Menopause Matters Forum

Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: sweetie222 on May 19, 2017, 01:54:46 PM

Title: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: sweetie222 on May 19, 2017, 01:54:46 PM
Can anybody enlighten me about how they know whether they need to use more or less Estrogel??

I sometimes get fast heart beat and have trouble sleeping but I am worried that this is more a sign of oestrogen dominance and low progrsterone rather than a need for more oestrogen. I am still in peri and have been on HRT for a few months now. Thanks for any insights?
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Cassie on May 19, 2017, 01:56:52 PM
I find when I decrease my gel I get palpitations so I stick to what keeps me comfy.
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Anjia on May 19, 2017, 02:04:47 PM
I have been on estrogen for four years and am still trying to work out the high from low ! could do with some answers to x
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: sweetie222 on May 19, 2017, 02:17:05 PM
Also is 2 pumps gel a normal dose during peri or bordering on high?
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: sweetie222 on May 19, 2017, 04:35:59 PM
Cassie are you peri or post and what dose did/do you use during peri?
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Annie0710 on May 19, 2017, 04:56:52 PM
I think it's so hard to say, high dose oestrogen definitely makes me jittery with more palpitations but at the moment I am having some mild night sweats (indicating lower oestrogen) yet still getting palps

x
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Cassie on May 19, 2017, 11:45:15 PM
Im very much post have used 2 pumps up until about a yr ago and reduced it to 1 pump and thought perhaps may even try half a pump and see how I go but not sure it will be enough to keep me comfy and symptom free.
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Noheroicsplease on May 20, 2017, 06:29:47 AM
I thought 2 pumps a day was 'medium' dose?

I was using one pump a day - after no periods for a year - and just increased it. How do you even know where you are in menopause once you start with HRT?!
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: nearly50 on May 20, 2017, 06:36:42 AM
My understanding is that 2 pumps is the 'standard' dose for post menopause.  However I'm post menopause and only use 1 pump.  Its a case of finding what makes YOU feel most comfortable - we're all different.

Its easy to overthink things and blame every little symptom we feel on the level of oestrogen we're taking. I don't really understand "oestrogen dominance". I would have thought if you've gone onto HRT because you were having symptoms of oestrogen loss you'd have to supplement a large dose to then become oestrogen dominant?

I think it is hard to tell which symptoms are from too much oestrogen, and which are from too little when you are perimenopausal. I know I feel  worse when oestregen is high so I think HRT wouldn't help. I feel good overall when I have symptoms such as nightsweats and burning. Think there's really far too little research on the symptoms caused by hormonal imbalance, and doctors assume everything's down to oestrogen loss
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Tinkerbell on May 20, 2017, 09:03:13 PM
I need 3 pumps to control my symptoms, I am two years post meno. I use two at night and one in the morning...I have forgotten the daytime one a couple of days recently and the palpitations bounce back in  ::)
I have tried 4 pumps when the VA flares up but it makes me feel jittery  :-\
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Cassie on May 22, 2017, 06:45:54 AM
Just to add to this, I tried reducing my dose to around half a pump and last night I woke up sweating on my chest, which I never do, so clearly I need to stay on 1 pump or I get a night sweat.
Title: Re: What symptoms make you use an extra pump or less Estrogel?
Post by: Hurdity on May 22, 2017, 08:23:17 PM

I was using one pump a day - after no periods for a year - and just increased it. How do you even know where you are in menopause once you start with HRT?!

You don't really - you may eventually find you don't get mood swings as your cycle becomes much weaker although in some but not all women the Mirena does suppress ovulation.

Mostly it is guessed at through age and what stage of peri-menopause you were at, at the time you started HRT, and only definitively if you stopped using anything for 12 months and didn't have a period. 80% of women have reached menopause by age 54 but of course this leaves a substantial minority who have not!

I was around 54 when i started HRT but had had a period 5 months previously so I have no idea when I got there - but assumed I had a few years later!

Do you feel you want to know?

Hurdity x