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[chattygal]

Hi I am a new member although I have been reading the forum posts for a while and have always found it very encouraging to know there are fellow suffers. I am 62 and was on Prempak-C.625 for about 20 years due to an early menopause.I stopped taking it to see if menopausal symptoms would be bearable-and they SO weren't!! The sweats were terrible both during the day and at night. I would pour with sweat from the top of my head so my hair would be damp and my face would drip. I felt like I would explode and a couple of times had to leave a meal(once in a restaurant) to go outside to cool down and wipe away the damp.I was changing the bedclothes daily as they were getting so damp and I felt they were smelly.Friends encouraged me to stick at it but it was too nasty and I asked my doctor if I could try a no-bleed HRT.  She gave me Premique low dose which has decreased the intensity of the flushes but not stopped them and I still have to sleep with a fan directed at me and I must admit that does help.I am more irritable, maybe due to lack of deep sleep, and my joints ache more especially in the morning,I have had a bit of breakthrough bleeding but not like I had on Prempak-c.My question after all this is has anyone else changed to a no bleed HRT and did the flushes eventually stop or is this as good as it gets 

[Limpy]

Hi Chattygal

I am on a no bleed HRT - Evorel Conti patches, I don't seem to get flushes any more.
Try asking your GP for a different HRT, the one you are on doesn't seem to be helping.
The menu on the left has lots of information about different HRTs.

Sure somebody will be along soon who will give more information.

Welcome to the forum BTW

 

[chattygal]

Thank you Limpy. Doctor says I have to try it for the magical 3 months but unless it really is magical I can't see much changing

[Taz2]

Hi chattygal - welcome from me too.

I was changed to conti HRT at age 56 which is a couple of years later than recommended but I have since swapped back to sequi as I didn't like the effect of the constant progesterone - mood swings, anxiety, bloatedness etc. I agree that you should ask for a different type.

It is encouraging that you are being given HRT aged over 60 as I have been told that after February next year, when I am 60, I will have to come off it. I am probably to going battle to stay on it though because, like you, each time I have tried to come off it (I have been on it 6 years) the sweats mean I can't function properly or do my job as well as I should.

Taz x

[chattygal]

Hi Taz2 thanks for your post. I have been on HRT since my early 40's as I had an early menopause. I was told it didn't count until I was 52 as that's when menopause starts so I've been on it for 10 years.I feel that as I have no family history of strokes,cancer or any of the other illnesses that make taking HRT a problem I should be allowed to take it for as long as I need to,with health monitoring.I would happily pay for it as it makes me feel human. It's not a magic potion and I do feel crap some days but we are the guinea pig generation and I wouldn't be surprised if in years to come women will be encouraged to take it.Remember all the fuss over the pill?? Not much negative publicity there now.It's not for everyone I know but if it suits you why not take it forever if you find one that suits??  Maybe I'm just hopeful 

[Taz2]

I agree but over 60 it is normally frowned upon. Funnily enough my GP is more willing to consider it - having given me all the statistics about the risks involved re stroke and cancer (I have no history of either) and it was the menopause clinic that said after 60 was inadvisable. I have lost friends who have been on HRT and ones who haven't been on HRT so I think it is the luck of the draw a lot of the time as long as you watch your weight and diet and not too much alcohol which mimics oestrogen.

I found the difference in breast cancer risk between older women on oestrogen only HRT compared with combined HRT quite startling! http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/hormone-replacement-therapy  although not many trials seem to have been carried out yet on the effect of HRT on women over 60.

Taz x

[Tabbycat]

I was on Premique low dose for a month and felt no different so my GP put me on Premique full strength (or whatever it's called!) which was certainly an improvement. I think it's definitely worth trying different types as there are so many of them now.