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[Bungo]

Almost 3 months on hrt-2 pumps oestrogel and utrogestan. Am late perimenopause, age 52.  Since starting , have been progressively gaining weight , am 1.5 kg gain so far and the trend is slow increase. I had anorexia and long term calorie restrictive diet and am eating exactly the same as prior to starting hrt, so I know it's the hrt causing it. I track calories each day and eat the same foods.If I know it's purely water retention, I'll accept it as hope it will resolve. If it's fat then that's another issue
 Am considering stopping the hrt for a few months to see if the weigh falls off. If it does, then I'll restart and this time ride it out..Has anyone tried this and did the weigh gained come off? ie was it just water retention and bloating
Am in horrors now that the weight will just go on and on and I'll be 'riding it out' to see if settles, giving another month etc etc. And end up with another few kgs weight gain which I stuck with
Can I ask that only reply if have experience of stopping hrt and effect on weight. I don't need diet tips or exercise tips, I'm already on carefully tracked diet and hrt is the direct cause of the weight gain so far.

[CLKD]

Morning.

What's to lose if you try, though it mayB a while B4 any 'extra' weight gain goes down.  When my dog was ill in the 1990s I didn't walk as often/far and put on nearly 2 stones.  It took 14 months to get back to slightly below 8st., I borrowed a puppy    .

Kalories of course convert to energy.  I tend to stick to 'safe' foods unless I feel really well when I will add i.e. crisps to my lunch.  I do 'go off' foods after months, i.e. pizza for lunch 

How do you feel that the HRT regime has helped otherwise?

[Perinowpost]

There was someone on here Bungo (forget who) who had to come off hrt for a while and promptly lost the weight she had gained. As soon as she resumed it went back on again.

I put 9lb on overnight when I went on hrt. I know it’s water retention as it’s all puffy around my tummy. Like you I’m positive I don’t eat anymore than I used to. I’m pretty sure if I stopped hrt it would go, but here’s the rub hrt makes me feel good and there are so many benefits I don’t want to give it up. So it’s a trade off really, and luckily I wasn’t overweight to start with.

I might try experimenting and coming off at 60 (58 now), and see what happens. If I feel rubbish though I’m going straight back on .

Hope this helps x

[CLKD]

However: stopping 'to see' might cause more problems than initially as often the same regime simply doesn't work 2nd/3rd time around.   . Women can continue for Life if it suits.

[Bungo]

There was someone on here Bungo (forget who) who had to come off hrt for a while and promptly lost the weight she had gained. As soon as she resumed it went back on again.

I put 9lb on overnight when I went on hrt. I know it’s water retention as it’s all puffy around my tummy. Like you I’m positive I don’t eat anymore than I used to. I’m pretty sure if I stopped hrt it would go, but here’s the rub hrt makes me feel good and there are so many benefits I don’t want to give it up. So it’s a trade off really, and luckily I wasn’t overweight to start with.

I might try experimenting and coming off at 60 (58 now), and see what happens. If I feel rubbish though I’m going straight back on .

Hope this helps x

Thanks so much for that, it's reassuring. I know mentally I won't cope with any more weight gain,my mood is already getting affected by it. It it stops at this, I'll live the the 4 extra lbs.  My symptoms were mainly joint pain and aching soles of feet,to point I couldn't tolerate even wearing runners for any length of time. There may be a slight improvement here, wearing sandals now which always found more comfortable. I really want to stick with hrt for my bones etc but if the hrt drives me to relapse into dieting again, then it definitely isn't worth it.
Re the weight you gained on starting, did it stabilize after a few months or did you keep gaining?

[Perinowpost]

It stabilised. I can get it down if I eat absolutely no carbs, but life is too short for that.

That’s a good point CKLD makes. I’d hate to come off only to find it doesn’t work anymore on restarting x

[Gnatty]

A very good point indeed. Imagine that, it doesn't bear thinking about!

[Bungo]

Hadn't considered it wouldn't work 2nd time around. . That doesn't make sense if just replacing hormones. Have others reported that issue?

[Perinowpost]

Actually thinking about it maybe with medication like anti-depressants but not so much with hormone replacement. I’ve trialled several different types of hrt in the last 10 years but always been fine when returning to my favourite x

[Bungo]

Thanks Perinowpost..I'll give it another month before deciding and hope that weight gain levels at current weight. A few weeks ago my tummy was flat and weight dropped a kg,.however aches were really bad .So definitely a correlation between weight and natural oestrogen levels. I'm only 5 feet so any few lbs is very obvious especially to me . I won't make any drastic decisions yet.

[Gilla999]

I gained nearly 1.5 stone rapidly when I started HRT, it was terrifying. When my Estrogen levels dropped earlier this year, the weight also dropped, then when they went back up so did the weight. There is 100% a connection and I don't believe it's the HRT per se but Estrogen (even your own). My personal feeling is that since starting HRT my Progesterone level has never been high enough to balance out the relatively high level I need my Estrogen to be, in order to be symptom free. I could only ever tolerate 100mg Utrogestan vaginally and the amount of P you get from that is very little. I really believe that balancing the two hormones is critical in order to avoid Estrogen dominance symptoms like weight gain, constipation and other things. Just a little something to think about 

[Bungo]

I gained nearly 1.5 stone rapidly when I started HRT, it was terrifying. When my Estrogen levels dropped earlier this year, the weight also dropped, then when they went back up so did the weight. There is 100% a connection and I don't believe it's the HRT per se but Estrogen (even your own). My personal feeling is that since starting HRT my Progesterone level has never been high enough to balance out the relatively high level I need my Estrogen to be, in order to be symptom free. I could only ever tolerate 100mg Utrogestan vaginally and the amount of P you get from that is very little. I really believe that balancing the two hormones is critical in order to avoid Estrogen dominance symptoms like weight gain, constipation and other things. Just a little something to think about 

That's a good theory.How much oestrogen are you taking ? Maybe I might try reducing the no of pumps to 1.5 or 1 to see if that makes a difference , rather than stopping outright

[Perinowpost]

I do think there’s a correlation between higher oestrogen and weight gain I’ve noticed it myself if I try to increase oestrogen. Conversely though I also swell up whenever I take progesterone, and that’s any progesterone (and I’ve tried them all). I think it’s more to do with how you react to progesterone that’s the issue x

[Gilla999]

Reducing would be a better first step to see what happens. Stopping cold turkey could cause rebound side effects and end up prolonging things for you! I started on 2 sprays of Lenzetto and tried repeatedly to lower it without success - I would get rebound side effects each time. In hindsight I believe that my weight gain was caused by my Estrogen being too high in relation to my Progesterone (ie Estrogen dominance) and not a problem with the Estrogen level itself, if that makes sense. It's a delicate dance that the two hormones do together!

You could try to reduce to 1.5 and see if you tolerate it and notice any positive movement on the scales and then drop again if all is well etc. I totally understand how it feels... starting HRT saved my life but the exchange that I've had to give for it (in terms of the weight gain) has been a bitter pill to swallow. I'm still on the journey to balance my E and P and get back to normal! X

[CLKD]

U R clever knowing how the hormones interact.  I was never aware of ovulating and never gave thought to which hormone was triggering symptoms through the month.  For years I would sob the night B4 a bleed began even if a period wasn't due so was aware that it was hormonal: I had very painful periods and heavy bleeds until I went on The Pill. 

Good Luck!! let us know how you get on.