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[kdee69]

hi.
i’m looking for advice

I’m post meno and 57 with intact womb

I was previously on Oestrogel and provera for about three years and ( apart from the crushing migraines) life was fabulous. And by fabulous I mean i laughed, cried, FELT emotions and had  no depression , paranoia , sweats etc etc. Nothing

I came off a year ago ( looooooong tapering) to try and reduce dreadful menopausal migraines.
Long story short, migraines reduced a teensy bit but not enough that it was obvious HRT combo were causing them.

I can honestly say that being off was crap. My skin became paper thin, my face aged 10 years in ten months and my joints creaked. i also felt like i was flatlining- neither happy or sad.
I had perfectly manageable hot flushes but that was all really in terms of other symptoms

Anyway, i’m back on oestrogel and provera, two pumps  ( can’t take utrogestan as that really DOES create horrific migraines) and ten days in I am angry, paranoid (that’s the worst bit) snappy, cross, and just generally feeling meh.

My question ( and if youve got this far, thank you  ) is, why? I thought i’d go back to how I felt before straight away? When i first went on it initially, I felt fantastic straight away

 I just can’t see any benefit at the moment and this has added to my sadness

i know ten days isn’t a long time, but have i missed the boat with HRT second time around?

[Jenny j]

I had to come off HRT for a few month's through illness and it was the worse time for me.At first I felt fine I came off cold turkey and thought that was it I was one of the lucky ones how wrong I was I felt wretched crying fits ,aching all over soaking night sweats it was awful ,I am back on HRT now it's a low does but it's been four month's and I feel much better so stick with it see how it goes.

[Hurdity]

hi kdee69

In your position I would start on oestrogen only for a couple of weeks and acclimatise to that and then start the progesterone - perhaps for 3 months on a cyclical basis so you can work out how you feel on the different parts of the cycle - and then move to continuous if it looks like that will suit you.(You would get a withdrawal bleed)

It may well be that starting on a highish dose of 2 pumps ( although it is on paper a medium dose - women absorb differently so you may be getting a higher dose) has given you a big hit of oestrogen to start with, and you are reacting to that after 3 years without it?

When you went onto it before - depending when you became menopausal, possibly your own natural oestrogen level was higher and topping it up did not lead to side effects and made you feel better straight away (which is what happened with me - I started patches late peri).

The migraines also may be due to the effects of continuous progestogen ie the provera so a cycle may work better. Sometimes women are able to get away with a slightly longer cycle than 4 weeks if post-meno and if the oestrogen dose is not too high, in consultation with their doctor - to enable a longer time on oestrogen only (if you are sensitive to progesterone).

Hope this helps

Hurdity x

[Floradora]

Hi kd69. I would think that the two pumps of estrogen is quite a shock to you system after not having any estrogen for a good while. What dose of Provera are you on? If you drop down to a low dose of estrogen to start with you may get away with only 2.5mg Provera on a continuous combined basis and this will give you a chance to acclimatise to the hormones again. You can then adjust your dose very slowly over time to build up if required. You may find you don’t need the ‘medium’ dose once everything settles down again x

[kdee69]

Ladies. THANK YOU
Apologies, i’ve been travelling in France and not had chance to look.
Ok, this all makes complete sense.
Yes, my oestrogen levels would definitely have been higher and I suspect I’m pretty non existent now

So @hurdity, apologies, can you just explain how best I should take the gel/provera? I’m a bit confused reading it. Please pm me if easier.

And shall I stick to the two or drop to one as Floradora suggests?

I really appreciate the reply