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[carbolicsmokeball]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site.....so please go easy on me!
I am 53 years old and started HRT three months ago (Evorel Sequi 50 plus testogel). I'd had 3 periods since Nov 2017 but it was only when it dawned on me that the reason why the whole world was cold when I was on fire was perhaps because I was periomenopausal.  That and the fact that I was miserable, grumpy, frigid and hated the whole world ...whether or not I could remember who they were and even what they had done....if anything.

Much to my joy, the hot flushes have gone on the HRT and I feel I have some sanity and memory back which is pretty useful as a lawyer. However, as much as everything I have read says that HRT does not cause weight gain, I cannot escape the fact that I have now put on 9lbs.  What troubles me is that at the time of starting the HRT I had also decided to get my life in gear physically and had joined a gym to start using the walking machine as I have been inactive for several years.  So my activity went up (from zero to something rather than an aggressive daily routine) and I have been more careful about what I eat BUT the weight has piled on ....9lbs in 3 months.  I am so disheartened as I was feeling fat and miserable enough before I started the HRT. I have not become more muscular as I have not worked out to that extent and have done no weight training at all.

The pill never agreed with me and I didn't take it for long but i do recall that I put some weight on when I took it in my 20s.  Why is weight gain an accepted side effect of the pill but denied on HRT?

I am wondering whether i should try cutting the dose in half of the Evorel to see if that makes a difference? Or try a different HRT? Failing that I am considering stopping the HRT to see if my weight drops with the activity I am doing and living with the miseries I had before.  I know with will sound pathetic and vain but I cannot bear being so large now.

Any advice?

[Perinowpost]

I'm afraid to say that's been my experience also carbolicsmokeball. I pretty much put 9lbs on overnight when I commenced hrt (same one as you with the exception of different progesterone).  Luckily I was slim before so have been able to stand it, the weight has gone on my bust, tops of thighs and I no longer have a flat stomach 😪. I'm really strict with diet and find it almost impossible (an uphill struggle anyway) to shift weight.

That said hrt has been a lifesaver for me, (it's put me back to me) so I won't be coming off it. Unfortunately it seems to be the price we pay for feeling good but it's annoying I know x

[annabomb]

Hi everyone - I am new to the forum.

I too am frustrated by the claims that HRT does not cause weight gain. After going on Evorel Sequi patches last August, by the end of the year I had gained about a stone, despite having an active lifestyle, a non-sedentary job, exercising regularly and being a bit obsessed with heathy eating! I didn't actually realise how much I'd put on (having had issues around dieting for years I avoid weighing myself) until I had a health MOT at the gym, and nearly burst into tears on the spot. I gained about 3 inches round my waist, but was in denial until I got on the scales.

I walk, swim, do yoga and go to the gym - one of these most days - and have done for most of my adult life. I put on weight easily, am naturally apple shaped with big boobs, and my weight has gone up and down over the years, but it's never been anything like it is now. I have undoubtedly gained a lot of visceral fat and my boobs are huge. I now look at photos of myself when I thought I was fat but weighed 1.5 stones less and realise I'd be more than happy to be that size now! I've upped the resistance training, reduced portion sizes and more or less cut out sugar, but the weight is still not budging. I've now started the 5:2 way of eating (don't want to call it a diet, as diets don't work!!) in an attempt to give my body a bit of a shake-up.

I think I may stop the patches and see how I feel. They helped me feel a lot better by more or less cutting out the hot flushes, but I really hate carrying all this weight and its making me feel bad, physically and emotionally - and it's probably unhealthy in itself too. Sigh. If I didn't eat healthily and hadn't exercised regularly for the last 35 years (I'm nearly 54) I wouldn't feel life was quite so unfair!!

[shrosphirelass]

Just giving a different perspective. I started on evorel sequi last August and have lost a stone in weight and don't seem to be able to put any back on despite trying. It may be that there's something else going on with me, I'm having tests at the moment. Other people's experience of weight gains is obviously worrying for me. Though I guess everyone is different.

[Foxylady]

I've been on everol sequi for 3 months, continuing to lose weight (at least a lb a week, occasionally 3lb) although have been following the 5:2 diet and increased my exercise...I'm really motivated to make these lifestyle changes in order to reduce my symptoms but that could change if I plateau or put weight on despite being 'good'. I think it is very individual as all our metabolism rates vary and other health issues etc can impact on it. I hope your test results come back reassuring shropshirelass and nothing to worry about.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I'm another one with a different experience because my weight hasn't changed at since I became post meno nine years ago and starting HRT six years ago. In that time I have experimented with various forms and doses of HRT and I have had phases of being very hungry and eating often to times of being completely uninterested in food. Throughout all of this my weight has been constant. My only guess is that eating a whole food, plant based diet has helped regulate things somehow. I eat this way for digestive health reasons but maybe weight control is an added side effect?

Wishing everyone well.

K.

[shrosphirelass]

I've been on everol sequi for 3 months, continuing to lose weight (at least a lb a week, occasionally 3lb) although have been following the 5:2 diet and increased my exercise...I'm really motivated to make these lifestyle changes in order to reduce my symptoms but that could change if I plateau or put weight on despite being 'good'. I think it is very individual as all our metabolism rates vary and other health issues etc can impact on it. I hope your test results come back reassuring shropshirelass and nothing to worry about.

Thanks x

[Hurdity]

Hi annabomb

 

Sorry to hear about your weight problems.

As you see from the replies, it is not necessarily HRT which is to blame. It depends where you are in menopause and where you were when you started the HRT?  Many women will start HRT at the time when their metabolism begins to slow down and then blame the HRT.

There is some info on this website about this:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/weightgain.php

As an example I put on lots of weight when I became peri-menopausal but made a concerted effort to lose weight and although I am now still a few pounds over ( I too struggle to stay the same weight even) I haven't gone back to how I was then - despite being on HRT for 12 years.

That said I think some women tend to get bloated from some progestogens so maybe the one in Evorel is affecting you? Most women will expect their boobs to recover from their menopausal decline in density - they become very floppy and insubstantial when you reach menopause ( unless you have lots of fat anyway!), and oestrogen gives them more substance. Mine are certainly a bit bigger than they were when fertile ( apart from pregnancy of course when they grow much bigger).

Sounds like you are doing all the right things re healthy diet and exercising well! Maybe your diet could have some tweaking? I cut down carbs and sugar when I couldn't lose weight, even though my diet was really helathy. That worked for a bit!

Also have you had a thyroid function tests done - some women become slightly hypothyroid at this time of life - and even with values within range can have symptoms. Excessive tiredness and feeling the cold would be other symptoms if thyroid function was going awry....

Hurdity x