Is it too early to think that HRT may have changed my life?

[oggbogg]

Hello everybody. I am 48 and started taking HRT about four weeks ago. I think it might just have changed my life.

I have so much more energy but it's also like this fog has lifted from my brain and I can see everything in sort of sharp focus again. I honestly thought that I had fibromyalgia or something, I just felt really terrible for about half of every month. Weak, terrible headaches, sore, a bit weepy, all that stuff. I carried on but everything felt like such an enormous effort. Now that has gone and I just feel .. really well?!

But I'm also slightly terrified - it is only four weeks. Could I be imagining it? I'm so worried that this is some sort of placebo effect and the symptoms are going to come rushing back. Anyone else had this?

I felt the same. Life changing and fabulous - I just wish I'd started sooner! I felt like a dark heavy blanket had been lifted from me. I can sleep again, I'm happier and calmer, my skin is better. I just feel like a normal functional human again instead of a hot, tearful, angry, exhausted wreck!

Yes exactly @pleaseholdcaller1 - it's not as if life suddenly has no challenges, more that those challenges just seem that bit easier to manage. I feel a bit sad now at having not done this earlier and having sort of battled through. I feel ... lighter?!

Yes - this was the same for me! I hadn't really appreciated how bad everything had become - sleepless nights, constant aches and pains, brain fog, lack of concentration, sad, anxious . . .

After a few days of HRT I woke up one morning and DH found me sobbing my heart out - it was the first time in about two years I'd slept through the night and I was totally overwhelmed with joy!

Gosh. It makes me sad that there are so many of us battling through this and many people who perhaps don't realise that HRT is an option. I also feel a bit emotional about it - I was starting to think that this must be the start of some sort of terminal decline into old age, even though I do try and do a lot 'right' - exercise, pretty slim, don't drink too much, etc etc. And I was sort of worried about becoming a bit of a millstone round DH's neck, as I just felt so lethargic and flat about everything. I'd checked everything like thyroid and vit D etc. Why doesn't the GP consider hormones?!

I'm sure you're not imagining it. That said, symptoms may come back (but most unlikely to come back in a rush) if you need to switch to a higher dose. Just keep an eye out and go back to the doc if necessary. HRT is fantastic and I am astonished by how little I knew about menopause and HRT before being forced to confront the issue.

I was thinking about this earlier. Definitely life changing for me & I tell everyone about it.
Hate the fact that so many women are scared of it

Wish I could get it me. Is there a magic word to get a gp to agree?

My miracle from HRT happened literally overnight. I had been suffering with crippling anxiety for months, along with insomnia, hot flushes, the works. By the next day my anxiety was gone. Completely. I literally got my life back. Nothing short of amazing.

I am very interested to read this - and hopeful! I have a private appointment booked for the end of April. My GP said I could have anti depressants 😬.

I have so many symptoms you mention as well as really strange eye sight problem in that I can’t change focus properly when I am outside. It really freaked me out and I had an eye test which was clear. After a google it seems to be a common peri menopausal symptom, I just knew nothing about it.

I have my fingers firmly crossed that I get on like you did OP!

I feel I should know this but... can it still help if I’m more or less though menopause as far as I know, and do you have to stay on it forever, and can I take it if I could never get on with either the pill or mirena? I’m 54 and I feel like an old lady...

Also watching this thread with interest. I’ve just in the last few months started feeling boiling hot at random times. I’ve also gone from being a sleep through the night my whole life type person to waking minimum three times per night (due to overheating). No idea if that’s enough reason to go on HRT but I’d do anything to get my sleep back.

My GP said I could have anti depressants 😬.

This absolutely infuriates me and it is so, so common. GP's are notoriously ignorant about peri and ignore women and their suffering. AD'S are not recommended for peri/menopause, don't work for hormonal issues, and can make things worse.

I felt better within 24 hours! I had also convinced myself it was a placebo effect (and actually, so what if it is?) but I also had mild side effects straight away, particularly sore breasts. So my logic was, if I could have the side affects straight away, I could definitely be having the benefits too!

Congrats OP. It's life changing.

Yes @MrsWooster it can and you should, if you want to.

And yes @Babymamamama those are very much reasons to go on HRT as hot flushes and night sweats are pretty much text-book symptoms.

As for @gamerchick a) have you visited The Menopause Doctor website? If not, please check it out as it has a lot of info and also helps you to know your rights. You are entitled to go on on HRT if you fit the criteria and as long as you don't have contraindications you shouldn't be hitting a brick wall with your GP. If you are and s/he is just saying 'no' or offering antidepressants go and see a different doctor. So many women are brushed off, told they're depressed, told they're too young, etc, when it is common to start experiencing symptoms of peri-menopause during your 40s. If you go to see your GP and you are informed of your rights and that your symptoms fit the criteria I'd say you're much more likely to be successful. I didn't ASK the doctor, I told him I WANTED to go on HRT and explained why. He said okay. I was 46. It's amazing! I will stay on it forever, if I can

And no @oggbogg you're bang on the money! It's amazing. It makes me so sad that so many women are afraid of HRT and struggle on for years with horrible symptoms when they could be helped.

Sorry don’t want to derail but I’m finding this so helpful. I have Alzheimer’s in my family line and can’t work out whether it’s better to be on HRT or not from that standpoint. The studies seem so unclear. I would love to go on it if it was beneficial from that angle as well.

Have a watch of the menopause doctor, she’s very honest about all the things it’s good for @Babymamamama I’d get advice but from what she was saying it sounds it’s better to be on it

Ah thanks I will check it out.

I felt better within a couple of weeks of starting HRT. Another one with a GP who was most unhelpful and suggested a relaxing bath for sleeping issues and maybe trying a fan if I got a bit hot! Luckily I was in a menopausal bolshy mood and told her where to stick the fan and came away with a prescription.

I can’t believe how much more energetic I feel already, probably a combination of HRT and the fact I’m getting more than two hours sleep a night. Another thing that’s disappeared is a horrible feeling of doom that would happen just before a hot flush. They were almost worse than anything else.

www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/menopause/058-changing-the-perception-around-hrt-davina-mccall-dr-louise-newson

@Babymamamama

Sorry don’t want to derail but I’m finding this so helpful. I have Alzheimer’s in my family line and can’t work out whether it’s better to be on HRT or not from that standpoint. The studies seem so unclear. I would love to go on it if it was beneficial from that angle as well.

It's about understanding and weighing up risk. I think given my family history of breast cancer, there's an increase in my risk there. But I'm willing to take that tiny increased risk in return for better mental health - I was having suicidal thoughts which literally disappeared overnight.

Luckily I was in a menopausal bolshy mood and told her where to stick the fan and came away with a prescription.

that's the spirit!

I'm 3 weeks into hrt and can't decide if I'm feeling as great as I think I do through wishful thinking but this thread has convinced me it may be for real. I had horrific anxiety and rage, that's gone. My dreadful insomnia has improved a bit and I'm getting a more manageable amount of sleep too. I've also noticed my hair and skin look and feel better, and I even instigated a shag with dp last night, genuinely out of desire. Hurrah!

Completely transformative here too, mainly mentally. Within 2-3 weeks my brain just felt it wasn't struggling anymore. The up and downs and instability was causing incredibly anxiety beforehand... This is the third month and hasn't gone away (wondering where I might need to up the dose actually). This website is amazing, the forum is very useful with hugely knowledgeable posters (some are on here too!):

www.menopausematters.co.uk/

@ladygindiva

I'm 3 weeks into hrt and can't decide if I'm feeling as great as I think I do through wishful thinking but this thread has convinced me it may be for real. I had horrific anxiety and rage, that's gone. My dreadful insomnia has improved a bit and I'm getting a more manageable amount of sleep too. I've also noticed my hair and skin look and feel better, and I even instigated a shag with dp last night, genuinely out of desire. Hurrah!

Sleep is everything though, isn't it? If it's helping you sleep then it's worth it, everything else is a bonus.