Hi ladies, I’m 54 and I’ve been taking HRT patches for about 4 years (Evorelle) and now on about 85mcg (cutting 25 patch in half) I’ve had to increase very slowly due to side effects as I have M.E. Quite severely and this makes me sensitive to any medications. I’ve started to get bad bloating again over last few weeks and not sure if this is meno symptoms or HRT side effects. The bloating is so severe at times it feels like I’m struggling to breathe as my tummy so bloated it’s pushing up into diaphragm as when you’re pregnant. I’ve also started to wake in early morning very hot even though it’s been -2 here at night, and I’ve got a 4 tog cotton duvet and a blanket! I’m not getting hot flushes during day. Just not sure what to do. I’d increased my patch by 10mcg in November after blood tests in February 2020 showed I wasn’t absorbing HRT well, however further test in November last year showed
My oestrodiol was 347 pmol and I was told range should be 200 to 400 at my age on HRT. This is all a bit strange as I hadn’t increased the dose at that point. My blood test also showed I had normal testosterone levels (taking testosterone gel) but a high androgen index. Just not sure what to do as don’t know if bloating is meno symptom or HRT side effect as aware it can be caused by both !
