Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[EleanorB]

Hi,

Three weeks on evorel 50 and I am starving all the time and rapidly gaining weight. Ihave taken many different migraine preventatives over the years to find one that worked, so am very familiar with drug induced hunger as some of those drugs do that, and this is exactly the same. I am not taking progesterone yet due to a bad reaction. In two months I may get a Mirena Coil.

I am 16 months into menopause, slim, (although rapidly less so!) power walk about an hour a day, don't drink and eat a relatively healthy diet, although on this drug I crave sugar and carbs. The weight gain is psychologically gutting as I spent ten years on a migraine drug that caused me to be a stone and a half heavier. I came off it two years ago, the weight dropped off rapidly and I realised how much the weight gain dented my confidence in every way. I have had so much more confidence since.

Due to migraine I can only use gel or a patch. Oestrogel had insurmountable side effects. Might a different oestrogen patch not have a weight gain side effect? Might the hunger wear off? Might testosterone help, my gynae may start me on that for cognitive issues in a couple of months. I am aware i may simply have to cut all carbs and sugar, challenging  with this hunger issue, but just looking at food at the moment I put weight on.

Thanks,

Eleanor.

[Perinowpost]

EleanorB I feel your pain.  I have put 10lbs in since starting hrt (evorel 50).  Luckily I wasn't overweight before so I am still in my 12s. It is hard though as someone who was formerly slim and could always eat what I wanted, not so anymore!

Having said that I have tried every hrt going and found evorel the best one (for me), so I have accepted it is the price I pay to feel this well.

Much is made about how our bodies change at this time of life but I'm 100% positive if I came off hrt the weight would drop off. It's a all a balancing act I'm afraid.  Incidentally I haven't found testosterone has made a difference to my weight either way. Hope this helps x

[EleanorB]

Thanks so much for your reply. I had a hunch a struggle with weight may be the price I have to pay. It's frustrating. I haven't tried any other oestrogen than the gel so I guess that might be worth a go. Evorel has helped some things but not others. Cognitively i'm Still full of brainfog, but it's  given me more energy and stopped the flushes and I feel less down. I think maybe if I felt clear headed and fabulous it might be easier to stomach the weight stuff. Meno seems to be a constant series of health related decisions.

[Conolly]

Hello ladies,

My sister had hysterectomy and BSO 4 years ago and her hormone levels dropped drastically as expected. She was put on Oestrogel 1 pump for 6 months and then 2 pumps until now. She hasn't put on any weight, she is extremely thin. I, on the other hand, have been gaining weight since perimenopause 12 years ago and it has gone haywire now after menopause, with or without HRT. I guess the key aspects are how each one reacts to fluctuating hormones, which is genetically determined, and of course diet and physical activity.

More oestrogen, more progesterone, more testosterone doesn't mean you will get more response. Biological response is often a curve and further increments won't change the outcome once you've reached a plateau. On the other hand, you can get more side effects with further increments because hormones are subject to complex feedback mechanisms. Either your body will adapt to a certain level and your symptoms will be controlled or your body will be refractory to further increments and stop responding or having paradoxical symptoms (same as low hormone levels).

Pharmaceutical trials have determined the average response for the dosages available but in the end, each body is unique and trial and error is the way to go. I have decided to stop HRT and try the more obvious routes of healthy diet, exercise and mindfulness. None of them has helped me lose weight till now (going slow on the exercise front), but I'm confident that if I ever need to resort to HRT, the lifestyle changes will be an achievement for life, while HRT will be just a rescue measure. I know that oestrogen is supposed to help with cardiovascular and bone health but it also gives me awful vascular side effects and migraines, so it's a matter of risk/benefit decision.

I'll report back when I stop gaining weight 

Conolly X