Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Dotty on January 19, 2018, 11:37:34 AM
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Hi
I am taking EllesteDuet Conti but not noticing much improvement after 10 weeks. Could I add half an Evorel Conti patch to boost the oestrogen ? Would this be advisable or would it add too much progesterone?
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It could be that you are failing to absorb the estrogen by taking a tablet. I was on Prempak for many years and yet still experienced a lot of symptoms. I recently changed to oestrogel/utrogestan and am feeling a lot better. Instead of adding the patch why not just change to it to see if that helps?
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I've tried the patch on its own but still feel I need more oestrogen
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Which dose of Elleste are you taking Dotty? The amount of progestogen in the patches and tablets is balanced for the amount of oestrogen (on average) - for most women so I don't think you would need to worry on that score, but it sounds like you might be better off changing to a patch with separate progestogen ( because the combi patches only come in one medium dose of 50 mcg), if you think you would benefit from more oestrogen? What symptoms are still bothering you?
Hurdity x
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Hi Hurdity
I'm on Elleste Duet Conti which is 2mg.
I'm still getting night sweats , still exhausted, still shaky and not feeling well.
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Dotty, if you are still getting that many symptoms you are probably not absorbing it property.
If you want to quickly achieve higher levels of oestrogen then Oestrogel is the best product to try - it also gives you more dose flexibility. Like you, I was stuck on HRT that didn't work and only got a breakthrough when I went onto the gel. At the very least it would be worth ruling it out. If all else fail, you could consider an oestrogen implant.
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Thanks Mary G
I think that's what I need to do next but my GP doesn't know what to do
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Hi Dotty
If you are on that dose of oestrogen I would strongly recommend trying cyclical HRT if you haven't done so already - some women find that the (continuous) progestogens prevent the oestrogen from working so well - and particularly that one - norethisterone. Also as Mary G says you might not be absorbing the oestrogen from the tablets especially if you have digestive problems? Rather than change too many things at once you could try changing to Ellese Duet (the sequi version) or even Femoston 2/10 (the progestogen in that one is better tolerated). If one of these does not work then I would definitley swap to separate oestrogen ( patch or gel) and progesterone so that you could trial increases in oestrogen for a few weeks until you arrived at a dose that was sufficient to eliminate your flushes.
Hurdity x
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Thanks Hurdity.
I've got to change something because this isn't working