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[Tabbycat]

So there I was last Wednesday evening, all packed and ready for a week's holiday in Lanzarote, looking forward to sunshine, swimming and maybe even rediscovering a bit of intimacy with my OH  when I started the heaviest bleed I'd had in years. It lasted for five days!

Officially I stopped having periods in July 2012 but this is the third time in 10 months that I've had a "proper" bleed - and the rest of the time I'm spotting for a few days every two or three weeks.

I saw a gynaecologist back in March who thought it might be the HRT so he changed my prescription. I saw him again in June, because I was still spotting, and he gave me a scan but couldn't find anything wrong and suggested I give it a couple more months and then just stop the HRT if things weren't any better.

I'm not sure if it's best to stop completely and see how I am, or try changing prescriptions again, but I can't be bothered waiting for a GP appointment so as from last night I've stopped.

I'm now waiting for the dreaded joint aches to come back - any chance they won't? What are others' experiences of stopping HRT suddenly?

[Dancinggirl]

Hi Tabbycat
Everyone is different.  If your main meno symptom was joint aches then some Omega oils and perhaps yoga may be the way to help your aches and pains.  I find lots of brisk walking eases my joints and if I don't take the omega 3 I definitely feel it.
Have you been offered a Mirena? This would eventually stop any bleeding and you can then just add some oestrogen in patch or gel form!
DG x

[Joyce]

I only use oestrogen as have had hysterectomy & ovaries removed. However nearly 5 years ago came off cold turkey. Within short period of time I was hit with flushes & sweats. Then came the emotional bit & some. After 8 months GP put me back on it. Now coming off gradually.
There's no one way to come off HRT. However, as we're all different it's hard to say whether you'll get the return of your aches & pains. Just be prepared that they might come back.

[Tabbycat]

Thanks both.

No, I haven't been offered a Mirena - that's a coil, isn't it? TBH, the thought of a coil has always made me feel a bit squeamish!

I'm prepared to feel quite rubbish, but will try and bear it for as long as I can.

[bramble]

My joint aches have not got any worse since stopping HRT (slowly) but there again I have had sore joints since I was 30. I have just got used to them.
Bramble

[sharon1958]

Hi Tabbycat

I'm in a similar situation to you. I was also having bleeding - heavy too even after changing from patches to Feminston and then to Tibolone. Had been on HRT for 7 years and was told maybe it's time to stop. Was offered the Mirena don't really know enough about it.  Had colposcopy + hysteroscopy - thank God all ok apart from small polyp. Anyway, I've been off HRT for 5 weeks now and coping reasonably well. The flushes are back - some days worse than others and palpitations at night but will see how it goes.

Sharon

[jasmine5]

I stopped 'cold turkey' three weeks ago after roughly four years on hrt, the latest being Estradot 50 and Utrogestgan 100.  I've started to feel a little warm at night again and have returned to using my cold-gel pad in my pillowcase which works a treat!  I've also had the odd flush in the day but they've been very mild, just a feeling of being a bit warm every now and again really.  I have some vaginal dryness too but had that on hrt anyway.

The biggest change for me is that I am feeling more myself.  It's hard to explain but I just feel as if I haven't been myself for a long time and now I'm back to normal!   Has anyone else felt like this after stopping?

I've attempted to stop twice before and by this stage my symptoms had all but returned so I'm expecting thing to deteriorate any day now.  I can't believe that I will get off so easily!!

[Joyce]

Hope it works out well for you jasmine. I'm coming up to a year on half lowest dose patch of Estradot. I'm a bit scared of trying to come off completely if I'm honest as I don't want the drenching sweats and 20/30 plus burning hot flushes per day. At present get about 3 warmish moments per day which I can cope with.

[Tabbycat]

Started bleeding this morning but I think that's normal when you stop HRT - although I'm surprised at it happening so quickly (have only missed two pills).

Dancinggirl - I've been doing yoga for several years now, and this was one of the things that the joint aches made very difficult to carry on doing - although I did persevere. Ditto brisk (or any kind of) walking! I was literally hobbling around and taking twice as long to get anywhere.

Jasmine - what you said about feeling more yourself again is interesting. I just put this odd feeling of disassociation down to the meno and didn't think it could be the HRT.

[Tabbycat]

I don't have progesterone only weeks, I was taking the same pill each day.

Is it a lack of oestrogen or too much progesterone that makes you bleed?

[Hurdity]

Hi Tabbycat - there are all sorts of reasons for bleeding! Too much progesterone (causing endometrial atrophy) and too much oestrogen compared to progesterone (possibly causing endometrial hyperplasia) can both cause bleeding, as well as a host of other conditions.

What HRT you were on when you were changed to a different one, and what is the one you are on now? I presume because you had been period free for over a year you were put onto a conti HRT?

If bleeding doesn't settle on a conti HRT and there aren't any other problems it can mean insufficient progesterone. I can understand your feeling frustrated with having to bleed on a no-bleed HRT!

Also how old are you if you don't mind my asking?

It seems from what I've read that quite a lot of women suffer joint aches at menopause and in fact some women get fibromyalgia syndrome due to lack of oestrogen which disappears or improves dramatically with oestrogen.

Unfortunately there is no perfect solution with HRT as we can see from other women's experiences - if you are peri-menopausal then you have your own cycle kicking in now and again so difficult to get the dose right. When you are post-menopausal then you either have the choice of continuous progestogens - which even if you are not progesterone intolerant, can still produce constant low-grade side effects so that you don't feel like yourself - progesterone itself has a sedative effect. If you opt to continue with a cycle then you still have the ups and downs of progesterone and then a bleed with all that entails.

Remember back to your natural cycle - if you feel no worse than that and you have got rid of flushes and sweats then maybe that is the best you can hope for. The aim is to feel better overall in the short term, and evidence points towards long term health benefits of HRT too - even after the immediate symptoms have subsided.

Hurdity x

[Tabbycat]

Hi Hurdity

I'm 52.

I started on Premique low dose when I'd been period free for about a year but it had no affect so was prescribed the full strength kind. That was a little better but I was still spotting every two or three weeks. Gynaecologist put me on Femiston Conti in March and told me to give it a few months to see if the spotting stopped - if it hadn't, then I should have a break from HRT for three months to see if that was the cause.

I'm pretty certain the bleeds are hormonal, cos I get spots and tender breasts just before. I know there's no perfect solution, but the problem is the unpredictability of it - and two five-day bleeds within two weeks is a bit much!

I just want to see how I feel without HRT and then, if I still need it, to find one that's better suited to me. Problem is, the GPs at the practice I go to are a bit anti-HRT and (by their own admission!) not particularly clued up about it.

[Hurdity]

Hi Tabbycat

I can understand your reticence about HRT with your experiences.

The problem with combi HRT is that you ca't alter the oestrogen/progesterone ratio and the fixed combo doesn't suit everyone - which is why some of us are on separate oestrogen and progesterone. Also some women have problems absorbing all the hormones through tablet HRT as much is lost through digestion and the liver.

Also I do know that some women have problems with the Premique type HRT but the fact that you are having heavy bleeds, and pre-menstrual symptoms and your gynae can find nothing wrong suggests that you may still have a cycle going on - leading to the bleeding?

Personally in your case if you decide to continue I would go for transdermal HRT and perhaps consider having a cycle for a couple of years when you will most likely definitely be post-menopausal. That way your bleed should be predictable. I know it's weird going back to periods when you've not had them but you soon get used to them again - even at 61 as I do!!!

Hurdity x

[Tabbycat]

Thanks Hurdity.

If going back to a monthly cycle is what I need to do, that's fine - anything that gives me some kind of control.

Years ago, I thought the one positive thing about the menopause would be no more periods - seems I don't even get that!

[jasmine5]

Have started back in hrt as from today.

Unfortunately I've had very little sleep for the past four days as I've been suffering with awful neck and shoulder pain which as I recall, was one of the problems I had before I started on hrt.

I thought I would last a little longer that four weeks without it but I'm unable to take anti-inflammatory medication and the pain has been so bad that I'm desperate.

I'm now waiting for the hrt relief to kick-in and the next stage will be to do battle with my Gp for another prescription!!  Hey ho!!