Giving up HRT due to awful side effects

[GoodVibesHere]

I started Evorel Sequi patches in March. They stopped my horrendous night sweats (I was soaking through the bedsheets every single night). They eased my aches and pains. BUT, I am so very angry and irritable on the two weeks progesterone. Also my boobs get so sore and heavy, and I'm bloated, massive appetite and weight gain.

I'm giving up. I'm going to have to stop the patches, I can't deal with the side effects. I'm so disheartened.

How do I come off them? Do I just stop cold turkey? Has anyone else stopped suddenly? Thanks

Please speak to the HRT nurse at your surgery or the GP, they will be able to prescribe an alternative that could suit you better.

How do you take the progesterone? Lots of people on here use it vaginally instead of orally (can be the same capsules, doesn’t have to be the specific pessaries). There’s info about it online, some people who are sensitive to progesterone find it better as it’s acting locally where it’s needed and reduces the side effects.

In your place I would switch the progesterone to vaginal and if that didn’t help I would try different delivery ie patch or spray

Just realised you said sequi patches, I assume the progesterone is in the patches then?

I was thinking of Utrogestan tablets. Sorry for rubbish link:

menopausesupport.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FAQ-Oestrogen-Progesterone-Sept-21.pdf

Yes I'm on Sequi as I still have periods. So the progesterone I take is in the patches. I use Evorel patches for 2 weeks and Conti patches for 2 weeks.

So could I use patches for the first two weeks and something else during the second two weeks?

There are so many options with HRT that it might take a bit of tinkering to find the right combination. Also, if you are peri-meno then your natural cycle is going to still have an effect.

Have you considered oestrogel and a mirena coil? This is what I have ended up with. The oestrogel dose can be easily varied and, for me has made a big difference to PMT symptoms.

Don't give up!

You could switch to an oestrogen only patch with utrogestan tablets for the two weeks. I can’t tolerate them for a full two weeks so do ten days.

Another alternative is a mirena coil which is a very low dose of progesterone, then use oestrogen patch / gel alongside that.

You could try oestrogel and utrogestan 100mg every day with either the mirena coil OR the mini pill (to give you the other half of the progesterone you need alongside the utrogestan). I do this and find having the same amount of hormones continuously all month long works better for me.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have never suffered PMS symptoms previously, it's the HRT doing this to me. I refuse the coil as I don't want to go through pain, and I hate the thought of a coil inside me.

I had my first coil a year ago and there was no pain. It was just like having a smear.
It massively reduced my rages.

Could you try Venlafaxine? It is a low-dose antidepressant that helped enormously with breakthrough hot flushes and my mood. (And sleep)

No. It's not recommended any more for menopause unless women can't use HRT for medical reasons.

Specialists have been working very hard to educate GPs to stop them prescribing ADs, (which also have side effects and none of the benefits of estrogen) and it also goes against the NICE guide.

@GoodVibesHere As others have said, there are many options.

Pill form- Femoston which has a well-tolerated progestogen.

Mirena coil + estrogen patch or gel.

Estrogen only patch + Utrogestan

If you have very bad reactions to progesterone, you can (on medical advice and supervision) sometimes reduce it to 10 days a month rather than 12 (and I think patches have 14 days.)

I wonder if anyone can help? I have been on this journey for almost two years and tried all different methods of HRT and now I'm back on original Everol patches . The problem is 9 weeks in and I am having really painful vaginal issues, it's like I have thrush or something and worse when I sit down, stomach is a little bloated and need to pee a lot! This happened before but went away but worse this time, anyone had this? Been all checked, ultrasound scan and internal and everything normal

Have you tried internal oestrogen? Ie Ovestin cream? I would try that. You’ll need it prescribed via your GP.

No haven't tried that

No, don't just stop cold turkey. Go back to your gp and explain the symptoms and they will try you with something else.

I am also peri and started on evoril sequi. Like you, I felt so much better for the 1st two weeks each cycle, but my moods when on the 2nd two weeks with progesterone were exactly like before - horrendous. Would get upset and angry all the time, totally rude and just couldn't help it. But I loved the 1st two weeks!

So I went back, and my doctor put me on evoril 75 patches throughout, and the progesterone is taken orally via tablets for days 15-26 (so 12 days in total). Ultrogen tablets 100mg.

I'm on my third cycle with this, and find my moods are soo much better, I'm really happy with it (though having to remember when to take the tablets is proving a pain!) However, now I'm not having any bleed, which is concerning. I understand the whole point of the progesterone is to make the uterus wall stop thickening/fall away each month and thereby reduce the risk of cancer.

So I will have to go back again and see what they say (she did say to give it a few more months first to see if my body settled into the new routine so I will do that, but if no change I'll go back and see what else can be done).

So in essence, go back and see your doctor and discuss trying other options.