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[PeriWhat?!]

Hi PeriWhat?!

Glad to hear you're doing a bit better. Hopefully things keep improving for you 

This is a bad week with the worst bloating I've had so far. My tummy is really protruding and my digestive system has been uncomfortable all week too. I'm also in that mood where I'm ok unless someone pushes my buttons and if that was to go too far I'd be in meltdown mode. I'm on my second half of the pack with a week to go. I have my review on 23rd so am keen to hear what is suggested xxx

That sounds so uncomfortable, is it the HRT causing it, do you think? Or did you have it before?

[Michelle7474]

Hi
I’m new here and been reading through posts
As like you all .. peri menopause kicked in .. I expected a few hot flushes WRONG!!
I didn’t think half of this was actually peri based as docs kept saying was all long covid .. but I had a pattern way before I had covid of all these symptoms
So doctor as now put me on sequi patches
I’m 47 … all the symptoms for me have been happening for almost a year but more intense this year that’s why I went for help
I’m on month 2 and patch 3
I have noticed that palpitations have gone ( thank the lord ) most aches and pains gone ( was having different pains somewhere each day lol )
Weight gain was before the start of patches and I’ve added no extra pounds yet !!
Hot Flushes .. I still get them but not so intense but I can feel them and I stay hot for a long time then nothing
I never suffered with night sweats & only had one ever so that’s good for me by the sounds of it
Sleeping , I tend to have good & bad but much better since patch
Now the worse thing for me is aniexty .. I don’t know why or how this happened .. I thought I was going mad .. but since found out is symptoms of peri .. horrendous !!
I don’t get it as often as before starting patches but I do notice a pattern .. usually around ovalation & run up to cycle
Sore boobs on and off but deffo bigger boobs 😳
Fuzzy head .. I can not explain this but I feel I’m not all with it but I’m with it 😂😂 sorry it’s so hard to explain this but for me this and the aniexty is the worse.
I live in hope as I continue the patches
I did have a cycle in month 1 (just before I put patch 5 on which was my first Conti patch ) this month I’m on patch 3 so thinking is it gonna be the same ??
I know underneath all this HRT our own hormones are still acting up so I always put it down to that.
I’m sticking with it as doctor & pharmacist said these will help but will take time as our hormones have to level out with the HRT

All I want is to feel me again but most definitely somethings have changed since patch .. I can see the light I hope 🤞

[PeriWhat?!]

Hello ladies.

PeriWhat? -   Your description of mood swings resonated with me so much so that I could have written your post!

 I take it that your moods were a problem before HRT but despite the Utrogestan you are now seeing some improvement? 

From what you've said (and your user name lol) I assume that you are still in peri menopause and I find it interesting  that we are dealing with similar emotional difficulties despite being at opposite ends of this blooming journey ( I am sixty four and it's been eleven years since my last period. I didn't use HRT for the first three years
 but I have been experimenting with different methods ever since. I came off all HRT in July 2019 but I contacted Newson Health and started using Oestrogel, Utrogestan six months ago. I now have testosterone to add to the mix).

I am speaking with my doctor next week and reading your post has reassured me that mood issues are definitely part of the process for some of us and hopefully they will soon be defeated by our HRT!

Wishing you well.

K.

Hi Kathleen! I'm no expert, but I'm certain the mood swings are hormonal. When I first went to my GP about the mood swings, I was 41 and hadn't even heard of perimenopause. It didn't occur to the GP at the time either and they gave me antidepressants, but they just made me feel flat and I didn't want to take them because I'd had depression in the past and I knew this wasn't the same feeling at all. I'm 45 now and had three months without periods before I started on HRT, so technically I am in peri.
They're definitely the same mood swings that are still with me now. The good thing that the HRT is doing so far for my mood swings is making them more regular, and therefore more predictable, so at least I can try to tell myself what's happening and that it will pass.
I really hope things will keep improving for us both... it's a long game, isn't it?! Good luck when you speak to your doctor next week and keep us posted on here please!

[PeriWhat?!]

Hi
I’m new here and been reading through posts
As like you all .. peri menopause kicked in .. I expected a few hot flushes WRONG!!
I didn’t think half of this was actually peri based as docs kept saying was all long covid .. but I had a pattern way before I had covid of all these symptoms
So doctor as now put me on sequi patches
I’m 47 … all the symptoms for me have been happening for almost a year but more intense this year that’s why I went for help
I’m on month 2 and patch 3
I have noticed that palpitations have gone ( thank the lord ) most aches and pains gone ( was having different pains somewhere each day lol )
Weight gain was before the start of patches and I’ve added no extra pounds yet !!
Hot Flushes .. I still get them but not so intense but I can feel them and I stay hot for a long time then nothing
I never suffered with night sweats & only had one ever so that’s good for me by the sounds of it
Sleeping , I tend to have good & bad but much better since patch
Now the worse thing for me is aniexty .. I don’t know why or how this happened .. I thought I was going mad .. but since found out is symptoms of peri .. horrendous !!
I don’t get it as often as before starting patches but I do notice a pattern .. usually around ovalation & run up to cycle
Sore boobs on and off but deffo bigger boobs 😳
Fuzzy head .. I can not explain this but I feel I’m not all with it but I’m with it 😂😂 sorry it’s so hard to explain this but for me this and the aniexty is the worse.
I live in hope as I continue the patches
I did have a cycle in month 1 (just before I put patch 5 on which was my first Conti patch ) this month I’m on patch 3 so thinking is it gonna be the same ??
I know underneath all this HRT our own hormones are still acting up so I always put it down to that.
I’m sticking with it as doctor & pharmacist said these will help but will take time as our hormones have to level out with the HRT

All I want is to feel me again but most definitely somethings have changed since patch .. I can see the light I hope 🤞

Hi Michelle, that's great news that you're seeing some improvements already. I'm finding it useful to keep track of things on here, hopefully it will be useful for you too. It feels ridiculous that we get more information by supporting each other on this forum than lots of us do from medical professionals, but thank god this is here!
I have very similar anxiety and concentration issues to you. Since I've started having conversations about peri and menopause with people, I've lost count of how many people have said things like, 'I thought I was going mad'! Let's hope things keep moving in a positive direction. Keep us posted on here if you can, it's really good for us all to know we're not going mad and we're not alone.

[Cookie25]

Hi Michelle, your improvements since starting the patches sound amazing! Great start 

Hi PeriWhat?!
It's definitely the GET as I never had bloating before

Thank you everyone contributing to this thread, it's great to hear others experiences xxxxx

[Michelle7474]

Hi peri what & cookie
Thankyou for replying

I hope one day we can all come on here and say yayyyyyyy I’m normal again lol
I try and take each day as it comes & I think today is gonna be great & some days  as you know are better than others

I’ve read a few posts where they say the aniexty took longer to sort out .. I’m good with that aslong as it goes away!! This fuzzy head feels like a headrush and we was thinking that maybe that’s one of my hot flashes as it comes and goes
You wouldn’t know I’m having a hot one .. only from my reactions anyway lol 😂 as I don’t go red and sweaty just intense heat where as my friends I know they are ..
It’s just amazes me how much we go through
I take my hat off to every women & I hope that we all see better days once we have got somthing that suits us.


Hang in there ladies .. it must get better 

[PeriWhat?!]

I hope so @Michelle7474 !!!

[PeriWhat?!]

An update from me in month #5 of HRT - Evorel 50 patches and Utrogestan tablets twice a day.

I took Utrogestan twice a day from day 15 to 26 of month #4 (this was my first cycle with Utrogestan) and... it's now 8 days since my last Utrogestan tablets and there's been no bleed at all.

No cramps, nothing, except feeling batshit crazy and emotional in the first few days of taking it!

Do I wait until I've done three full cycles with it to see if it changes and I get a bleed, or try to contact a GP now? Thanks in advance if anyone sees this. x

[PeriWhat?!]

Month 5, wk 3: I'm starting to wonder if Evorel 50 patches/Utrogestan pills are actually worse for me than the Evorel Sequi patches I started with.

Last week, before starting this month's Utrogestan, I had a couple of terrible dark mood swing days - I'm kind of scared to name what it is when I feel like this, but I'll bite the bullet and say it, it's suicidal thoughts, absolute doom and despair, unfounded fears - then a period/bleed came out of nowhere and ping, I'm buzzing and enjoying my life and feeling positive again.

I dunno if this is a 'real' period or something HRT has conjured up - the timing makes me think 'real'?

Anyway, I'm still having this period/bleed when I start taking this month's Utrogestan pills and, boom, I'm back down again. You know how people talk about a 'red mist' of anger? It's like a 'dark mist' of suicidal thoughts and bleakness that descends and masks my judgment.

I'm 100% sure it's not how I really feel at all and that I'm not really suicidal. I think it's the hormones and/or the Utrogestan.

The Utrogestan seems to add a lot of crying into the mix just for extra fun, my bladder/incontinence issues which had improved a lot on Sequi seem to be back and I'm not just a bit forgetful as with original peri symptoms, I'm forgetting everything - appointments, promises, things I've been told just five minutes ago... I'm starting to feel as though these pills are driving me mad!

Utrogestan does seem to have improved my sleep situation more, but I'm now so sleepy, I'm sleeping through two alarms every morning! I feel dozy all day. Be careful what you wish for, eh? Ha.

So perhaps Utro pills aren't for me, lol, but I don't want to accept that these mood swings can't be dealt with.

I am glad I know what's causing them, because if I hadn't been able to identify that, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here now. I'm also aware I'm typing this on a 'down' day and am trying to stay rational in the middle of the dark mist!

Will post another update on a more positive day, hopefully soon.

[Cookie25]

Wow PeriWhat?!

I think you need to speak to your prescriber urgently. This can't go on.

You can't hope that you'll always be able to rationalise the feelings as hormonal and not act on them, you need to get this addressed asap.

Take care & have an action plan in place for when you feel low ie call someone or call the Samaritans.

Keep us up to date xxxxx

[PeriWhat?!]

Wow PeriWhat?!

I think you need to speak to your prescriber urgently. This can't go on.

You can't hope that you'll always be able to rationalise the feelings as hormonal and not act on them, you need to get this addressed asap.

Take care & have an action plan in place for when you feel low ie call someone or call the Samaritans.

Keep us up to date xxxxx

Thanks Cookie25 - this is usually how I'm feeling when I skirt around the issue and call them "mood swings". It's dark. Possibly I might have thought everyone felt like this as, often, when I try to talk to people about it they'll sympathise but maybe say things that make me feel as though I'm making a fuss over nothing and I just need to get on with it. With a rational head one, they probably respond like this because I can't bring myself to say out loud what's really in my mind!

Your response has made me realise that the mood swings we all talk about aren't like this for everyone.

It's reminding me of having PND years ago. I was in a state, but every time I plucked up the courage to try to tentatively talk to someone about it, they'd laugh it off and tell me I was fine - because I can, usually unintentionally, do a really good job of presenting myself as fine and as someone who is coping - but I really wasn't ok at all.

Another pattern for me to be aware of!

[Cookie25]

Yes PeriWhat?! Please don't let these feelings go on without getting help.

Did you manage to get in touch with your prescribed today? Xxx

Cookie25

[PeriWhat?!]

No, I have to contact them through an online form now. I got a text to say a GP would call me back before 6.30pm yesterday Friday but they didn't so I imagine it will be Monday now.
It's not a great response to someone having suicidal thoughts, is it?! Although, it did trigger an automatic question, asking if I had set a date, time or place and I said no, so... 
I decided to stop taking the Utrogestan, because it all felt too much, so I need them to give me an alternative.
Maybe coincidence but I am feeling more positive today. Thanks for asking.

[Cookie25]

How shocking PeriWhat?!

I cannot believe what our nhs service has come to. Please remember the Samaritans if you have a dip before Monday and just present at a&e if necessary!

Sending love & positive vibes xxx

[ELM2712]

So sorry to jump in on this post, but I am new to this forum and my post from the other day hasn't been seen, so I am doing something wrong 

This was my post below - can anyone help me and also how do you post a new topic in the right area??  Thanks so much ladies xxx

Hi everyone, this is my first post so thanks for any help you can offer me.

I’m 58, last period 3 years ago. Had the usual hot flushes, no sweating, mainly at night and not terrible, just annoying waking up. A few years ago, I had aching feet mainly in the morning but that symptom has gone long ago. The symptom I still have and find the worst, is anxiety. So, I have started HRT on advice from my GP. She is very pro HRT. Also read everything on the Dr Louise Newson website and follow her Instagram.

So, I started slowly. Estradot patch 25 for 4 weeks. I’m now on Estradot 37.5 and have been for 4 weeks. I’m about to start the Utrogestan and will do so vaginally 3 times a week at night. (I’ve just had a pelvic scan and uterus is fine so I’m not worried about delaying the progesterone and did so on GP advice).

On the 37.5, I had 3 great weeks. Slept well, had no anxiety, best I have felt in a long while. I was actually amazed. However, not so now. My sleep is terrible. I fall asleep easily around 9pm but wake constantly after 1am. I’m about to start the Utrogestan (vaginally and 3 times a week as per GP). I am nervous about this because I have been told that this is the downside of HRT and if you are going to have issues, this is where it will occur. However, it is not an option of course to not take it.

I was worried about HRT but I have read so much on it now, and can see so many benefits. I am trying to to work out why the sleeping has gone downhill and is this making my anxiety rear it’s ugly head again ?? Lack of sleep is shocking and certainly wrecks your day.

I thought 37.5 was a low dose so surely I can’t have TOO much estrogen on board. Is it the delay in starting the progesterone maybe ?? Is it just overthinking this, causing bad sleep and my anxiety has resurfaced as a result ??

I’m so confused about what to do and beginning to regret starting HRT. But, I did not want to take Anti Depressants and felt this was a safer option with other health benefits. I am so tired of Anxiety, especially when I have no reason to be anxious !!

Sorry for the long post, but I am feeling lost and searching for answers on the internet is draining.

Look forward to hearing from you and thanks for reading x