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[Goingnuts42]

Hi

First time i have ever wrote in a forum, so please bear with me. 
I have supposedly been peri-menopausal for 2 years according to some blood results and my symptoms, i am now 43.  So, this week i took the plunge and started taking HRT which the doctors have been trying to get me on for the last 6 months-1 year.  I am taking Elleste Duet 2mg.  Is it normal to feel nauseous, and have more hot flushes than i did before, cry at the drop of a hat and hardly sleep!  I feel worse now that i was before taking them.  Can anyone help before i stop taking them altogether please.

[CLKD]

  if you use the 'search' button and type in the medication you will see threads on the HRT you have been prescribed.

Browse round.  Make notes!

[Goingnuts42]

Thank you.

[CLKD]

Ask anything nowt is taboo on here ;-).

We have lots of threads on pets, exercise, what we are reading - we talk about menopause too 

[Hurdity]

Hi Goingnuts42

  from me too.

Firstly what have your periods been doing over the last 2 years you have been peri-menopausal and been getting symptoms? If your periods are still regular then that is quite a high dose to start with as you will still have plenty of your own oestrogen. If you have started skipping periods and your cycle has lengthened most cycles, then you have properly started peri-menopause and HRT should definitely help.

Initial side effects from sudden increase in oestrogen (such as the nausea) do usually settle though but even so 2 mg is quite a lot to get used to straight away and many women find it better to start on a lower dose and then build up. There is a 1 mg dose available.

I presume you are on Elleste Duet that has 2 different types of tablets?

At your age if you are well into peri-menopause then it is important to take oestrogen because it is beneficial to help protect heart and bones at least until the natural average age of menopause around 51. It is usually to take a particular type for 3 months to give your body time to adjust but if this type doesn't suit you there are plenty more to choose from. I would go for a lower dose though.

Hope you feel better soon

Hurdity x

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome to MM
Hurdity has given some good advice as always but my first impression from your post is that you have been given too high a dose from the outset and this will give a big hit of hormones that your body has to adjust to.  It is always wise to start on a low dose first and only increase after 3months if meno symptoms are not under control.

It could be the type of HRT but I suspect you either need to keep going and hope things settle in the next 3-4 weeks or go back to the GP and ask for a lower dose to allow your body to adjust better.
You could also ask for Femoston 1/10 which is a sequential HRT with a kinder progesterone that seems to suit more women better.  Get back to the GP having printed off stuff from this site - you need this HRT as you are too young to be without hormones but you need help to find the right HRT preparation. DG x

[Goingnuts42]

Thank you all
My hormone levels were extremely high last year and periods were very heavy and quite irregular so they put me on the pill, that sorted the periods out but gained a stone and half in weight and depression set in.  I was told to stay on pill for a year then come off and see what periods go like, doctors haven't give me the chance to let that happen before insisting i need HRT.  i am due to see doctor today so i will ask if there is a lower dose to take and see what he says.  They have said i need HRT for my bones as i have been having disc and lower back problems,

[Hurdity]

How did you get on with the doctor? Also how irregular were you periods when you started the pill and how long ago was that?

When they said you had to go straight onto HRT for your bones - did you have a DEXA scan or something that showed you are at risk from osteoporosis/osteopenia, or was it your disc and back problems that showed this was occurring? It is recommended to take HRT for early/premature menopause and 2 mg is the licensed dose to prevent osteoporosis so that may be the reason. If this is the case then you would not be advised to stop them - I'm sure your doc will have said this - but perhaps you might find an alternative preparation such as Femoston - like Dancinggirl suggested?

Do keep us updated

Hurdity x

[Optimist]

Hi I'm fairly new to this site too but someone else also suggested taking the hrt at night which may help with the nausea.  Good luck with it all, there is lots of brilliant advice on here and some very knowledgable people 😊

[Sweetscarlett]

Hi GN
I was given Elleste duet conti by a locum  doctor and it really didn't agree with me - it was my first Hrt and I think it was too strong - I was only on it a week or so and I bled loads and felt awful. I went to see my usual dr and she took put me on femoston 1/10 suited me very well and I have been on them for a year ( I'm 49)

💚💚Ss X

[Goingnuts42]

Hi
i love how everyone is so supportive on here.  I went to see the doctor and he agreed to dropping the dose to 1mg as suggested from people on here, he agreed it may be too strong if you are still producing your own oestrogen, so we will see how it goes.  I take it night time same i did with the pill.  I am waiting for an appointment for a bone scan along with a MRI, hopefully that will shed some light on the bone issue.