Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: bink68 on June 13, 2017, 06:37:06 PM
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Hi everyone,
This is my first post. Ive searched but cant find anything related to this.
I'd ask my GP but she doesnt know anything about HRT/Peri meno and had to look up what to prescribe when I went with my symptoms (night sweats/hot flushes in the day/forgetfullness/exhaustion). :-\
Ive recently started a relationship and we'd like to move away from condoms.
Im wondering if the pill would cover me for both perimeno symptoms and contraception?
Anyone know anything about this?
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Yes I believe Qalira is very good.
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Thanks for that. I'll do some research.
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Hi bink68
:welcomemm:
As Cassie says - QLAIRA is specifically designed to bridge the gap between the conventional Pill and HRT (because it contains the same type of oestrogen) although it still seems to have a cut-off point of 50. It also only has 2 active tablet free days (ie dummy pills) which keeps hormone levels a bit more stable. There is some information on this website about it here:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/contra1.php (scroll down).
There is also another one ZOELY which contains less oestrogen but still the same type (estradiol)
Hurdity x
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Thanks Hurdity but I may have to look at something else as I'll be 50 next year. Also, i need all the Oestrogen i can get!
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Mirena and oestrogen gel/patch covers contraception and perimenopause including hot flushes and heavy periods. It is the 'classic' choice.
It is ok over 50 and should cover you for 4/5 years when the mirena needs changing (a little earlier than for contraception only).
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It is ok over 50 and should cover you for 4/5 years when the mirena needs changing (a little earlier than for contraception only).
I think the mirena is only licensed for 4 years for HRT, & 5 years for contraception.
The combination of coil & estrogen tablets worked very well for me for many years bink68.
Cazikins x
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The licence is 4 years, but sometimes they let it run on to 5.......
On its own it seems ok, off license, to give it 7 years post 50.
(The doctor who was trying to get me to have it said it would be ok until I was 57 :o - she kept assuming I was 50 even though I was only 49 and 1 1/2 months at the time :steamed: She did not mention the 4 years with the oestrogen either...... )
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I've just found this on the MM site dahliagirl:
Although Mirena used for contraception is licensed for 5 years, the license for use for the progestogen part of HRT is currently 4 years.
Probably not a good idea to rely on it for over the 4 years. I was told that the last one I had ran out a bit early (after 3 & a half years). it was probably just an odd one that I got ::) ::)
P.S. Sorry I forgot to mention that after the 3 & a half years of my mirena being fitted I had bleeding. It wasn't just a bit of spotting but it did only last a couple of days, however this episode prompted a scan, a hysteroscopy & a D & C in hospital under GA just to make sure nothing sinister was going on. So I suppose for me I am just trying to point out why I think the 4 year license is there.
Cazi xx
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I didn't get on with Qlaira, but we are all different. I had to stop it after a week. I've researched it further and the reason it can provide contraception with a bioidentical estrogen is that the progesterone is 10 times stronger than levenorgestral. It wasn't for me. I've just switched to HRT from Femodene, but I'm seriously thinking of switching back for a couple more years.
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I was happy on femodene until I was 49 ::) <gazes wistfully into the near distance>
The downsides were a tendency to oestrogen withdrawal headaches in the week off and reduced libido (except for the week off, although I discovered there was more out there when I came off 8) )
I had mild urogenital symptoms in the last 5 years, very little bleeding, very much softened breasts, but lovely skin that needed a generous amount of moisturiser. I thought the menopause was probably passed :-X
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Dahliagirl how long is it since you were on Femodene and what are you on now? I had not problems at all with Femodene. I changed from Femodene to the estrogel and at the moment I don't know what are side effects from the drop in hormones, what is menopause and what may be side effects from the gel. I had no weight problems, or fluid retention with Femodene, but it's only been 10 days with the HRT and I've already blown up.
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4 years
After refusing mirena, I did 3 months on pop (cerazette and femulen (now discontinued)) which I did not get on with - chest like rugby footballs which was painful and did not go down, added 3 more days to constipation issues, and swollen nethers. I was spotting constantly on the cerazette. I wasn't expecting such a lot of problems from the change - it has never been more than a passing thing before. Anyway, I was sure I was past meno and decided to chart and use condoms.
Then my periods came back >:(, I charted for 18 months and started using vagifem as the VA problems came on bit time following a rectocele repair. During this time, I was getting bleeding every 2/3 weeks which could be randomly heavy at times and I expect this was caused by oestrogen withdrawal bleeding from my charts - I was not ovulating, so bleeding when oestrogen levels dropped, or when the lining got too thick.
What worried me was my joints - they were always a bit stiff, but I was waking up one morning in pain, and it would take several days to wear off. Also, the vagifem was not enough and I had some catastrophic bladder incidents. I saw a retired gp who used to be a partner and was working as a locum and asked if I could try full hrt. She said yes, and said that she thought I was doing the right thing. This was ok but the 3rd month the pain was worse so I changed to femoston 1/10 and had some arthritis tests, which came up with vit D deficiency. I gradually got settled on these but was still having some issues. Unfortunately, my surgery suddenly decided my son and I were 'out of catchment' and I had to move from a practice with a choice of about 10 doctors to the local village practice where there was only an overworked part time female gp, a male gp who 'does not do womens stuff' and the prescribing nurse.
So now I am on Femoston 2/10 with vagifem. The new practice are less stingey with the vagifem so I am now much happier in the nethers and bladder. I want to try transdermal, but the patches available do not have the right sort of progestogen available and I guess I would have ask to see a consultant to get gel/uterogestan prescribed and am probably not a bad enough case to be referred. I am letting sleeping dogs lie. I am ok at the moment. I take vit D all year round, magnesium when I feel I am getting too stiff. I wish I bled less but I have always been a bleeder :( but at least it is confined to 4 weekly. Also, no night sweats which is a blessing - had these for years on femodene with realising what it was!
I am putting on weight :( and need more exercise and bigger bras ??? Since I came off Femeston I have woken up with my teeth and muscles clenched. I have never got to the bottom of this and it won't go away. I am sure it is the tight muscles that make my connective tissues round the joints sore. I do yoga and stretching which gives temporary relief. Coffee makes it worse and gives me palpitations/ adrenaline surges. I also have dry flaky greasy skin and spots. ::)
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GOsh Dahliagirl you have had a lot going on. I cannot understand why surgeries and GPs make this even harder when we are going through a hard enough time as it is. My own GP included.
Why did you come off the femoston? I was wondering about trying that one. I do know someone who has lost on it. I've blown up like a balloon in the short time on the gel/Utrogestan and my breasts hurt. It doesn't seem to be as compatible for me as the Femodene was. I've got so much fluid retention it reminds me of the pills from the 1990s. I've reduced a pump today and decided to stop the Utrogestan for a few days to see how I get on. I'll add back one at a time and see what happens. If the bloating doesn't go down, I'll need to change.
I do yoga too. I'm off to a workshop tonight, but I've found it so hard this week with the bloating. I've only eaten veggies today too and I still seem to have blown up
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FAhliagirl I refused Mirena too. Levonorgestrel has never been great for me and I have some friends who have had problems with it. I have some it's worked for. I have gained some weight. It's hard to know what's weight and what bloating and fluid. Mom using the gel and Utrogestan, but the fluid retention is really bad. I'm wondering about the femoston. It's supposed to have the hair friendly progesterone. I should probably give this combo a bit longer, but two weeks ago on Femodene I had a waist line and looked good in my bikini now my waistline has completely disappeared. It's just so tempting to go back to it. I struggle with my vitamin D levels too. I seem to need regular sun. I take magnesium too when I remember. I do think it helps and a diet of lots of fruit and veggies
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I had to stop the Femodene because they had changed the guidelines and women who had ever had migraine with aura were no longer to use combined oral contraceptives because it doubles the risk of stroke according to a paper that was released quite a while ago. There is a lot of sensitivity about the risk of stroke on the pill and young women - the risk of the pill is very small, but for young women it is the only risk. This applies only to combined oral contraceptives, and not hrt or progestogen only contraceptives. Sometimes it gets conflated.
I was offered the mirena at the review where my coc were taken away. I really did not want it as I had had a little brother who was conceived with an iud, then stillborn so did not think it effective contraceptive. Also, a fellow mother of twins had one which went straight through the uterus and it took 4 months of messing about to get to the op to remove it. I did not want something I had no control over. I took pop to tide me over, thought about it, had unexpected problems with the progestogens (never had problems before, except spots with levenorgestrel). The next doctor I saw thought it was a bit extreme for my time of life and pointed out that many women have bleeding problems for about six months before it settles. (Knowing my luck, I would be one who bled all the time - I have had that with coc before!)
Now, I sort of wish I had given it a go - it is not perfect but is a lower dose than hrt normally is.
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I'm so sorry about your little brother. The consultant seemed to push it to me too, even after I had said that levenorgestral didn't agree with me. I personally wouldn't want it, although some people seem to like it. I'm a bit reactive to things and like that I can stop them immediately. I'm having bad fluid retention and bloating on the gel and utro. I had no symptoms or side effects with Femodene and I believe there is a lower one Femodette. I'm 50, so should really stop it, but my two weeks on HRT haven't been smooth. I've no risk factors so the consultant has left the choice up to me. I chose the HRT as I thought it superior and I do want to give it a bit longer, but swollen middle, legs and ankles and no jawline as my neck is swollen and bags under my eyes from fluid are making it hard :o