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[liauq]

Hi;
Went to GP with a good range of meno symptoms age 51ish, hadn't had a period for 11 years since starting the mini pill.
Gp reluctant to give me HRT unless I had a mirena coil fitted in case I got pregnant; didn't like the idea so he offered oestrogen pessaries and citalopram...didn't want to start antidepressants so soldiered on.
Age 54; tried all the herbal stuff with limited effect, still taking pill, miracle long-suffering husband still with me and absolutely desperate through lack of sleep and night sweats...surely he'll give me HRT now!
GP has read up on HRT and the studies re bad effects have been discredited; I'm put on tibolone.
Couple of weeks later; meno symptoms abating...out with friend and have terrible attack of dizziness at top of flight of stairs.Lose balance,can't walk, panis,feel faint, not good.At home, I'm exhausted,sleeping all the time, can't walk up even one step,have to hold my husband's arm to walk more than a few steps, sit down after standing to load the washing machine.My bungalow (thank goodness) becomes a haven.
Visit doctor; bloodtests show nothing and extra tests for thyroid and diabetes (in family show nothing).Two similar episodes in the next three months and I quit tibolone!
Gp, who still probably thinks it's all depression, moves me onto oestrogel and utrogestan hich means having periods after 14 years!
Menopause symptoms gone, sex back on the cards..but things still didn't feel right; headaches,ringing in ears,feet felt disconnected and felt like a puppet with it's strings cut when I tried to walk, but not all the time. Anyway, 18 months in periods getting much heavier, intermittant spotting, sleep getting worse and another episode like mini-flu, frightened to go out on own in case I collapsed..back to GP.
He referred me to Gyno. re spotting and I told him I wanted to stop HRT; he said, just do it ! Stopped straight away, no more bleeds and mushy feet but after a month the insomnia,sweats etc. have raged back..at age 56.
I've now got him to prescribe citalopram (10mg) and oestrogen pessaries, back to his original prescription.In the meantime, he's done a lot of research and is now a fully-paid up member of the HRT club, how ironic.
I feel damned if I do and damned if I don't. I've tried two kinds of HRT and they didn't suit; the gyno. muttered something about I'd probably have similar symptoms on other "whole body" treatments.I can't find anything about my side-effects or anybody else who has had them.I think it might be linked to my autoimmune system or vitamin b12 deficiency, but I can't battle the doctors at the moment.Perhaps I should just take the antidpressants......

[CLKD]

Yes. For the time being if you find that they are helping.  Browse round the treatment green banner above and make notes.  Has your GP checked your VitD levels, you sound like my mum who in recent weeks has been found to be deficient.  A course of medication will help.  Also, I get a kind of dizzy feeling if I turn my head suddenly due to a nerve in the back of my neck, it's enough to make me go 'oh!' .....

As oestrogen levels drop the body may dry; i.e. nostrils, deep in the ears, vagina, skin and muscles may become lax = aches and pains.  Do read our thread/s on vaginal dryness [my bladder etc.] ....... and seek treatment if necessary. 

There are many ways of administering HRT so do read round.

[liauq]

Many thanks for your reply,I'm probably not a new member of the forum but the tibolone/whatever has screwed my memory up so badly, I'm lucky if I remember my husband!
The GP did get a blood work done which included vitamin d and iron and it was ok.
I recently put all my symptoms into patient info. and it suggested pernicious anaemia so I had a private blood test to check my vitamin b12 level:it came back as 327 and the threshold level is below 200 in the UK.Women can't even get treatment in the UK if they meet the criteria, so I'm not going to the GP, I'm taking supplements, it can't hurt.
What really triggered my anger yesterday was the GP giving me two online menopause specialists to read up, and no-one seems to take hrt side effects seriously.He should have given me follow-up checks, he should have thought:patient feeling really bad and I've just started her on a new medication is no coincidence, not menopausal woman = hypochondriac depressive !

[CLKD]

Pernicious anaemia needs regular treatment under the care of a specialist - it is quite rare. 

At least your GP gave you a push towards on-line specialists - some don't bother or are even aware that there are specialists.

Your plan for next week to find out more info.?  Something to go back to the Practice Nurse or GP with?

[liauq]

Hi CLKD:
Love the cat picture, my niece has just acquired four "fur babies" as she calls them.
My plan is to see how things go as the hrt wears off and the vagifem/citalopram takes effect and to start to go out and about a bit more.
In the meantime I'll be taking high dose vitamin b12, as they can't do any harm.
I'll take my battles one at a time, but the first thing is to get some sleep at night again.
Cheers.

[CLKD]

4  - I have 2 that visit - I always know when their family are away 

I try to shop B4 the pantry runs down.  I try to shop when it is likely to be less busy.  I always have a way out ..... and can no longer go to the theatre or anywhere that I am closed in.  I found that the dimming lights prior to a performance made me feel really queasy .........

[liauq]

Last time I went to the theatre it was a bit tricky as I saw all the actor's double...and I hadn't drunk anything,promise.I also found going from light to dark places tricky and would get dizzy going from the cinema back into the light of the foyer.Weird.
Didn't mind supermarkets so much as I could hang onto the trolley 

[CLKD]

Oh thanks for the update, I thought that I was the only one with those sensations  , as lights go down I would feel drawn forwards to the stage ......   I'll be looking at ladies on trollies next week, wondering ;-)

[liauq]

Forrest Gumps mom said that life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you are going to get......well, some of these chocolates are rubbish!

[Hurdity]

Hi liauq

Sorry to hear you're having problems and also that you haven't had much success with HRT as yet. I can see it's tricky to know where you are in menopause as you had the mini pill so don't know what your cycle is doing. However yes your doc is right to prescribe it for your symptoms - rather than the pessaries and anti-depressants - although the pessaries will help keep the dreaded vaginal atrophy at bay.

Although the gel and progesterone are the most "natural" form of HRT ( being bio-identical - body-identical) perhaps this formulation does not suit you but there are lots of other types you can try - as CLKD suggested. You didn't say the dose of oestrogen nor the progesterone - so even staying with the same products and tweaking the dose, might produce an improvement?

Also re the Mirena coil - if the mini pill suited you then it may well be that a coil would too? You would be able to add oestrogen at the dose needed to sort out your symptoms.

In your position - if you have stopped HRT - you could actually try taking nothing apart from the Vagifem for a few weeks (rather than the ADs)  and see exactly where you are in menopause re cycle, and then once you know this you would be in a better position to choose an HRT to suit you and assess how it is working without anything else in the mix, if you want to find a formulation that works. Obviously it is your decision to do what you feel is right but it seems such a shame that it didn't work out for your first couple of attempts when you could benefit for years to come!

I started HRT at almost exactly your age on a cycle (ie with withdrawal bleed) - and still taking it more than 10 years later now on a longer cycle and in my mid-60's and it's the best thing I did - so I am an enthusiast! Anyway let us know how you feel whatever you choose to do.

Hurdity x

[liauq]

Hi, Hurdity:
I was on two pumps of oestrogel a day and seven tablets of utrogestan every 28 days to induce a period, and they got heavier and heavier over the eighteen months that I took it, until intermittent bleeds started.Since stopping hrt I have had no bleedin.
The gynocologist agreed with me that this indicated that a tweak was needed and suggested that at my age, 57, I could consider continuous hrt .She had to give me a womb biopsy because the lining was a bit thick and this was so painful there is no way I'd have a coil fitted.
To be honest, I can walk so much better now, the pain I was getting in my leg is much reduced and I get a lot fewer headaches than when I was on hrt although it's early days.I'd certainly not put anyone else off trying though and never say never!   Happy health.

[Hurdity]

Hi liauq

Ah - well the fact that you were only on 7 days progesterone per month would account for the heavier bleeds ( and depends on the dose too and whether oral or vaginal). This is much less than the licensed dose - which is 12 days x 200 mg. You should find that bleeds would diminish with a longer progesterone course each month. If you are progesterone intolerant (depending on how you felt when taking the utrogestan) this might have seemed like too much - but definitely you needed more progesterone to cope with the bleeding. There are other forms of progestogen that can be used to thin the lining. Provera is the other one, so that is another option to take for a longer duration than the 7 day regime.

Sounds like you are doing OK at the moment though but don't rule out having another go! Hope you continue to feel  better.

Hurdity x