Hi LL70
from me too.
As Dancinggirl says during peri-menopause it is difficult to know what side effects are due to what. Approximately how often were your periods when you started using HRT and how long had you been having changed cycles?
The idea with HRT is to try to synchronise with your own cycle, but as Dancinggirl says, your own hormones will still be doing their own thing as you enter the menopausal transition.
During the second part of your natural cycle, oestrogen falls - so hopefully the extra oestrogen should help with your mood. However progesterone also increases and then cuts off sharply during the second two weeks of your cycle and this can cause pms which can worsen during peri-menopause, so adding the synthetic progestogen to this may be the cause of your mood swings. It could also be that you are still noticing your natural drop in oestrogen and the patch dose is insufficient.
If you are happy using transdermal HRT then personally I would stick with this - and if this type doesn't suit you could try the other one Femseven (although this is normally changed weekly), or for best control of the right dose - separate oestrogen (patch) and progestogen might be the way forward for you. I agree Femoston is the best combi tablet HRT!
As has been said the info is available under HRT preparations in the Treatments tab.
Glad you felt better with added oestrogen anyway
Hurdity x