What menopause symptoms did HRT relieve?

[keeponworking]

These are the symptoms I have and wonder if anyone else who's gone onto HRT found relief/improvement with any of the following:

Decreased motor coordination, clumsiness
Persistent physical and mental sluggishness
Bouts of incredible tiredness
Frequent urination
Increased appetite especially at night and after dinner
Dark circles under eyes
Joints (hips, fingers) feel inflamed and achey
Increase in chin hairs
Bumping into things constantly
Occasional dizziness
Dry hair, poor skin, bendy brittle fingernails
Itchy, crawly skin with a strange sensation like insects crawling around under the skin
Teeth aching or worsening bleeding gums
Dreadful short-term memory
Mis-reading words

Also, did you have to talk your GP into giving it to you or are they happy enough if you've decided you'd like to try it?

How long would you say it took for symptoms to alleviate?

I'm on Implanon, can they test for hormone levels or do they just take the range of symptoms you have and give it a go such that, if one or more symptoms are alleviated, then hey presto it must have been menopause??

Would really be grateful for other people's experiences as I'm booking a GP appointment and would really like to get on this and see if it helps.

Mine didn't help with anything other than the hot flushes and night sweats and after 5 years I have been taken off (just shy of 60 now) ... good luck!

Oh bugger - I do feel hot at night but I don't have the night sweats. I tend more to get hot - not flushes, but just rapid super overheating - in the day.

I'm not sure HRT is going to help with these other issues then..... hmmmm

Unless you are being driven slowly insane by hot flushes, I'm not sure HRT will help..... might be better to try other stuff (or ask for investigations - are you sure these are menopause related?).

That is one point of worry Silvercat - I do fear for the beginnings of dementia, but if you hunt around t'internet (reputable health sites) these symptoms are mentioned as menopause related.

Many women report massive brain fog so I don't think it's impossible that it's menopause related but being on the Implanon could of course be masking some of the hot flush element...

I can't answer your question but I hope you come back to MN to tell us what you tried & whether it worked. Good luck.x

Only thing it's done for me was get rid of the hot flushes, didn't help with anxiety/depression which I get every few months, on my 3rd lot now and it's giving me stomach problems. Afraid it's all trial and error to find one that suits as everyone reacts differently. I'd come off it altogether but hated the flushes and have always been intolerant to heat so I shall keep going with hrt as it certainly stops them. Still searching for the holy grail of hrt but don't think it exists for me anyway.
Menopause Matters is a great site and has loads of information about various types of hrt available, the forum is really good too I got a lot of info on there and just asked the doctor if I could try what was suggested by some knowledgeable posters on there. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Under active can be to blame for feeling tired, sluggish, dry skin, tiredness. Get that checked first.

ALL of those things you list can be caused by estrogen deficiency or none of them. :)

How's your diet? if you aren't getting enough good fats- Omega 3 - your skin may be dry and joints ache etc. Oily fish, nuts, avocado, olive oil- all several times a week.

Have your periods stopped or do you not get them with the implant?

How old are you?

They can't test your hormones with the implant in.
You'd need it removed to start HRT anyway (i think). You could have a Mirena coil instead.

I've used HRT for almost 10 years. Am over 60. No upper age limit now, depends on your own history and what you consider a reasonable risk. allyPally your dr can't 'take you off it' against your will - there is no limit on how long or an age range- see NICE guidelines. There are women taking it in their 90s.

Feel good, controls all symptoms. My advice is you try it and see how you feel.

Hey Pollyperky
I have had my thyroid checked in the past and it was deemed ok (I always have my suspicions though as I think that overall we're quite crap with thyroid identification here in the UK) but I could ask for it to be done again.

Diet's good - eat eggs, salads, green leafy veg, salmon, lean chicken, avocado's, oily fish, walnuts, pine nuts, brazil nuts, olives, feta.

I had them v infrequently on Implanon but (touching wood) have not had any for probably 8-9 months now.

I'm 51 in the autumn.

I cannot tell you why but I absolutely completely totally do not want and will NEVER have a coil put in - I just have an absolute shudder at them, I don't want one so that will never be able to feature in any future planning on this - yucky, me no likey!

You kinda lost me @Pollyperky with 'Feel good, controls all symptoms' - is Feel Good a supplement or what did you mean?!

I think there's no harm in trying it but would also fear coming off the Implanon and all periods etc re-starting/going haywire - but to have the better brain function (if it did help with that) would be fab.

I will look at Menopause Matters thank you for that suggestion Mars - I'll have a nosey.

My GP told me to come and see her when I had my first hot flush. I did, took HRT for 10 yrs, 50-60, and then stopped because there was a breast cancer scare. Now disproved.

I felt entirely normal during those years, and had no withdrawal symptoms when I stopped taking the pills. I had been having a light period/withdrawal bleeding, but that stopped immediately. However, I thought I could see a difference in my appearance. It wasn't dramatic, but I didn't look as young for my age as I had before.

12 years later, I had to have my uterus and ovaries removed, and then I did get menopausal symptoms, mainly night sweats and facial hair. I guess my ovaries had still been producing some oestrogen.

I can't help with your other symptoms. I might have developed them without early HRT, or not. Everyone is different. All I can say is that in my case HRT was a totally positive experience.

You kinda lost me @Pollyperky with 'Feel good, controls all symptoms' - is Feel Good a supplement or what did you mean?!

LOL I feel good.....

Get yourself on HRT.

Thyme when you say 'breast cancer scare' do you mean the WHI research? Assume you do and not your own risk.

You had your uterus and ovaries removed at 72?

Ok I'm taking femoston and I fee it's improved

Flushes (gone)
Vaginal dryness - was quite uncomfy
Frequent urination
Feel less fuzzy headed
Not bumping into things as much
Improved mood
Less achey - particularly when get up in morning
Much improved sleep
Less tired (probably cos of improved sleep)

HRT didn't massively help as my own system over rode it sometimes. However a new, low dose contraceptive pill aimed at people in peri menopause has massively helped with: fatigue, tingling, migraines, acne, dizziness, anxiety, palpitations, random chills.

Ps Also helped with the itchy crawling skin too!

On the other hand, nothing has helped with the chin hairs !

Also, with HRT and the pill, it took months (at least four) rather than weeks to have an impact. I think you sometimes need to be prepared for things to get worse before they get better!

I have just had a late menopause and did not use hrt .
Yes I was super emotional and moody with the occasional hot flush but liveable with.
By far the worst was my mood swing and getting emotional.
But as my dr said not everyone can take it and to see how things were. I am glad dad an older friend cannot get off it.
I thought I was never going to go through it.

I take Tibolone (livial) and it has helped massively with all of the above. After about 2 weeks of taking it I was out one day walking the dogs and realised that I felt bloody fantastic compared to how I felt before - mind you, I had put on half a stone, but it was worth every pound

I think you should have your thyroid checked again, along with Vitamin D, B12&folate , FBC and Iron stores ( to ascertain your ferritin levels). A lot of the latter deficiencies go hand in hand with autoimmune hypothyroidism.

Rule all the above out first.

FWIW, I'm both post-menopausal (on HRT) and have hypothyroidism (treated & in range now); and a lot of the symptoms you describe have been alleviated.
However, I couldn't tell you which are thyroid and which are menopause symptoms as they overlap too much.

Hrt has helped hot flushes and tiredness. Now I have been on it long enough it seems to have helped mood and nausea, but these were helped immediately by some meno supplements I took (Menomood - which contains st johns wort and black cohosh, Red Clover and Estroplus - contains soy isoflavones). Not taking the supplements now but reconsidering menomood.

Polly Sorry if I've given false info. When I was 60, there was a breast cancer scare related to HRT all over the press. I had the impression that further research has revealed that the risk is less than first thought?

Yes - I had a 'full debulking' because I had a ginormous ovarian tumour. Very similar to Twitterqueen's experience - except for the fact that I was incredibly lucky and it turned out to be a Borderline Ovarian Tumour. My primary hospital - no gyneoncologist - actually thought it was cancer and said no surgery, just chemo, but referred me to a big teaching hospital. The first words my consultant surgeon said to me were, 'Well, I think it's benign...'

Despite my age, I sailed through major abdominal surgery and was only in hospital for 3 nights. I asked whether there could be a connection between HRT and the tumour, but they didn't think so. One of the doctors, tho', did say I was in good condition, gynaecologically, for my age, which I do put down to HRT.

Crikey this is some useful stuff - thanks v much indeed for taking the time to reply.

When it's not so late at night I shall have a proper read through of all this because it's sounding like HRT might not be the thing. I'm wondering if low oestrogen is actually the thing as that's the bit (if I understand it right) which accounts for bleeding gums and brain fog etc - my symptoms are not the classic dripping in sweat at night.

My vag is fine though (no dryness or anything) but as I always quip to anyone who'll listen, I say: "It's like the Sahara up there - hot, dry and no signs of sex life: - I thank you! .

The bloody bloody bloody bloody chin hairs - my face looks AWFUL, permanently and if I had the spare cash I'd be off for electrolysis on these evil wires from hell. They're a menace to society.

Wonder if I should have my oestrogen levels checked as that's interesting about the symptoms and the comparison with thyroid as well.

I'm coming back as a man I'm telling you. Or a well beloved cat.

HRT helped me with horrible night sweats and hot flushes which meant I never slept for more than 2 hours. I think it also helped with my looks, tiredness and mood. But i can't vouch for that. I'm off it now as its not good to stick with it for too long. But it saved me from total utter exhaustion and day time discomfort. It saved me.

OP How old are you? You sound like me. Few of my symptoms were 'typical' so I ended up having loads of unnecessary tests (even brain scans) before they found out it was very low estrogen (not menopause at that point) . My estrogen was averaging 40 pmol. To make it worse, at times it would suddenly go high.

The trouble with HRT was that it boosted my estrogen, but at times (if my own system was kicking in) it was then massively too high and I'd get even more weird symptoms! (I have since learnt that excessive estrogen fluctuations can be more problematic and create 'weirder' symptoms than straight forward menopause).

Moving to the special pill (bio identical estrogen in it) I mentioned previously stopped the fluctuations and kept my estrogen at an even level (the contraceptive pill is stronger than HRT as it doesn't just top up your system, but control it). It's not perfect, but I feel massively more in control.

GP will no longer prescribe Polly - isn't that the same as taking me off them? My practice is pretty bad at prescribing - I don't get other things people seem to get freely for the same problems but that's another story.

I too thought I was getting dementia OP but I think its just temporary .. I hope!

I flippin' hope so allypally!!