or try E and T then add P later if needed .

i would like to here your thoughts on whether you have experienced hairloss taking combined estrogen and progesterone and also did you find testosterone helped .

i would say that it took me a good 6-8 months to feel more stable on estrogen but then the higher the dose went ie 2 to 3 pumps it effected my bowels very bloated and fatigued to much i had zero energy which i believe testosterone then need to be incorporated for this. my gut is telling me go on all 3 at the same time as introducing these at different times and months apart are surely going to keep initiating hrt . also the last couple days i've noticed my head feels sore whether it's because my hair is still shedding so it's not slowing or any worse and i guess the hair fall is possibly considered normal but it's getting thinner . i've never had hairloss issues on combined pill and wonder whether combined hrt would work better for me but i guess unless i try i will not know x

[Kathleen]

Hello Rosie63


I stopped taking HRT ( Oestrogel and Utrogestan vaginally) about six months ago. I would say that so far the results have been  mixed. I certainly don't feel any worse so a plus there I suppose lol. My flushes and sleep were never very bad and that has remained the same. My mood issues continue to plague me and recently I think my tearfulness has been worse but I have just been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and apparently that can cause moodiness so there may be an overlap there. One thing that did change a lot was two weeks after coming off HRT I had a huge increase in VA symptoms. I have now settled on using Yes VM moisturiser twice daily and that is working very well so far.

My plan is to stay HRT free for a little longer and see if my thyroxine medication helps me feel better. I'm due another blood test at the end of January so I'll review the situation then.

I hope this helps and take care.

K.

[Rosie63]

Hi Kathleen. I remember now, it was you I remember having posted about coming off so thanks for replying  All my problems are physical and not sure if they are symptoms or side effects.  I've never really suffered with hot flushes and the only time I feel down is when I feel physically ill.  I get joint and muscle aches, headaches, fatigue, stomach problems and generally feel as though I have some sort of virus.  I tend to feel better for a week or so when I either stop taking or start taking and then the same old feelings come back so I think I may as well try to work through it without taking anything.  I'm going to up my exercise and see if that helps.

I hope you start to see an improvement on the thyroxine medication and you manage to stay hrt free. Let us know how it goes.

Rosie xx

[Rosie63]

Sammiejane - your journey sounds much more complicated than mine. Not sure how old you are but I did lose a lot of hair when I first started going through the menopause when I was 50.  I remember feeling very distressed at the time.  I would say that it eased off a little once I started taking hrt but looking back, I think I've always shed hair but it just grows back thinner now. My most recent regime of gel and Utrogestan hasn't seemed to work for me and although I do have some Testogel, I didn't try it as I wanted to get my oestrogen levels up first.

I hope things improve for you soon.

Rosie63 x

[Sammiejane]

hi rosie 63

would you say your hair shedding got worse on gel utrogestan ? or better !

i'm only 40 and had hysterectomy at 35

[Rosie63]

Hi Sammiejane.  I would say it was a little better but not too much difference I would say.  How long was you on the gel for ?

Rosie x