Hi, everyone. Hope you're all well.
Previously, I explained that my main issue was puffiness, particularly in the face and around the eyes. (
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,64256.msg889442.html#msg889442) I am a part-time performer and have not been able to book jobs for over a year and a half because of this issue.
I was finally able to get treatment in January, and my GP offered me a choice of EITHER Elleste Duet Conti, OR utrogestan and estradiol 0.06% gel or Sandrena gel.
I didn't know which to choose, so I chose Elleste Duet Conti. I have now been on it for 1 month and 2 days.
I can't tell if it's working or not. I had up to two weeks during the first month where I thought I was seeing up to 50% improvement, which is dramatic progress compared to before, when I was taking herbal remedies and applying lifestyle interventions around the clock, and getting at most 20% improvement on a good day.
So, I was really excited because I was seeing 50% improvement in the first month, and I had high hopes that the improvement would continue. It wasn't as good as those times they put me back on Yasmin and I went back to normal within a few days, but I did hope I wwas on the right track.
But then after the 3rd week, the puffiness came back, as bad as ever. It has not improved.
Looking back on my records, I see that during the two weeks I *thought* I was improving, I had been sleeping 4 hours a night and eating below maintenance calories. So the appearance of improvement was probably a result of staying upright for 20 hours at a time, and slight loss of water weight. As soon as I started sleeping enough and eating enough, the puffiness in my face came straight back.
I wouldn't say the Elleste Duet Conti is having NO effect on my water retention. I no longer have stiff joints when I wake up, even if I didn't exercise the day before. And within a couple of days of starting it, I could feel and see the bones in my knees, which until then had been submerged under retained fluid.
BUT the thing that is causing me the most distress is the puffiness in my face, which is as bad as ever.
Here is my question:
should I ask to switch to a different treatment? It will probably be a couple of months at least before I can get another appointment. So, if I wait until I've given this treatment a fair three-month trial, I'll have been stuck with it for five months before being able to try anything else.
Another question: I think the drospirenone (in the Yasmin) was the only treatment that would ever have helped me, and I will never be able to have it again (the only HRT product that has it is Angeliq, which is unavailable). Is it likely that I'm right about that?
Even if there is a treatment that is available and will work, the only way I will be able to find it is through trial and error. The longer my puffy eyes go untreated, the more the skin around my eyes gets stretched out, and the more likely it is to get stretched out permanently. So by the time I do get effective treatment for the water retention (if I ever do) it may be too late.
It took me 15 years to get control of my acne, and I had to dedicate hours of effort every single day of those 15 years to achieving that. I similarly dedicated hours every single day for 18 months to reducing my water retention, with very little success. I don't *want* to take 15 more years to get rid of my water retention. At this point in my life, the loss of hard-won opportunities may not be recoverable.
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Topic: Can't tell if Elleste Duet Conti is working or not (Read 1160 times)