Would appreciate your assessment of my HRT journey so far and what to do next.
I'll try to be as brief as possible. 54 years old suffering symptoms for 12-18 months and periods were every 6-8 months, very light.
Started on Evorel Conti in June after blood tests and smear tests all clear. Was already having a light bleed when I started the first
patch but Doctor said that shouldn't matter. Well, the bleeding never stopped really and got heavier than a 'regular' period. The flushes
and night sweats eased but didn't go altogether. Even though I felt really tired physically, I felt better mentally but think this was relief that I'd finally got the HRT. I thought things would improve but was prepared for some side effects in the early days. As the bleeding wasn't stopping and was heavier than my normal period, after the first month I halved the patch (I know not strictly correct on the conti patch but wasn't intending it to be long term). I thought I may benefit from a slow increase of hormones rather than all at once. I know I have a sensitive system from previous medications. Anyway the bleeding did stop on the half patch within the week.
The flushes were still there but no worse on the half patch but I developed really painful knees and shoulders (a new symptom).
After a couple of weeks I decided to try a three quarter patch, the idea to increase to the full patch more slowly. The knee and shoulder
pains were still there and they seem to alternate, if my shoulders were aching then the knees were okay, if the knees were bad then the
shoulders were better...* just weird I know * Within four days of the three-quarter patch I was bleeding again. I have now gone back to a half patch. One week in and the bleeding has stopped but shoulders are still painful. They actually burn inside the joint and feel like something heavy is pressing on the top between the neck and shoulder.
The flushes have turned into sweats. I'm not getting the same feeling of heat and face/neck flushing, it is full on sweat everywhere.
My whole body is running hot, it is hot to the touch (not normal for me) so with the heatwave over the last week, just moving about is
causing me to sweat. I'm getting sweat rashes under my boobs and the back of the neck, even on my scalp little itchy sore spots.
It is uncomfortable and physically draining as well as embarrassing.
Thanks for reading to the end, what do you think should be my next step. Am I expecting to much to soon?
I should have a three month check-up with the GP soon so would like to tell her what I want rather than have her decide.