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Author Topic: Desperate newbie, please can you advise?  (Read 2098 times)

Kittenpaws

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Desperate newbie, please can you advise?
« on: May 14, 2018, 11:29:12 AM »

Hello everyone, so grateful that this platform exists, I shall try not to ramble on. Started getting flushes age 47 at end of 2014. Eventually realised I was peri-menopausal and started Nutrition-Fx supplements in 2015. These worked perfectly for quite a while: started on lowest dose then upped it when sweats came back. However, last year it was as if a switch had been flicked and my body (and mind) just seemed to go mental. Waking up and just sobbing, or raging, can't remember anything, the smallest task seeming mountainous, aches and pains, all the usual stuff... I was initially interested in bio-identical hormones, but couldn't afford the price for the more well-known practitioners and was concerned about the risks of getting it from unregulated pharmacies, so got Evorel Sequi patches from my (spectacularly unknowledgable and unhelpful)GP. These worked on my flushes at first, but they crept back a bit, and then I developed dreadful cystic acne ( would this be caused by the progesterone?). I took the Evorel for six months but found the acne devastating and my mood extremely low, so I stopped it. Since reading on this site, I have realised that body-identical hormones (Oestrogel, Utrogestan?) are available on the NHS, and this is what I hope to have, but I need info so that I can go to my GP fully armed. I have still been having periods although they are greatly altered, and it has been 13 weeks since my last period: I haven't had a gap like this before. I cannot seem to do anything and just feel dreadful all the time, I cannot go on like this. My GP tries to get me on anti-depressants whenever I see her but I don't feel that they are the answer. I am wondering if she will say that body-identical hormones are too expensive, as she refused to send me to the Menopause Clinic at the John Radcliffe on those grounds - do they cost more than the regular stuff? Also, my hair is thinning at an alarming rate (already have bald spots) - could this be an imbalance of testosterone and would HRT stop it? I would so welcome any advice you have to give, everything just seems utterly bleak at the moment.
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Daisydot

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Re: Desperate newbie, please can you advise?
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2018, 07:41:23 AM »

Hi kittenclaws  :welcomemm:so sorry your post seems to have been missed.
Sorry your having all these horrible symptoms the menopause is just a joy to deal with I don't think lol.
I can't answer your questions about your hrt regime as I'm on oestrogel pump only as I have no womb so don't need progesterone.I also take vagifem pessaries for the V.A that effects most of us so badly.
I would go back to your gp and ask for a referral to a menopause specialist,her running costs are not your problem,if you can see a different gp do that if not then challenge her if need be.antidepressants are no longer recommended and you should have your hrt regime tailored first before she's throwing them at you.I think you also need your blood tests done to check your thyroid and your vitamin levels.read up as much as you can from the forum then you'll feel better equipt to deal with gp,some of our more experienced ladies will come along and advise you too so hang on in there.keep posting and asking questions it helps to get your feelings out and good luck xx
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CLKD

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  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Desperate newbie, please can you advise?
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2018, 02:03:34 PM »

Keep a mood/food/symptom diary to chart your daily feelings.  Read here, make notes.  Which symptoms would you like to ease first?  Your Practice Nurse may know more about HRT than the GP.

Maybe ring the John Radcliffe and see whether there is an appt. where you can discuss pros and cons, including costs to your Surgery. 

Let us know how U get on!
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Kathleen

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Re: Desperate newbie, please can you advise?
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2018, 08:48:36 PM »

Hello Kittenpaws and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to read of your struggles but they are depressingly familiar to many of us here on the forum.

Oestrogel and Utrogestan are the more expensive option and when you consider that GPs surgeries are businesses they obviously consider cost. My lovely doctor told me recently that they don't test for T3 (Thyroid) because the test costs the practice 50 pounds!

I'm sorry I can't be of more help but I hope you can find the regime that helps you.

Wishing you well and keep posting.

K.
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sheila99

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Re: Desperate newbie, please can you advise?
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2018, 10:26:34 PM »

Agree with the different GP route. I only got oestrogel/utro because I suggested it when I saw a GP who knew nothing about meno when the 'expert' was on leave. Do your homework so can argue for what you want. I would have a look at the NICE guielines because I think (but not certain) that you have a right to a referal. If you have symptoms of low testosterone you will most likely need to see a specialist as very few GPs will prescribe it as there isn't a product licensed or women. I have been waiting for 4 months for a meno clinic & still don't even have an appointment so unless your area is much better than mine be prepared or a long wait. I gave up waiting and saw someone privately for testosterone.
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