Hi from Aotearoa New Zealand. I'm 51 and started HRT 2 1/2 months ago. I have interstitial cystitis which was well controlled by 25mg amitriptyline per day. About 6 months ago my GP told me I needed to come off the birth control pill (Yaz) as I was 51 which was the average age of menopause - and they didn't know if it was safe to continue taking birth control after going through menopause. Within a couple of weeks of coming off the Yaz my interstitial cystitis kicked off - I had bladder pain. After a month it still hadn't gone away so went back to my GP and she put me on estrogen pessaries. After about 6 weeks the pain was still there and so I was put estradiol 25mcg patch and utrogestan 100mg for 12 days per month. This has definitely helped my bladder, but I noticed each month after I stopped the progesterone I never had a bleed. I reported this back to my doctor, and she said a certain percentage of people just don't bleed - but i would when I was on the birth control. Anyone else the same?