Despite menopause awareness we are worse off than ever with treatment?

[Allaboutme23]

For three years I took Everel patches at various strengths to manage insomnia , weight gain and to protect heart and bones. I have heard positive stories of how HRT resolved poor mental health and improved women’s physical and emotional wellbeing.

I am worse off. Lower dose did not do much, higher sent me off the scale emotionally , dramatically increased appetite and then saw my rapid weight gain (up two dress sizes). My breasts were like huge rocks ready to burst before I ripped off patch and have thrown towel in.

Nurses at GP surgery tell me this is normal , doctors have no advice whatsoever but up or lower prescription. I was so hopeful of being on top of menopause but I believe this made me worse off than before. I am 52 now, had total hysterectomy but ovaries remain. Do I seek one last shot within NHS surgery that just doesn’t seem to know (never same doctor and they’ve all been extremely minimal with information, or do I give up hrt as a bad job ? I don’t know anyone who has said it changed their life the better. I don’t know why side affects of hrt are the same as the reason we go on it on first place ?

Hrt massively changed my life for the better and I wouldn't be without it. The symptoms were debilitating and all disappeared with HRT. I didn't go to my GP though, they were absolutely useless. I paid to go to a private menopause consultant. Lots of blood tests, lots of refining dosage. She then sent a letter to my GP ( I had changed GP) and told them what to prescribe and that's what they do. I saw the private consultant for about two years before the letter to the GP thing. I have had evorel when what I use was unavailable, I use estradot and utrogestan and I thought evorel was awful but I may have been put off by the size of the patch tbh.

I think you just haven't found the right type for you. Keep trying, gel or tablets, I know most of the doctors are crap on this subject, but don't give up.

I'm sorry to hear you've had such a negative experience.
After my TAH BSO in Dec '22, I started on Estrogel (8 or so weeks post op) and it's been a God send.

I use estradot and utragestan and 1 pump of gel daily. Plus testogel daily.
Life changing for me, been on it a year now. My gp was fab, went through all options, she did say evorel werent her favourite as they are bigger and crunchy feeling and dont stick too well.

There are a lot of options other than Evorel.
I changed hrt several times before I got my dosage and method right (which was Evorel, but everyone is different!). Do you have a GP who specialises is HRT?. Definitely try some other hrt options its really helped me.

Is there a reason you haven't tried Oestrogel?

I had to go private for my HRT. It's been life changing and I'm so glad I kept pushing. I'm also six years post hysterectomy and kept my ovaries. Can you go private to try and get the right fit for you?

There's different types of hrt. Some people need to try a few before they get the right combo.

I use everol estrogen patches and have the mirena iud. Works well for me with low dose antidepressant

Hrt is hit and miss in both dose and type until you get something that works for you.

dont give up yet!!

Get over to the menopause section here and do other research to find out more about what is on offer and to arm yourself with the information to advocate for yourself then Go back and have a conversation with your gp to come up with different options until you find something that hopefully works for you.
do not allow them to tell you it’s X or nothing (unless there is medical reasons you haven’t mentioned here)
it might take a while because you need a bit of time on each type/dose to see how it works for you but hopefully it works out eventually.

there are some women that just never get on with hrt but there are thousands who although it might take a while find once they get a regime that works for them the benefits are massive.

personally I have found that i probably won’t get something that is perfect I have found a type (for me lenzetto spray and progesterone tablets) that is manageable and a dose that has helped to calm the worst of my symptoms even if they haven’t gone away. I have to take it because iv been diagnosed with early menopause so for me it’s to protect my bones and heart the symptom relief is a bonus!

Sometimes being a woman is sucks 🤷‍♀️
I have been on HRT for nearly 10 yr and now I think the time is to come off . I had a total hysterectomy at 50 and wow day after it hit me . Before that I had no symptoms of menopause at all , so for me going on HRT wasn’t an option I went into depression, sweats, you name it I had it. 3 Different HRT’s later my life was sorted I was feeling better my life was running smoothly with just a little bit weight on which I could get off easily enough.
fast forward 8 .5 yrs they change my HRT it to Everol 50 patches and I have put 2 stone on and I just can’t seem to shift it so now I have asked to come off HRT altogether so on Lower dose for another week then can stop altogether so hope I can finally start to lose weight when I diet 🤞

I d't think I agree really OP.

It can suck, but worse off? It's a massive change in your body, like puberty. It's not surprising really that it can stink, and it's always hard to relieve that kind of whole system change. It's not like an illness you can cure, it's the matter of easing the symptoms of a natural and inevitable change.