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[Taz2]

Well ladies after eight months off HRT due to reaching the grand milestone of sixty years of age and my doc wanting to "see how you go without it"  yesterday was the day I just couldn't do it any more so I am sitting here with an Evorel Sequi patch firmly stuck to my buttock 

I had one pack left in the bathroom cupboard which goes out of date this month so I must now make an appointment with my GP and confess I suppose.

The downsides of no HRT were:  drenching sweats up to three times an hour, joint aches and pains, overwhelming lack of energy, dry skin and hair, very poor sleeping due to the sweats, worsening of prolapse which now requires a hysterectomy, very poor nail growth, irritability.

The upsides of no HRT were: complete lack of bloating, weight loss of 10lbs (can't put it down to anything else) no heartburn (plagued with this for the six years I was on HRT but didn't really connect it) hardly any chin hairs anymore instead of having to attend to them daily (sounds like a gardener) no itchy skin rashes which I think were linked in to the progesterone but hadn't really made that connection until a short time ago, less panicky feelings.

Yesterday morning between getting up at 6.30 and sticking the patch on at 9.30 I had eight sweats bad enough to steam my glasses up and soak through bra and knickers. Today I have just had my third very mild sweat of the day - more like a flush really - so long may it continue. I'm a bit concerned that the doc might not let me stay on it although she did say that if I couldn't manage then she would prescribe it again for me. I was feeling really down last time I saw here and she prescribed anti depressants working on the theory that if I felt happier then I could "cope better with the sweats". However, even if I felt a bit happier about being drenched three times an hour and not sleeping I would still have problems trying to continue with my work during the sweat itself which is accompanied by really high heart rate, feeling of weakness and loss of thought and words somehow.

Taz x 

[honeybun]

No one can say you did not give it a good go Taz. I don't think I could have put up with sweats for that long.
After your hysterectomy then perhaps you can have gel and tweak it so you have symptom control without being constrained to a general patch dose.
At least you are going to get a bit of relief and just in time for your break from school.

Honeyb
x

[peri]

Hi Taz poor you. I think you've done the right thing going back on the patches, no-one should be expected to struggle so much and I just hope your go supports you in this x

[Joyce]

Taz, you did your best, that's important. You can't tell until you try. I'm now 3 months of half 25mg patch. Still get 2/3 flushes per day, but none of those awful draining sweats. I'm reluctant to give them up completely though.

Thing is, you have to weigh up your life quality and you're not getting that. Your GP, I hope will support you through this. When's your hysterectomy? Sorry if you've already said, my brain is not in gear at the moment.

[Rowan]

Taz you did well to tough it out for eight months, hope the symptoms ease quickly, and if you do decide to go ahead with a partial hysterectomy,

you will be able to kick the progestin goodbye and embrace estrogen only 

[Sarah2]

Good for you

Hope you carry on feeling better. The future for HRT is evidently tailor-made lower doses for women for longer periods of time - ie beyond 60. I am sure you have done the right thing. A friend of a close friend of mine has gone back on it at 74 after 6 months of hell off it, and she says she doesn't care if she drops dead at 80 or sooner - it's about quality of life.

[Taz2]

Thanks for your encouraging comments. I keep getting the start of a flush and I gear myself up for it and it dies away again. Evorel worked really quickly last time, Femseven not so fast but I don't think they stuck properly. It's a shame that Evorel have Norethisterone.  As you say SL when I have my hyster (no date yet Cubagirl) then I will no longer need evil progesterone.

I'm away tomorrow for a week on my own - self indulgent bliss. Will take the laptop though as there is Wifi in the apartment and if it's rainy I might get bored....

Taz x 

[Limpy]

You'e given no HRT a go.
Nobody can blame you for starting again.
Will you stick with sequi or try conti?

[Taz2]

I came off conti before because the continuous progesterone was giving me really low mood and bloating. I reckoned that if I was on sequi, though a bleed was a bit of an inconvenience, at least I would feel good for half of the month. May try conti again. Femseven suited me better but I really got annoyed at the non-stick nature of the patches!

Taz x

[Limpy]

Good luck Taz.

[Hurdity]

We've followed your journey and experiences with interest over the last few months Taz, and of course with sympathy at your plight and predicament, as many of us reach that magic age and wonder what the future holds re coming off HRT or not.

It really sounds like you've made the right decision for you - which you haven't taken lightly, because right now, as cubagirl says - you have to think of quality of life while you are still young enough to enjoy it. Many of us, like you, who are still working (at this age) could not function if we had to go through what you have been through these last months.

I hope the upsides of being back on it outweigh the downsides and you have a great and relaxing time away on your own! At least you won't have to keep changing the sheets!!! 

Hurdity 

[honeybun]

Enjoy your flush free holiday.

Freedom beckons, and as Hurdity says no changing the sheets 


Honeyb
x

[Dandelion]

Hi Taz

Your suffering sounds awful.
I think your doctor was cruel to take you off HRT and make your prolapse worse so that you have to have a hysterectomy.
I think you should get some sort of redress for that.

My doctor said I would have to come off HRT eventually, but I said I am not coming off it if I still need it. She said I won't get to choose, I will be taken off it.

Hopefully, by then, I hope my doctor willl have updated herself on menopause related issues, because, I am sure, she must see other women who are going through much worse meno symptoms than me.
Hell, she may even have retired by then.

[Diamonds and pearls 53]

Good luck Taz, enjoy your break and do not feel guilty-you gave it your best shot! I am envious, I have had to come off hrt  yet again and would love to be able to stay on it post 60 -am currently waiting for an appt at a meno clinic to see if that might be possible... Have a lovely, cool, relaxing holiday!

Diamonds and pearls x

[Milliemoo7]

You've done so well to last 8 months.  Best of luck with GP appt when it comes to it.