To try HRT before the menopause has started

There are comprehensive NICE guidelines, honestly I cant be arsed to Google (sorry!) - but have a look they are out there.
The quoted poster needs to see a new GP. I don't know how some of them get away with this crap.

I as on hrt at 39 but I was having major hot flushes

Good luck with your GP, it seems to be really hit & miss what happens on this. Obvs you need checking for other stuff to explain how you feel first, though. I'd already had my bloods checked for thyroid, anaemia, deficiencies, liver etc etc & had my copper coil removed cos it caused severe anaemia.

I'm 46, still with regular periods & am on my 4th box of patches (2wks oestrogen & 2 weeks with progesterone added in) but it was the GP who recommended it to me after I had a UTI which I'd never had before. I've definitely been having a lot of peri symptoms for a couple of years.

I was on the copper coil for ten years cos it was hugely intolerant to hormonal contraception & was told it was copper coil or surgical. Now being on the patches I can see it's the progesterone that doesn't agree with me - I don't have any of the benefits others get & it actually stops me sleeping & makes me low, stomach cramps etc. The oestrogen patches make me feel awesome!

Might be worth thinking about getting the mirena out & seeing how you feel? If you have a partner, could he think about getting the snip? You'll get a better idea of where you are without additional hormones.

Honestly it's a minefield, though, and different for everyone.

@NameChangedForThis2025 good luck and hope it goes well for you. You have nothing to lose by trying it. It's also a journey in a way. It's only now I know how important progesterone is for you. Your body needs more of it than oestrogen and it's the first hormone to decline. I sleep like a baby now and feel like me which is such a relief. I had 13 symptoms of varying degrees by the time I started HRT. I feel like I lost a couple of good years and the extreme rage damaged by marriage which I am repairing now.

Thank you, your post has made me decide to get a second GP appointment about this.

I’m 44 and don’t have any of the big ticket symptoms but: I am tired ALL the time*, just exhausted and don’t have energy to do much beyond the essentials; I have zero sex drive; I’ve got anxiety issues; I often wake with a racing mind and heart; and my mood has completely flat-lined and I’m sure I’m not depressed (I’ve had that).

I’ve had loads of blood tests and they’ve all been fine.

My job is fairly stressful at times and I do have a 3 yr old but I can’t change those, so I’ve nothing to lose by giving hrt a try and see if that helps!

Have you had a full check up, OP? Have you been tested for autoimmune markers?

Please do that, and make sure you use phrases like this has had a massive detrimental impact on your life, you have had to quit your job etc. It’s scandalous they didn’t help you earlier.

@FuzzyYellowChicken my story (& symptoms) is quite like yours, came on full whack over 2020/2021 but with hindsight had been building the year before, I put it down to stressful life situations, covid pressure and getting older but really thought I would have to quit my job. Had to go through 2 lots of blood tests, vitamin loading doses and they tried to put me on antidepressants but eventful gave me in summer 2021 and it made such a difference, though have had to increase my oestrogen twice. Think I could benefit from testosterone too but haven’t got the fight in me at the moment.

Talk to your lineal female family if you can, it really helped the gap get their head around it when I was able to say my mum and her mum were both in menopause by he end of their 40s, so me starting early 40s made sense.

Good luck.

I'm 40 and have recently had a clear hormonal shift. Almost overnight, I've developed a very high sex drive, have ovulation pains in my back for half the month, have heavier periods and - the killer - severe insomnia. I'm getting 2 hours sleep a night and starting to panic about my ability hold down my job.

I had an appointment with a female doctor yesterday and said I'm adamant I want to try HRT. She was really open to it. I'm booked in for bloods next week, after which she has said she's definitely willing to let me trial it and see how I get on. She's thankfully given me prescription sleeping tablets to tide me over until I get this (hopefully) sorted. It's the sleep that I care about, I can cope with any other symptoms.

One thing that threw me was she said I'm very young to be thinking I might be in peri and the average age for it to start is 55! I know this isn't true from so much reading I've done on the subject.

Get your thyroid checked first.

HRT helped me greatly but down the line I have hormone driven breast cancer, have had a mastectomy and am now going through chemo. As it’s hormone driven my risk of recurrence doesn’t go away.

Do get the best medical advice you can on the lowest possible risk meds and review how long you take it for.

It’s £175 for a consultation. It’s not free but it is not a ridiculous amount considering what you get to improve your day to day life.
You said you’re about to quit your job as the symptoms are unbearable. Surely paying £175 is more affordable than quitting work? You can self refer to a gyn and don’t need a referral letter.

@FuzzyYellowChicken Testosterone helped quite alot. I have the NHS compliant one (designed for men so have to make a packet last a week as strong) so in theory GP should prescribe but they won't so I pay.
It gave me more energy and confidence I think- well aware could be psychosomatic but happy either way.
Less beneficial now I am on mirena rather than utrogestan as progesterone is testosterone agonist apparently so constant dose of progesterone (even tho' low) undermines some of its benefits

When I was having heavy periods I found transexamic acid to be amazing

I'm 53 and feeling better than I did in my 40s. I take black cohosh which was amazing for dealing with menopausal anxiety that started to kick in . I also take fish oil in the day and magnesium at night and never ever have broken sleep. I don't drink anymore and limit my caffeine intake. I also gave up red meat and do Pilates 5 times a week. I would have gone down the HRT route had this not worked for me but the more I put into practice worked for me I realised I was ok. I'm posting at this time because we are on holiday and I'm overseas .

I JUST had bloods taken today because i went to the docs with quite a few of your symptoms.
Tired all the time, feel weak physically, no energy or motivation, for the first time in my life a few weeks back i couldn't recall my sisters birthday or last week the date my mum died, and it was incredibly distressing. I've become super moody and irritable, snapped a few times at both my dad and my fiance over things that even 3-4 months ago wouldn't have even really bothered me. I've become quite impatient in general. I've been getting swollen hands throughout the day with even light pressure such as arm against sofa armrest using my laptop on the armrest, and also whilst i'm asleep to the point i go up 2-3 ring sizes, worse on the side i've slept on if i've slept on my side, but still in both, even when slept on my back with no weight on either hand.
I randomly feel my face is absolutely burning hot and bright red too.

Not able to track periods as i have the nexplanon and have done back to back for 11 years so no cycles. I am due it replaced in a few weeks and am getting cyclical cramping the past few months so i'm desperately hoping its related to that, but unlike any previous implant i've noticed my head hair thinning and heavier shedding when brushing and washing, and the hirsutism from my PCOS that causes me to grow a beard and moustache is growing in faster, i now have to shave every other day in order to not have prickly feeling stubble that you can also see 5 oclock shadow style if you're close.
I tried a year ago about the increased facial hair growth and was not allowed the combo pill alongside the implant for the oestrogen because my BMI is way too high.
I'm shit scared i'm atleast peri if not in full blown premature menopause, i'm only 35 and me and fiance are just getting close to the point where we were in a position to make our final decision on if we were going to try for a baby together (I'm childless, he has an 8 year old) before we felt we were too old. Whilst we probably wouldn't have ttc, its devastating if that decision is no longer our free will but because i'm past it fertility wise.

My biggest fear in the world thanks to having OCD is wetting myself, so the fact menopause and reduction/loss of female hormone production is a big factor in development of stress incontinence, i'm in an absolute state.

I went back to gp time and again as I had all
The systems but was told too young. Eventually I got sent to hospital menopause clinic for blood tests "to prove me wrong" came out with prescription for hrt including testosterone (life changing )

Persevere

I hear you.

I handed in my notice after 2 years, I finish up in 3 weeks and still have no job to go to.

I've worked in the sector for 17 years but I ended up with crippling imposter syndrome around the time I started in my current job. And it was as though my brain wouldn't work after 3/4pm. No focus, no drive. Having to leave some work until the next day....chasing my tail...constantly trying to finish "work from yesterday". So threw in the towel without lining up another job.

I have an interview next week but it's £8k a year less. Not many jobs come up in my little corner of the sector.

I'm on my own with all the usual responsibilities...mortgage, bills, cost of living, a million jobs needing done because the house is falling down around my ears.

This is definitely more than just hot flushes and I wish I'd known. We're in a better position to educate our daughters. It was never talked about or mentioned when I was young. Like something to be ashamed of. It's very sad

My dads partner is still on HRT and she's 76

I'm 43 and been on HRT for about 5 months. I had so many symptoms, similar to yours since 40. I wrote them all done and went to my GP. Got prescribed oestrogel and progesterone pills, no problem. She said just try it and see how you get on. Absolutely life changing. Now in hindsight my symptoms slowly started around age 40 when I stopped feeling like myself and motivation for my personal interests gradually declined. If I could go back in time, yes I would have started HRT around 40 or 41 in a heartbeat. Although I did have a telephone appointment first and they suggested anti depressants. But then in the face to face appointment it was clearer I needed HRT and there was no resistance from my GP.

You have classic symptoms of hypothyroidism there OP.

And that can be brought on by peri menopause.

Good idea to get full bloods done.

@FuzzyYellowChicken In retrospect I should have asked to be referred to a menopause clinic. As it was I ended up in endocrinology so gave up on the NHS.

Apologies, didn't mean to sound preachy, I was trying to be encouraging! When my bloods were done the nurse mentioned thyroid which hadn't even crossed my mind. I went in for help with sleeping. I hope you find a solution.

This thread makes me really sad. Women are carrying absolutely everything in life and there's no slack at all in our culture if we need to take it slower for a couple of years.
I hate how our lives our now a form of economy slavery. The extent of it is very new. Things have really changed in the last 15 years.