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[Sammiejane]

good morning ladies

i wasn't going to post on here for a while and try and fathem things out for myself but realised that as always your support and advice is very much needed.

i?m at a loss of what to do in respect of changing my regime

i've currently been using the gel and although i haven't had great estrogen levels only ranging from 104 pmol to 368 pmol i felt ok ish on 2 pumps i did increase to 3 pumps but felt it worsened my symtoms where aniexty was concerned bloated ness and sluggish feeling so i went back to 2 pumps and stuck there but have always felt not quite right . i briefly went into estradot patches for about 4-5 weeks and the 50 didn't seem to wipe out the flushes so upped to 75 but headaches came full force and sore boobs again which had settled on the gel and my sleep wasn't as good then these became out of stock. so ended up back on the gel.

as you all know and for those who don't know i've experienced hair shedding not to exessive but more then i was off HRT .
i've been under dermatology who advised to stop the estrogen for 3 months to see if it made any impact on the hair . so it has been almost 7 weeks and the hair shedding i would say has reduced but not stopped.
my menopause dont want me having tablets as these are least safe option and due to my GI issues and i smoke i?m limited to gel or patch ?

i've had hysterectomy and am 40 yrs old but i?m unsure whether to try the gel with progesterone to try and combat bloating mood swings aniexty and hair shedding if an imbalance at play or do i change my estrogen all together as i?m aware i don't need progesterone as i haven't a uterus but maybe my body just dosent like estrogen only ! i've always had combined hormone therapy even in my reproductive years as was in the pill intill i was 32 then went onto copper coil till 35 .
since being off hrt the bloating has gone my sleep was disturbed however has improved last week or so flushes are not bad but never had them bad anyway and i?m 5 nearly 6 years post op post menopause as my operation was 2014 at 35 everything gone. x

[bloomsbury]

Hello Sammiejane,

Are you seeing a menopause specialist or just your GP? A specialist may be more helpful in getting the balance of hormones right for you, and it's the balance that's crucial to feeling well.

Re hair loss, I have suffered from this for years, any change in hormone levels has affected it, as has low iron stores. The addition of a small blob of Tostran gel every other day has really helped, and I think taking 100mg Utrogestan every day has helped too, I used to take it every other day on a lower dose of oestrogen and my hair was awful. A new regime takes a few months to settle, so it is worth persisting, my hair started to respond after four months or so.

An oestrogen patch may give you more consistent levels of hormone than the gel, and I would think you are far too young to be without hormones re bone health etc.

Good luck, I hope you find what works for you.

Bx

[Sammiejane]

hi bloomsbury

can i ask what estrogen progesterone you are currently on and dose x

i have been perscribed tostran gel to use but my meno specialist scared me into trying it as said as i was already shedding hair it may make it worse so i decided to stop to go back to baseline and start again.

i?m going to try 2 pumps gel with progesterone and see what happens as i cannot take the testosterone yet intill my estrogen levels have built up but wondering whether to start back on gel or just go straight to patch form although there isn't any available at the moment .

it's positive though that both progesterone and testosterone have improved your hair x

[bloomsbury]

Hi Sammiejane,

I am using estradot 100 and utrogestan 100mg daily, but I am cutting back on the estradot to 75 as my womb lining went just over the 5mm limit they like for ladies on HRT. I can't think what else has improved my hair growth other than the utro daily and the addition of the Tostran, I haven't changed anything else. My oestrogen levels were very good when I started the Tostran, so that is something to keep in mind.

How often do you see your meno specialist?

Bx

[Sammiejane]

hi

i see her every 4 months next appointment april. x

she did say i would need to build estrogen up again before adding in testosterone x

i did do ok on the estradot patch when i briefly changed to it from the gel as originally my bloods were showing that i wasn't obsorbing the gel very well as dropped from 195 to 104 but i had to have two bloods done 10 days apart because they missed of a hormone and it then showed 368 and then 10 days later 113 so i?m having fluctuations in it so maybe a patch would be better do worry about side effects as the estradot , it did give me headaches and sore boobs but i think i jumped from 50 to 75 to soon .

have you had any side effects ?

[Sammiejane]

hi birdy

levels in these are all fine my vit D when last tested was 152 so top end of normal and ferritin fine b12 fine thyroid fine x

i?m going to try combined regime and see how i go using gel again and then if i?m fine and hair shedding is no worse but the same i will then change to patch for the estrogen because i know it's then the gel as have been shedding hair on gel only x

[bloomsbury]

Hi Sammiejane,

I did have sore boobs at first, and again when upping the dose, it's all about finding that sweet spot where everything works, the side effects settle down. I think continuous utrogestan has a sedating effect, which my husband thinks is a good thing in my case! And I definitely sleep better now. Constantly changing dose doesn't help me, doing it gradually gives me time to adjust.

Maybe try the patch, if you can get any, and see how you are for a month or so?

Bx