Thanks for the replies ladies.
Reading other threads on this forum I think the perimenopausal stage is the most tricky part of menopause as our own hormones, which are very unstable at this time, are still wreaking havoc, and with the extra hormones from the HRT. we are experiencing a lot more problems than someone taking HRT who are postmenopausal and are having a steady dose of hormones from the HRT without the spikes from their own.
I'm still having my own heavy periods whilst still on the estrogen only patch so my own progesterone is causing PMT problems before I've even started the combined patch and then I have a lighter bleed from the withdrawal after I've finished the combined patch.
I suppose it may have been better to wait until I was postmenopausal but on the other hand at least I'm getting some benefits from the HRT, which should hopefully improve once my own periods have ceased and I've only got the withdrawal bleed to contend with.
I'm going to persevere with the Evorel Sequi as I don't have any nasty side effects from this particular HRT regime.
pamb x