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Did you use the gel before the blood test ?

Ive struggled with absorbing the patches and the gel with last bloods being 320 on 4 pumps. Before going on HRT quite late at 58 my estrogen levels were non existent and I only slept very lightly for about 3/4 hours only.  Hrt has helped a little, I tried everything. Melatonin, herbs, you name it. Finally, the only thing that I found to work is 1 10mg dose of amytriptiline. It has been a revelation. I sleep 7 hours with an average deep sleep of that being 1hr 20 in deep and similar or more of REM. I feel so much better. I researched this quite a bit and found that this drug is used for bad insomnia cases. Zopiclone is so addictive and doesnt put you in the refreshing sleep zones.

Ps/ also like you, I dont absorb topical HRT very well! and agree with Gnatty, the calming sleep apps help to drift back to sleep really well for me too. Before the medication though, nothing worked

I understand. What has helped me massively is when I wake  in the night, firstly I think ooh good that's a few hours under my belt already, and then if I feel like i won't sleep immediately, I listen on minimum volume with just one ear phone in to something on Audible. It has to be a narrator whose voice I find calming - I find it's enough to stop me thinking but quiet enough so it's easy to zone out once I feel sleepy. Maybe you could try this at the beginning of the night too if you find sleep eludes you then. For me it removes all the worry of it all. x

Ah sorry I misunderstood.

Do you’ve changed the way you take progesterone ? Did you used to take 3 Noriday tablets a day for 2 weeks and now you’re taking 3 a day every day ?

I've not tried it, but plenty of people on here suggest doing exactly that and report success.
If it's a matrix patch there should be no problem, if it's a reservoir patch then you might not get half the dose in one half.
I think Evorel has a matrix in the centre?
I can't remember though, it's been a long time since I've seen one, I switched from Evorel to estradot which definitely could be cut.

Dear All,

DottyD68 has nailed it: I do all that she is doing although I found that the warm compresses and the cleaning of the tear duct (due to blepharitis) were no longer necessary once blepharitis went away. But the Hycosan night gel is a saviour: I use it every night - it's a Vit.A gel that can only be used at night because it blurs the vision but it really works.
I did not found Omega 3 or other supplements to work for me, but we're all different. I'd try the gel, the compresses and cleaning ear duct before moving onto supplements (which are not cheap). The cleaning of ear duct is done with Qtip drenched in warm water and bicarbonate: this advice was given to me at Moorfield Eye Hospital and it worked. My optician also reminded me the 20-20-20 rule when working on a screen: every 20 minutes, look for 20 seconds in the distance and blink 20 times.

But everyone is right here: no matter how much HRT, once you have it, it's for life. However, once the symptoms are under control, life looks a lot better - trust me!

All best to all.

Furyan - there are other methods of delivering HRT which may not cause fluid retention.  Have U discussed this issue with your GP?  I became bloated a few days before a period was due, awful!

Hi CLKD - I have an upcoming appointment with GP to look at this. I was thinking of giving Tibolone a try - I know there are mixed reviews about it but I was thinking if it is ‘t actually oestrogen it might give me a break? Meanwhile, i asked for another prescription of Furosemide (diuretic) to help with the retention - it helped a little before but if I could find a way to take HRT without it causing this problem, that’s ideal.

What other types of HRT were you thinking?

I don't think I've gone past optimal as things are so much better now. I had severe neurological symptoms a year ago, I was shaking in bed all night - it felt like the mattress was moving under me - and my heart was beating so loudly I could see my aortic pulse and hear it loudly constantly.

These symptoms have reduced massively to the point they are now really faint and I can sleep through them most of the time. So I'm definitely not going back where I was and if anything I need more.

I am just left with these residual sleep symptoms which sound much more like what most other women have at this time rather than all that weird neurological stuff.

Some nights I can't fall asleep until 3am, but then I sleep okay. Other nights I fall asleep quickly but wake at 4am and can't go back to sleep. Yet other nights there is a lot of light patchy sleep and just not being able to get into deep sleep. So basically I have every sleep issue there is, just not usually all at once in one night... (thank god).

First I'd like to reassure you that according to google over 40% of women get "unexplained" bleeding on HRT, it is the most common problem reported to doctors by women on hrt.
They say to report unexpected bleeding while on HRT and they seem to define that as any bleeding that first starts more than six months after a change in HRT or something very unusual going on for over three months at any time.

Definitely ask your GP for advice, especially if it's been months since the last change in your hrt. They'll probably want to check it, although reporting it to your GP is easier said than done, I know.

It's not unusual, so try not to worry about it beyond reaching out to your GP.

I'm 54, 3+years PM and I'm bleeding right now, bright red this morning, was brown smears two days ago, I had a TVScan last year which said my lining stays thin all the time, but I still bleed. So did my mum on HRT. Reactions to it can run in families, the consultant said she doesn't know why I bleed, my uterus is healthily post menopausal!

Hi.

There's a chat in the new members thread titled slynd. A couple of ladies taking it.

Did you switch to it? X