Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[hutchie]

Hi all

I am a bit confused whether I need more or less Estrogel or whether to reduce Provera 2.5mg to 12 days a month.  Any advice will be so helpful as feeling a bit desperate at the moment.....

I'm 54 and havent had a period for over a year.  I have been on various form of HRT for about 3 years, 2 lots were discontinued and I didnt get on with patches.

For the last year, I have been using 2 pumps of estrogel and 1 x 2.5mg Provera day.  I am getting no hot flushes or nights sweats yippee, but I have the following symptons which I cant work out if i need more or less estrogen or progesterone.  I ache a lot, where i can hardly move in the morning, especially back, ankles and tops of arms.  My breasts are tender.  I am extremely tired a lot of the time with no ooomph for life and I feel down and tearful.  My sleep is disturbed regularly by anxiousness and worries and I feel like I still get really bad PMT symptons at least 10 days in the month (grumpy, unreasonable, short tempered and sugar cravings) and I've gained weight - probably due to low oomph to do much exercise apart from walking.

I would appreciate any views on the above as I feel my doctor thinks that as I dont get hot flushes now I'm ok, but I feel a long way from OK at the moment.

Many thanks in advance

[Dancinggirl]

I think it's because you are on a contu HRT regime. Progesterone every day can give more fatigue and other symptoms.  Perhaps try Provera for 12 days each month and put up with a bleed each month - BUT you would need to increase the dose of Provera to at least 5mgs for 12 days, possibly 10mg, to ensure you get a proper shedding of the womb lining.  The alternative would be to have a Mirena fitted as less progesterone is absorbed systemically.

Aching joints happens as we age anyway and the right exercise can help with this. Pilates can really help.

Poor sleep also happen as we age and more oestrogen won't necessarily help this - I do a lot of Mindfulness to help deal with my low mood, stress and anxiety.  DG x

[hutchie]

Thankyou for your reply Dancinggirl

I was wondering whether to change to 12 days a month, but as I dont have an obvious cycle now, I wouldn't know when to start the 12 days.  Also, I haven't had a period for 12 months, would I shed my lining?

I agree with you about aching and fatigue, but I was very active before my menopause started, running, regular gym, yoga and pilates classes, but now I struggle to walk 10,000 steps a day and getting up takes a lot of effort, I hope I am not going to feel like this for the rest of my life I feel a bit like a deflated balloon.

Thankyou again

[Dancinggirl]

Sadly things do become more of a struggle and I have had to reduce the amount I eat by a third to try and maintain my weight.
HRT can't fix everything and the notion that HRT will stop the damage of general aging is a nonsense.
If you want to try a sequential regime then you would just need to stop taking the Provera for 16 days and then take 5 or 10 mgs of Provera for 12 days. When you finish taking  the progesterone phase a bleed would normally start a day or two after this.
Try taking some Omega 3 and vitamin D as this might help your joints and make some small changes in your diet to try to get the weight down a bit - your energy and the aches and pains may then improve. DG x

[Optimist]

Maybe try increasing the gel to 3 then/or 4 pumps firstly so you don't have to go back to a bleed but agree with DG Mirena a good option also. I need higher dose oestrogen to counteract progesterone side effects due to intolerance and eventually settled with Mirena and 100mcg patch of oestrogen x