GP has asked what type of HRT I want to try?

[CactusFlowers]

And I have no idea. Have an appointment booked to discuss it further. Have read half of the internet but with the shortages as well I can’t work out what might be best?

Perimenopause. Have uterus.

I’m not sure I like the idea of gel. It sounds a bit of a faff waiting for it to dry and mornings are tight enough time wise.

Do many people get on with the combined patches these days? Or would an oestrogen patch plus utrogeston be better?

Oral contraception made me a fat, grumpy arse. Is this likely to be my hrt experience as well?

I went to my GP with a mind to asking for Oestrogel and progesterone capsules after looking online at what other women had recommended and their experiences.

She did prescribe what I'd asked for although recommended the coil which I wasn't so keen on. I apply the gel in bed and take my capsule before I lie down (just done it now) and I find it dries really quickly. I only use one pump on each arm though.

Love my combined patches. Easy, change twice a week and don’t think about it.

I did try a mirena some years ago but didn’t get on with it. Not sure it it is worth trying again?

Can you apply gel at bed time if sharing a bed?

That’s what appeals to me about patches. I have other daily meds to take and I want make it as easy as possible.

@CactusFlowers I always feel suicidal on the pill so had similar reservations.

I'm two weeks in to HRT and I chose patch and utrogestan. I don't really use moisturiser on my body so the idea of smearing gel on was a bit grim for me.

And I chose the utrogestan over the mirena because I've tried the coil twice, first time I never stopped bleeding and the second time I could feel it and was in awful pain. Also given how hard it is to get a GP appointment I can imagine it would be difficult to get an appointment to have it removed.

Oh and the uro-gynae I saw about my estrogen deficiency caused prolapse pushed me to the mirena and I was so irrationally enraged about his mansplaining (he did mansplain it like he was on playschool) so I'm damned if I'm going for one of those.

I read every thread on here going back years, plus listened to a ton of Louise Newson podcasts and the menopausing book by davina, so in the end I felt informed enough to ask for these.

GP prescribed over the phone.

So far I've had headaches every evening and my breasts have got very tender like when I have pmt normally. And I can't stop eating but that may be a mental reaction to reading threads about weight gain on HRT!

Oh and I'm still crying on a daily basis but hoping that will stop soon.

But I'm told it's 3 months to settle in so I've warned my husband, who hasn't found the last few years a bed of roses with me that it might be a little while longer.

I have the gel and it takes seconds to dry. I put it on after my morning shower. By the time I’ve put it on and then got my clothes out ready and put deodorant on it’s all sunk in and I can get dressed.

It's hard to say because everyone is different. For me, the Mirena coil and estrogen patches have been brilliant. Gel was terrible. But I know not everyone gets on with the coil and lots of women swear by the gel.

Davina's book talks through all of the different options in quite a lot of detail.

The gel only takes a minute to dry, I use one pump each morning and evening.

Thanks everyone. I’m still none the wiser but lots to think about.

I use combined patches for ease. They’ve been brilliant. I never got on with hormonal contraception so was worried about these too, but I’ve had no real side effects at all. One month I had slightly swollen and tender breasts but that settled down and since then it’s been plain sailing.

I also use vagifem pessaries and ovestin cream when I remember to apply a bit of oestrogen directly where it’s most needed.

It has reversed any drying/shrinking/shrivelling up that I was experiencing. My mood is steady and positive (although I also added in Citalopram at a low dose when going through a big break up last year, so that will have helped too) and my energy/enthusiasm for life and memory issues etc are all much improved too.