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[Joesmum]

So I've been looking on other websites and come across some very interesting reading.
I'm having a rotten time. ROTTEN!!
Tibolone was awful. I'm back on patches. I feel depressed. I have no energy. I can't sleep at night. I want to cry all the time. I feel weak....I ache all over like I have flu.

Then I discovered a few testimonies from women saying that they felt better without HRT!
That they tried to add it back in again and started to feel awful again!?

And some of these women had oophectomies....

I'm starting to wonder if I'm better off without any estrogen replacement? Or perhaps with a much lower dosage?

When I halved my 100 patch because I'd run out of the correct 50 patches my estrodial level was 90  pmols and I think I felt much better. I did keep having quite odd giggly, excitable moments which were weird. Like a surge of adrenaline, except a surge of giggles instead!!??? But other than those I think I felt much better than I feel now with an estrogen level of about 250 pmols.

I've just read so many comments from women saying that they have more energy, feel better in themselves. Less weepy....?

How can this be?

[Marie62]

I'm in the process of coming of HRT now on day 4, I started my own thread a few hours ago.
Only had hot flushes and tbh they weren't that bad, but after a few months taking elesste duo conti I had very bad depression and anxiety for nearly a month, lowered the dose and felt ok but have had a blip in the last week not quite as bad more anxiety than depression but still not a nice feeling.
Hopefully you work something out and feel better.

[Tempest]

Bless your heart, Joesmum! I'm into my second month of no hrt now. Mentally, I feel MUCH better!

I also don't have any joint pain and flushes are few and hardly noticeable. The only thing I'm fighting right now is disrupted sleep and having to pee a lot at night! If this would settle, I'd be a happy bunny. Sending you biggest hugs! xxxxx

[Liz]

I'm down to half a pump of Oestrogel a day and feeling better too.  Been cutting mine down gradually as I was getting large, swollen boobs, despite having used it for a couple of years.

[babyjane]

synthetic oestrogen has never agreed with me.  I was evil for 4 years on the BCP.  After our first child was born I never went back on it and was much less volatile.  in 2004 I was offered patches due to perimenopause, they didn't suit me at all and sent my underactive thyroid levels haywire.  18 months later I tried again and the results were the same and my thyroid levels became unstable again.  I have not used any systemic HRT since, only topical for VA, and have been much more stable.  Usual flushes, night sweats and insomnia for a while but persevered and now a lot better and more stable.

HRT can be really helpful for a lot of ladies and a lifesaver for some, but for other ladies it is not the cure all we are sometimes made to believe and some of us are just better off without it.

[CLKD]

also as a ladies own hormones begin to settle maybe HRT isn't required?  The body reaches a level which is copeable with?

[GypsyRoseLee]

I think I must absorb oestrogel like a sponge with little effect. Even on 4 pumps, my boobs never swell anymore, or feel tender (they did up until about a year ago). I've even managed to lose weight recently, with a calorie controlled diet. It's like the oestrogen doesn't affect me, physically, at all 

I have noticed my fingers feel/look swollen from time to time, but that's it.

[dangermouse]

If you are suppressing your cycle then your own oestrogen will be much lower and might explain the non-swelling boobs!

If you were having less oestrogel then it would not be enough to suppress your own and you would have higher oestrogen circulating as you'd have your own plus the gel.

[GypsyRoseLee]

That makes sense to me dangermouse. Clever girl 

[dangermouse]

That makes sense to me dangermouse. Clever girl 

 

The suppression bit does make it tricky though, like with the question above, as the more you take, the more you suppress your own so difficult to know if you are originally too low or too high. Although as, even if you know, it's still down to trial and error to get the right balance then I guess finding what works is more important than knowing why.

[dahliagirl]

I think that you need to stay at the same dose for about 3 months to be sure that it has settled.

If you are getting headaches, it could be oestrogen withdrawal.  Drink plenty.  I used to get this on the pill week off,  and it would lead to the most awful headaches if I got in the least bit thirsty.  When I stopped though, it settled beautifully after the first week.

[Sunnydays]

I just thought I'd like to add that I'm really pleased to hear that you're feeling good without the hrt. I have 2 good friends, similar age to me, post memo like me whose symptoms were not too debilitating and quite short term and now some time on they say they feel more energised and well than before the meno - neither with hrt. Shows we're all very different and need access to medication/support that is personalised.

[CLKD]

Headaches can be caused when the body is dehydrated.  I get a strange kind of 'ache' when I miss a beta-blocka dose  .  Or if I have slept too heavily ......

I wouldn't mess with dropping the dose too much too soon!  Give it a 'cycle' and chart how you feel/