On HRT, symptoms are better but still huge. Anyone else? Not enough oestrogen maybe...

[Foxy333]

Been on HRT for about 3 years. Night sweats have gone away, straight away.. thank god.
But still have most symptoms.

Hot flushes or feeling hot and sweaty for no reason big chunks of the day.
Poor sleep, poor concentration and forgetting words etc etc

I found out what the 'normal' levels are for oestrogen in the blood normally. I'm on 2.3 mg a day, pills and thinking it's not doing enough to get me back to pre meno levels.

Website said normal levels for estradiol, if you have a blood test should be:

30 to 400 pg/mL for premenopausal women
0 to 30 pg/mL for postmenopausal women
10 to 50 pg/mL for men (!)

I was surprised the level for pre and post meno women was so vast. And so weird men bornally range from 10, but post meno women its normal to range from zero! Less than men's bottom of the range..

The dose I'm on now takes the soaking wet night sweats away but have still got nothing like my previous life pre meno. Every day I'm battling symptoms and they are really tough.

Have you had a medication review with whoever prescribed the HRT ?

You might be better switching to oestrogel rather than the tablets - it’s more easily absorbed into the blood stream so your body gets more of the oestrogen and there’s less risk of side effects (blood clots, liver issues etc) than the tablets. It’s quite rare now for specialists to prescribe anything other than oestrogel or failing that the patches. I would ask for a medication review and go from there- it’s also easier to control / increase how much gel you use depending on symptoms (usual dose is 2 pumps but can be as much as 4).

@Foxy333 which tablet form are you taking?
As far as I can see online, there is no 2.3mgs tablet.

www.menopausematters.co.uk/perimeno.php

Tablets come in 1mg and 2mgs.

I don't understand why you have looked at estrogen levels if you have not had yours tested. What are you trying to work out?

Premenopausal women will have different levels at different times in their cycles which probably accounts for the variation. I would suggest asking for a higher oestrogen dose to see if that makes a difference.

Interesting. I've just had my bloods done. Must ask for copy of results. I'm now on 2mg tablets after already trying gel, and patches.

Thanks for advice. I'm on the combi pill of mg of oestrogen plus utrogestan, each night. And also an 0.3 premarin tablet of oestrogen each morning.
GP added the premarin when I said I still had symptoms, but it's not made any difference.
I've never had a blood test to check my levels. They just prescribed based on symptoms smd my age.
Thank I need to go back.
Good point about gel and patches but I very funny about stuff on my skin.

I would get a blood test to see where your levels are. Won't be totally accurate as levels fluctuate but will give you an idea.

I found, as did a lot of my friends that the gel was fine at first but over time my skin stopped absorbing it properly, so I wasn't getting enough.

What I have learned is that if I have too much oestrogen in my body I get either tender breasts or I bleed. My meno specialist told me if that happens to stop all hormones immediately till it subsides, then start again. It works for me and my sleep is now as good as it gets for someone going through meno, though nothing like it was before. Without HRT i don't sleep at all.