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[Catnips]

Hi Everyone

I am 48 and had my last period 4 years ago. Over the years I have coped with flushes and night sweats but more recently (6-12 months) my libido has dropped off a cliff, my sleep pattern is erratic and I feel more anxious than normal.

Looking at the information on this site I also tick boxes for aching joints/muscles and repeat urine infections (3 in 2017 although luckily none this year).

I've been listening to very positive recent press about hrt and have finally asked my gp for help.  As I am a smoker, which increases some of the risks of taking hrt, she gave me lots of information to read prior to making a prescription. We decided that patches were most suited to me and she has given me a 3 month trial of Evorel Conti.

I just wanted to know if anyone else who experienced similar symptoms to me had any success with this patch?
I also wondered how long it will take to work?

Many thanks in advance for any replies.

Catnips x

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome Catnips

Many women love using the patches and they can be very effective.  There are currently to 2 types of combined patches containing different progesterones and there are sequential (monthly bleed)and continuous( non bleed) versions. Personally, I would start with a sequential version of the patches to see if the progesterone in it suits you, before moving to a continuous version. You do get a monthly bleed with any sequential HRT but the progesterone part of any HRT can be an issue - so essentially it's about finding the HRT type that has a progesterone that suits you.

I have to urge you to stop smoking though - you really are increasing your risk factors greatly and I believe smoking often reduces the effectiveness of any HRT - you may be increasing your risks with no real benefit. Giving up smoking may well help many of your symptoms.  If you want to improve libido then Tibolone is the one to try but sadly not if you are a smoker.

Look under TREATMENTS on this site to get clued up.  Good luck. Dg x

Do look under

[Catnips]

Thanks Dancinggirl.

Yes I know, I had the same conversation with my doctor about smoking.  She didn't mention this in relation to Tibolone though, just told me the surgery do not prescribe this routinely (something about licensing?) will the patch have no impact on my libido?

I think I've been prescribed the continuous patch.  I'm only on day 3 of using it. So far no side effects, but no changes either.  How long do they normally take to see any impact?

Thanks again.

[Dancinggirl]

See how it goes.  As I said, you may find you get less benefits because you smoke. If you are already very low in oestrogen - so very post menopause - then it will take time for things to improve.  Flushes should be the first thing to improve but low mood and anxiety don't always go away with HRT.  Libido will usually need Tibolone or some Testosterone to really help.
If you look under TREATMENTS you'll find out about Tibolone. 

I am sorry to say that unless you give up smoking it will be very difficult to truly get the benefits you are looking for.  DG x

[Fionalowri]

Hello Catnips and Welcome,

I was also prescribed Evorel Conti, I wanted to go onto HRT because my mood had become very low over a couple of years or so and I began to realize I was having problems coping with my erratic emotions, my job, some of the people I worked with, in fact life in general. I had started getting aches and pains in my neck and shoulders and lower back. My sleep was terrible, waking early in morning and not being able to get back to sleep. Stress and anxiety would cause palpitations and bring on hot flushes, or perhaps it was the over way round.

Anyway I started on Evorel Conti and I found that after a week my hot flushes were starting to abate and my sleep had improved. Around three to four weeks later my mood was also improving and I felt a lot less stressed.  The first 3 months were very good and I found I was just getting on with life again without being obsessed with how I was feeling.  After 3 months I noticed a few side effects creeping in, sore and heavy breasts, bloating and a little nausea and dizziness and after the fourth month I started to have a bleed, which was similar to a period and my doctor asked me to stop taking it. I don't know if the Evorel Conti was not the right type of HRT for me, or if everything would have settled given more time. I definitely want to go back on some form of HRT, as even with the side effects, I felt much better on it than off, but I was starting from a very low place. 

I had started looking at some of the other progesterones, particularly Utrogestan, as some research appears to suggest that this progesterone doesn't negate some of the positive benefits of estrogen, such as in protection for the heart, but this is not yet proven I believe.  From what I gather on this forum some women get on with it quite well and others don't, so as with most things it is probably down to trial and error.

In the end you probably have to see how Evorel Conti works for you and if any negative side effects, if you get any, outweigh the positive, and if it gives you a better quality of life. For a while at least, it made a big difference to mine, and I hope it will again. FL x