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[warwick01]

Hi Wrensong,

Day 6 of 100mg (lower dose Leveroxine) and day 32 Angeliq. To be honest I'm not feeling great. Sweats back, waking early morning with the familiar butterflies/edgy feeling and also periods of feeling lightheaded

I'm not sure if these are side effects from Angeiq or its not been long enough to get full effect.

Symptom wise, I felt so much better on Tibolone. No sweats/flushes or anxiety..... it was just the bloody dizziness that crippled me. This has now improved. They advice 3 month for full effect of HRT.... so will see what happens. Also it may be too low next option will be Everol conti.

One other thing.... 2 weeks on Testogel and a return of Libido/energy. Although my Gyne said to use half sachet twice weekly. I found this too high, felt hyper and aggressive so just using a pea size amount per day.

Will keep you posted Wxxx

[Wrensong]

Hi Warwick, sorry you're still feeling rotten, but I know it's early days after the Thyroxine reduction, so I hope once your blood levels even out, you will feel some benefit from the lower dose. 

The sweats & early morning waking with that nervy feeling are horrible - I still get both, though nowhere near as badly as I did pre-HRT.  As you say, only a month on Angeliq is probably too soon to have a good idea of whether it will suit you, though the advisable 3 month wait can sometimes seem an age if you're feeling rough & the demands of daily life mean you need to be able to be function better. 

Sorry you had to stop the Tibolone when in many ways you felt better on it, but I wouldn't be able to cope with extreme dizziness either.  Good that's improved now you're off it & I hope the light-headed feelings will go as well.  Glad you have another option lined up if Angeliq is not right - there is every chance you will find a better fit, so that's something to hold onto on low days. 

Your Testogel experience is interesting - I was advised to use a pea sized amount of T for extreme tiredness, poor stamina & muscle weakness, but have deferred starting, hoping first to find a regime that raises oestrogen enough to finally get rid of the sweats.

Take care - would be good to know how you get on.  Fingers crossed for you.

Wrensong x

[Wrensong]

To be honest I'm not feeling great. Sweats back, waking early morning with the familiar butterflies/edgy feeling and also periods of feeling lightheaded

Warwick - just another thought - you probably already know this, but when feeling rubbish I tend to forget so much: on too much Thyroxine, digestion will have been running fast, burning up calories quickly and possibly destabilising blood sugar.  I think being hyper can lead to spikes of high sugar followed by lows when the pancreas pumps out too much insulin to mop up the excess.  The low blood sugar can result in feelings of light-headedness during the day, and overnight when fasting, can worsen the tendency to night sweats & the early morning nervy feeling.  Hypothyroid ladies seem especially prone to this hypoglycaemia - I've really struggled with it since peri began & it's carried on right through post-meno   

Not going too long between meals can help & trying to make these moderate sized (not too big, to discourage over-production of insulin).  Please do make sure you try to eat enough though -  if you've not been able to keep up with your body's calorie needs while hyper, this may have been making you feel even worse.  If you are underweight (like me) this means our own natural oestrogen stores tend to be low/non-existent & I think I remember your bloods on/after Tibolone showed this, as mine did pre-HRT, which also doesn't help us with the night sweats etc 

Complex carbs & a good portion of protein at each main meal, avoiding sugary snacks & only having fruit juice with a main meal might help if you don't already eat this way.  I also find I have to have a snack before bed to prevent nights & early mornings being too awful - something like a small bowl of a high-protein natural yoghurt with a little dried fruit or a small bowl of muesli.

[warwick01]

Hi Wrensong

Thank you for finding time to send me very informative information. If anything I' a little over weight and battled with since meno.

Just got back home from walking the dog and even though the weather is nice I look like I've just stepped out of the shower. I feel the HRT is either not strong enough or it needs more time to get full effect. Had a couple of dizzy moments but only lasted seconds I have some gel left so I wonder if I should had half a pump for a few days??

I feel there is always something and my life is passing me buy

Wxxx

[Wrensong]

Hi Warwick - the overheating from walking the dog - ughh, I know: I was just the same last evening after a riverside walk & had to strip off into shorts for the rest of the evening   But if you can actually sweat to cool down this is, dare I say it, a good thing(!) to help bring body temp back down, though the wetness is horrible to deal with.  I now seem to be one of those hypo ladies who can't actually sweat much - I just get hotter & hotter & feel as if I'm burning up & that means it takes an age to cool down again.

I expect having been on too much Thyroxine for a while, the excess will still be clearing from your body, so there will still be a tendency to extreme overheating for a while.  Also, I don't know if you've noticed anything similar before, but I've found that changes in thyroid meds seem to affect the way the body responds to HRT even if these changes are made after being on a stable dose of HRT for some months.  I think increasing/decreasing thyroid meds changes the rate at which we metabolise HRT - slowing it down when we reduce thyroid meds & speeding it up when we increase - but this is only a personal observation & may not be the case in reality.  If so, then if you are very sensitive to fluctuations in gynae hormones, as I seem to be, then I wonder whether this could account for why the Angeliq isn't yet promising to be that helpful with meno symptoms, rather than suggestive of needing more oestrogen just yet?   If you are only about 5 weeks into the Angeliq, that's also still not long for oestrogen to have built up, given your levels were so low on Tibolone.   

What I mean is that my meno symptoms seem to increase whenever my thyroid meds change - as if the body is struggling to adapt to ANY fluctuation - whether that is because there may suddenly be an increasing amount of oestrogen building in my body when thyroid meds have been lowered, or HRT levels are effectively reducing, because thyroid meds have been upped. 

I really understand your comment about life passing by while we're not well enough to join in - I've long felt like a spectator - it's frustrating and saddening, but hang on in there.  I try to concentrate on what I CAN do these days and try not to worry too much about what I can't - telling myself this may be temporary & if not, I will make adjustments and get around it, given time to accept whatever turns out to be the new normal.   

Your body has a lot to cope with at the moment on a lower dose of Thyroxine together with a relatively new HRT regime and on hot days this is an additional stress that really takes its toll.  All I can suggest is to be as kind to yourself as you can  - none of this is our fault - get as much R&R as possible and if you can, try to find time to do whatever makes you feel better, as this will do you good and help your body adapt to the changes that are going on.  Will be thinking of you.

[warwick01]

Dear Wrensong

Thank you so much for the reassuring kind words

Feeling a little down today. Just reflecting on how well I used to feel, my confidence was amazing. These days due to symptoms I'm a shadow of the person I was.

Just looking back to Tibolone days. It did take 10 weeks for symptoms to settle (although the dizziness got worse) I think I should stick with current regime along with reducing thyroxine for the 3 month and review then.

We are off to Cornwall next week, hope to feel well enough to enjoy the trip

Regards Wxx

[Wrensong]

Hi Warwick, I think you're really wise to try to stick with the current regime & reduced Thyroxine for the recommended 3 months.  So sorry you're feeing a bit low - the confidence loss is so hard to deal with, believe me, I know. 

Cornwall sounds great - we were there just a few weeks ago & it was a breath of fresh air.  So good to get away from the usual surroundings, so I'm sure this will do you good.  Hope you have fantastic weather & manage to get plenty of R&R.  Take care & don't worry about being in touch while away - just chill & have a lovely time