Hi. I'm new to the forum but have been browsing over the last few weeks and found it really interesting. Also a bit addictive - it's easy to get lost in it for an hour or two and end up cross-eyed!
I am 47 and recently started on HRT - Evorel Conti patches.
Looking back I probably started having menopausal symptoms somewhere around 40. It's a bit hard to tell, over the years I've never had regular periods and also had PCOS. It means there was no 'normal' for me - sometimes heavy periods, sometimes light, never completely regular and sometimes absent. When young (under 20) I was told that I couldn't have the combined pill due to frequent and ferocious focal migraines (I had them from early teens) and would never be able to have anything containing oestrogen. This led to various bad choices for contraception including the depo provera injection (supposed to last three months but made me feel terrible for a couple of years) and also the progesterone only pill (also made me feel terrible) and a coil (lasted a couple of months and then had it removed because it was constantly uncomfortable). Add to that various unsuccessful fertility treatments (Clomid, FSH injections etc) and my body has been bombarded a bit through the years.
One constant was that I always felt desperately low around period time, and also even when light always had lots of pain and lost a couple of days in bed with a hot water bottle and painkillers.
I promised myself no more hormonal treatments and that natural was the way to go. Oh how naïve I was!
My migraines stopped in my late 30s but when I started going to various doctors in my early 40s with menopause symptoms each doctor that I saw confirmed that I couldn't have HRT due to the oestrogen content. I was recommended everything from burgen bread to longer walks with my dog to deal with overwhelming symptoms. I even saw a doctor, in tears, because I couldn't cope any more and begged for reassurance that all of this would go as I passed the menopause and he (yes, male) smiled and told me that for some women the symptoms never disappear...
Anyway, I'm rambling. Earlier this year I stumbled on a good doctor who seemed a bit confused at the results of some general blood tests that seemed to show I was menopausal, but surely not because I was too young. A bit shocked, I pointed out how long I had been seeing doctors and getting nowhere and to my relief she said that she was sure I could take HRT but she needed to do some research and also wanted a bone density scan because I had been going through it all quite young. I could have kissed her!
Bone density scan showed osteopenia. Research suggested HRT transdermally is ok for migraines, dose as low as possible and constant (ie not the ups and downs often found with tablets).
She prescribed Evorel Conti patches and I have been on them for three months.
Looking at the list of 35 symptoms on the advice for husbands I have all of them except the hair loss and the tinnitus.
The patches have eased the hot flushes. They had been every 20-30 minutes, day and night, sweat dripping from the end of my nose and running down my back and legs, accompanied by feeling like I might pass out. They were debilitating and I couldn't live a life any more. I now have very mild flushes occasionally (every few hours, one or two in the night and always one as soon as I move as I am waking in the morning). They are manageable. The patches have also eliminated the terrible rage that makes me want to explode.
So far I haven't had any nasty side effects with the patches. I have a few acne type lumps along my jawline and also have that horrible pmt-type swollen feeling all of the time. I have had a little light bleeding occasionally (no pain and the bleeding was not even enough to need any protection) but I'm hoping that will disappear.
My dilemma is that I still have all the other symptoms. My feet, ankles and knees hurt and when I have been still for a while I am hobbling around like an old lady until they loosen. I have one frozen shoulder which is incredibly painful 24 hours a day from neck to fingers. The other shoulder and arm are also painful, but not yet frozen. Physio didn't work so I'm now seeing an osteopath for manipulation and accupuncture.
I feel very low. My brain doesn't work. My memory is terrible and I am absolutely exhausted. I have absolutely no libido.
It is very difficult to work. I run my own business and am about to get very busy. At the moment I'm not sharp enough to do it, and also have trouble making myself motivated to care about my business - a dangerous path. As for the libido, I really do miss my sex life and I'm sure my poor husband does too! I'm very quiet (mostly silent) because I'm concentrating so much on putting one foot in front of the other, eating regularly and getting through the day that I don't really have the capacity for conversation (again, poor husband, who is getting yes and no answers and not much more).
My doctor, although good, doesn't seem to accept that the aches and pains or other symptoms are menopause related so her objective is to protect my bones and reduce the hot flushes, both of which have probably been achieved.
I don't know whether I should accept that the patches have helped, without significant side effects, and that I just have to cope with the rest or possibly accept a reduced life. Or maybe I should be pushing for something different/stronger but then that might bring tougher consequences with side effects - not least migraines which I definitely couldn't cope with again.
It's all a bit confusing. Sorry for the long ramble!
I think that's my Sunday morning rant off my chest. Time to go and warm up my wonky ankles ready for a medically advised stumble round the fields with my dog. Thanks for listening
