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[SooTee]

Hi
i'm newly signed up to this web site/forum.  I have been following it and finding it very useful for some time and am thankful for all those who post and share their experiences it has made things a whole lot more bearable!

I am at the point where I'm not ready to give up but I think I would benefit from a consultation with a menopause specialist/consultant - has anyone else tried this and if so, have they found it useful?

It took an age for my GP to actually agree that I was menopausal (i'm 46 but it had been going on for a few years) after being prodded and poked for well over 12 months and told I was depressed, I had IBS, was anxious hence my skin being so itchy, stressed at work and a single mum therefore expected to be always tired..........and so it goes on I'm sure many of you are familiar with this tale!

I decided on HRT tablets when the hot sweats and night sweats got so frequent and so bad I was hardly sleeping so was given elleste duet (cyclical) - white tablets were life savers ad I felt like a spring chicken, but then onto the green.........oh my life I felt horrendous.  I was then offered Femoston and the opposite happened the white tables were terrible (but a different type of estradiol) the grey tablets however were ok!  My GP then realised as I hadn't had a period for a year I should be on continuous HRT.........again I was given duet but conti version and again I reacted badly, so onto Premique which seems to be unavailable so I never got to try it.............as an alternative I was prescribed Indivina.  This is not good still having sweats and not sleeping (primary reason for going down HRT route) crying tearful anxious bloated and generally all round feel rubbish........  how long do we stick with these tablets?  I'm only over a week now but feel considerably worse then I did on day 1 of taking them.

Has anyone utilised the consultation service offered by this site?  I didn't realise it was available until I read it last night and I think for me it would be very useful.

Phew thanks for listening and it's a massive support o know I'm not on my own and not losing my mind!

Sue xx

[Hurdity]

Hi SooTee

 

Sorry to hear about your difficulties with HRT. What were your periods doing before you started the tablets first of all - when the doc said you hadn't had a period for a year - was that before you started HRT?

The thing is and especially with tablets it seems, women can experience side effects from the progestogen part ( ie the second lot - the combi tabs), which is why it's often better to start off on a cycle - as you did initially - and have a withdrawal bleed, so that at least you can find a product that suits you. If you find one that's OK then you can try taking it on a conti basis.

Here are all the products for perimenopause ( cyclical and give a withdarwal bleed):
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/perimeno.php

These are for post-meno - continuous combined:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/postmeno.php

Why the doc gave you a conti version of the one that made you feel bad I don't know! Also Femoston and Elleste comntain the same oestrogen (estradiol) but different progestogen. The one in Femoston is better tolerated.

Many women on cylical HRT have pms symtptosm for a few days after swapping back to the oestrogen only tablets - and this is probably what you felt so you clearly tolerate this one pretty well i think.

Unfortunately Femoston conti is not available in a 2 mg dose which you really need at your age, andnor is the progestogen available separately!

If I were you I would ask to go back to a cycle for the time being until you settle on a type that works for you - so maybe go back to Femoston again (how long did you try this for?) - 3 months is recommended to try each type so that your bosy gets used to it.

Alternatively you could go for a separate oestrogen (as a tablet, patch or gel) and progestogen - micronised progesterone (Utrogestan) which is bio-identical to the progesterone in our bodies or Provera.

Another possibilty is to take Femoston conti 1 mg to starrt with and see how you do and then see if the doc will double this up for you or prescribe this together with the ultra Low Dose to give 1.5 mg estradiol?

All the oestrogen only and progesterone only HRT types are listed here http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/treatafter.php and here http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/postmeno.php.

I have used the consultation service with Dr Currie and it was money well spent!

Hope this helps

Hurdity x

[SooTee]

Hi Hurdity

Thank you so much for taking time to reply - and yes what you say makes perfect sense.
I must admit on the latest tablet the Indivina I've only stuck it out for a week or so because I felt so much worse on it than with no HRT at all and I don't think I could cope for 3 months!  I know that sounds lame but I'm a single mum and just been made redundant and trying to set up a business and I can't cope with no sleep, so little energy and crying all the time.  My little girl thinks I've gone crazy and sometime so do I!!

Thank you I will take your advice with me to see my GP to discuss and contact Dr Currie as well.  It;s a big thing and I want as much knowledge as I can get and hope that there is something out there that will suit me 

I'll keep you posted have a lovely Sunday
Sue
xx

[Sooby]

SooTee,

     I stared having symptoms about 5 years ago but it took me to find this site and experiment with Black Cohosh ( which stopped the night sweats ) to convince myself and more importantly my GP that  Peri was the cause. Redundancy and depression was blames for many of my symptoms and I totally understand why you couldn't stick with the treatment.

    I have just started on a combi pill and so far so good though I haven't started the prog part of the pack. I hope you find the treatment that suits you as there are lots available. 

[Hurdity]

I know what you mean about redundancy - I was threatened with this several times due to restructuring within the organisation I worked for and ended up with several temporary contracts. I did spend half the time crying and especially sobbing either with HR or my line manager or if anything at all went wrong. I can't believe it now but the slightest thing would make me well up and cry - sometimes even thinking about it in the car! I didn't realise at the time it was my hormones making me react like this to change of circumstances or little things out of all proportion!

I was eventually made redundant 5 years ago (when I had eventually found a permanent job!). I hope you make a success of it and will end up being happier. Much better with a small child too as you can be more flexible!

Hurdity x

[SooTee]

Hi Sooby

Yes I think I was peri for a few years and didn't realise it!  I didn't have my daughter until I was 40 and just thought it was the stress of being a single, part time working mum and this was my life - I did wonder on many occasions what had happened to my sweet loving and ever so slightly bonkers nature had gone lol!  Thought I'd grown up due to motherhood - thank goodness it wasn't that 

Thanks for the reassurance I'm going to stick with it and find the right product for me!

Sue xx

[SooTee]

yes Hurdity me too - there were constant restructures where I worked and that's perhaps why I missed my peri signs!
I worked in substance misuse so it was an ever changing full on chaotic environment to work in and the management were not supportive, so I mainly put my anxiety and stress down to work which resulted in poor sleep etc it wasn't really until I'd been made redundant that I took the time to investigate what was wrong with how I was feeling - so for that alone I'm not relieved to not be there any more!

Good for you getting your pay out and being self employed it's a brave move to make - I struggled with having a mortgage and a young ish daughter so tempted to get another job for the security but I need the flexibility and don't want to be full time and miss my girl growing up!

girl power eh??
Sue
xx