Thinking of stopping the Estrogel

[PositiveDiscipline]

Last August I begged my GP for HRT and was given Estrogel and Utrogeston tablets. My main concern was the overwhelming anxiety and low mood I had. This had been going on for 2+ years. I can date my symptoms back to Dec 2016. Initially I felt better (possibly placebo effect) and then I felt worse on the progesterone 1/2 of the month. I then started exercising and this was the one thing that made most of the difference to my anxiety and mood.

I am just not seeing any improvement with the Estrogel. I still sweat and I still get anxiety unless I hammer it out down the gym and in yoga. I do not get any other physical symptoms. My GP initially said that my PMS had ramped up in peri-menopause and my periods were very heavy.

I am thinking of dropping my Estrogel dose to see if anything changes and possibly just having the Mirena and see how that goes. I do feel better over the past few weeks but that it the Mirena and exercise IMO. However in the past few weeks I have noticed that I am bloated and have put weight on.

Anyone else dropped HRT and just did the Mirena?

OP, 85% of menopausal U.K. women never start hrt in the first place. The vast majority of us don’t have symptoms severe enough to make us seek treatment. Menopause is a natural event in the life cycle, and there is no need to medicalise it unless it occurs abnormally early or the symptoms are excessive and have an impact on ability to function, eg at work.
If you want to stop, then stop.

It's possibly the Mirena causing the weight gain- it is a known side effect.

The other possibility is that you may need a higher dose of gel- how old are you?

The dose is 2 pumps to start with but you can go up to 4- this is on the leaflet. Younger women in peri often need more estrogen to top up their own levels.

The vast majority of women - 75%- do have menopausal symptoms that are troublesome. Various stats show this- in fact it's the most common stat around. So few women use HRT because they were scared off by the now-discredited trials in 2000- 2002.

Natural event? So was the plague, and so is cancer and the common cold -all perfectly 'natural'. So logically we should eschew all drugs and just get on with it until we die- another natural event- or get better (if we did.)

I am 49.
My boobs have doubled in size and they were massive to start with!

Lucky- you! Wish mine had!

Seriously, there are other options. One- which your GP may agree to under their supervision- is extending the cycle to 5 or 6 weeks so you only take the progestogen then and have more of the estrogen-only weeks. You could go for 4 weeks or 5 before taking the utrogestan (I've been doing this for years under supervision.)

Your other option is to use the Utrogestan vaginally- same dose but insert at bedtime. This will avoid some of the side effects including mood swings as it avoids first bypass through the liver.

If you are still having sweats that is a sign the estrogen dose is too low as it's not controlling your symptoms.