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[Momo]

Hello
I wonder if anyone can advise me? I have been struggling with menopausal symptoms for a few years now. I am 45 and Doctor has confirmed I am menopausal despite having the odd period every 6 months or so. At the end of last year I started taking sage drops and menopause support supplements to help with hot flushes and cramps. They have really helped. I exercise frequently and eat well but what they haven't helped is the other symptoms: loss of libido, painful /dry vagina, vaginal sebaceous cysts, very low bleak moods , dry mouth, hairy face!!! anxiety, fog brain and insomnia.
what a bloomin list eh? I thought I was doing OK until my hubby sat me down the other week and said that I really wasn't right and I should stop putting up with the way things were.

I was prescribed vaginal pessaries last year to help with dryness but I could not bear to insert them- but then again I have never been able to insert a tampon, so I don't know why I let the GP talk me into that one! I did try but I just felt terrible.

Anyway I think the time has come to try HRT but I am very worried about trying it. How did the ladies who take HRT decide? There seem to be so many different types.

I have never had children and I chose to be sterilized in 2007 as so many of the contraceptives I tried made me feel ill too. That is partly why I worry, if I had such a terrible reaction to contraceptives such as: Depo-Provera and the Mirena coil (I can't remember all the others I tried) what will I be like when I start taking those sorts of hormones again?
I was fat, depressed and had diabolical acne and migraines that lasted for weeks ....and I really don't want to go back to those days.

Can anyone give me advice about how best to approach my GP ( who is generally a good bloke and has been very supportive over the years) Do I have to resign myself to a series of chemical experiments?
I know I don't want to take HRT made from pregnant mares urine - is that the one they call Prempak?

but is there anything else I should think to ask when I go and see him to kick start the whole thing off?

thanks for any advice you can give and sending some positive vibes to other ladies who might need it.

Momo

[CLKD]

Peri-menopause - where you probably are right now as you are having intermittent bleeds - is a great learning curve!  Have you looked at the menus, top of screen?  You will get a variation of the types of HRT etc., so make notes. Keeping a food/mood diary can help too, it gives a sense of 'normality'!

Ask away.  As for vaginal atrophy, we have several threads on that one - I didn't find the pessaries difficult, are you sexually active? maybe your husband would put them inside for you.  I use mine at night so that they are absorbed correctly and there is little mess ;-).  There is no way I could tolerate the feeling of razor blades 'up there' 

There are several knowledgeable ladies here with HRT experience who I am sure will be along.  If you use the 'search' box too it will throw up the threads of the topic you are interested in.

[Momo]

Hi CLKD
thanks for the suggestions. I will look at threads,

Hubby and I are sexually active  in a way.... but I have a condition called vestibulodynia - which means getting anything 'in there' is a challenge  and causes as lot of pain and distress.. imagine the fun and games I have with smears  we have to be creative but it takes at least 30 mins  ' warming up" to get me in a condition where he can insert anything. When we have sex we give ourselves time and lubrication and we get there in the end.
The condition was worse when I was using contraception and if I am tired and has got worse since my menopause kicked in. I am such a wonkey donkey 

Eventually I  did manage to get  some in my self, for about a week, after some effort, but  I felt worse that when I didn't have them, vagina swollen and even more sensitive than before and I felt generally rubbish, heart palpitations, pains in legs  etc so I didn't even feel any benefit after all the struggle
Like I said I was daft to let my GP suggest it. I have heard that the pessaries do help, just not my thing. Hey ho, at least the forum and you lovely ladies give me hope of a breakthrough

take care
Momo

[Dandelion]

Hi Momo

I am perimenopausal too.
I started off with the pills, femoston 1/10
They are a bio identical oestrogen and a synthetic progestin that is tolerated my most women.
I tried these for three months, then went up a dose to 2/10 and tried that for another three months.
Sadly I could not absorb the pills, but that is quite rare aparently.
I then went onto the patches and utrogestan, the patches are evorel.
After starting at 50mcg and trying each dose out, I am now settled on 100mcg patches.
As CKLD said it's trial and error.
It's up to you which one you start with really.
There are a couple of types of oral hrt and different patches for peri women but they can all be found in the info on this site.
Best of luck.