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Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

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Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Menopause

Hrt patches and ads?

186 replies

Baddz · 29/06/2015 20:53

My go thinks I am in menopause/peri menopause.
I am 42 and am having lots of troubling symptoms, and my periods are now slightly irregular and only last 2/3 days (instead of 7)
I am getting horrendous hot flushes.
Headaches, nausea, need to wee all the time, almost psychotic rage the week before my period, hugely sore boobs, palpitations....it's really really affecting the quality of my life.
I have had a blood test and an ecg andI am hoping to see her again on weds.
Has anyone used patches and ads together?
That's her suggestion.
I am all for anything that could make me feel better tbh :(

OP posts:

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LineRunner · 14/07/2015 12:29

By the way pinkfrocks I think you were right on the 'managing without HRT' thread - I DO need to talk to my GP about transdermal patches. Thanks for the advice.

PeterSpots I seriously wish you had a better GP. Can you get a second opinion?

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 13:16

I hope you get on okay Linerunner - it's worth asking and as you have had some problems it might be worth asking your GP to r fer you to a gynae who knows about menopause.

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 13:17

Peter- if your GP isn't helping you with HRT then what are they helping you with? what is the diagnosis and treatment being offered?

LineRunner · 14/07/2015 13:42

pinkfrocks after my PE, I had a lot of scans and one showed an endometrial anomaly. (Turned out to be a fibroid.) I was having terribly heavy periods then, two year ago. After a hysteroscopy under GA, the gynae told me my only options were hysterectomy or mirena. (I've done neither.) She said absolutely no to HRT. So did my GP.

Two year on, my periods are irregular, light and no longer painful. But I am going insane. And I have multiple health problems that I think are related.

I'm 54 now btw.

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 13:51

You might not want to put this on the forum but depending where you live there may be other gynaes you can see for another opinion. Do you have the option to see someone privately, even for just the first appt? If you look at the Menopause Matters website there is a list of specialists BUT be aware it is not exhaustive- the one I see is not there and they are regarded as one of the best in the UK. I am happy to talk to you off forum on this if it might help.

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 13:58

Are you on blood thinning meds after your PE?

LineRunner · 14/07/2015 14:10

Warfarin for six months. So, not now, no.

I think I can ask for a second opinion on the NHS. Back to my GP first, though, I think.

Thank you.

PeterSpots · 14/07/2015 15:44

Sorry I have HRT patches but I was asking for the cream for my urethea/bladder. My bits look ok though not dry or red so I don't know if the cream would help my problem. Its 3.45 and I've only been to the toilet twice so it's so confusing. I have pain on the left side but no urge to wee

PeterSpots · 14/07/2015 16:26

Still don't have the urge to wee & I've drunk pints of water & two cups of tea.

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 16:35

I don't think your bits have to look red or sore- you can't see inside your urethra anyway! It's actually when they look white sometimes that vaginal atrophy is diagnosed (I think).

PeterSpots · 14/07/2015 17:16

Will ask gynaecologist next Wednesday about the cream. Didn't get a call back from the hospital. May ask for a second opinion.

LineRunner · 14/07/2015 17:19

I am a great believer in the second opinion.

PeterSpots · 14/07/2015 17:46

Had anyone heard of Mr Vik khullar he is a urogynacolgist (?) I called today there is a months wait for a private appointment. I'm not sure my dh work insurance will cover me but I have money I've saved for my 50th in January & I could use that. I'm desperate to get some relief. The oestrogen cream does sound likely. The tingling on my face is up & down (maybe stress, maybe tight muscles)

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 18:12

no . whereabouts is he based?

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 18:19

If you do a google search he comes up on some threads here on MN. His specialism is pelvic floor repairs. My personal view is that you might need someone more on the menopause side of things because although you have urethral pain, you don't have bladder issues with stress incontinence.

You really need a holistic kind of gynae not one who specialises in surgery.
If you want names, I can PM you.

PeterSpots · 14/07/2015 18:22

Yes please. I feel I need a second opinion.

His blurb.....
Vik Khullar is a specialist in urinary incontinence, bladder problems, prolapse and pelvic floor surgery. He is highly respected among his peers. He established a national NHS referral centre as well as setting up a private practice seeing patients on a national and international basis. He is vice-chairman of BSUG, an expert advisor for NICE and a vice chairman of the NIHR.

pinkfrocks · 14/07/2015 18:36

I know I saw that. But you don't have bladder problems as such, do you? Bladder probs usually means prolapse,leakage, retention, etc. when you read the threads here on women who have seen him. I'll send you a PM

PeterSpots · 14/07/2015 19:17

Someone must know what's wrong with me. just need to find the right consultant. Not sure marriage will last much longer

Baddz · 14/07/2015 19:25

I am being referred to the hrt clinic at my local hospital.
Could your GP do that?
How does he know the cream won't work!?
Second opinion time!
I am shattered. Being on hols doesn't help I suppose! Not sleeping well, constipated, feeling fed up. No appetite. Ds2 has been poorly so it's been a bit stressful.
Will be glad to get home tbh....:(
Hope you can get another opinion Peter x

OP posts:

LineRunner · 14/07/2015 21:25

I didn't even know there such things as HRT clinics. I feel appallingly ignorant.

Hope it goes well, Baddz

PeterSpots · 15/07/2015 08:51

Hope it goes well too. Went to a&e last night. Sent away with cocodemal. Rang hospital again & they said go to gp. Rang gp & they said for to hospital. I know people must be so fed up with me. Dd1 took me to hospital not dh. He said it was a waste of time & he was right. Got to find some strength from somewhere. Friends have given up & now family (don't blame them - I can't see past this or have any interest in anything)

pinkfrocks · 15/07/2015 09:44

Line some NHS hospitals have Menopause Clinics, but not all by by means- in fact I'd say they are few and far between.
The other thing to bear in mind- from what I have read on other forums- is that they are staffed (understandably) by NHS drs who are constrained by certain prescribing guidelines. They also tend to be very cautious. One example- someone on another meno forum- was refused HRT over 60 in such a clinic, yet my consultant (not at an NHS clinic) has a completely different opinion and is far more highly qualified (as it happens.) I'm not saying all NHS drs or meno clinics are the same, but you may get no different response than you'd get from a GP.

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Baddz · 17/07/2015 22:10

Well.
Last day of my holdiay and I have had to come home early due to really heavy bleeding and clots the size of 50p pieces.
A nurse at the walk in said it prob due to the hrt and it not being a high enough dose?
Gave me painkillers, more hormone and told me to go back to my gp on Monday!
It was so bad I soaked though a nighttime pad, my pants and my jeans
Luckily we were passing a big city so I asked where the nearest ooh was and was seen straight away.
What a joke.
Hrt was supposed to help me, not make things worse!
Feeling very low :(

OP posts:

pinkfrocks · 17/07/2015 22:37

Sorry you had a bad end to your holiday.

Oestrogen is responsible for building up the uterine lining. MORE oestrogen (if that is what you have been given- though not sure how a nurse can prescribe 'more' hormones) will build the lining up more.

If you have been given a progestogen, then that will help regulate the build up because it changes the endometrial lining and stops it growing while you are taking oestrogen(daily.)

what have you been given?

Anything you have been given now is unlikely to make any difference to this cycle.

Heavier periods are very likely for some women on HRT- mine are much heavier than when I had natural cycles. If you are only 42 then it's quite possible that your own oestrogen levels are still quite high compared to older women (post meno) so you will be having a heavier period due to your own oestrogen PLUS what you are getting from HRT.

See your GP but the answer is likely to be a lower dose of oestrogen and / or more progestogen each cycle.

Don't be too downhearted- lots of women need to tweak HRT for a while to get it right.

Baddz · 17/07/2015 22:40

It's begins with n...think it's the progesterone?
I have 3 tablets to take 3 x day til I see gp.
Sigh.
I feel really quite light headed and bleurgh.
I guess it's early days.

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