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[GetStuffedPeri]

My wife started Evorel Conti almost 6 months ago.  She's aged 50, no period for 14 months.  At first we were over the moon with the HRT as the reduction in sweats and flushes was literally instant.  There's also been a huge improvement in things like tinnitus, itchy skin, dry eyes, hair loss etc.

However.....as the months have gone on, she's started getting more nausea, acid reflux, tummy cramps (no bleeding apart from 2 hours of breakthrough a few weeks after putting the patch on).  Her taste buds have changed and whilst she's sometimes ravenous (has to eat immediately or goes past it), she largely has a loss of appetite/desire for food.  This isn't good news as she does not need to lose any weight.  For the first time in ages she also occasionally gets sore breasts.  She feels like she's getting a period but doesn't.  There has been little to no improvement mood wise and if I'm honest, she feels low more often now - I know given current world circumstances etc, but she's been going through peri for years and has almost never been low in mood in all that time.  Irritability has not improved in the slightest since the patches.

The nausea and reflux are the biggest issues as they lead to her not wanting to eat anything.  She still gets the occasional night sweat and hot flush but can cope with that as they're so much better than before.

Is this the damn progesterone in the patch causing these symptoms do you think?  She was never intolerant to her own natural progesterone (never had PMS symptoms at all) but as I delve into the minefield of progesterone intolerance it seems that these symptoms are common, especially with synthetic progesterones.  We tried adding half a patch for 2 weeks as I was convinced she needed more estrogen (due to irritability) but those 2 weeks have been the worst reflux and sickiness wise so we've now gone down to just a half patch (only started yesterday) to see if the reduction in progesterone helps.  I always thought irritability/rage was low estrogen and that depression and low mood were caused by progesterone, but now it seems progesterone can cause irritability etc as well.  That said, I thought progesterone INCREASED appetite, not the opposite?

It took us SO long to bite the bullet and start HRT (well, her of course, decision wise) and then so long to research and try and find the best fit for her, I'm gutted she's still suffering to be honest. I know the likeliest answer is to switch to sequential to see how she gets on on the estrogen and then progesterone only parts - and she wouldn't care at all about having a regular bleed - but these patches have changed her life in terms of flushes and sweats and brain fog......

Anybody experienced anything similar, particularly on Evorel Conti please?  Thank you 

[Taz2]

Hi. It's unusual for patch HRT to cause digestive upset but I suppose it is possible. I feel that the lack of appetite and nausea need to be reported to her GP, if she hasn't already,  as it is easy to blame things on meno which might not be connected? I did this for a while but it turned out I'd developed a hiatus hernia. Medication for that sorted out the problems without having to change HRT.

The progesterone in Evorel conti is known to cause mood and PMT type symptoms in many women so a change in HRT may solve that particular symptom. I got on better with FemSeven, feeling much calmer and less down,  although I did swap back from conti to sequi due to breakthrough bleeding.

I hope she soon begins to feel better.

Taz x

[sheila99]

I agree switching to sequi might shed some light on it. She doesn't have to do it forever, just until you know if the progesterone is causing problems. She may well find she tolerates a different make better than evorel. There's no way of knowing which will suit you best until you try. As she is still getting flushes she is still deficient in oestrogen so would benefit from a higher dose. Irritability and low mood were a symptom of low oestrogen for me. Nausea can be a symptom but I'm not sure if lack of appetite is, as above best to see her gp about it.

[AG]

Hi, It may be to do with progesterone (I have tried various HRT options but cannot take the progesterone part of it) but if never checked it may be worth getting thyroid function checked in a blood test (TSH, T4, if possible T3) as thyroid under-function can cause some similar symptoms to menopause and this was part of my issue. Hopefully, a solution will be found.