HRT Should I quit or is it worth sticking with it?

[Galadali]

I'm 52, and haven't had a period for 12 months. I have, however, been diagnosed with 3 chronic illnesses in the past 2 years and am subsequently on a lot of medication and long-term steroids.
So, I've had all the symptoms - fatigue, loss of libido, brain fog, etc but whether they are menopause related, side-effects of meds, symptoms of my selection box of illnesses, it's difficult to know.
The brain fog has been really affecting all aspects of my life so my GP suggested HRT and I've been on Evorel 50 patches and Utrogestan 100 for the past 5 weeks. All good at first - raised energy, brain fog clearing and horny as hell. But, over the past week or so Ive had terribly swollen ankles, my boobs are incredibly painful, and last night I had a huge gush of ewcm and blood. I'm now back in bed with full blown period pains (on top of cystitis).
I just don't know whether the benefits are worth the side effects or do I need to give the HRT more time for my body to get used to it? Anyone had similar?

ewcm ?? what's this?

If you have other chronic illnesses it can be hard to know what's what.

Maybe your GP is being a bit fast putting you on continuous HRT. it's possible after 12 months with no periods BUT it's not a hard and fast rule, and it looks as if you are now having a natural period.

(Assume you use 100mg Utrogestan every day?)

It's actually better when starting hrt to go on a sequential regime - 12 days of Utrogestan a month- as this allows you to judge the dose of estrogen without adding another hormone to it.

I don't know why GPs are so fast to prescribe combined continuous the moment a woman says she has not had periods for a while. Some meno specialists actually put women on long-cycle HRT first - several weeks of estrogen-only- so they judge the best dose of that, first.

Maybe think about going onto a sequential regime for a while? It sounds as if you are still in peri if you have a period while on daily Utrogestan.

oh and hope you feel better soon!

Thank you for replying! Yes, I'm on the continuous dose of Utrogestan. My GP seemed fairly convinced that I was done and dusted but I know that other drugs I'm on messed with my cycle. It's so hard to be definitive isn't it?!
This isn't like a regular period, more like waters breaking and mainly egg white consistency fluid with streaks of blood. I'm going to speak to GP later but I'm not sure I trust their knowledge or advice.

@Galadali sorry, when you said you wre in bed with full blown period pain I thought it was a lot of bleeding.

It's actually normal to have some bleeding during the first 6 months of using conti HRT. Your dr ought to have said that. It may be in the leaflets with the HRT.

Having a full-on period is not normal if your periods had stopped, that's the difference.

More vaginal discharge is also normal with all estrogen so I'd not worry on that score.