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[WendyON]

Hello, my first post and hoping for some advice.   I am 51 have been on Elleste Duet 1/10 from October 2019 things were going okay but I felt come late Nov some symptoms were coming back and felt quite low.  Went back to doctor he didn't want to increase the dose preferred to prescribe AD, I didn't want to really go down that route so persevered with the Elleste, but end of January/beg of Feb I bleed as usual but the symptoms came back with a whammy, unreal anxiety, palpitations, flushes and headaches.  Went back to the doctor I suggested Femoston as thought it could be the progesterone in Elleste, so she prescribed Femoston 1/10.  I still wasn't happy as I did really feel I needed an increased dose so went back and demanded in a nice way 2mg/10 of Femoston.   Just back from the Advanced Nurse Practitioner who I thought would be great but no she suggested Setraline!  I just don't want to go down the AD if it is just a matter of upping the HRT.

Has anyone encountered this on Elleste?
Am I okay to change immediately to another brand at a higher dose, I mean can I take it tonight having been on 1mg for the past week?

Thank you !

[Hurdity]

For goodness sake! More medics that want us all to be hooked on happy pills!!

Hi WendyON

 

Sorry to hear about your ongoing symptoms despite being on HRT but this just isn't good enough more than 4 years after the NICE Guidelines and docs are still recommending anti-depressants for hot flushes and associated menopause symptoms. This is totally against the guidelines and ADs should only be prescribed for women who are seriously depressed or with suicidal thoughtas and a danger to themselves - not menopausal low mood, or women who cannot take HRT for medical reasons eg breast cancer. Grrrr!!!

What were your periods doing in the months leading up to starting the hRT? Had you skipped periods and were they few and far between. Anyway wherever you are in menpopause if the dose of hRT you are on is not controlling your symptoms, then an increased dose is indicated - at least as a trial for 3 months or more to see if it works. 1 mg is low dose and 2 mg is medium dose - so really if you want to try the higher dose then you should be allowed to - provided no medical reason why not. Can you ask another doc at the practice?

Incidentally were/are the symptoms you mention there all the time or at a particular point in the HRT cycle?

Re changing to another brand - yes you can change immediately although ideally when just on the oestrogen only part of the cycle otherwise the change in prog might cause random bleeding. If you did swap mid cycle then make sure you start the pack of tablets at the same point in the cycle eg if you took the firat two weeks of oestrogen only Elleste then you would start the new pack with the combi part ie the second two weeks of the pack? Get me?

Let us know the outcome and hope your symptoms lessen

Hurdity x

[WendyON]

Hi thanks for the detailed reply.  Before starting HRT my periods were about 6 months apart last natural period Aug 2019 and I was feeling symptoms moreso palps, foggy, tiredness and night sweats it was more the palps that were the worse.  My FSH was 53.

This time the symptoms came exactly when I bled so after the prog  couple of pills in to the new cycle 1st time since starting.   I had read about prog withdrawal symptoms so thought maybe that thus the reason i wanted to change to femoston prog  , just never felt the symptoms so strongly since I'd started on HRT but for sure the palps are back 😩.


I did eventually get the femoston 2/10 so I?ll finish the 1st two weeks on the low dose elleste then change at the combi part.
Fingers crossed 🙈

[Hurdity]

Glad you got the tabs you wanted WendyON! Unfortunately prog withdrawal can occur whatever HRT you are on - it is a common feature of cyclical HRT and mimics the natural PMS we feel at the end of our natural menstrual cycle - which is also prog withdrawal ( combined with oestrogen crash).

Good luck with the new HRT and let us know how you get on....

Hurdity x

[Mogster71]

Oh my word - sorry to gatecrash this thread but thank you Hurdity for mentioning progesterone withdrawal/oestrogen crash here, I have never even heard of this but it's exactly when I feel my most rubbish on HRT!

WendyON - I hope you feel better on the Femiston, it definitely felt a lot kinder to me than the norethisterone which really upset me. I'm in the same boat at the moment after feeling controlled by the 1/10 tablets for a while but as my symptom have worsened recently it's now a juggling act with the dose, although I am now trialling patches and separate progesterone. Wishing you well with it all x

[WendyON]

Thank you both for replies, this forum has been a godsend to me.

I have just picked up my higher dose Femoston, but they have prescribed me a 3 monthly pack but noticed it gives me 14 days Progesterone whereas before I had I think 12 with the monthly, just worried more progesterone will make things worse!  Any ideas the reason behind this?

[Mogster71]

Perhaps because it's a different kind of progesterone? The Elleste is norethisterone, Femiston is dydrogesterone. The 1/10 Femiston is also 14 days rather than 12, so it's not changed because you've gone up to 2/10. Have you got a local pharmacy you can call? I find them absolutely brilliant when I need to reassure myself about dosages and side effects etc. Because they are so knowledgeable about how medicines and tablets behave in the body they can probably explain it.

Be interesting to see how you get on, I'm sure it will be fine!! x