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[Samsz]

Hi everyone,

I'm 48 and started HRT last year as I wasn't sleeping. Been good up until about 4 weeks ago.
I've been on 75 mcg most of the time, but then went to 100 when sleep was a bit bad again - then all of a sudden it was like at the start - hardly sleeping at all, so went to 100mcg.
I have been seeing a doctor at Newsons Health who has advised to go higher on my patches and to have a blood test (booked for Tuesday) to see if I am absorbing it OK. So I've been on 125mcg for 10 days and am sleeping, but the thing is since starting 125mcg I feel very strange - lightheaded in an anxious type way, blocked up like getting a cold and just not right... I do get anxiety every now and then so can be sensitive to changes in my body.
I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this, If it will eventually pass and also, if it turns out that I am not absorbing it properly but am on a higher dose - can this still give you side affects?

Hope that makes sense ( feeling very spacey so not easy to focus!)
I look forward to hearing your views, Thanks

[Pippa52]

Hi Samsz .... - I have certainly had the spacey lightheaded and anxious feelings particularly when going up on the dosage.  I would think it would help your Dr at Newsons to advise you further when you have had the blood test to see what your levels are although it does seem many Drs assess you on your symptoms as to whether you need to go higher or lower on dosage.  Hope so much you start to feel better soon x

[Samsz]

Hi Pippa,

Thanks for your reply - so does your anxious feeling go after a while?
Thank you, Samsz

[Pippa52]

Hi Pippa,

Thanks for your reply - so does your anxious feeling go after a while?
Thank you, Samsz

Hi Samsz - still work in progress for me re the anxious feelings.  I had to change HRT when my normal one became unavailable due to the shortages.  It really messed me up and I have only in the last 2 weeks got back on my old HRT and I need time to  level out as I have been put on a changed dose to what I was on before. Normally these effects do level out in time but it does seem that medical advice says to give it at least 3 months on the same dose.  Your blood results will give you a guide as to whether your level is too high or too low so then your Dr at Newson's will then be able to advise you as to what dose to be on.  xx

[Samsz]

Hi,

Sorry you still feel anxious - bloody horrible isn't it! Hopefully you will level out soon...
Yes I will have to just wait for bloods like you say.

Thanks again, Samsz

[Marchlove]

Hello Samsz,

The physical symptoms you describe of lightheadedness, blocked up like getting a cold, sounds to me like a  histamine issues.

This can be caused by high histamine foods but primarily increased estrogen levels relative to progesterone and possibly testosterone.

What progesterone are you taking and are you taking testosterone? X

[Pippa52]

Hi,

Sorry you still feel anxious - bloody horrible isn't it! Hopefully you will level out soon...
Yes I will have to just wait for bloods like you say.

Thanks again, Samsz

Thanks so much for your kind words.  I so hope you start to feel better soon too.  Please let us know how you get on xx

[Samsz]

Hi marchlove

Yes I think the blood results are going to show a too high level…
I’m on testosterone and bloods were fine.
Have one progesterone tablet a night but due to have coil….
Thanks for your feedback 😊

[Samsz]

Ps meant to say I’m not sure what you meant by estrogen levels relevant to progesterone?

[joziel]

I'd just say that my own experience with Newson (I'm a patient) is that they frequently prescribe high doses and seem to assume women will need 75 or 100 and then just go up and up.

Sometimes I think we need less, not more. I react really badly to estrogen and Newson seemed to just assume that I would need 75-100 and keep suggesting that I gradually increase - even when I hadn't been at a previous level for 12wks and many of my symptoms had gone. So I ended up with really bad estrogen related side effects and I've now had to come right back down to 37.5. I've been there for a week and things are much better, not perfect yet - but I am giving it time to stabilise.

High and low estrogen symptoms can be very similar yet they only seem to want to send you up and up....

The other thing to say is that despite my symptoms, my blood estrogen was only 233nmol. Which also seemed to make my Newson doctor want to tell me to increase more and more. They do seem to look at blood levels a lot in what they advise. The BMS say that how you feel is what you should be led by, not blood estrogen levels. If I'd followed the BMS advice, I'd have started on the 25 patch and then stayed there at least 12wks to see if my symptoms went. They did, pretty much. So I'd probably still be there now and I'd never have had bloods done.

The last many months have been their own special kind of hell for me (as folks here know) and all that could have easily been avoided without the assumption that I needed ever larger whacks of estrogen....

[Marchlove]

Oh joziel, I’m so very very much with you on this.

My whole journey is leading me more and more towards lower estrogen levels. Blood tests are useless. Our estrogen levels have peaks and troughs throughout the day (3 or 4 normally ) and as we all know throughout our monthly cycle, so testing tells us practically nothing.

Saliva and urine testing tells us more regarding how we metabolise our hormones, which is far more important than how much we happen to have in our blood at one point in a day, let alone a  monthly cycle!

All this testing is expensive, stressful and open to so much interpretation.

So my current thinking is to follow my gut instinct.  Allowing it to decide, with adjustments as necessary, the way forward.

Low and slow, feeling it out as I go xx

[Samsz]

Hi Joziel and Marchlove,

Thanks so much for your comments and sorry you both have had a hard time with it all.
I get what you are both saying and I did wonder about why they suggest a blood test to see if you are absorbing the HRT yet don't advice to have on to see if you are in the menopause as they are unreliable!
Yes I'm going to follow my gut instincts - which at the moment are that I can't go on feeling anxious, spaced out etc and so will come down to 100mcg - I'm going to wait out the 125mcg until bloods Tuesday just in case it shows very high estrogen levels and helps me to analyze my symptoms a bit more and I certainly won't go up higher if my levels come back low. I just really don't want to go back to not sleeping and the higher dose is helping with that.
Marchlove - I have been reading up on the estrogen/histamine connection and it is really interesting - going to look into this more.
Thanks agin for the advice, Samsz