I was prescribed Evorel Sequi approx. 4 months ago and for the most part, it has been a god send. The prescription is 50 micrograms of estradiol per 24 hours for the single hormone patch and the same again on the dual patch, with 170 micrograms of norethisterone per 24 hours.
My symptoms were quite bad – high level of anxiety, depression, crying over the slightest thing, crying over nothing and not being able to stop, not being in control of responses to people, sleep issues, upper thigh pain which then began to include elbows and shoulders, dropping almost everything I picked up, tripping over my own feet, brain fog, forgetfulness and lack of concentration/focus. I am 47 in 4 months and my periods are regular but much, much lighter and shorter.
Since being on these patches, overall my symptoms have improved massively. I have found I am 100% back to my ‘normal’ self on the dual hormone with still some small adjustments going on with the single hormone patch – bad eating mainly, with some lethargy which is improving each month.
Initially I had my first 2 periods on the last patch of the dual hormone and sailed through, no problems.
However……. for the last 2 periods, both times I have come on after starting a new round of patches. That is, my period comes on the 2nd day of a new 4 patch cycle of the single hormone.
It has been horrendous – the cramps come in waves, like a contraction, and build up until I am physically sick. I sweat profusely and have a flat fizzing sensation start at my feet and work up my body, where the cycle then starts again, gradually decreasing in severity until I fall asleep out of exhaustion. I literally cannot move a muscle whilst this is going on or its projectile vomiting.
It only lasts between 4 – 6 hours and has then passed but I haven’t had symptoms like this for over 10 years.
(When I did have these symptoms before, they were due to fibroids, cysts, endo and polyps, because my body reacted to a remedy for PMT I have been prescribed from a naturopath. As soon as I stopped the remedy, my symptoms disappeared within weeks. My gynaecologist was perplexed, as scans had shown the fibroids, etc, but when they went in for camera work, everything had gone and my uterus was showing as healthy. The only explanation he had was for my body to have reacted to the remedy when I was taking it.)
My GP, who thankfully is a gynaecological GP and hugely supportive, thinks it’s highly unlikely I have reacted and thinks it more to do with a surge in hormones and my body trying to balance it out the quickest way it can. She has suggested I don’t put on the single hormone patch at the end of the dual hormone until I have my period start, like what you do when you start HRT (if you still have periods)
Has anyone else experienced this at all? If I delay putting the new, single patch on at the end of an 8 patch cycle, am I risking more unbalance in my body from not having a patch on for a few days? I really don’t want to stop HRT as it has helped and emotionally, made me much more balanced and saner.