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[LouLou]

Hi- been taking HRT for 7 months now (2 pumps oestrogel & 100mg uterogestan daily) - have felt amazing, a few niggly issues along the way, (including 1 episode of prolonged bleeding (17 days) & hair loss) but overall it's been great. In the last few days I've noticed a few night sweats, low mood, exhaustion & today I've had 3 hot flushes!!! Admittedly, quite mild ones, but there's no mistaking them! 😫😫 my hair has been dreadful lately too - I'm starting to worry- I cant go back to all that- it made me terribly ill last time & had a breakdown- what can I do? Any advice please 😘 I'm also really confused- I've read a couple of comments on here that suggests oestrogel can cause hair loss??🤔 I haven't read that in the listed side effects & my GP had told me it's not a side effect?🤔 xx

[Tracey E]

Hi LoLou, yes Estrogel caused my hair to shed, I stopped it 8 days ago and the shedding has definitely lessened. Like you my hot flushes had returned before I ceased taking it along with gastric problems and palpitations. I tried to up the dose of Estrogel to just 2 pumps and had severe side effects. Eight days cold turkey and no more hot flushes. I don't really understand all this myself but what I do know is I feel much better without it. Upping the dose of Estrogel to try and stop the flushes made me very ill and yet that always seem to be the advice readily offered. Good luck going forward. X

[LouLou]

Tracey thanks for your reply 😘 were you also taking progesterone? So have you stopped HRT altogether now? So you didn't wean off the oestrogel, just stopped it? I'm just so confused & don't know what to do for the best 😏🙁

[Tracey E]

Tracey thanks for your reply 😘 were you also taking progesterone? So have you stopped HRT altogether now? So you didn't wean off the oestrogel, just stopped it? I'm just so confused & don't know what to do for the best 😏🙁

Hi, I was taking Utrogeston vaginally for 7 days of the month. I'm pretty sure the hair loss was due to the Estrogel. It's definitely improved this last week, I can always tell because I check my pillow each morning. I increased my Estrogel dose to improve the hot flushes but it just ended up making me feel worse, (acid reflux, bloating and palpitations). X

[Tracey E]

LouLou, a return of flushes and night sweats suggests you need to up your oestrogen dose, for sure. Try increasing the gel half a pump at a time, give it two weeks and so on.

I use 3 pumps and a bit and have never mohair shedding. It's a fairly uncommon symptom!

If it's an uncommon symptom why is listed on the common side effects? And I quote from the makers website.

Common side effects of estrogens include headache, breast pain, stomach or abdominal cramps, bloating, nausea and vomiting, hair loss, fluid retention, and vaginal yeast infection.

[Tracey E]

See I was told to 'up my Estrogen dose' because my night sweats and hot flushes had returned but that put me into a down hill spiral. How do you account for my hot flushes and night sweats disappearing after having no estrogen for 9 days Birdy?

[Tracey E]

For what it's worth, i'm Currently using 200mg of progesterone and 3 and a bit pumps of oestrogel and i'm on a strong AD and I feel dreadful. Can't stop crying.

Big hugggs to you my dear, what are we doing wrong? I just don't get it.. xx

[LouLou]

Tracey, are you just taking progesterone now? No oestrogen? I couldn't see hair loss listed on the oestrogel leaflet that came in the packaging?🤔 not even as a rare side effect 😏 I wonder why it's on the website and not on information leaflet? I'll have to check again, see if I've missed it 😏 I've also tried to do some research online to directly link oestrogel & hair loss, nothing comes up? Thanks for your replies 😘 xx

[Tracey E]

Hi Lou, Common side effects of estrogens include headache, breast pain, stomach or abdominal cramps, bloating, nausea and vomiting, hair loss, fluid retention, and vaginal yeast infection.

http://www.estrogel.com/is-estrogel-right-for-you

There's a PDF (patient information) top right hand corner of the above link, you can download it. Hair loss is a common side effect of Estrogel.

X

[Tracey E]

Well I can only go from my own persinal experiences and the fact it's listed as a common side effect of Estrogel. When I upped my dose of Estrogel my hair shedding increased, when I dropped it a pump it decreased. So there you have it, make of it what you will.

[Alicess]

Some side- effects of Estrogel ( or any estrogen) mentioned seem to be symptoms of low estrogen. I would think upping the dose of try a another delivery method. But that doesn't seem to be the issue in your case, TraceyE. Changing the balance of hormones can apparently trigger some symptoms too including hairloss. Some women who take birth control for acne ( anti-androgen) experience a worsening of acne before it gets better.
I don't have the answers and also felt much worse on HRT but for me it doesn't mean estrogen is to blaim.
.

[Tracey E]

Alicess the decider for me was the awful gastric problems and palpitations. My doctor seemed to think they were interlinked (GERD). Also the menopause clinic said they could be a side effect of the Estrodrial (GERD can irritate the vagus nerve and thus cause palpitations). I was also so bloated that I felt full even before I'd ate my evening meal. I  had a couple of ocular migranes (which are quite scarey), never had a migrane in my life before starting HRT.

Since coming off the Estrogel my body feels like it's literally deflated. I was on HRT for some 16 months and the side effects never got any better. Regardless of upping or lowering doses, the common denominator through all of this was Estrodrial. For some reason folk think that it has to be the progesterone part of HRT to blame for their symptoms. Maybe in some cases it is but also this seems to be blinding us into thinking that  Estrodrial is this wonder preperation. All singing and dancing, slap it on, up your dose wonder drug. Without even considering that maybe Estrodrial is really the issue.

My side effects maybe unique or they maybe more more common than you think. It took a while to eliminate various causes to come to the conclusion I did. But what I do know is that I feel much better HRTless. Only time will tell what happens next. Good luck Alicess. X

[jaycee]

When i was losing my hair, my Dr said Oestrogen was good for hair, unfortunately the patch he gave me was bad for hair, not due to the Oestrogen but the progesterone, could it be the progesterone side of it that is causing your hair loss do you think?

[Tracey E]

Jaycee, Estrodrial can cause hair loss, it is a common component of most HRT. It is listed as a common side effect.

[jaycee]

Tracy this is why i was questioning vagifem it's estriadol, but i have read about people saying their hair has only recovered after starting HRT,I think it might depend on the person, everyone is different, my hair came out lots on Evoral Conti.but some others love it
It might depend on the balance and what one has more of than the  other ,which is why i don't understand why no blood tests, i know they say hormones can fluctuate .buy i would think it would show if there was a lot more of one than another