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[Stargazer]

I am now officially post menopausal and have been taking Oestrogel at various number of pumps ie 2, 3 and now 4 for a year alongside Utrogestan.   

Initially, wanted HRT to for muscle and bone pain along with heavy duty mood swings and anger. Mild hot flushes.  It seemed to help a little on the muscle/bone front initially and did nothing for mood and anger, also have bloating and weight gain. A year on and I am worse than ever and feel like I have PMS all the time!  Dr taken bloods today for general health, thyroid, liver, bone, oestrogen and Testosterone (though they say they do not really know what to do with a Testosterone result!  Thinking of going privately with results as feel  so bad and look after 3 very young children so lifting etc is very painful and my nerves are frayed!! 

Always had very bad PMS so maybe Utrogestan sensitive (but do use it vaginally) or could I be sensitive to Oestrogel or not absorbing it properly any ideas please?

[ATB]

Sorry to hear you’re struggling. There will be more experienced ladies along to help you determine what might be the issue I’m sure, but you’re on 4 pumps now? That’s a high dose so I wonder if too much estrogen if still symptomatic.
I see someone at Newson clinic, we wait 3 months before changing dose. Was that the case for you too? You don’t take testosterone? That helped me with things like energy, muscle building, concentration, focus and brain fog. The NHS don’t prescribe it except for low libido, which is pretty strange, but Newson see it as being as important as estrogen. But it may also be your estrogen dose isn’t right.

[soph35]

Hi Stargazer,

Sorry to hear you're feeling rough! I just wanted to express my sympathy. I've been on the same regime as you (3-4 pumps of Oestrogel and 100mg Utrogestan daily) for about three months and feel pretty rotten. I'm exhausted, I ache everywhere, and my mood is very flat. I started using the Utro vaginally just over a week ago, but no improvement yet.

It's so difficult to figure out which bit of the HRT is causing which symptoms, but it seems like quite a lot of women struggle with the Utro side of things, particularly if they have suffered from bad PMS like us. I was on Evorel Conti initially, and I think I felt a bit better on that, but it gave me terrible acne

Hopefully your blood tests will shed some light on what's going wrong for you, and the docs can get it sorted. Like ATB says, it sounds like testosterone is the missing link for many women, but it doesn't exactly seem easy to access on the NHS!

[sheila99]

The blood test will show how much oestrogen you're absorbing. If they're OK I'd suggest you use a sequi regime for 3 months and see if you're better on the oestrogen only phase. I use it this way on a long (6 week) cycle because I get fatigue on utro. If you want to try it it's 200mg for 12 days per cycle. If you don't already use it vaginally that would be worth trying too.

[pepperminty]

I agree with Sheila,

the Utro is usually the culprit.  Take the estrogen on it's own. I would maybe lower it to 3 pumps to start with and take the utro for 12 days a month. the longer cycle gives you more utro free days.


Your levels may be useful to see if you absorb well.

Give it 3 months  and see how you are.

I hope you feel better soon.

PMXX

[Happydayz]

Hi Stargazer

I’m in a similar boat to you with three young children to look after and no improvement after nearly a year on HRT. I feel awful physically and at times mentally because I’m letting them down every single day that I can’t be my best for them - I’m sure they don’t notice but for me the frustration is immeasurable!

After an initial good response to 100mcg estrodot we assumed that I was absorbing it, threw testosterone into the mix then suspected progesterone intolerance.

Recent bloods show I’m not absorbing anything so clearly have skin like an elephant 🤣

My dose of estrodot is now doubled to 200mcg and applying testosterone on thinner skin so desperately hoping something starts to sink in as I can’t take oral HRT.

I really hope your bloods show the cause and you find a solution!!! Xx

[sheila99]

Happydayz there is an implant if still don't absorb though it will need a specialist.

[Happydayz]

Hi Sheila, thank you …….will raise this with my doctor! Xx