HRT weight gain.

[Winniethepooer]

I started Femoston 1/10, 4 weeks ago.

I don't know when to expect a "period' or bleed but i feel so bloated & fat. Almost like PMT.

I can't do my trousers or jeans up. My breasts are bulging out of my bras!

I've always been slim a size 8/10. I dont know what i weigh. This feels really uncomfortable.

I'm really watching what i eat. I do need to increase my exercise, both type & consistency.

Could it be the HRT or just a menopause sympton?

Not on that type sorry so can’t be of any help but just wanted to offer my sympathies, that sounds really uncomfortable. Hopefully, someone will be along soon with some words of wisdom.

Go back and see your GP. This is useful NHS link - says that the weight gain is more to do with the menopause than the HRT, but then it does list bloating as a side effect of HRT. There are lots of types of HRT out there - if one isn't suiting you, then there will be another which might.

Hi Winnie! Hope you feel better! I think that your body tries to make estrogen creating more fat cells. Maybe the dose of your estrogen is low for you. I didn't gain any weight, I go to the gym 4 times every week and take care of my diet. Maybe is your diet wrong or you have to increase your activity? Take care! 💐

I've spent a lot of time researching this and all the real valid research shows no link to HRT. what is most likely is that weight gain coincides with lower metabolism as we get older. The only answer is to eat less and exercise more. I have been on HRT for 10 yrs. Not put on any weight due to it, but did put on 5 lbs through eating just that bit too much and had to work hard to lose it- 1000cals a day tops.

Hi Ladies, I'm hoping someone out there can give me some reassurance I've recently started taking femostom 1/10 and now into week 2 and I feel Fat ! mid section, unable to do my trousers up, I'm giving it a bit longer and really hoping it balances out and I start to regain a nice shape again and feel fantastic 🤞

I'm also interested in this: I started patches a week ago and have put on half a stone, despite being at the gym just as much as before. Is this short term or is that wishful thinking?

I've read the evidence that says hrt doesn't make you gain weight. But 2 weeks into it and I feel bloated and uncomfortable. I've put on 4 pounds too. It's also made some of my symptoms worse. I'm not sure whether to keep going. I also wonder whether this is short term. Any other experiences?

Evidence will look at population based it doesn't mean that as individuals weight gain can't be explained by hrt.

There isn't a bit of doubt that it was causing me weight gain. My weight had been very stable for years despite being in the throw of the perimenopause for 4 years. Having read about possible weight gain, I made sure to record everything that was going through my mouth and keep it under 1800 calories which less than my normal intake. I continued to exercise just the same. Yet the weight started to creep up from the first week of taking hrt and after 2 months I'd put on 1/2 à stone which at 8 1/2 stones is a lot. I came off itc, again kept to the same regime and sure enough 2 months later I was back to my old weight. That was 4 months ago and I've managed to lose another 2 pounds and I'm now a bit slimmer than last year.

I've seen friends and colleagues suddenly putting on weight not gradually as the menopause hit them but suddenly when they started hrt.

That's very true swing, about individuals and larger studies.
Are you managing your symptoms in other ways?

Thanks for sharing what happened to you.

I'm not sure how long to give it, the symptoms are still there, some are even worse, for example I'm sleeping badly and still having mood swings. I might go back to Dr, and see what she says.

I put on weight when I first started on Elleste duet in March. It has all gone now and I am back to my normal weight. It think it was my body adjusting.

Tododoingdone, I also didn't feel my symptoms improving whilst on it even after increasing the dose.

My symptoms were not characteristics, hot flashes and night sweats are mild and easily manageable. My main issue is that the menopause has made me extremely alert and struggling to relax. This means that the worse side of it is the lack of decent sleep. Not sure whether poor sleep triggers the alertness or vice versa, I suspect both.

Hrt didn't really help with that. I slept a bit better at times but then worse at others. Progesterone helped a tiny bit the first few days and then sent me in depressive and even hyper mode so sleep even worse. Then I crashed when stopped it, heart rate and blood pressure going very low and was hit by horrible lightheadness and dizziness that got so bad I was hardly able to make it to work.

hrt seems to work so well for so many people. My best friend has totally turned her life around since being on it and I'm so envious!

I think I'd be OK if I could sort out the sleep issue.

Poor sleep is a known factor with regard to weight gain.

This is just one paper there is a lot more out there. (this one is 12 years old ]]
academic.oup.com/aje/article/164/10/947/162270

Are you doing all the usual things to help with sleep- ie exercise, not eating late, no caffeine/ alcohol , no screen time for at least an hour before bed, and good sleep hygiene?

For me, HRT was a wonder drug re sleep because I found getting to sleep impossible and woke many times a night feeling very alert.

HRT really sorted my sleep out too.

Very jealous of those whose sleep got sorted with hrt. I guess it can't be a miracle treatment for all. At least it isn't causing me to gain weight so that's one thing I suppose!

I think a lot may depend on what sort you / we use.

I am on long cycle HRT ( so progestogens only once every 6-8 weeks.) Sometimes the progesterone makes me feel sleepy, other times hotter at night.
If I was doing 14 days every 28 with this, I'd not be a happy bunny!

Have you tried different types of HRT and found any link between either weight gain/ dose (especially with the type of progestogen) and whether you used conti combined or sequential?

From your previous post, it looks as if you only use HRT for 2 months then stopped due to weight gain? On average you were gaining 1lb a week.

You may well have found it settled down if you continued beyond 2 months- drs say give it all 3 months at least.

Was on it for 3 months and stopped because it didn't help me at all with my worse symptom, poor sleep, and because I had horrible progesterone withdrawal when my heart rate BP dipped after I stopped it leaving me very faint, lightheaded and dizzy to the point of not being able to function normally, so much worse than the symptoms of the peri.

I spoke to gp about reducing the progesterone but he was clueless about it and when I said if I did so I would need to have regular scans and he said he could assure me that this would be possible.

There are no NHS menopause specialist anywhere where I live, the closest is 1 1/2 hours at best. Gynae services are under huge pressure and long waits and even the closest private consultant is more than an hour away on a good day.

I'm OK with it all, its just the sleep but having looked back at my futbit data, I was actually sleeping even worse during these 3 months, albeit more stressed, so it really doesn't inspire me to give it a 2nd try.

Sorry OP for derailing your thread.

I have had one horrible experience like you of progesterone withdrawal- last month as it happened- but that's been the first/ worst in 10 years. It was very scary.

If you aren't willing to travel to see anyone else- is an hour out of the question? - then I guess you are going to have to focus on sleep hygiene and anything else that might help.

I'm sorry you went through this. Yes it is horrible and really put me off any progesterone treatment. An hour is probably more 1 1/2. I work FT and travel one hour (different direction) so it's not great. At the moment, the stress of the travel and cost to see someone who for all I know is not that competetent and won't tell me anymore than I read on the internet is making me stay away but who knows if it gets worse.

The one thing I wondered is whether continuous progesterone with oestrogen would help. I know that this is only prescribed 2 or 3 years after last period but could there be exceptions?

Thanks for your support Queens. If only I could sleep OK, this menopause palaver would be a breeze for me.

@swingofthings Funny question for you: when you had the fainting episode, were you actually bleeding? I assumed (for myself) that the reaction I had was linked to the period type pain at the start of the bleed- I feel it in my thighs mainly- and my body's reaction to that. I didn't link it to the actual withdrawal of Utrogestan, as such.

Mine came on really quickly about 48 hrs after the last tablet - and I'd already been spotting for a couple of days . Thankfully I was at home but had to lie down for an hour and felt terrible.

How does this compare with you?