Hi folks, I've posted this elsewhere in the forum too-it's the reason why I joined the forum to see whether anyone else has had the same problems.
For me so far the menopause hasn't been too bad compared with some of you on the forum. I'm 54 (yikes!) and been completely period free for just over 2 years. Menopause wise, nothing of significant until early 2018, since when I've been toughing it out-dealing with phases of hot flushes and night sweats with gaps of "normality" for a few months before the next set kicked in. The frequency of flushes went down but the night sweats become pretty unbearable this spring. Otherwise no other nasty symptoms thank goodness (don't seem to have too much brain fog or any other anxiety or mental health issues).
I finally bit the bullet and asked for HRT during lockdown after the night sweats drove me to distraction. The ability to have a quick online consultation with a GP via an app made it so much easier than the faff of making an appointment for a face to face consultation. Now on about week 8 of Evorel patches. Night sweats are now a thing of the past-hurrah!! (save for the odd slightly warm moment).
I didn't even think I had any side effects from the patches, apart from, possibly, consequences for boob size-bane of my life as a small person with big boobs to start with, plus a lockdown related extra couple of pounds. HOWEVER about 3 weeks ago and again this week for about 4 days, I have had real gastro issues. Belly ache and general disruption of my normal gut function. I'm sure it's not helped by the reduced exercise and general movement as a result of WFH. Online research suggests that HRT does have an known impact with an increased incidence of IBS. I wondered if anyone else has had the same experience and whether it settles down? I'm only at the end of month 2 on patches, and otherwise I'd say all was good. I'm back to normal today, which is a relief as I was beginning to think I would have to seek advice if things stayed as they were. Of course the gut rot could have an entirely unconnected cause, but I can't say I've eaten anything that disagrees with me, and my guts are pretty robust most of the time.