Hi Georgeaj2000
Don't care what people say, your weight increases with hrt. Often it's only water retention which can be helped with utrogestan which is a natural progesterone and for some, a diuretic but not everyone gets that effect from it. I've found after trying various different delivery methods that patches make me retain a lot of water, don't know why but it doesn't happen with gel. There's also a theory that low oestrogen makes your body store fat as oestrogen is stored in fat and therefor provides a supply. I'm not sure on the exact science of this but worth checking your E levels. This brings me on to final point; low E ALWAYS makes me intensely itchy, I've broken skin with scratching in the past. It's a sure fire indication that E is low for me.
The most modern hrt preps are now regarded as the transdermal bio-identical ones, if you do some research on bioidentical hrt you'll find all the info. In terms of progesterone, there's synthetic progestins (MPA which you are using is synthetic), or utrogestan which is micronised progesterone and therefor the same as you natural progesterone. The other option is the Mirena or Jaydess coil which is in situ in the womb so (in theory) produces less side effects.
Probably worth doing a bit of research before you get to GP as most of them are clueless on the range of options available. You also need to decide if you want to mimick a cycle or go for no bleed option. Hope this helps and not repeating what you already know.
Dxx
Ps. Testosterone is now recognised as a necessary add-in for some women on hrt, so worth researching that too.
