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[olisue]

Hi everyone

I really need some advice as my GP doesn't seem to know much about HRT.

I'm 46, been having hot flushes and night sweats for about 1 year, much worse in the last 4 months.  Last period was 6 months ago.

I went to my GP because the night sweats were ruining my sleep and I was making mistakes in work due to being so tired.

She put me on  Estrogel (2xpumps) and Utrogestan.  Been on this for 2 weeks now and the hot flushes are less intense but my general mood is low and the anxiety I get just before a hot flush is 100 x worse and lasts longer.  In short, I feel worse than I did without the HRT (although I have had a few good nights sleep).

So my questions are.
1. Should I continue with the HRT I'm on - do I need to give it longer?
2. Is there a better HRT regimen for someone at my age/menopause stage.

I'd be so grateful for any advice.  Thanks xx

[Penelope]

Hello I am 82 days in on HRT and yesterday would have been the best I have had TIME seems to be the best advice they say three months till all side effects subside and 7- ten months to feel the full effects.

In the past 81 days I have had side effects every day  some for three days some for ten days but they always lift and when they do you feel a layer above it and on you go.

Good luck and just keep going you already said you are sleeping better so hold onto that that's a good thing.🌹

[Hurdity]

Hi olisue

 

As Penelope says I would give it a while longer yet - 2 weeks is such a short time and the fact that your flushes have diminished is a good sign. As you had them severely and for a long time it just might take a while longer. Ideally you want to be at the minimum oestrogen dose that eliminates your flushes and sweats completely, and then if you want to try a bit higher for well-being - then do so, especially at your young age where you are nowhere near the average age of natural menopause. As Penelope says if you are getting better sleep that is so important.

I presume you are taking the utrogestan cyclically - 200 mg x 12 days per 28, giving a withdrawal bleed like a period?

Another alternative for you could be the COC pill - there are a couple designed for menopause and contain the same oestrogen as HRT. Qlaira is the one that has a higher dose of oestrogen overall  although this varies throughout the month).

Hurdity x

[Taz2]

Hi olisue. Good advice  from Penelope and Hurdity. I just wanted to welcome you too.

Taz x 

[Sammiejane]

hi

i had been on the estrogel for a year and aniexty never went or mood swings very fatigued and the more estrogen i took of the gel the worse it got x

really you should give it 3 months if in 3 months symtoms haven't improved then dose may need adjusting up or changed

[Honeybean]

Hi olisue

 

As Penelope says I would give it a while longer yet - 2 weeks is such a short time and the fact that your flushes have diminished is a good sign. As you had them severely and for a long time it just might take a while longer. Ideally you want to be at the minimum oestrogen dose that eliminates your flushes and sweats completely, and then if you want to try a bit higher for well-being - then do so, especially at your young age where you are nowhere near the average age of natural menopause. As Penelope says if you are getting better sleep that is so important.

I presume you are taking the utrogestan cyclically - 200 mg x 12 days per 28, giving a withdrawal bleed like a period?

Another alternative for you could be the COC pill - there are a couple designed for menopause and contain the same oestrogen as HRT. Qlaira is the one that has a higher dose of oestrogen overall  although this varies throughout the month).

Hurdity x

Hi Hurdity, I hope you don't mind me asking a question on Olisue's post for myself?!

You mentioned to Olisue that she should try to be on the lowest dose of estrogen at her age of 46. Is that important? The reason I ask is that I am 48 and I started off on 2 pumps last October but after a few weeks found little difference to my symptoms. I spoke with the HRT nurse at my go practice and said I wanted to increase to 4 pumps (2 x am and 2 x pm). The nurse was fine with this and didn't mention that I should try to reduce or anything. I'm just wondering if I was too hasty to increase the pumps and perhaps should try to decrease them? Just wondering if it's not advisable to have that many pumps if possible? I am not due a review until October...

Thanks x

[olisue]

Thank you everyone for the lovely welcome and your responses.

Hurdity, I've been told to take 100mg of Utrogestan for 25 days, then take a 5 day break.  Do you think I should change that? Thank you for your response, I will do some research into the COC pill you mentioned.

Olisue xx

[Hurdity]

Hi olisue - that is a non-standard regime - neither one thing (fully cyclical) nor the other (continuous). Sounds like an compromise. In your position I would want to know how I felt on the oestrogen only so if you have started both at the same time and you are not post-menopausal then it's impossible to tell. To me the fact that you feel worse could well be down to the utrogestan. If you want to continue with this regime I would do what many women ar advised on here and that is to take utrogestan x 200mg for 12 days per calendar month ( eg start on the 1st of every month) and take it from there. This is very close to the licensed regime. If you find taking it orally at that dose knocks you out then it can be taken vaginally off-licnece. On lower doses of oestrogen some women are able then to lower the dose of prog needed to protect the lining ( eg 100 mg vaginally x 12 days per month). This would need to be done under supervision witht he OK from your doctor. Your withdrawal bleeds on the oral regime (ie how heavy or prolonged) would determine whether you could then go onto a lower dose.

Hurdity x

[Hurdity]

Hi Honeybean - I wasn't saying that olisue should be on the lowest possible dose. I meant that at the very least, oestrogen should control flushes and sweats and in olisue's case, if it's not (ie she's still suffering with flushes etc) then the dose is too low after trying this dose for a few weeks. However to increase this should be done slowly so the body has time to acclimatise to each increase. I was actually suggesting she might want to go higher than the minimum that eliminates flushes and sweats in view of her age. Apologies if I wasn't clear in my post! Sometimes I'm a bit garbled when in a hurry!

Hurdity x

[Honeybean]

Hi Honeybean - I wasn't saying that olisue should be on the lowest possible dose. I meant that at the very least, oestrogen should control flushes and sweats and in olisue's case, if it's not (ie she's still suffering with flushes etc) then the dose is too low after trying this dose for a few weeks. However to increase this should be done slowly so the body has time to acclimatise to each increase. I was actually suggesting she might want to go higher than the minimum that eliminates flushes and sweats in view of her age. Apologies if I wasn't clear in my post! Sometimes I'm a bit garbled when in a hurry!

Hurdity x

Hurdity thanks for explaining again and please don't apologise, I think I was being a bit dim in not understanding. x