Estrogel

[Angel1969]

Hi ladies, I am 45 and been feeling super anxious, hot and generally knackered! I have suffered anxiety before but this year has been a different level. I kept reading how the stars see private menopause doctors and now they are feeling great! So I did the same and was prescribed estrogel and ustrogean 12 days a month. I only did the estrogel for 3 days (2pumps) and I literally felt awful! I kept falling asleep, felt sick and soooo tired. I have stopped it. Anyone else found this with estrogel? Thanks

It's almost impossible it was the gel in 3 days. More likely your own hormones.
It takes a few weeks to build up in your system. You might feel slightly nauseous at the start but the best way round that is to reduce your dose to 1 pump and build up to 2 over a couple of weeks or longer. Try it again and start low then build up.

ps you don't need to see a private dr for this- a GP can prescribe. It's mainstream HRT.

Thanks for info , I know I just kept reading that private menopause specialist great etc, I wasted my money! I did put two pumps on and really felt rough. Is a tiny bit worth it ? I have stopped it and plan see my nhs gp. Who rightly advised me to wait 3 months (as I just stopped pill) for blood test and go from there, but I didn’t listen and met with a private doctor.

Blood tests are not offered for meno or peri- NICE guides for GPs. If Estrogel works, then you need it.

It's not a 'tiny bit' -one pump is 0.75 mgs of estrogen. This is just below the usual starting dose for tablet form HRT which is 1mg estrogen.

I felt nauseous when i first started Estrogel but it went after a few days, start with 1 pump of it.

Blood tests are unreliable, our GP practice won't do them for that reason.

@Angel1969, you need to take the correct dose, you know?

Feeling anxious is a symptom of perimenopause and you aren’t able to see it yet as you’re in the throes of it!!!!

Three days of taking the gel isn’t enough time to make any difference at all. You’ll see a difference in a few months. But you need to take the HRT in the prescribed dose.

Stick with it. I’m sure in a few months you’ll look back and laugh at yourself... hrt saved me. All the anxiousness I had just ebbed away. Looking back, I’m sure I was just as anxious and uneasy as you without it... it’s a symptom of low hormones.. you must give the hrt time to work.

Just use the prescribed dose, and go to your GP in a few months if you feel as anxious as you do now.
I bet you won’t.

Thanks for your message xx I just felt so spaced out,nauseous and tired when I did the gel for 3 days? I slept loads. Is that normal ?

@Dorje The dose is 2 pumps yes, but many menopause consultants will advise on starting with less and building up. I've used it for 12 years and was advised to start with a pea-sized blob to see how that felt after 2-3 weeks and build up if no improvement. This is the beauty of gel- it can be altered for each woman. I know of lots of women who only use one pump after being on it for years as that is enough to help them.
1 pump of gel is the same as a 25mcg patch- the lowest dose of patch available so it's not unusual to start with that.

@Angel1969 go back to your GP and tell her everything. Go to menopausematters.com to read up on symptoms. You’ll see that uneasiness, anxiety and fatigue is a symptom of menopause.

@JinglingHellsBells I know that we can think we can take whatever dose we like and start and stop but I think the OP needs to go back to her GP, and get this sorted. It’s all very well to say I only used a blob etc etc, but we are not her doctor.

@Dorje I doubt her GP has a clue. Unless they are menopause specialists they appear to know very little and will simply tell her to use the dose shown on the pack.

I was sharing advice given to me by a meno specialist, who trains other medical professionals, which is surely worth listening to, even if she chooses not to do what they advise?

Hello I'm just about to start using oestrogel pump pack . I had hysterectomy 41/2 years ago so well into menopause and all its horrible symptoms. I know this is a silly question but does 1 pump have to be spread over both arms or is it 1 pump for each arm x thank you in advance

I’ve just started using the gel too 3 days ago. There is no way anyone can say it’s not enough time to affect you when I feel extremely depressed this morning and I have never felt this way before. I only have urine incontinence as an affect of menopause and was prescribed this stuff. I’ll be stopping it from today as the tight feeling in my head is not something that feels like I can contour with.

@Yaswinnie That's a shame as they do say give all hrt 3 months for it to settle down.
What dose are you using and what symptoms are you hoping to improve?

Re the leakage- HRT as such is not a treatment in itself . You ought to have been offered vaginal estrogen to help improve the support of the tissues (Ovestin or Vagifem) and a referral to a women's physio for exercises. Was either of these offered?

Yaswinnie I went on HRT for flushes anxiety and generally not feeling like myself.I had constant urination every half and your it was ruining my confidence.With my family history I was given scans and tests for ovarian cancer and my bladder was.checked.
I continued to use estrogel and utrogestan.
A couple of months on I have no urinary issues.Yay.I went for a walk and realised it was 2 hrs since I used the loo.
I wouldn't have believed it could make such a huge difference.