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[Starfish]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to find out if anyone had weight gain on Oestrogel? I’m on 3 pumps and utrogestan (cyclical).
I have not changed what I eat or the amount of exercise. I started this new regime in July and I have put on nearly a stone. It just seems to keep going up. Thinking of stopping. I started hrt at 42 due to early menopause. It’s been 3 years of trying tablets patches and now the gel. This is the first time I have gained so much weight. None of my clothes fit  . I tried evorel 100 but my oestradiol levels were only 280. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Jennel27]

Hi your not alone I'm 35 been on the same as you for a year now I'm on 2 pumps gel 1 tablet at night IV gained a stone in a year and changed nothing the lbs just keep coming on I'm stopping my hrt tomorrow I'm more upset with the weight gain then what I was having the hit flushes ect I was put into the menopause due to hysterectomy from having server endometriosis, I'm exercises more eating healthy n still gaining weight , I feel it's definitely the hrt all I get from the drs is menopause causes weight gain they put everything down to the menopause now don't know about you ?

[RebJT]

Hiya

Can't comment on weight as I lost loads of belly fat on HRT, but utro does give me the munchies and water retention.  You could try taking it vaginally so it's not systemic, see if that helps.

But commenting to say my sis in law takes 100 x 2 patches and her blood levels are 700, you'd need a consultant gynae to authorise that and write to your GP, but women absorb differently, provided all signs, symptoms and blood levels are good, and uterine protection is adequate, enlightened gynaes listen to their patients.  Max dose is not the law, GPs act like it is, any doctor can prescribe any dose provided they can justify it (I have the same problem with thyroid meds, they are rigid with the pathway as if it was the holy bible!).

x

[Penguin]

I have gained weight slowly but steadily since starting hrt 15 months ago. It wasn't noticeable at first as I was previously very underweight having lost a lot due to anxiety and gastritis so all my clothes were loose anyway. I am on estrogel plus 200mg utrogrstan 12 days per month. The estrogen makes me retain water, I notice it particularly in thighs, hips and belly. I've twice tried to stop hrt, once by stopping completely for a week and once by dropping dowm to half a pump a day for a week. Both times I dropped weight and my belly went have to flat within a few days. Both times the peri symptoms were so bad I had to go on it again.
I'm now at the point of looking at my summer clothes as we are going away soon and  after living in jeggings all winter,  I've now realised I can't fit into my normal jeans easily. Even pulling up over thighs is hard and I've never had big thighs. And don't even talk about my hips.

So it is back to watching what I eat (haven't had to do that for awhile as was trying to gain for ages and couldn't due to the anxiety and gastritis as I had a restricted diet) and getting back into exercise. Problem is I am hungry all month long now, whereas before my appetite used to drop off when my period came and the first 10 days I'd eat really lightly as I just didn't have much of an appetite.

So yes in my case, I have definitely gained weight on hrt and it is really depressing.

[Starfish]

It’s good to know I’m not the only one, on the patch this wasn’t an issue, but then I wasn’t really absorbing. Thanks for your replies.

Jennel27, sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time too and that your gp is not taking your concerns seriously.

RebJT, thanks for the advice. I feel that my gp keeps changing it all the time and nothing is really working or suiting me. I would like to attend a menopause clinic. Waiting lists here are shockingly long.

Penguin, what you are experiencing is very similar to me at the moment. It is so depressing. It’s really knocked my confidence and self esteem. I’ve lots of dresses that I can’t wear and I can barely button my jeans. The thought of having to buy a new wardrobe to accommodate how my body has changed, makes me feel so low and angry! I feel like I really want to stop hrt!

Only other option is to try another patch, only one I haven’t tried is estradot?

[Penguin]

I have big issues with the progrsterone part of the hrt, but also with my estrogen going too high on occasions. Waiting to get testing done this month to see what my levels are on hrt. It is definitely when my estrogen drops that I lose the water weight though.

[Hollyboll]

It's worth making sure oestr levels are always the same day (preferably in the first 24 hours) after patch change, and if those are higher than later days it's worth changing every 3 days definitely and for some even every 2 days.  Patches are supposed to last consistently for 4 days but for some women they don't - 3 days is not uncommon apparently and even sometimes for 2 days. 

Hth x

[Hollyboll]

But commenting to say my sis in law takes 100 x 2 patches and her blood levels are 700, you'd need a consultant gynae to authorise that and write to your GP, but women absorb differently, provided all signs, symptoms and blood levels are good, and uterine protection is adequate, enlightened gynaes listen to their patients.  Max dose is not the law, GPs act like it is, any doctor can prescribe any dose provided they can justify it (I have the same problem with thyroid meds, they are rigid with the pathway as if it was the holy bible!).

x

fwiw I'd be very very careful about going onto mega high patches.  I learned that the hard way - I did, on 'specialist' private advice, went up to 275 and was encouraged to go higher as I was still getting symptoms.  It was only through a weird quirk that I ended up with a top specialist who said high patches are dangerous both for symptoms now and longterm lining risk, and since the symptoms weren't resolving something else was going on. 

I am not for one second saying GPs aren't rigid and often horribly ignorant - and I recognise that I'm both unusual lol (took even proper specialist 6+ months and a million tests to work out what might be going on with me w HRT - still a challenge in progress) ... but I am also very lucky/grateful that I ended up with him, a leading meno specialist who's yes sympathetic and listens to his patients but also clear about the risks of high patches and tachyphylaxis. 

I have now learned the BMS has gone so far as to issue warning statements about the clinics that are prescribing very high oestrogen (primarily the 'specialist' pvt clinic I was at previously).  The previous pvt 'specialist' said she wasn't worried about high levels as they'd not be constantly that high.  I now know in fact that made it worse - instead of smoothing the waves as she said it did, in fact it made the peaks higher so the drops worse. 

I'm not looking for an argument - for some women high levels may absolutely be worth it if they resolve the symptoms (and w regular scans and extra progest)  but I wish I'd known when a pricey 'specialist' I trusted absolutely because of the great enlightened attitude at her clinic and all her media work told me all about how outdated the guidelines are and how many patients she has on higher levels ... I wish I'd known just how much of an outlier that was, how concerned leading menopause consultants and the BMS are about it, how many more problems it would cause me, and how challenging over-prescribing would make stabilizing my levels afterwards.