So HRT

[oldschooloon]

Yes ? .... Or no . Thoughts please ?

It's a mine field this HRT business I'm just about to start the green coloured pill and I am alittle anxious about heavy periods as has them all my life since started regular periods at 10yrs old and been on pill on and off most of past 30yrs .. other than that I feel like me again I know it's only early days on Estelle duet 1mg(14days in) and I hope it suits me only had 3 hot flashes at work oddly maybe stress makes them worse ???
Thank you ladies for information let's help each other through this xx

cricket Little bread (meaning not every day, once or twice a week only) no potatoes, no pasta, little rice (only wholegrain), high protein (30g protein at every meal), no alcohol, no caffeine. I'd like to say low sugar, but I'm a sugar fiend so eat too many sweets . That's it really.

I'm fanatical about exercise. I lift heavy weights, do high intensity training and use a heart rate monitor NOT a fitbit or similar tracker to make sure I'm pushing my fitness.

I'm not anti-HRT and loads of my friends swear by it, but at the moment I don't feel the need for systemic HRT, however I do use the Vagifem pessaries. I feel that I can live with the night sweats and hope they don't last forever. What I eat definitely impacts the sweating.

@carabos-that's really fantastic. I take in very little sugar. I have a dairy addiction. Cheese, real butter, (in moderation) and few carbohydrates. I was determined I was going to do this naturally. But the sweats were causing me and OH (who's had two MIs) disturbed sleeps.

It's back to thensure GP to see if we can rethink this one.

Do you have olives in your diet?

So glad I've found this discussion group it's great to know your not alone going through this minefield of meds no meds ??
Symptoms and great stories of how HRT can help
I'm day 14 Estelle duet 1mg just starting the green ones (others white) in pack hope I dnt get bad periods suffered them since 10yrs old and been on combined CP for 30yrs on /off
Let's help each other along this rocky wobbly path of hormones and their evil effect on you self esteem and well being

Mc I eat olives and use olive oil. Wrt to the disturbed sleep, I changed the bedding so that we have a single duvet each on our king bed. The effect is two fold; each of us can choose what tog weight we want at whatever point in the year so we're both comfortable and the other effect is that we sleep much more apart than when we shared the big duvet. I don't know why that is, but it's almost like having all the benefits of separate beds, and all the advantages of the same bed. It was a holiday in Austria a few years ago that prompted the change as that arrangement is standard there, and it's been life changing .

I recommend it to all my menopausal friends and the ones who have done it agree with me. It's a small, easy change that costs little and works atreat - better sleep all round.

I also recommend red clover tablets - 80mg not 40mg. My GP suggested those and I think they do make a difference to the sweats.

Don't you find the disturbed sleep from the sweats makes it hard to function day to day?
Insomnia was my biggest issue- taking ages to get to sleep and then waking often through the night. There was no way I could work and function with so little sleep.

Polly I've never been a good sleeper, so perhaps I'm less affected by it than others. I did find myself waking often and struggling to get back to sleep. That seems to be improving however and I wouldn't say it's every night now, which it was until recently. Exercise helps with sleep problems and I make sure I stick to my regime pretty much no matter how tired I am. I think routine is important.

I can't emphasise enough what a difference alcohol makes. We had friends over for supper on Saturday, and two glasses of wine left me sleepless, sweating and horribly hungover. I tramped over the moor to clear my head yesterday and made the decision to go teetotal - until now I would have a social glass if we were out or had visitors, but I'm going to stop even that now. I shall continue to get my sugar rush from Percy Pig and that'll be that .

Well this got busy ! I've just been to docs , and started a Tibolone trial , seeing him again in two months , I'll report back , al little uneasy about side effects , but gotta try it , I feel about 95 years old .

why Tibolone? It's a type of HRT but it's not 'normal' HRT. It's a combination of special steroids that mimic oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone. it's rarely given as first choice HRT. Why?

Because I'm only 47 apparently , and not great with hormone treatments ( depression etc ) he seemed to think this was the one most likely to suit me

Hmmm.
Maybe...but maybe not too!

See how it goes.

Are you post menopause? Have a quick google of Patient Info UK- says it's for post meno only.

Going back to your first post, 6 months with no periods does not make you post menopause.
You should not have been put on Tibolone according to this.

patient.info/medicine/tibolone-tablets-livial

This is the problem isn't it? So many GPs seem woefully ill-informed about menopause and HRT. It's one of the reasons why I'm not getting involved with it unless something drastically changes. I've never taken the contraceptive pill either.

I had a lot of mood swings on the pill, but HRT femoston isn't causing the same problems. Just in case that helps anyone who is dithering.

I didn't get my HRT from a GP- went to a specialist gynae who is brilliant. Am shocked at how GPs are out of touch on the whole (not all, but many.) You don't have to stick with GPs if you need support on topics they are not experts on.

@carabos That's a great idea. I used to live in Austria so I get what you say about separate duvet. A great nugget of advice there.

I'm sorting out my diet. Coffee, I've stopped drinking at nights. Wine, I love it but have stopped it as I know it doesn't help me. I don't mind a glass at the weekend, but while I settled down on the HRT, I felt it wasn't a good move.

I'm tempted to chuck them in the bin, these powerful little tablets. I'm suffering at work more than anything as I can't focus. My diet is good and I'm generally in good health. Low cholesterol, 10 stone, I exercise through walking.

I'm tempted to go it without HRT after the experience I've just had. I've a couple of fibroids, but scans showed there were small and as I was post-menopause, they will likely shrink. They don't give me any pain. I detest the cramps that I'm getting daily and have bled for three weeks put of the last six. Grrrr.

Separate duvets. OH likes this too. We shall try this.

I'm definitely post meno , one period six months ago which wasn't normal , nothing for the six months prior to that , recent blood tests confirm I'm oestrogen deficient and post menopausal .

If you had a period 6 months ago, even if it was really light, that still counts as a period so you are still in theory peri meno. The previous 6 month gap is the same thing- peri meno.
Blood tests aren't accurate because they only test your hormones on that day. (I was shown as post meno by a blood test 18months - 2 years before in fact I had my final period!)

I do hope Tibolone helps you. Accept though that it is not 'first choice' (as the Patient Info linked to shows.) 'Normal' HRT is not the same as synthetic birth control tablets (much lower dose and different type of hormones) so no one should think because the Pill didn't suit them HRT would be the same.

@Polly,

I'm coming off Kliofem. According to advice from the women at Menopause Matters, Kliofem contains a synthetic progesterone.

I can no longer take the cramps/bleeding/tearfull episodes. It's akin to regressing 10 years ago. I'm flooding after beine period-free for 18 months.

I'm going au naturelle and back to managing the night sweats. I don't even want a replacement.

I've got myself into a right mess with all this.

Mc sorry you feel so rough.

The only progesterone that is natural is...natural progesterone. Trade name Utrogestan.

Before you give up, why not try it?

Lots of it use it.

You could also try Femoston which has dydrogesterone which is still synthetic but much closer to our own than norethisterone.

Depends how bad your sweats are I suppose. My mum had flushes & sweats into her 80s , so although my HRT isn't 100% perfect (I still have 'periods' in my 60s) it's the best I can get I think and better for me than the option of flushes and insomnia.

You could try sequi- rather than conti. I use sequi even after 8 years - don't want daily progesterone. Sorry if I'm repeating anything here- not time to read through the whole thread again.

The flooding is because you are using quite a high dose of oestrogen. You could use less by using gel- tailor to your own symptoms- and progestogens once a month for 10 days, or even 6 weeks.

Thanks for the advice, Polly. I've got an appointment with the GP on 28th. I'll see what he says. He's very good and understanding in that I know my body.

I'd rather have the sweats than the periods. I feel completely shit and want to bury my head in a massive large bucket of sand. I've been at work today as on a tight deadline with a report. Luckily our building was empty so they couldn't hear me stomping around ripping up pieces of paper.

You've been so kind in advising me. Thank you.

You're welcome :)
I do hope you find something.

I do not like having 'periods'. I have 1-2 days (every 8 weeks ) when the bleed starts, and I do get some cramping. But there are more 'good days' so I try to think of that.

Hope you get something to help.

Heck yes, I'd be insane without HRT, tried everything over the years and had horrendous side effects with all of them. Now I'm on Kliovance and it's perfect, no side effects at all, no bleeding, just normal.
I'm never coming off it, they will have to prise it out of my cold dead hands.