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[LisaH]

Hi I am new to all of this so please bear with me. I have recently started HRT. I am on Sandrena 1mg Gel everyday and Utrogestan 100mg. Firstly I am very confused about how many days I should stop taking the Utrogestan. When it says cycle is it meaning 28 days- I have asked a pharmacist and she was as confused as me. Also is it normal for the hot flushes to get worse before they get better? I have been very reluctant to start HRT but I have been period free for seven years and the symptoms were not getting better so I eventually decided to give it a go but beginning to regret it. Thank you for any advice.

[Dotty]

Hi if you are post menopause then you take 100mg of Utrogestan every night. x

[Joaniepat]

Hello LisaH, welcome to the forum.
As you are postmenopausal you can take the Utrogestan continuously, with no break. It can take any regime a while to settle down, so give it three months before reassessing. Good luck!
JP x

[LisaH]

Thank you, my dr has said that I should have felt the benefit straight away and I should stop taking anything.

[Joaniepat]

Thank you, my dr has said that I should have felt the benefit straight away and I should stop taking anything.

The normal advice is to give any regime two or three months to settle down. It doesn't sound as though your GP knows much about it. Many don't.
JP x

[ATB]

Yeah the menstrual cycle is 28 days so that’s what they mean. Your doctor gave you the wrong advice, HRT can take 3 months or even more to really feel a change in symptoms. Good luck.

[Dotty]

Hi your doctor is wrong … it can take up to three months to feel any benefit. You don’t need to worry about a 28 day cycle as you are post menopause x

[sheila99]

Flushes usually go within a fortnight, my anxiety and insomnia took 3 months. I can only remember one post on here where some e felt better straight away, for most it's much longer. They recommend 3 months before reviewing it.

[sheila99]

Your symptoms are caused by oestrogen deficiency so imo the best way to sort it is to increase oestrogen so the herbal remedies become redundant. You may need topical oestrogen too (have a look at the vaginal atrophy threads) but my leaking was fixed by adding testosterone which improved muscle tone overall including pelvic floor (I had a problem with muscle tone in general, frequently pulling muscles for no good reason).

[Taz2]

I found black cohosh an instant remedy at the start when my periods were first gone. It stopped working so I'm trying evorel conti but the gp encourages me to take the herbal remedies as well for as long as they work, red clover, mucuna pruriens, holy basil and siberian rhubarb, but it's expensive to take all those and my husband worries about me taking so many things at once.

As far as I understand it you can't use red clover while on HRT and holy basil is used to counteract oestrogen dominance so might wipe out any good oestrogenic effects you get from the HRT. You have to be careful as to which herbal remedies you use while on HRT.

Taz x

[sheila99]

You can't cut down by extending the number of days you leave a patch on, that will give you a high dose for 3-4 then nothing or very little for the rest of the week. If you want to reduce you either have to use a lower dose patch or cut a piece off the one you have. We have enough problems with hormonal peaks and troughs in peri without adding to them!

[Anne G]

This is interesting, I thought my doctor was very clued up about HRT, she practically pushed me onto it, I was reluctant at first. Her words were that it's like turning on a lightbulb, that's how instant the relief of HRT is. Now I'm wondering.
I found black cohosh an instant remedy at the start when my periods were first gone. It stopped working so I'm trying evorel conti but the gp encourages me to take the herbal remedies as well for as long as they work, red clover, mucuna pruriens, holy basil and siberian rhubarb, but it's expensive to take all those and my husband worries about me taking so many things at once.
I didn't know the bladder problems were menopause until reading here, I thought it was just aging and childbirth, my granny had an op about my age for her bladder. I'll investigate what might help me stop weeing myself. Whenever I phone my gp she tells me to google my problems (instead of phoning her I guess) but then she's very helpful after she has her say on that, lol.

I think it depends on the symptoms.  I had extremely bad anxiety and the benefit was almost instant for me in that regard, but it took longer for HRT to deal with other symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats.  As others have said, stick with it for a bit longer.

[sheila99]

Blimey, my anxiety took 3 months!

[LisaH]

Thank you for your replies! I am still not sure what to do, I might try again😄

[Dee]

Hi ladies just wondering so hrt helped your anxiety ? mine through the roof at moment hopefully dr to prescribe hrt when i see him friday on ads at mo which seems to be helping slowly but what with other symptoms need more help any advice on what hrt will help my anxiety gives me thoughts of not being here thanks Dee x