Hi ladies
This is the first time I've posted on this forum as I'm quite new to all this, but I'm hoping you'll be able to help with some advice....
My history is that my periods stopped quite suddenly about 3 1/2 years ago when I was 44 - they had been irregular before that for about a year but then stopped completely. Initially I didn't have too many problems though I was sad as we'd hoped to have another baby (our daughter is now
![Cool 8)](https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/Smileys/extended/cool.gif)
but it was not meant to be and we're happily focusing on the lovely daughter that we do have.
However, after a while I started to get some unpleasant symptoms mainly around soreness around the vagina and some hot flushes - so for a while I was taking bio identical hormone lozenges prescribed for me by a doctor at a well known clinic on Harley Street. These seemed to work quite well until about four months ago, when I suddenly started to get UTI symptoms out of the blue eg needing to go to the loo much more often.
Initially I went to the GP who found no infection, and then to a urologist who said it sounded like overactive bladder and thought it would go away with time - he gave me vesicare but I didn't take it as I was reluctant to start dosing myself with drugs.
Over the next few weeks the symptoms started to really bother me and I also had some burning in my urethra which was horrible - I got very stressed worrying about how to stop it and every day became very difficult as I couldn't relax for worrying it would suddenly come on at work.
Eventually my lovely husband was worried about me being so miserable and suggested that I go to see a menopause specialist, as he was convinced this was all related to my hormones. The worry had also started to affect my sleep and I felt constantly tired out and had a feeling that life had gone “grey†if that makes sense - I was struggling with the effort of trying to act normally when all I wanted to do was cry.
Sorry this sounds very dramatic, but felt I should be honest on this forum! The other weird symptom that I have is a feeling of sensitivity down my inner thighs - it's not there all the time but is set off by clothes rubbing in that area eg the seams on jeans or sometimes even tights can set it off. I have been to see a women's health physio who is lovely and she has massaged the muscles down my inner thighs and they are often very tight and knotted - the massage helps but I can't help wondering if this is another symptom of the menopause.
Anyway, the menopause specialist I went to see seemed very unphased by my list of symptoms and was quite clear that she thought I should have been on HRT earlier - her view was that the bio identical lozenges are not regulated and therefore it's difficult to know what dose you're getting - whereas she has prescribed the estradot patches initially, a month at the 37.5 mg dose and then a month at the 50 mg dose. I am to go back to see her in January, when she'll do another blood test for my estrogen and then will see how I'm doing and add progesterone in as she wants to do things one at a time to see how I react.
I felt confident in this lady's approach and my husband was also at the appointment for moral support and we both came away feeling reassured - my question is now, does anyone have any experience of something similar and I suppose any reassurance that I'll start to feel better soon? I am just not used to feeling so unlike myself and constantly miserable and on the verge of tears - I would just like my old self back!
Sorry for the long post but it really is nice to have somewhere to ask these questions as it's not easy to discuss some of these things ....
All advice welcome! Xx