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[Sunriser]

Hi, I have spent several months eliminating foods etc to see if it can help with chronic migraine and crashing fatigue. I also reduced down my patch to half (Evorel 50 Conti) as am 54 and menopause started at 48. I wondered did HRT cause migraines or make them better. Only one way to find out!!
So having done keto and then following the Heal Your Headache elimination diet (I highly recommend as it as worked very well for me, but I realise that we are all different) the last piece in the puzzle was HRT. I have been completely flattened by fatigue (in bed a lot, sleeping but not feeling better) so I reintroduced the full patch and within a couple of days can see things improving a bit.
So I have concluded that being post menopausal has left me with chronic fatigue (the symptoms have been getting steadily worse over the years).
I have tried other HRT but they made my migraines worse or I couldn't tolerate them plus piled on a stone in weight (I have lost in again).
Anyone else have this symptom? I hope to be more in balance when my body readjusts to the HRT, I know it will take time.

[Dotty]

Yes I did….I was totally exhausted and couldn’t function at all.  I was diagnosed with CFS but once I was on the right dose of oestrogen the exhaustion disappeared.

[Sunriser]

Thanks for that. Have tried to up my oestrogen but triggers migraine. Flippin typical. 

[sheila99]

Might be worth seeing your gp to rule out other causes of fatigue such as thyroid, b12 etc. The NHS doesn't test vit d but I was deficient in it even in summer.

[bombsh3ll]

If you have excluded other medical causes you might want to consider testosterone.

Low androgen levels are known to cause fatigue and lethargy.

This aspect of hormone replacement is often forgotten about in women yet can be life changing.

[CLKD]

Our GP tests for VitD levels.

I remember Mum having crashing fatigue, she would suddenly switch off the cooker at tea time, sit down and sleep for hours.

[KaraShannon]

I have crashing fatigue.  Not sure why it's called that but when it happens I cannot move and can be like that all day.

I was told my oestrogen levels were way too high.  I was getting migraine and dizziness on standing. 

Now it's been lowered and 6 months have passed and I'm beginning to think it's too low now. 

Decided my best bet is the Newson Clinic as my doctor's here are so difficult to contact and seem to have no interest in menopause. 


What others have said, it's also good to check thyroid (mine probably needs a private specialist right now, I have hypothyroidism anyway but the doctor's do not do a full blood test anymore), Vit D, Vit B12. 

And very interesting to me.  I took a selenium supplement on different occasions and noticed each time my energy went up.  It was so significant I looked up selenium and energy and apparently yes it can really help with that. 

Also Folic Acid is important.

And while they're expensive, I find Co Enzyme Q10 is very good.

[Tulip]

KaraShannon I trued Selenium too, did nothing for me, but it does affect the thyroid so people need to be aware of this if they're hyper/hypothyroid.

[Furyan]

I crashed in energy and fatigue last September and found that my levothyroxine was not converting into T3 well. When I didn’t improve much on taking combined T4/T3, my health declined further and I discovered I have b12 deficiency despite taking sublingual b12 for years. I’ve been having injections every other day since April and my health is finally turning around for the better. My crushing fatigue was a perfect storm of low thyroid, low b12 and girly hormones.
Maybe check your thyroid, vitamin d, folate, b12 etc. but bear in mind that you mustn’t test for b12 if you have supplemented with it within the last four months or it will skew the results. The tests and reference ranges given for b12 are absolutely terrible so be weary if you are told that your b12 is ‘in range’. Hope you get to the bottom of it soon x