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[Alison sheppard]

Hi I am new to this forum as well as new to hrt. I have spent the last 2 years being tested for everything under the sun. Blood tests mri ct scans. Ambulances called shakes aches pains headaches weight loss tummy trouble ...all sorts of symptoms resulting in everything coming back normal. 6 months ago I started the worst anxiety and ended up having the mental health crisis team out. Insomnia was making me lose my mind. I had been told it was stress..anxiety..depression. All sorts of anti depressives..anti anxiety..anti pyscotics..nothing was working. The lady from the crisis team said it sounds like the menopause. Who knew that hormones could cause so much trauma..I certainly didn't and not one doctor consultant did either. I was out on combi patches and two weeks later it was like a switch had pressed and I was feeling great. However I needed a little more oestrogen so had an extra patch added. This gave me the worst burning taste in my mouth. Metallic and bitter and good tested awful. So I have just been prescribed oestrogel and progesterone capsules. I cant work out how much gel would be the same as the patches. 1 2 or 3 squirts. Any advice would be gratefully received. X

[TrustandHope]

Hi Alison,
I am so glad you feel things are better. That sounded awful!

I have found this useful from Louise Newson's clinic:

https://www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/menopause/hrt-the-different-ingredients-brands-and-strengths-available

[Dotty]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Which strength patch were you on ?  If you were on Evorel Conti or Sequi, then 2 pumps would be the rough equivalent. X

[Alison sheppard]

Thankyou .I was on evorel conti and evorel 25. I did 1 1/2 pumps last night after my bath about 8pm and took the utrogestan about 9.30pm. Didn't sleep until about 1am then woke at 5 feeling very groggy. Have had a bluh  feeling all day. So going on basis that the conti patch is 2 pumps I didn't put enough on. Will try more tonight. I hope the groggy feeling is just down to the new progesterone and I will get used to it. I need sleep to be able to get through the day.

[Dotty]

Hi you might be better to put the Oestrogel on in a morning . x

[Alison sheppard]

Thankyou for that Dotty. I shall try that. I just assumed you should put it on after a bath or shower and that I have in the evening. I suppose it would have fully absorbed from the morning for it to be OK to bath as normal. It's such a complicated minefield x

[Dotty]

The advice is to use Oestrogel in a morning and Utrogestan at night ( on an empty stomach.) Leave an hour after applying before showering or bathing. X

[Alison sheppard]

I tried the oestrogel and progesterone capsule for 2 days and had really bad reaction possibly to the progesterone.  I am back on averol conti patch. Can I use the oestrogel to top up oestrogen when I get symptoms rather than upping the patch permanently. I don't always need more than just the conti

[Hurdity]

Not really a good idea to add oestrogen to a combi patch unless under proper supervision of your doc because it could upset the balance between oestrogen and progestogen and cause thickening of the womb lining and sporadic bleeding - which if untreated can in some cases lead to endometrial hyperplasia and cancer. Your doc will be able to advise. If you have fibroids or polyps or endometriosis it would probably not be prescribed but some docs do allow a small amount of extra oestrogen without additional prog and then monitor it.

Hurdity x

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I just wanted to say that Davina McCall demonstrated her daily HRT regime a YouTube video. She has a Conti patch and for testosterone she uses a pea sized amount of testogel. She also adds one squirt of Oestrogel that she rubs into her arm.
She is being treated by the Newson Clinic and says that they thought she needed more oestrogen so recommended including the gel.
It is likely that she is being monitored but it seems that adding gel to a patch is possible under some circumstances.

Take care ladies.

K.

[ELM2712]

Hi ladies, I'm new here so thanks for your patience.  I posted something as a new topic and have had no replies, so perhaps I did something wrong.  Would appreciate some help as I am feeling quite low and lost in this new HRT journey.  Will put my post here if that's ok, and hopefully someone can point me in the right direction .... many thanks xx

Hi everyone, this is my first post so thanks for any help you can offer me.

I’m 58, last period 3 years ago. Had the usual hot flushes, no sweating, mainly at night and not terrible, just annoying waking up. A few years ago, I had aching feet mainly in the morning but that symptom has gone long ago. The symptom I still have and find the worst, is anxiety. So, I have started HRT on advice from my GP. She is very pro HRT. Also read everything on the Dr Louise Newson website and follow her Instagram.

So, I started slowly. Estradot patch 25 for 4 weeks. I’m now on Estradot 37.5 and have been for 4 weeks. I’m about to start the Utrogestan and will do so vaginally 3 times a week at night. (I’ve just had a pelvic scan and uterus is fine so I’m not worried about delaying the progesterone and did so on GP advice).

On the 37.5, I had 3 great weeks. Slept well, had no anxiety, best I have felt in a long while. I was actually amazed. However, not so now. My sleep is terrible. I fall asleep easily around 9pm but wake constantly after 1am. I’m about to start the Utrogestan (vaginally and 3 times a week as per GP). I am nervous about this because I have been told that this is the downside of HRT and if you are going to have issues, this is where it will occur. However, it is not an option of course to not take it.

I was worried about HRT but I have read so much on it now, and can see so many benefits. I am trying to to work out why the sleeping has gone downhill and is this making my anxiety rear it’s ugly head again ?? Lack of sleep is shocking and certainly wrecks your day.

I thought 37.5 was a low dose so surely I can’t have TOO much estrogen on board. Is it the delay in starting the progesterone maybe ?? Is it just overthinking this, causing bad sleep and my anxiety has resurfaced as a result ??

I’m so confused about what to do and beginning to regret starting HRT. But, I did not want to take Anti Depressants and felt this was a safer option with other health benefits. I am so tired of Anxiety, especially when I have no reason to be anxious !!

Sorry for the long post, but I am feeling lost and searching for answers on the internet which is draining and conflicting.

Look forward to hearing from you and thanks for reading x

[EllaAurora]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Hope you'll find the discussions here useful -I've also found lot of information in the past threads so recommend to put your key words in the search box and see what comes up.

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well and the anxiety/insomnia is coming back again. Do you have a chance to discuss with your GP and share the recent worsening of symptoms?

Also, I'd not be too worried about the utrogestan -while it causes issues for some, for others it actually works very well. For me the utro helps with the sleep and actually has a calming effect overall. We're all different so its possible you'd also get a beneficial effect from it.

Take care and let us know how you get on! xx