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[GypsyRoseLee]

Despite wearing a 50mg patch I feel like my own oestrogen has fallen off a cliff these last couple of weeks.

My voice has gone a bit husky, and people have been asking if I have a cold. Have read this is a sign of low oestrogen.

Also I have lost a bit of weight and no bloated tummy anymore. Boobs feel like they've shrunk. I feel a bit drier down below, not uncomfortable yet, but there's a difference.

My sleep has been really poor. Several nights of not sleeping a sink, followed by just cat napping other nights. I even resorted to taking some Amitriptyline for the last couple of nights (which usually works really well) but even that hasn't helped.

My mood is partly jittery and partly desperate.

I haven't had a proper bleed now for 34 days. The last bleed was after finishing the combi tabs in Femoston 1/10 last month. This month, 5 days into the combi tabs on 2/10 I had a very small bleed which only lasted 1.5 days, so don't know whether to count that as a bleed or not?

I feel like if I could just have a bleed it would re set my system. This happened at Xmas, where despite wearing a patch and not using any Utro I still had a period.

I feel SO different right now. I can't shake the feeling that I am suddenly menopausal and won't ever have my own period again.

Am I bonkers?

[Dancinggirl]

GRL
Am i right in thinking you are seeing Annie Evens soon? I thought your GP had told you to stop taking HRt until you saw her?  Maybe I've got this wrong? AS you have done some chopping and changing with your doses and types of HRT it will be very difficult for your body to settle. If you are seeing Annie then I think you should just stop everything so she can really see how you are.  BTW - do write down your symptoms, a brief history of your meno journey and any questions you want to ask her - this can be there for you in case you forget things.
DG x

[vintagefiend]

I can't be much help, I'm afraid, except to commiserate with you...but I'm very interested in the husky throat thing- every month without fail I have a throaty illness for about 3/4 days- it's been driving me mad! I know it's hormone-related as it's cyclical and I am utterly sick of it!! It's been going on for a couple of years.
I'd say it happens in the luteal phase, just prior to menstruation which made me wonder if it was a high progesterone thing- that wouldn't necessarily preclude it from being a low oestrogen thing either.
anyway- not much help but just wanted to let you know that that throat thing happens to someone else!
take care- not too long until appt with dr evans, i think? x

[GypsyRoseLee]

Hi DG

Yes my GP did tell me to stop all HRT but I decided against it as all my symptoms seem to indicate low oestrogen. So taking off my patch seemed foolish.

Both Studd and Annie Evans state they have patients, just like me, needing oestradiol levels of 600+ in order to treat hormonal anxiety/depression. When I had my bloods done at Xmas my oestradiol level was only 305 pmol/L and that was with a patch.

I suspect that if I stopped my patch Annie Evans would be dealing with a screaming maniac in her room.

[Mary G]

GRL, I had the throat thing permanently when I was on the pill years ago.  Excess mucus, throat clearing and a constant nasal drip.  It started up again when I started taking Angeliq, an oral HRT, and it got so bad, I had to take antihistamines which did actually get rid of it.  I don't get it unless I take progesterone so in my case it is related to that and I think I am probably allergic to all forms of artificial progesterone. 

You are definitely not going bonkers, you need more oestrogen, pure and simple.  From my experience, pills and patches are nowhere near as effective as the gel and I really think you need to make the switch as soon as possible. 

Not long to your appointment now and I am sure Dr. Evans will get you on the right track. 

[GypsyRoseLee]

Hi MaryG. I noticed it at the weekend, feeling my throat was dry and my voice sounded husky. My Mum rang and thought I had a cold. Have since done some research and this is a recognised symptom of menopause. I don't have the excess mucus or nasal drip you describe though?

My voice keeps cracking very slightly, especially if I haven't spoken for a little while and then try to sleep. And if I talk too long it's like my voice starts to give out.

I really think if I could just get a full night's sleep I would feel much better.

[Briony]

How interesting. When I was a teenager, I had lots of ENT issues and took steroids for some time. It wasn't until a few years later that we realised it co incided with my cycle. I'd always get a foul taste in my mouth just before I came in, due to a post nasal drip. It cleared up in my twenties.

Fast forward to this last year, and the same thing has returned. The yucky taste is identical and I seem to have a weird voice/dry throat when my estrogen is low. It is like an allergy more than a cold, but disappears once my estogen rises. Weird.

GRL, I do think some people absorb patches less well than others. I was on 100 mcg yet my level was only 128. I have gone back on Qlaira with gel as a top up if required. Theoretically, Q has less estrogen than the 100 mcg patch, yet the patch seemed to just make me feel flat - possibly because I was still ovulating with it (unlike Q)?

When in March do you see Annie Evans?

[Hurdity]

I presume there could be an effect of low oestrogen on collagen in the throat tissues as anywhere else?

Hope you feel better today

Hurdity x

[Tinkerbellj]

R we twins lol. Been suffering with sinus probs dry throat etc since I stopped hrt. Its horrible. I stuck a patch on too in the vain hope it would help #willtryanythingatm

[GypsyRoseLee]

Hi Briony

I see her next week. I am counting the days. Though, being me, I am now panicking that she won't be able to help me, and then what the Hell do I do? Stupid I know.

It's funny you should mention poor absorption from patches, as I was just wondering this. Last summer, when using 50mg patches, I was getting just over half the month feeling fine. But was my own oestrogen just higher then?

When I started the BCP, which is much higher oestrogen (plus it shuts down your own cycle) I felt better overall, I think, compared to patches. But got constant spotting on Microgynon. So swapped to Marvelon and felt fantastic until I finished the first pack and had that very short break. Even quickly starting the second pack didn't help, and that was likely due to a build up of progesterone? But overall I think I needed the stronger oestrogen and having it orally was fine.

Same with Femoston, though taking it orally did give me nausea. But I couldn't bear the progesterone. Plus I wonder if my own oestrogen is now lower than last summer so the oestrogen in 1/10 and 2/10 wasn't enough anymore? And now, back on a 50mg patch it just feels like I'm not wearing one.

 Like you say, mood very flat and this nagging anxiety either sitting on my chest or lurking at my shoulder.  Plus the bloody insomnia of course. And physically I feel differently. Appetite less. Boobs shrunk and unresponsive. Stomach not bloated anymore. Slighter drier 'down below' and this hoarse voice. All this indicates lowering oestrogen to me, despite my 50mg patch?

[MIS71MUM]

I am reading this and am amazed! 

At the moment, I have just finished a week of having swollen glands, a runny nose, aching joints, sore throat and head feeling like I am full of cold. Nothing unusual about that, but exactly 4 weeks ago, I was exactly the same.  I know this because it was the same time as I broke my toe and I was feeling very sorry for myself.

I told my husband that I thought it was cyclical and he gave me a look to say I was being overly anxious and looking for problems/solutions.

Now after reading this, it's all starting to make sense.

I've never had an allergy before but I feel like I now have one!

I seem to get it after my period then just after the middle of my cycle.

I thought I was going mad!

[GypsyRoseLee]

Mis 71, your oestrogen levels are at their lowest during your period, then they suddenly dip again just after you ovulate which is mid cycle.

[BrightLight]

Its horrible to have everything changing all the time, you have my sympathy GypsyRoseLee.  Hopefully your appointment with Dr Evans will help.

I have been very keen in the past to try and work out what symptoms relate to which hormone, in an attempt to somehow alleviate it I suppose, just lately I have not been trying so hard and in some ways I feel better. Thought I would mention it because I think it can increase anxiety on some level. We can only do so much to help ourselves and despite feeling up and down, you WILL get through this.

I have also had the understanding that irritation and dryness with post nasal drip, coughing, phlegm etc can be due to estrogen being high. I think it is one of those things that can be both.  I am not on HRT and have recently missed two periods.  I have been through some night sweats that stopped, now have nasal, throat and dry eyes but again, this has happened before and gone away. Rising and falling of levels I guess.

HRT should be covering the baseline and it makes sense that your own body will be continuing to change, I hear you that you want the hormone treatment to rise above all that, so it isn't noticeable and I wish you well getting there x

A page mentioning estrogen and rhinitis.
http://patient.info/doctor/non-allergic-rhinitis

This page explains vasometer mechanisms and hormonal change that effect mucosa - both of which seem to relate to this time of life. Again, I think it is too tricky to decide whether certain symptoms are signs high or low
levels of a particular hormone unless a bigger picture puzzle indicates it - which is a nightmare when things change all the time!
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/874171-overview#a2

[Briony]

GRL, don't put extra pressure on yourself by worrying about 'what if she isn't able to help me?'. Instead, try to think in terms of 'she may not know the answer immediately, but she'll put me on the road to recovery'. The first thing she prescribes might work brilliantly. It might require a bit more trial and error. But seeing her is a massive step in the right direction ...

Brightlights, brilliant links. Thank you!

[Milamam]

BrightLight, thank you for the links! Very informative! I now explain to myself why I have had constant post nasal mucus for a few months now, esp in the mornings but sometimes throughout the day. I tend to agree that it might be related to increased /high estrogen. I have had high estrogen and decreased my dose of Femoston to half tablet a day. Have not connected the two things together but mucus has slightly decreased in the past week or so. I have also had clear cervical mucus ala ovulation type throughout the month which I have read is a sign of high estrogen, and that seemed to have subsided now. So it makes sense to me!
I also agree that it is not possible to attribute all such signs to increase or decrease of either E or P as I have learned the body is such a fine balance and everything is so interconnected.

Grl, it will be a few days more until you see Dr. Evans and I am sure you will feel great relief after . I will be very interested to hear her opinion as you experiences resemble so much how I felt two years ago!

Milamam