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[Emm225]

Kay..I felt the same re HRT and swore I would manage without but got to a point when life was so awful I had to do something.  I was worried about the risk but my life was of such low quality for me I was prepared to take on board the risks if I could feel  ore like myself again.  However, doc has suggested I come off and try anti depressant as am losing hair a bit...apparently (rarely) utrogeston can do this? (although I got the impression the doctor I spoke to wasn't a fan of HRT..  Unfortunately in our practice, due to covid, you get who you get....and I didn't know this one)

[Ollie Wombles]

I just wish we were better educated about the whole menopause. Our NHS is fab but it's hit and miss who you see initially and are referred onto which makes making an informed decision very difficult, particularly if you're suffering from chronic symptoms.

[GetStuffedPeri]

My wife has just started on Evorel Conti.  She's 49 and eventually bit the bullet with HRT after awful symptoms for 7 years.  We literally have everything crossed that this makes her feel better.  Anybody got any experience of these?  (I'm female also and peri - she's much further ahead than me).

[Beaker]

My sister swears by Evorel Conti.  Your wife will have to try it and see.  There are plenty of options if she doesn't like them. 

[Emm225]

[I’m struggling so much at the moment with my decision to go on hrt.
I’ve been so sure I want to try it until tonight I read a negative post on fb about it and I’m all up in the air again now. I just feel so wretched all the time my quality of life sucks. But I’m cancerphobic and I feel like I’m playing Russian roulette
With my health too. I just don’t know what to do. 
quote author=Libby Babe I’m link=topic=794.msg7678#msg7678 date=1179759400]
Hi Hot2Trot
It is a very difficult decision to make I agree with you there and I always vowed I would NEVER take HRT, mainly because of all the bad press it seems to get.  However, there came a time (about 2 months ago) that enough was enough and I couldn't stand it any longer.  I am afraid I shut my ears a bit to all the bad press and just decided to go for it and give it a try.  It has helped and I hope it will continue to do so and I am trying not to worry about what happens too far in the future.  Initially I am only on a 3 month trial but if the benefits continue then I will be reluctant to come off it.

No one can decide for you but all I would say is that there is a certain element of risk in so many things that we do in our lives and maybe we need to think of HRT as just another one of those things and maybe it is worth a try!  I hope you don't think I am being too naive about this but quality of life NOW is so important to us all, don't you agree?

I hope you can decide what to do and make the best decision for yourself.

Take care
Love Libby

[/quote]

This is exactly how I feel Kay21....you've put it in a nutshell.  I have been on HRT since March and am still struggling with my decision, but when I spoke to a doctor and she said, "Well just stop then and try these anti depressants"  I felt awful after only 3 days (didn't try the anti deps tho)  It worries me that I might be on it for the rest of my life..putting myself at cancer risk etc but life so far when I tried to do without it wasn't worth living almost...the metal and physical effects of the meno were that bad.  I think the mental impacts on the physical too and makes you less able to deal with it....

[DGee]

Hi there. This is my first time here. My head is just about exploding from over thinking this so I thought it would be good to get some input from other ladies who have walked this path before me. I’m 56 (6 years in) and I thought I’d done a damn good job of getting through the worst of menopause and felt I was nearly on the other side when VA struck in full force in March!!! Vagifem was hopeless (I kept going with it for far too long thinking it might kick in) but when my GP swapped me over to Ovestin 2 weeks ago I’ve had a lot of improvement. Not perfect by any means, but way better. She also said she would be happy to start me on systemic hrt in addition. That’s the bit I’m confused about. Whether I should stick with just Ovestin hoping it will keep on improving. Or whether I should take up the window I have left before age 60 to start on hrt, getting a more satisfactory improvement, and also reap the benefits of hrt while I can. Has anyone here found that when they stop hrt that the VA is less of a problem going forward? Or does it come back in full force once hrt is stopped? Thank you in advance. I come from NZ where there is a big reluctance towards HRT, believe it or not . I don’t know a single person on it so it is a big shift for me to see it as a good thing.

[Marie200012]

HRT was a godsend when I was given it at 41, cycles were erratic, frightening head throbs, token periods, insomnia, low moods and it was made better by 2mg cyclical HRT. Now at almost 48 I’m wondering if I should be put on continuous HRT? I tried patches this year and didn’t get on with them so I went back to Elleste Duet 2mg which I’ve always been fine on. Except I’m not fine this time! Almost 2 months on it and I’m experiencing palpitations a lot, bouts of anxiety/panic and I’ve just been told by GP to sit out until I’ve done 3 months! And it’s out of stock anyway. I would really like some advice on what to do? My GPs seem to know very little about it. I’ve even wondered if I should come off it altogether to see what my body is doing naturally? I feel sure I wouldn’t have a period naturally. Or ask to try continuous HRT? I get anxious even thinking what I should do?

Please, any advice would be very welcome?

[Marie200012]

Good or bad? Having read an article which referenced Dr Currie and Tina Peers I’d say that HRT is good when administered by a knowledgeable expert in the field of menopause who considers the patient. Why is that Tina Peers, a private menopause consultant, considers it good practice to do an annual blood test to see if your HRT needs adjusting? Yet in the NHS this is not the case? Because menopause affects me so much I read and research it as much as possible and on occasion can know more than the GP I end up speaking to! I’ve even had a GP say that he has to consult his colleagues because they know more about ‘that’ ie HRT treatment. I don’t think if menopause affected men that there would be this lack of attention to it or the supply issues we are currently facing.

30 years ago I watched as a teenager as my mum went through a terrible time with symptoms and the GPs that came to see her said they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. I can still hear her today saying to them, “What about this HRT?”. They agreed to give it to her and it gave her her life back. But what if she hadn’t have asked?

Considering menopause will affect every woman (half the world) I really think that more GP practices should consider having a dedicated menopause consultant who takes the time to listen, run hormonal checks and normal health checks (eg maybe your heart should be checked if you’re having palpitations rather than assuming it’s always down to the menopause) and medication administered with greater knowledge. This is what women deserve.

[Denise Didi]

Hi my sex drive improved with tostran gel. Still struggling to get the right dosage as it is supplied for men

[meenaruss]

Hi can anyone advise me.  I am due to have a hysteroscopy and biopsy due to my uterus being double the thickness it should be and having bleeds that I shouldnt be having at the age of 59.  I have been on HRT for 4 years and for the last 2 am taking 2 pumps of eostrogel and one progesterone tablet at night.  I have been told that if the thickening hasnt been caused by cancer then the HRT will have caused it and I will most definitely have to stop taking it.  Also in the last month my breasts have become tender and the nipples very itchy.   Quite worried about coming off it as no doubt symptoms will return.  Any advice please?

[Cazikins]

Hi meenaruss,

I've had 2 or 3 hysteroscopy for thickened lining & bleeding before, but was never advised to stop taking it. I suppose you should follow the consultants advice but I would be asking him/her why they feel you need to stop it. For me the alternatives would be flushes, mood swings, forgetfulness & aching limbs - they would then have to treat me with medication to releive those returning symptoms which all carry side effects etc.
Good luck with your hysteroscopy & keep us posted.
Cazikins.

[Uptick]

Hi can anyone advise me.  I am due to have a hysteroscopy and biopsy due to my uterus being double the thickness it should be and having bleeds that I shouldnt be having at the age of 59.  I have been on HRT for 4 years and for the last 2 am taking 2 pumps of eostrogel and one progesterone tablet at night.  I have been told that if the thickening hasnt been caused by cancer then the HRT will have caused it and I will most definitely have to stop taking it.  Also in the last month my breasts have become tender and the nipples very itchy.   Quite worried about coming off it as no doubt symptoms will return.  Any advice please?

Hi meenaruss, could you still be perimenopausal? That would explain these symptoms. Are you going to have the Essure coil removed?

[meenaruss]

Hi meenaruss,

I've had 2 or 3 hysteroscopy for thickened lining & bleeding before, but was never advised to stop taking it. I suppose you should follow the consultants advice but I would be asking him/her why they feel you need to stop it. For me the alternatives would be flushes, mood swings, forgetfulness & aching limbs - they would then have to treat me with medication to releive those returning symptoms which all carry side effects etc.
Good luck with your hysteroscopy & keep us posted.
Cazikins.

[meenaruss]

Hi they have advised me to stop the HRT as they said thickening of the uterus always requires investigations and carries risks of cancer.  They have not even mentioned the essure clips!

[Uptick]

That's weird. Could you still be perimenopausal?