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[cjj123]

Hi, I am new to the site but not new to menopause having stopped periods three years ago. 

By September 2015 I couldn't stand the hot flushes and insomnia any more and GP prescribed Kliovance which was like a wonder drug.

I felt like a new person and continued for three months and then six months at a higher dose when some of the symptoms came back.

Unfortunately, due to the onset of headaches HRT had to stop (tried patches but they gave me raging insomnia) but I felt pretty good just with sage tablets and red clover and had hoped that maybe my body was settling down and I was coming out the other side. Not so.........

  The past few weeks I have been so tense and irritable and then a couple of weeks ago I developed dreadful pulsatile tinnitus.        This became so bad over New Year I was at the end of my tether and didn't know how to stand the express train inside my head (GP was clueless).

Last night I was in tears and desperate from so little sleep when a thought about HRT came to me.  I am not sure where I read it but had a feeling the condition could on occasions be linked to hormones, and so in the middle of the night I took one Kliovance from the pack still in the bathroom cabinet. 

Within an hour the noise had died to just a very gentle one and enabled me to finally get some sleep.  Today it is still quiet and and I am starting to feel normal again (whatever that is.......... )

I can barely believe what has happened and am wondering if anyone has any wise words or thoughts on this.  I probably have to do a lot of research and I do have a GP appointment next Monday and so will see what he has to say on the matter.  I have no idea if the whooshing noise will come back but am fully prepared to take another tablet if necessary. 

I had ordered some earphones on Amazon to try to mask the sound but who knows I may not need them after all - although they may help drown out husband's snoring  .

Thank you for such a great site - so full of useful information and I hope that maybe someone even gets some help from this post.

[Hurdity]

Hi cjj123

  You will find plenty of help and support on here!

Sorry to hear about all your problems with menopause, flushes, HRT and tinnitus.

You haven't said how old you are, but re the HRT - although the patches caused you problems it is worth perservering with different types because there uis sure to be a type and dose out there which will make you feel better overall, I am sure.

Some women find that the continuous progestogens in some of the continuous combined HRT types do cause side effects, so several of us on here opt to remain on a cycle and have a withdrawal bleed so as to minimise these side effects. Others find they do not get so much absorption from tablet HRT. Which patches did you try?

However if you are now feeling OK on the Kliovance then maybe continue but now is the time to try to change type if you felt that after a time it wasn't having the same effect. I have more or less always been on the same dose of HRT (50 mcg patch give or take a little here and there) and it has always worked perfectly for me.

I am sorry I cannot help with the tinnitus but there will be others who have experienced this and will be along soon I am sure

Hurdity x

[cjj123]

Thanks for the reply Hurdity. 

It's so hard sometimes to know what to do but I do know that the noise was pretty unbearable and I was so desperate.

I am 57 now and hoping that there may not be too many more years of this ....

How do you make the patches work for you  -  do you make adjustments now and again and if so how do you know what to do?

[CLKD]

Tinnitus can become problematic 'now'  .  As oestrogen levels drop so muscles may become lax which sometimes cause all kinds of problems 

This could cause the eustachian tubes starting to become narrower = a feeling of blockedness and 'noises', my ears buzz, whistle, sing, throb when I lay on the pillow 

I often ask Himself whether he can hear my ears buzzing 

[cjj123]

Thank you CLKD.

It is a minefield isn't it and so hard to know what to do for the best sometimes.  I have a lot to learn 

[Hurdity]

Thanks for the reply Hurdity. 

It's so hard sometimes to know what to do but I do know that the noise was pretty unbearable and I was so desperate.

I am 57 now and hoping that there may not be too many more years of this ....

How do you make the patches work for you  -  do you make adjustments now and again and if so how do you know what to do?

I haven't needed to make any adjustments to the dose of the patches. I started on 50 mcg and stayed on this dose for most of the past 10 years - except when I stopped HRT for 3 months 6 years ago and doc put me onto 25 mcg when I restarted but it wasn't enough so went back to 50 mcg. Also when I had slight spotting four years ago doc reduced to 37.5 mcg but again not enough so back to 50 mcg. I've recently ( a few months ago ) increased to 62.5 mcg - not because  I got any more symptoms but because I also use Tesosterone gel and didn't want to upset the testosterone/oestrogen balance. So basically 50 mcg has always worked for me from late peri and into post-menopause.

Some women find the progestogens in patch HRT to be a problem, and if you take any HRT in early peri-menopause then your own hormonal cycle can override the HRT from time to time.

Hurdity x

[Salad]

I get tinnitus as one of my symptoms when my oestrogen level drops and then I adjust my HRT patch. I even had a ticking sound once that had me searching under the pillow for a watch 

It seems just when I think I've found the right dose something crops up requiring me to alter the dose - I've increased my dose this last week, but wondering if it's because I've been unwell. Not easy to get things right sometimes 

[doolou]

Hi everyone.  I've just decided to join this website after a year of long hard battling.  In short,  I had a TVAH and BSO a year ago. Tried premarin .625 mg, was ok except I had the odd migrane. It was then decided I shouldn't be on oestrogen only,  so they put me on elleste duet conti.  Still having occasional migraine,  so weaned on to kliovance 1mg/500mcg. Since being on kliovance,  had an almost constant headache,  tinnitus,  burning side of head when eating or drinking anything cold ot hot?! Its been about 3 months now.  I said to GP I wanted to come off hrt and start again,  she advised take one every other day,  and prescribed lazaprosole? for silent reflux. I now think I'm going mad! I try to carry on, trying to be 'me'. Am thinking of having a private hormone blood test, have an appointment in 6 weeks with the menopause clinic.  I have used Vagifem since March and am on waiting list for corrective surgery too.  I really would appreciate any light that anyone could shed on my situation please.  Thanks for reading,  if you're still awake!  Lol

[CLKD]

Don't pay for private blood tests.  Hormones alter hourly and are reliably un-reliable in their results.

What surgery are you expecting to undergo?

You need to use the vaginal atrophy treatment regularly so stop symptoms recurring.

What is 'silent' reflux?  As oestrogen levels drop so muscles become lax which can cause hiatus hernia and other muscle aches and pains 

[doolou]

Hi CLKD, thanks for responding.  I'm awaiting a prolapse repair which I was left with after my hysterectomy a year ago, although it took me a private appointment in October  to get someone to realise I had one,  and that I wasn't going mad! I didn't have this problem before my hysterectomy btw. So as I have no ovaries,  I am thinking a hormone level test would give me a basis to start again?  Although I will continue with the vagifem.  Silent reflux is what my GP thinks thinks is causing my head burning.  Apparently its a gastric condition were acid can affect your sinuses, without actually having apparent indigestion?  I think anyway! 

[CLKD]

AAAH - that makes sense.  I get reflux into my chin, neck, up into my ears but it's obviously because I have eaten too fast or swallowed by evening meds too close to laying in bed  .

You won't need progesterone as part of your HRT >phew< ........

Have you read the various threads about vaginal atrophy etc.?

[Tempest]

Doolou, welcome! We've just started a dedicated thread for ladies in Surgical Menopause, so do come and join us won't you? xxxx

[doolou]

Hi Tempest and thank you.  I've just seen this thread,  and tried to post a shortened version of my story so far. xx

[Hurdity]

Hi doolou

 

Sorry to hear about your problems following your op. I am wondering why you have been given HRT with a progestogen in it? It could well be this that is causing your headaches - norethisterone is notorious for such side effects (found in Elleste Duet and Kliovance!).

I agree that a blood test might be helpful in your position - although they are not usually reliable - but as you have had the op you can at least see where you are in terms of oestrogen levels.

By the way you didn't say how old you were  - it is very important to replace oestrogen at least until the natural average age of menopause which is 51 and it can have many benefits beyond this especially if you are still experiencing symptoms.

Hurdity x

[doolou]

Hi Hurdity, and thank you so much for your response.  I was initially on premarin which I felt fine on except for a couple of aura type migraines,  no headache though.   Then GP realised after I asked should I be on oestrogen only because of my endometriosis,  I should be on a combined one? Hence putting me on Elleste Duet conti,  then Kliovance.  I thought of coming off it altogether and starting from scratch,  hence the blood test. I am 51 in April so think what's the worst that can happen?  Sorry if I'm repeating myself,  I have also posted on the surgical menopause thread too. X