Help Please...... I feel awful....... Menopause @ 38!

[Blueangel27]

Only just joined mumsnet and this is my first attempt. Just been told that I have been through the Menopause and being so young it's highly recommended that I now start HRT...... Having recently been ill with Tonsilitis things came to a bit of a head yesterday when I started to feel terribly panicky, headaches and had uncontrollable shakes........ Went straight to the doctor who did many checks and said you are now basically suffering from severe Menopausal symptoms and you NEED to start HRT......I'm currently waiting for a referral from my GP to visit my local hospital regarding this. But these things take time and he wrote a prescription out for me there and then and said start taking this tomorrow....... I have discussed the pros and cons of HRT with a female doctor at my surgery and she is the one who recommended that I go through the HRT clinic at the hospital...... I have all the usual symptoms...night sweats. Hot flushes, have only had one period in two years, headaches, dizzy spells & im an emotional wreck!!!! The tablets I had got are Elleste Duet and I'm wondering if anyone else has taken them, how they felt after taking them etc etc........ Any advice or chat would be gratefully received.....x

[Whopper]

I've been taking the same tablets for 6 months now (I'm 45). I am far less anxious. I am perimenopausal - periods still happen occasionally! I went to the doctors because of the anxiety - I'd never suffered that before. The HRT has mainly got rid of it though. I would say I feel low. Just a bit low a lot of the time.
I took Black Cohash (before starting HRT) and that stopped the night sweats (which I found were the worst thing in the whole wide world).

[Baddz]

Just started on patches yesterday at 42!
I am still getting a 2 day bleed each month (used to be 7 days) but am also getting all the meno symptoms too....yesterday was truly awful. Felt so ill.
Do try them.
Good luck

[chairmeoh]

I've been taking elleste duet since I went through menopause at 39.

They work fantastically for me.

I read as much research as I could around the pros and cons of HRT, particularly for early menopause.

What swung it for me was that my female doc, who I hugely respect, told me that she takes them.

Night sweats have gone, fatigue, dithering etc.

everyone is different, but I'm glad I started taking them.

[thehousewife]

I started my menopause at 30 (after cancer treatment) I was advised to take it due to the osteoporosis risk. I too was sceptical due to the increased breast cancer risk and after already having cervical cancer I was scared of the risks, however.....it is quite simply the best thing I've ever done, no sweats, no mood swings, I actually feel normal and the fog has lifted. The benefits far outweigh the possible negatives in my mind. The best advice I was given was take tablets rather than implants as you can stop taking the tablets if they aren't right but have to wait for the implant to wear off! Good luck. It's a horrible time that's is under estimated in my eyes xx

[orangina]

I would definitely recommend you go on HRT, if for no other reason to protect you against the osteo risk as you are still relatively young (as the housewife said....). I think I was having peri symptoms for up to 2 years before the penny finally dropped and i am osteopenic now (age 48...). I firmly beleive that had I recognized the symptoms for what they were earlier than I did, and started on HRT and (perhaps) calcium 2 years earlier, I wouldn't now be a high fracture risk and appearing to grow a hump at my neck.....

FWIW, I think the patches are better than the tablets. Perhaps look at the bioidentical patches (I can't remember what they are called..... peri memory still a bit of an issue....!)

Good luck, and hopefully you will be feeling much better very soon. The meno clinics in the hospital are usually excellent.