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[Peanut31]

Good morning everyone

I am peri menopause and been on HRT for about two years now.

 This was prescribed by my GP surgery and I was taking the Oestrogel gel and Utrogestan.  The Utrogestan did not agree with me at all, I named it the "devil tablets" as every time I was on it, my moods were absolutely terrible, I would go from anger, to being tearful.  I decided to try it vaginally, and this did not work either.

I was advised to up my Oestrogel to 2 pumps a day, and again did not agree with me either, my boobs get huge and painful, bloating was awful and I gained so much weight, and I was very tearful and anxious, after a month of trying this, I went back to one pump of gel a day.

Not getting on with Utrogestan, I paid to speak to Newson Health and they gave me Cyclogest to replace the Utrogestan.  As I was only using one pump of gel a day, I was advised to take half a tablet vaginally for 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.  I find it to be much better with Cyclogest then Utrogestan.

However, back in December I started to experience migraines every 2 weeks, I use to suffer with them as a teenager, but, they stopped.  They are Aura ones and this results in me losing sight in one eye and numbness, speech effected, and having to stop what I am doing and go to bed.

 The only warning I get is the wiggly lines in my sight and I have to stop everything and go home.  I have some tablets that I buy from the USA from the supermarket over there, and they help, but not fully.

 I've had it while driving and I have to phone family to collect me as it is not safe to drive.  I have had my eyes tested, and also been to my GP, with no help other than it is hormonal.  I've stopped eating cheese, fizzy drinks etc.  I decided to stop my HRT to see if there was a link, and I have not had any migraines since I stopped the HRT back in February.

However, I need to go back on HRT as I am getting night sweats again and my moods are up and down, my hair is falling out, I have dry skin and bruising.  Lets just say, it would not surprise me if my husband said he wanted a divorce as I have been terrible and it is not his fault.

I had a consultation with Newson health about this, and they advised trying the patches Evorel 25 as they think that with the gel I am having dips in my hormone levels (I use the gel at night) they have also advised to increase the Cyclogest to one tablet vaginally instead of half.

I am frightened to use anything with the fear of the headaches, everyone I have spoken too has said the patches were no good.

 I am tyring to work out do I need more hormones in my body to stop the roller coaster of emotions.  Leading up to a period I am awful and snappy, then mid way I cannot focus and cannot complete one task without starting another.  I have had terrible bloating and tummy issues and thought this was the HRT, but it has continued without the HRT, so this is being investigated separately.  I think I may be food intolerances

I was wondering whether to try 1/2 pump of gel say three times a week, from my understanding Progestrone is suppose to be calming, but it has the opposite effect to me.

Any advice, I would be so grateful to receive

Thank you x


 

[joziel]

That sucks Peanut, migraines are absolutely awful. I would definitely go with Newson's advice. The patches deliver a steady dose of estrogen and are said to be best for people experiencing symptoms from changes in estrogen levels. You might also need (you won't want to hear this) a higher dose, to override the fluctuations. Newson have access to Estradots by the way, if you preferred those to Evorels. (I don't absorb Evorels.)

The thing is, migraines are usually due to changes in estrogen. (I get them for that reason.) It can be sudden increases or sudden drops out. So if your own body is sometimes spiking it, taking a low dose of HRT isn't going to solve that. When you take a high dose of estrogen, it turns off your own ovaries (like the contraceptive pill does) and thereby also helps prevent the spikes and dips from your own body - leaving you with stable HRT estrogen. However you can only start low and increase gradually as you can tolerate it...

You say that after a month of increasing the Oestrogel to 2 pumps, you gave up... That isn't really long enough for the side effects to go away (like sore boobs, bloating). That can take up to 3 months... I'd start low and wait for at least 3 months on each dose before increasing again. Give your body time to adjust.

Lastly, have you considered using a Mirena if you really can't tolerate the utrogestan?

[Peanut31]

Hi Joziel

Thank you so much for your advice.  I did have a coil Nova T 380, my moods were terrible on it and very heavy periods.  It was removed after hubby had the snip.  I was on the pill before that, but after the birth of my son, I was rushed to hospital as they suspected a stroke, this was after I resumed taking the pill. After this they advised not to take any form of contraceptive pills again, hence the coil being fitted.

 Newson health did suggest the Mirena, but I did not really want to go down that route again.

I will try the patches, and hopefully I may find them more suitable,  So basically I have to find my sweet spot with Estrogen to override the dips in my hormones levels.

Thank you so much for your reply. x

[Mary G]

I started suffering with silent migraines (aura without headache) in the lead up to the menopause. I was unhelpfully told that oestrogen caused them but it turned out to be the complete opposite and my particular type of migraine is caused by oestrogen being too low which means I can't tolerate the spikes as I could during the reproductive years.

The type of migraine I have gets worse post menopause, not better.  Therefore I will be using oestrogen for life along with blood pressure lowering medication.  I found patches too weak and I wasn't getting anything like enough oestrogen out of them so I use two pumps of Oestrogel every day and it works well.  I tried reducing to one pump but my migraines returned.

I think it's all about being well over the magical 300 pmol and preferably a minimum of 400 pmol that is needed to really make a difference and cut through menopause symptoms.  That's why blood tests are important post menopause because it's the only way to find out how well you are absorbing HRT.

I hope that helps.

[bombsh3ll]

Patches are preferable for those with migraines as they deliver more stable levels than gel, and some individuals are really sensitive to the seesawing up and down.

Additionally if you are taking the progesterone cyclically for 2 weeks out of four, and getting migraines every 2 weeks, this suggests you would either be better taking a lower dose consistently to avoid the cyclicity, or alternatively if you are under Newson clinic and having/willing to have regular scans, they may be happy for you to do less frequent courses of progesterone such as every 2 or 3 months.

[joziel]

I agree with getting your levels up being the best thing to try. I know I get migraines when I get a spike because they come at the same time as egg white cervical mucous (sorry, TMI) 

The migraines are most likely due to the estrogen levels not being stable and not anything to do with progesterone (that sounds like a separate issue for you).

[Peanut31]

Thank you to everyone that has replied.

Xx