NC and posting here for traffic. I’m feeling very confused and just wanted to do a sense check to see whether IABU ...I want to stop using the patches to see what happens. I do also have an appointment to see my GP for a full discussion of the whole scenario but have to wait a while for this so in the meantime I wanted to see what people on MN think. I am sure there are many women out there who have had various experiences around this and I'd like to get a sense of whether I'm possibly imagining my symptoms or in fact am on to something here.
I am in my late 50s, I’ve never had children, I've always been generally fit and healthy. About 5 years ago I started HRT - I used Evorel Conti patches for about 18 months (to summer 2019) then was switched to Femostan tabs until summer 2022 (because of supply issues with patches), then was switched back to EC patches (GP said this was to reduce possible risk of high blood pressure).
Prior to HRT for a year or two I had terrible night sweats and hot flushes plus various other symptoms that were worsening over time. All of this stopped almost instantaneously when I began HRT which was terrific. Also prior to HRT my weight had also been stable for many years and my bra size hadn’t changed. I was always large - 36E, but it was fine, it was proportional and I eat sensibly, do plenty of exercise, am very active.
However after going on HRT patches my bra size changed quite rapidly from 36E to 36FF. They then stayed that size for a couple of years but recently I noticed that bras I had bought last summer (around the time I changed back to patches) were feeling a bit tight, I went for a bra fitting and my breasts are now 36G!!…humungous!!
Throughout all this time my bottom half hasn’t changed, I’m still wearing the same size jeans etc as I was wearing 10, 15 years ago.
I find my chest size is now really starting to impact me, I hate the look of them and last week I found when I removed my (new, properly fitted) bra at the end of the day I was actually in moderate pain for a while. This can't be right surely.
I have been trying to work out why this has happened, why my weight gain is on top and not anywhere else. My diet hasn’t changed, if anything it’s better and I’m still very active, again if anything more so than in previous years. I probably drink more wine than I should, I will admit that. I definitely feel that the timing of the main “ballooning”, as it were, coincided with when I’ve been using HRT patches. But am I just imagining this?
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Could my HRT patches have caused my breasts to get bigger? If so, will stopping using them in turn lead to my breasts reducing in size or will I be lumbered with this size for ever more?
In addition I spoke to one of my friends yesterday who said “if you stop HRT you will definitely put on weight and you will start to age really quickly and become really creaky as your body needs the oestrogen….”
But reading around online I can see that it appears for some people HRT causes weight gain, for some it causes weight loss, for some it has no real impact on their size....and will I really wizen up and turn into an old prune if I stop using HRT altogether?
So I think my AIBU is, given my experience, AIBU to just stop using HRT patches and possibly HRT altogether to see what happens?
YABU - don’t stop using HRT patches, it’s not relevant to your breast size and you’ll regret it when your joints seize up!
YANBU - follow your intuition, it’s your body and if you think the HRT patches have affected you in this way then it’s worth seeing what happens if you stop HRT or switch to a different format.
Thanks for reading this far and if you respond thanks for responding...