Print

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

[Fairywoods]

Hi,  I'm 52 and started HRT 6 weeks ago.  I didn't really want to take HRT but have had increasing problems over the last two years with sleep, night sweats, irregular periods (sometimes as much as 3 months apart, sometimes 3 weeks apart) and some anxiety, mainly due to sleep deprivation I think.  When I initially saw the doctor I was prescribe Elleste Duet which I only stuck with for 13 days as it gave me a really upset stomach and seemed to increase my night sweats.  I went back to GP and having read a lot of helpful advice on this Forum, I asked for Oestrogel and Utrogestan.  I'm taking 2 pumps of Oestrogel every night and 2 x 100 Utrogestan pills orally for 12 days per month.  The night sweats improved massively at first and I was sleeping well for the first time in years.  However, now on my second month and on day 7/12 of the Utrogestan and it's making me feel like a total zombie and I'm waking up at 4am/5am with hot sweats.  I have to drag myself out of bed and feel really tired and can't concentrate.  The other thing is since I've been on this regime my hair seems to be falling out more, it's thinned a lot over the last 7 years anyway.  I'm not sure whether the hair loss is anything to do with the HRT and whether I should consider upping my Oestrogel  or asking to go on a long cycle (think I read on here that some people only take the Utrogestan every three months?).  My GP did stress that taking the Utrogestan was important to protect against womb cancer.  Thanks for reading this far and thanks for all the advice on here.  I just wish HRT didn't seem to be so hit and miss, I was hoping for a small miracle but I guess my own hormones are still doing their thing as well.  I really thought I would get through the menopause on my own and I'm considering coming off it, especially now with the hair loss.  But I know it can take at least 3 months to settle and might need tweaking so sticking with it for now.

One other thing, I found a fantastic treatment guide document for GPs which helped my sleep deprived brain understand HRT options a bit better.  I took it along with me to the GP and she looked at it and made a note of it, saying that it was an excellent guide and she wished her NHS trust had one.  I'm not sure how to attach a link correctly but if anyone's interested, search for 'HRT formulary and treatment guidance Oxfordshire' and it should come up.

[CLKD]

 


I'm sure someone will be along who takes HRT who can advise.

[NorthArm]

Hi Fairywoods, and welcome!

I'm on a similar regime to you, only I use an oestrogen patch rather than the gel.

Many people are intolerant to progesterone (including me) and describe the exact same symptoms as yours - fine for the first 3 or 4 nights, then increasingly worse until stopping taking it.

Have you thought about trying the Utrogestan vaginally? You'd still do it for the 12 nights, but you'd be able to drop it back to 100mg (1 capsule) instead of 200mg and still get a good bleed out of it. Many women use it this way (myself included), and it's a great way to circumvent the side effects.

[Dotty]

Hi. You need to give any hrt 3 months before you start changing things. It's hard to be patient.... I know because I've been there, but unfortunately it's not a quick fix. Good luck xx

[Fairywoods]

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies.

Northarm - thanks I'm going to try the Utro vaginally this month - I'm just in two minds about how much to use 100 or 200 as I've been told 200 by someone else? So I'm a bit confused (doesn't take much these days!  )

Dotty - thanks for the encouragement, I'm feeling lots better today as a week back into the oestrogen only bit so I will persevere!

Stellajane - oh yes I was really hot on the Utro phase and the first month I fllled my hairbrush with hair and I could really do without losing any, it's been thinning since I was 40.  The hair loss didn't happen the second month though?  Do you take it vaginally?

Thank you again for your replies, so helpful 

[Hurdity]

I would start with the licensed amount ie 200 mg even though using vaginally, before changing anything - as Northarm says you might be able to reduce the dose in consultation with your GP if you end up with almost no bleed as this will mean your lining hasn't thickened so much.

Three month cycles are generally not recommended anyway even if post-menopausal (at least with medium and higher doses of oestrogen)- they seem to have fallen out of favour with gynaes due to increased risks of endometrial hyperplasia and potentially cancer. However quite a few women do longer cycle of up to 8 weeks if their dosage of oestrogen means they can safely go this long.

Hurdity x

[Tc]

Glad you got some lovely replies fairy. Hope you found them useful. I find what's been said on this thread interesting as I've only been on U 100 continuous and 3 pumps eastrogel for two weeks but hot flushes have got worse and worse. Last night it felt like the whole night through and i had the heating off, clothes thrown off, duvet thrown off and then everyone is saying "wasn't it cold last night"
Interesting what stellajane says. I have been thinking itt might be not enough or poorly absorbed eastrogen I hadn't even considered the utrogestan might have caused it.

[Turkish delight]

HAIR LOSS....WHAT!

No one said anything about hair loss....say it isn't so :/

D

[Fairywoods]

TC - I did experience worse night sweats in the first month (but I'm on sequential) I wondered if it was my own hormones messing around in the background, I think I'm very late perimenopausal at 52 with increasing irregular periods before I started hrt 3 months ago.  The second month I felt very sedated on the Utrogestan.  This month, my third month, I'm feeling better on the oestrogel only phase but I'm getting bad fluid retention in my legs!  I have been rubbing in the gel now as I read that's what Dr Louise Newson recommends and so I'm wondering if I'm absorbing more and that might be causing the fluid? I'm still in two minds about HRT.  How are you getting on?

Turkish delight - yes, I shed a lot of hair in the first month, but no more fingers crossed!  Although I have noticed my hair is greasy and a bit limp which is odd, as it's usually dry/frizzy, not sure which is worse! 

[Turkish delight]

Well put Stellajane, and you are right of course, the proof is in my pudding, not anyone else's...I'd love me some pudding right now actually

D

[Tc]

Hi fairy. You said your hair went from dry frizzy to greasy. Mine has been the complete opposite!! Just goes to show how different we all are.

Remember not everyone has every side effect that goes for any medication.

My hair started falling out through stress well before I went on hrt. Then it started to shed again from  b12 deficiency Also well before I started hrt.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Utrogestan. You are farther along with it than me so that was good to hear.

As far as the fluid retention goes I haven't noticed it myself but then I am only 2 weeks in with the gel. Maybe someone  on here will be along to help with that. You could always try starting a new thread about it as sometimes when a thread goes off the original topic questions can be missed.


X