The holy grail of hrt

[dibly]

Just turned 45, 2 periods in the last year, night sweats, irrational anger and painful sex - it's definitely time to start hrt! But I had injections to induce the menopause and hrt five years ago and suffered with constant thrush, weight gain and feeling weepy. Think it was tiblorone, so stopped treatment in the end.
Please can anyone recommend a hrt which might help without the side effects above? Might patches work better for me? Fairly useless GP so need to feel armed before the appointment if poss. If they gave radiant skin too I would be forever indebted...
Thanks for any advice (including ones to avoid)

Anyone?

Tibolone is a special type of HRT- its a steroid so not the same as most HRT.

The holy grail is a bit like a pink unicorn! Everyone is different.

For safety you should use transdermal- patches or estrogen gel.
For possible lower risk of breast cancer stay away from synthetic progestogens and use micronised progesterone (Utrogestan.)

To start with it's best to use a cyclical sort which means a bleed each month, but that way you can separate out the 2 hormones used and work out what's helping and what's not. So you get the oestrogen dose right (dose and type) then add in the progesterone for half the month. You are also better off with a cyclical type at your age as you are still peri .

That's really helpful, thanks. I know it was a synthetic hrt but didn't know it was a steroid, no wonder I gained weight...

It's a type of steroid. I don't know why some GPs prescribe it- was it a GP? It's not really 'first choice' unless they wanted to avoid stimulating your womb- did you have endo? It's a good no bleed choice for some women who had endo.

Struggling myself with awful joint aches, really this got to be the main symptoms that makes me struggle. I am 50, a few irregular periods, night sweats and hot flushes relieved by Macca powder thank god, however the joint and mjscle aches are tormenting me, went to a lovely lady GP who specialises in menopause matters, she prescribed Femlston 1/10mg, i have just finished the first 14 oestrogen only tablets, joint aches got worse from Day 8 and spread to all joints except the knees, i am so disappointed that it seems to have the opposite effect as femoston gave me a couple of side effect at the very beginning ie headache and feeling spaced out but dissipated quickly, only the joint ache got worse and i am now stuck with it, anyone out there whk had this experience ? Should i suffer it out, carrying on taking hrt ? Am i doing more harm than good ? 😞

I've got adenomyiosis (a form of endo) and kept getting ovarian cysts that were growing each cycle, so my gynae consultant recommended them. It happened so quickly though that I wasn't really aware there were other options, but thankfully those symptoms have now died down.

So once you stopped the injections did your cycles return to normal? I'm confused if your periods were stopped for good with the injections or if it was a temporary treatment to help the adeno.
Assume the 2nd!

If you are only 45 and very much peri, then you ought to think about HRT for bone health if nothing else. How long did you take Tibolone for?

Can I hijack - this will sound so stupid - I am 57 no period for over a year. No knowledge of the menopause at all as I tend to research things very thoroughly only when I need to. No symptoms (well I feel the same as I have for years). Asked Dr for a test and she said no as they are unreliable. Can someone direct me to an a, b, c site or suggest what's going on.

It doesn't sound as if you need any info if you have sailed through menopause. (Maybe start a new thread if you want to ask other qs?)

I stopped the treatment Polly because the side effects were too much and I was struggling with the menopause symptoms without HRT. I definitely need some form of hrt now though, but feel more comfortable now that the menopause has started naturally.

Thanks for the advice, will look into your suggestions.

Kliovance changed my life.

Discoisabelle do you exercise? I had joint/muscle pain for years - since the birth of DC1 22 years ago really - and finally doing regular weight training has made such a difference. I did use pessaries for a year or so but I was startling awake every hour or so at night; turns out disturbed sleep is one of the possible side effects.
I did take sage tablets for a long time, which helped with the hot flushes, but I don't think they're meant to be taken long term. Luckily the flushes have stopped now (54).

I've been much better since my patches (Evorel 25) daily sage and black co-hosh tablets and a well woman multi supplement Inc evening primrose. I started the supplements in Jan after eighteen months of flushed sleepless nights, joint pain and added the patches in May. I have tried dropping various bits but just feel awful again so I'm sticking with the whole shebang costs me a fortune but I can sleep my joints feel better my claw hands have gone and I'm not eating everything in sight! I think for me the sage tablets control the flushes the supplements/patches help the joint pain and the patches have brought my appetite back to normal. I do keep getting an upset stomach though so next attack is dietary.

Why aren't sage recommended long term? I have read that supplements like evening primrose oil long term can strip your body of minerals so I do three months on one month off of those I can't give up my sage though.

Have been on Tibolone for 4 years after my ovaries were removed, my weight is creeping up slowly but surely despite exercising more than I ever have done
I had no idea it was a steriod :(
Was put on it specifically as it's synthetic. If I go to the dr is there another one I can suggest to them?

Femoston is a mix of hormones very close to our own, or you could try oestrogen gel plus Utrogestan (either 100mgs daily for no bleed, or 200 mgs x 10 days a month for a cyclical regime.)

PollyPerky thank you for your reply, i do exercie every day, ie walking in the hills one hour each day which is awfully painful, the weird thing is that i am losing the lovely leg muscles i have always had, i am not overweight (8 stones) i eat a super clean vegan diet (and YES with plenty of protein !), i take Mg, Vit D2 & D3, primrose oil, EPA & DHA vegan oils, i have scrolled all the posts about joint aches to get more info about how ladies deal with, lady menopause lady said Femoston was one of her favourite, well right now, it's doing the opposite, exrercise makes absolutely no difference, pilates and yoga classes have been cancelled as i am not bendy anymore, hurts too much and makes me wince so feeling very self conscious in front of everyone, my strength is leaving me, aaarrgghh i wonder if i should ask for 2/10mg at next review in September.

Disco- you are not going to see huge changes after 14 days of HRT! Not to your joints anyway. It may take 6 months. Hang on in there and if no improvement after 3 months, consider trying 2mgs.

Sheldon, I seemed to be often having tender breasts, and read (somewhere on tinternet) that this could be a side effect of the sage. Don't take my word for it, though!
Disco, you might find starting a weights-based exercise programme makes a difference. Just go gently to start with with fewer reps and not trying to push yourself. I stretched and stretched for years and it made sod all difference.