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[Sally Windsor]

 Hello there,

I would be really grateful if anyone has any advise for me, I should be an old hand at HRT but and still swimming against the tide and feel like I'm on a merry go round.

I was diagnosed with POF or POI as it is now when I was 36, I am now 46. I was originally put on Femoston Sequential after a year of resistance and try alternative things to help symptoms, this i remained on until 2 years ago when my bleeds became prolonged painful and intense. I was advised by GP to go onto Continuous Combined to stop bleeds. I started on Femoston cont combined, the higher dose gave me intense headache, the lower does not quite helping with symptoms of flushes, anxiety, insomnia, etc. I was then put on Elleste, intense headache, then Evorelle duet patches, they wouldn't stay on and the headaches continued. I went back on low dose  Fomoston conti combined, again the symptoms returned no intense headache. I eventually went back to my GP trying to find a hrt without the Norethistrone and Dydrogestirone as it appears I'm pretty sensitive to progesterones. I have now been on Angelique for 2 and a half months and have now got intense ringing in my ears! I'm so worried about this and really hopes it goes away and am worried that it will be permanent! I had a pack on low dose Femoston still in the cupboard so have stopped the Angeliq and started taking Femoston again! Last couple of days how even on the low dose I have intense headache and ringing in my ears!, 

I have been thinking about Estrogen tablets and gel, MPA or Utrogestan to see if this would be better. I would be so so grateful if anyone could. Share their thoughts, I just want to feel'normal' and stop moaning all the time! I feel that my GP thinks I'm wasting her time.  Thanks in advance. Sally x

[Dancinggirl]

Hi Sally71 - welcome to MM
I had POF - my peri stage started in my mid 30s. I am now 61 and stopped HRT about 16 months ago - I did have a break from HRT between the age of 49-53  but meno symptoms did not subside so had to go back on. I did find, as the years went on, that period pain and erratic bleeding made HRT difficult to manage and now off HRT I am still finding it difficult to cope with the ongoing meno symptoms e.g. poor sleep, urogenital atrophy, joint issues etc.

I tried most of the early HRT types (back in my 30s) and tried both sequi and conti HRTs.  Later on I tried Elleste, Angelique and one or two others but none suited me. I never did well on higher doses!!!!

I have tried so many different HRTs and it is challenging to find something that suits. I went to a private meno clinic aged 40 and they completely reassessed me, then put me on Oestrogel (one pump per day) with progesterone for 10 days each month. The progesterone was Dydrogesterone (the same as in Femoston - which unfortunately you can't get on it's own these days).  This gel and progesterone combo worked for me really well for many years - till all the scares happened in the press and then I stopped HRT and struggled on for 3 years. I lost 3 years of my life and eventually went back on HRT aged 53.

Your headaches are probably to do with the progesterone, particularly taking in every day, so finding something that is kinder and sticking with a sequential regime would be my advice. Putting up with the heavier bleeding with a sequential HRT is your sticking point.  The Femoston conti would have been an issue for you because you were using progesterone everyday and I'm afraid you may find this is a problem with any progesterone.

My best combo in my mid 50s was a Mirena with Oestrogel. The Mirena can give an initial hit of progesterone for the few first few weeks (felt quite sedated but the bleeding gradually subsided to nothing quite quickly) - however I then had 4 years of very few problems and no bleeds at all!!! I was able to use as little or as much Oestrogel as I needed to control the meno symptoms.

If you don't want to have the Mirena fitted, then why not try the one pump of Oestrogel daily with 10-12 days of Provera(MPA) which may not bring too many problems with bleeding and cramps.  I did try Utrogestan, which may also be worth trying, but because it is not very powerful, it gave me erratic bleeding and lots of cramping.
I'm afraid there are compromises with any HRT - it's about finding something that gives more benefits than side effects.
Keep us posted.  DG x

[CLKD]

Don't swap products, remember why you stopped them!  Your body won't appreciate it  .  DG has given good advice with personal experience .


We have several threads about vaginal atrophy which can be treated with localised applications of HRT.