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[MotherHen]

Hi,
Thank you for accepting me onto the forum.

I'm hoping to get some advice as despite trawling the internet I'm coming up with nothing of relevance.

I'm 44 and peri menopausal and my GP has recommended Merina to help with my symptoms, I have flooding for two days a month and my periods are out by a day, maybe two each month despite being able to set my watch with them all of my adult life.

I'm also having major muscle stiffness and aching knees and elbows plus the worst cognitive problems, I forget names, where I put things and can't remember the simplest of instructions. I'm also very shouty which really isn't who I am usually and this is making me and those around me very miserable.

He's also prescribed Eleste Duet 1mg as he said the fact that the other GP's at the practice would not prescribe anything due to my weight was inhumane!

However he wants to see how I get on with these before agreeing to re-prescribe in three months and seems very keen for me to try the coil instead.

I'm unsure about the coil as I'm struggling more with the cognitive and muscle tension issues than the bleeding.

I'll be grateful for any advice you can give me.

[Hurdity]

Hi MotherHen

 

Yes the Mirena is often prescribed for bleeding problems and seems to sort these out pretty well from what I've read.

I'm not sure you are at the stage yet when HRT would be helpful as you're not really at peri-menopause proper - ie only very slight irregularities - although hormonal changes will have stared to occur. The Elleste Duet as well as the Mriena would be too much progestogen, If you need oestrogen as well  (due to symptoms such as flushes, sweats, low mood, joint pain etc) then you can add oestrogen  starting with a low dose eg from a patch or tablet - and the coil is already in place to protect your womb lining.

Alternatively as I've just said on the other new member's post, there is a contraceptive pill designed for women in your position - which only has 2 tablet free days. This controls the cycle so that you would not have such great mood swings. PMS symptoms often worsen in the last stage before periods begin to go completely awry and from what I've read this can be one of the difficult stages to treat - which is why the pill is recommended in younger women ( under 50).

Hurdity x

[TheWorstWitch]

Welcome MotherHen - I sympathise with you on the flooding thing as I've been struggling with the same - horrid isn't it! I'm relatively new to this but from reading here have finally tied in the joint pain that I've been suffering to everything else as well - it's amazing how you gradually "stitch" things together!

One thing I've seen which might help on both the bleeding AND the joint pain issues is that taking a NSAID like Ibuprofen (assuming you can take it) can make a good reduction to the level of the flow - I'm in the very early days on this one but think that I *might* be starting to see an improvement... Not sure what the rules are on posting links to sites outside here but if you take a look on the NHS Choices website you'll find some information.