Advice please

[ReginaPhillange]

My gp has recently prescribed me the lenzetto estrogen spray. At the appointment I told her how very low I had been feeling for some time, and how there was a huge deterioration in my mood every month. It’s definitely cyclical. I never had bloods done to confirm any changes in hormone levels. The gp said it wasn’t necessary given what I had told her. I’m a bit nervous to start as I’m only 43 but I know I cannot go on like this, the anxiety and mood swings are becoming unbearable for me and everyone around me. Has anyone had any experience with lenzetto spray?

Not the spray but I use oestrogen gel and it's a magical thing! Give it a try - I felt so much better when I started taking oestrogen so perhaps you will too.

What I would also recommend is to try to get a referral to a menopause clinic. Speaking to a menopause specialist was life-changing - she knew so much more than the GP. Not sure how things like that are working at the minute, though . . .

Sorry, I should also say that I'm 41, and went on oestrogen/HRT around five years ago.

Thanks for your response, I’ve been reading a lot of very positive experiences, I’m gonna start it today.

Can I just ask how long before you started to feel a difference ?

I would say I started to feel a bit better within about a week. The night sweats and hot flushes I'd been having certainly eased within a few days. That's not to say it would work that quickly for everyone, and maybe there's a placebo effect at play (you feel better for trying something). I'm glad to read that you've started it, though; maybe give yourself a month and then reassess if needed.

Can you still conceive in HRT? Does it increase or decrease your chances of getting pregnant. I’m on Femeton HRT?

@Oldie40 I believe it is possible - I read up a lot on it when I started and it sounded to me as if the HRT restored your hormones to where they should be for a normal cycle.

However, there will be underlying reasons as to why you need the HRT in the first place - for me, it was because I had no eggs, and no amount of HRT can fix that. I had to have donor egg IVF to have my DD.

I'm confused. I've seen my gp and a consultant now for my horrendous peri symptoms, migraine, fatigue, insomnia, aches, tinnitus. I've told them I'm suicidal. To mention but a few. I've been told that a) at 46 I'm too young for menopause despite my mother being this age as I have no jot flushes or sweats and b) they can't give me hrt as I'm still having ( irregular) periods. Last one was 57 day gap. I'm actually being directed for a hysterectomy. Then they're going to give me hrt. Why can't I just have hrt without having my uterus and ovaries torn out?

• hot flushes Sorry been awake with my tinnitus since 2am. 10th night on the trot. I'm so fed up.

@ladygindiva that sounds absolutely awful. And familiar, because what you're describing is how I felt. The treatment also doesn't make sense to me. I'm not a medical professional but it boggles my mind that they'd go straight to hysterectomy. Have they checked your hormone levels throughout your cycle? Can you get a second opinion?

Thanks for responding. Sorry to hijack thread. The gp I saw said there were no hormone tests they could do unless my periods had stopped and it was to determine that I had completed menopause. Is this BS?

Discussed with dp taking out a loan and going private. Looks like people had more joy this way.

I mean . . . I'm the kind of person that trusts doctors but it sounds like nonsense to me. I had my hormone levels checked over the course of two cycles; I had low oestrogen, high LH/FSH - can't remember which, possibly both - and low AMH. They then did an ultrasound which is how I found out I have no eggs. As I was having troublesome symptoms, they put me on HRT and I started to feel much better. I was only about 35-36.

It sounds like a private endocrinologist would be a good idea.

Sorry - I should have mentioned that my periods hadn't stopped but they were all over the place. I might have three four-day bleeds in a month, then nothing for two months.

Thanks redpanda. I'm going to make an appt at the docs tomorrow and see a different gp and demand some tests now I know they exist. My dm has offered to help if we need to go private. Don't know what I would do without this website.

@ladygindiva

I'm confused. I've seen my gp and a consultant now for my horrendous peri symptoms, migraine, fatigue, insomnia, aches, tinnitus. I've told them I'm suicidal. To mention but a few. I've been told that a) at 46 I'm too young for menopause despite my mother being this age as I have no jot flushes or sweats and b) they can't give me hrt as I'm still having ( irregular) periods. Last one was 57 day gap. I'm actually being directed for a hysterectomy. Then they're going to give me hrt. Why can't I just have hrt without having my uterus and ovaries torn out?

@ladygindiva This info from your GP is completely untrue. The age of menopause is anywhere from 45-55 and it runs in families.

Have a read of the website of Dr Louise Newson- really good with interviews and podcasts etc.

Read the NICE guidance pinned at the top of this forum.

At 46 (Nice guidance) you do not need blood tests. From the age of 45, NICE tells GPs to treat symptoms.
So if you want to try HRT, ask for HRT.
Have a read of the types on the website of Dr Newson.

There are two main types of HRT

1 For women with periods
2 For women without periods for a year at least.

Your GP is a bit clueless if they don't know the basics like this.

There ought to be no need to go privately for something straightforward like this. Just say you have researched HRT and as you have many symptoms of peri, you want to try it.

@ladygindiva I'm 47 with regular periods and I started hrt 5 months ago. I did see a private Meno Dr though, my GP was useless and told me it was tiredness, depression and young children etc. HRT has reduced all my symptoms significantly.

Wow jingling thanks for taking the time to give that info, looks really useful and that really gives me hope. Thanks too Kelly x some reading to do this evening and get my big girl pants ready to put on for my appt tomorrow, as they say on MN. Thank you for responding.

Update : following a phone consultation with a different gp this morning I am being prescribed hrt pending a routine blood pressure check on Wednesday. Many thanks to those whose words urged me to push for this and not take the first doctors opinion. I'm looking forward to seeing if hrt improves my life.

In my personal experience, GPs are absolutely clueless about helping patients with menopausal symptoms. You get endlessly fobbed off.

Ask for a referral to see a specialist.

I think I got lucky with my locum this morning, what you say is probably true if my previous experiences.

That's great, @ladygindiva - good luck, I hope HRT improves things for you.

How are you, @ReginaPhillange . . . ?

Hey, thanks for asking! Truth is I don’t know!! Better I think, but there is just so much going on it’s hard to determine! I’m struggling with my job and all the crap that everyone is going through just now. I’m definitely feeling a clarity in my mind that’s been lacking, and a bit more positivity.

@ReginaPhillange that's good news - hopefully it will continue to improve things for you!