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[appey]

Hi
Have just had a horrid night so could do with some advice. I’m pretty sure it is of my own making but I’m all over the place at the moment. I’ve posted some of my story on other threads.
I’m 52 and post menopausal and have been suffering with severe fatigue and palpitations since June. Having spent June and July getting my heart checked out I now know that is fine, so am trying to get on an even keel with hrt.
I started on oestrogel and utrogestan on 6th August with just 1 pump in the morning. This was going well so a week later I upped it to one pump in the morning and one at night. I did this for 3 days and felt terrible with awful sickness in the morning and nausea most of the day. It felt like I was wired and I had a raised heartbeat all the time that I became paranoid about. I went back down to 1 pump for another 3 days but still felt rubbish and in my panic stopped applying the gel altogether last Friday and Saturday. We were travelling home from holiday so I wanted to get home and reassess. On Sunday I applied half a pump and on Monday the full pump. I’d actually slept pretty well during all of this, with just the odd palpitation wake up. Because I’d had two days without gel I had a bit of a bleed and so thought I’d better speak to my GP just to double check. Within that conversation we talked about moving to evorel 25 as I wasn’t sure the gel suited me, so she gave me a prescription just for 8 patches to try. I applied the patch on Tuesday morning and all was fine during the day but then I had lots of palpitations that night. With hindsight I don’t know why I stopped using the gel after a good Sunday and Monday but I’m just not thinking straight at the moment.
After my restless night on Tuesday and it not feeling right,  I ripped the patch off yesterday morning (Wednesday)- so it had been on 24 hours - and applied 1 pump of the gel in the morning. I was ok during the day, apart from the usual fatigue and a slightly wired feeling, but knew it might take 24 hours or so for things to settle down. But having just had a really horrid night with lots of palpitations and feel like my cortisol is all over the place, I’m just wondering how long it will take to even itself out? I’m intending to apply the gel this morning and I know I’ve got to give it all a longer shot but really not liking this at all. I know I’ve been a bit silly chopping and changing but panic is my middle name at the moment!
All advice very welcome.
Thank you

[Nas]

Hi appey,
You sound a bit like me with the chopping and changing.
The long a day short of HRT is, that you need to give each type at last three months to settle and to find out whether it suits your body and brain.

If i were you now, I’d do a complete re set. So start again with the gel. But half a pump for a couple of weeks. Then if your body likes it, up to one pump for a couple more weeks and so on.

The 25 patch is the equivalent to one pump, but offers a slow release of oestrogen. I find the gel rushes through my body and makes a bit wired, but we all respond so differently.

If you really can’t tolerate the gel, I maybe give the patch a go later on. Twice a week change, really easy.

Good luck 

[Nas]

P.s appey, forgot to say, when you first start HRT, you can feel a bit worse before feeling better. If you think your body has been depeleted of 0 for a good while, then when you first feed the body, it goes a bit crazy ! Things will settle in time. Stick with the half pump for now I would.

[appey]

Thank you so so much
That’s good advice.
I think I’ve been hoping for a miracle as I’m a teacher and due back at work next week…

[Floo36]

It may also be your own hormones doing it to you rather than the gel or patch.  I’ve been where you are over the last 21/2 and learnt a lot.  I kept blaming whatever HRT I was using for all the weird symptoms and feeling like I’d been plugged into the sockets but it turned out I had never been absorbing any transdermal Estrogen so it was my own hormones all along but it took a long time to work out which is why it is trial and error.  If I were you I would choose whichever gel or patch and keep going with it, it may be that you just weren’t on enough.  Depends on your symptoms but you will know a long time before 3 months if you are going in the right direction. 

[Floo36]

2 1/2 years I meant to say

[appey]

Thank you
My husband has also reminded me that we were dealing with an upset daughter just before bed (nothing major) and that I was wired before my head hit the pillow so that probably didn’t help the cortisol and adrenaline.

I’m just struggling to make rational, sensible decisions at the moment!

I have an appointment with a private consultant at the end of September so will be having a blood test before then to look at hormone levels so that will gauge how much I am actually absorbing.

[Gilla999]

Not really able to give any advice but just wanted to say I totally relate to the "chopping and changing" when you're in a panic, and then feeling annoyed that you've made thing worse for yourself. Just wanted to say go easy on yourself... it's such a difficult time and you are doing the best you can do 

[EllaAurora]

Hi Appey,
Echoing other ladies, choose one regime and then stick with it. I know its very difficult and have done my share of chopping and changing as well.
The only exception is if a regime is making you feel really bad. I had that experience with patch that I realised after a month of feeling worse and worse, that it will just not work for me. Went back to gel and now trying hard to stick to this dose for a while, as I could really feel my body being shaken by the changes -first upping the dose with gel, then moving from gel to patch and finally again back to gel -all of this within 5 months.

I'm currently on 2 pumps, and I've decided to resist the urge to tweak the dose before I've had this dose at least for a full month. I'd expect to know then if this regime is taking me to a worse or better direction. If better, then to give it the full 3 months. It feels to me that the more changes there have been, the longer it takes for body to adjust.

Let us know how you get on & good luck! xx

[appey]

Thank you for your replies. I’m glad I’m not the only panicker out there!
My new middle name will be ‘consistent’! 🤞

[sheila99]

I completely understand the urge to feel better asap but as the others have said you do need to give it time. Flushes usually go within a couple of weeks but other symptoms take much longer. My anxiety and insomnia took 3 months. Palpitations can be a symptom of too much oestrogen and as you seem to be prone to them anyway it's a good reason to increase slowly. In your shoes I'd increase by half a pump at a time and give it at least a month for your body to get used to it before you think of increasing again.

[PMDD]

Here here!!! 

Not really able to give any advice but just wanted to say I totally relate to the "chopping and changing" when you're in a panic, and then feeling annoyed that you've made thing worse for yourself. Just wanted to say go easy on yourself... it's such a difficult time and you are doing the best you can do 

[appey]

Thank you
I’d not heard about the relationship between too much oestrogen and palpitations. Interesting x

[Scampidoodle]

I’m in peri and the only time I’ve ever had palpitations is when I went up to three pumps of oestrogel. It was too much. So a factor to consider.

[SueLW]

Thank you
I’d not heard about the relationship between too much oestrogen and palpitations. Interesting x

Palpitations are also caused by too little oestrogen.  In most hormonal cases too much and too little give similar symptoms so you can't judge by it. You have to test or experiment.