To ask for your experiences of HRT?

[footballmum]

I think I’m in the peri-menopause. Hot flushes, night sweats, nightmarish PMT, crap sleep and soooo goddamn tired all the time I have a mirena coil so I have no idea how my periods are affected but everything else points towards the menopause.

The symptoms seem to be getting worse and worse and I spend about half the month battling with these symptoms and trying to function on a day to day basis.

I’m seriously considering asking the doc for HRT but there is so much information out there I’m just getting bogged down. Looking for some real life experiences-the good, the bad and the ugly!!

I’m particularly interested in hearing whether people found they had more energy, focus and enthusiasm for life? Plus the inevitable-did it cause any weight gain? I feel fat and frumpy enough as it is!

Bloody hell, you drop onto the second page pretty quick around here!!! Anyone?

I've been on HRT for a year after a hysterectomy last year. I'm 49.

I was suffering from night sweats that woke me up, tiredness, aching joints and feeling pretty miserable.

Within 3 weeks of taking them I felt totally normal. It's like a miracle. I've not gained weight because I do try and watch what I'm eating and exercise too. It's also not affected my sex life.

I'm hoping to stay on them as long as I can.

Posting on the Menopause board may get more traffic and answers.

I have a Mirena coil and use a low dose oestrogen patch ( coil is licensed for use as HRT with patch ) Up to date research has debunked a lot of the contraindications of HRT. Now it is known to reduce blood pressure and protect bone density. Have a look on Google scholar it filters out all the misinformation.
I started using the patches in January and have lost 2.5kg without changing my diet. Sleep is much better so less exhausted. No hot flushes so again sleep is less disturbed. I’m under a massive amount of stress at the moment, I am currently selling a business which hopefully will complete soon but has been going on most of the year. There is no way I would have coped mentally in the state I was in towards the end of last year. Libido is still non existent but I think that is stress rather than hormones.
I didn’t plan on taking HRT but I was basically fading away, I have a history of depression associated with hormone problems so after discussing it with GP we thought it would be better than anti depressants.
Best of all my DH no longer thinks I’m a fire breathing dragon with the devils attitude.

I have been using HRT for about 15 months and think it is the best thing ever! I had been suffering from horrible hot flushes which also woke me up at night so my sleep was suffering. Within a few days, the hot flushes disappeared and I sleep really well. Just for that alone, I'm a convert.

Thanks for responding both. BG only just found the menopause board so will have a look at that in a bit more detail. Pleased to hear you’ve both had such positive experiences.

I did find I was experiencing terrible breast soreness once I'd started on the HRT, I started taking some evening primrose oils tablets and it's much better - don't know if it's them that have made a difference but figure they can't do much harm and only 99p from Aldi for 60!

Use gel and utrogestan. I’ve put on weight but I don’t think it’s the hrt I think I just need to eat less.
I had horrible hot flushes. And before each one a sort of aura- like a sudden whoosh of panicky feeling. Other than that I was fine, periods stopped and everything. But those flushes are vile. They stopped within days of starting the gel.
Also I’m on the young side for post meno so protecting my bones seems sensible too.
I’d try it out- can take a while to find the right one.

Added hrt patches to my mirena when I got hot flushes and endless urethritis. It was transformational. I think I’ve been on it for about 7 years now.