54..new to hrt..weight gain..😭😭

[Whosaidthattt]

I started HRT Evorel patches 6 months ago and they have greatly improved my sleep, flushes, aches and anxieties. HOWEVER, the weight gain has left me soooo upset. I have always been a size 10. Went clothes shopping today and found a size 12 too tight.
I couldn't quite believe that I have gone up almost 2 sizes in 6 months! I was so upset looking at myself in the changing room and I put everything back. I couldn't bring myself to buy clothes 2 sizes up.
Where do I go from here? I'm active, I eat well and can't believe this is me.
What do I do now???!!!

Exactly the same happened to me OP. I was putting on about 2-3 lbs every month. After 6 months I'd put on over a stone. I went back to the GP who took me off them. She offered to try me on a different type but told me some women do put weight on with HRT. As symptoms had calmed down I decided to do without.

About 10 lbs here. I’m on Divigel and am experimenting taking half dose to see if I will at least half the weight. I hate it, my boobs are massive and everything looks shit on me.

I feel quite spongy and have read it can cause water retention I’m reluctant to stop HRT though because of the long term benefits and I was a hormonal wreck before I took it. I’m hoping my choices aren’t just fat or crazy!

I had the same issue with Everol. 1lb per week for the 9 weeks I used it.

I also had increased issues with stress incontinence so I stopped using it as the benefits did not outweigh the disadvantages for me

Exactly the same here nomorechoco! My boobs are huge which i hate, I've always been fairly flat chested. And yes, all my summer clothes look shit on me too. Spongy is how I feel too.
Not sure what's worse- symptoms before or my new body. 😭😭

Same Im off my patches. Def weight gain too. Didnt feel it helped my sleep etc. But yes tops feel tighter sick it..

And did your weight go back to normal once you came off?

I was on femoston 1 5 and put on 1 stone in a month. My boobs were hard and extreamly painful, worse than during pregnancy. Every bra hurt me and felt like it was made of barbed wire. I came off the tablets and its now been about 6 weeks. I'm still fatter than before. My boobs only hurt at bedtime and feel almost normal again and my bras no longer feel like a torture device. Taking those tablets was a terrible terrible decision. I'm not my waist and hips will ever return to normal. I've never had fat square hips before. I've always had slim hips. The tummy has always been prone to fat but not my hips.

That sounds horrific! What dose were you and for how long? I've read stuff that says it calms down after a while but how long do you give?

Im not that long off it.. but I feel the doctors dont tell you this side to it. My friend says her mid area is thicker. Its disheart when clothes wont fit.

Just to say ( although it's quite possible that hrt is the problem ) as you reach menopause it seems your body's calorie requirements drop at least 10% so it's easy to do everything as before and gain a stone in a few months

@Whosaidthattt What dose are you on?
Some women are given too high a dose to start.
Weight gain is often too high a dose, too soon, or the wrong/ continuous use of progesterone.

Patches come as 25mcgs (estrogen only) and you'd use a separate progestogen with them (Norethisterone or Utrogestan.)

Unfortunately, most GPs don't know enough about HRT to prescribe it differently for each patient.

I'd really suggest you try a lower dose of estrogen ( easily managed with gel or spray) and a different progesterone, and also use it on a cycle, not both hormones daily.

I've not gained any weight on HRT in 15 years, even though I tend to gain weight very easily through eating too much.

Don't give up but talk to your dr about different forms and combinations.

I'm on Elleste Duet and feel like it's helped me regain my waist (alongside serious reset of healthy eating diet and intermittent fasting). Prior to HRT I was alarmed at the thickening of my waist and change of body shape, have always been pear shaped but the weight was piling onto my upper body. Weight loss is much slower now though 🙄

I didn't want to believe this could be true when I started taking HRT earlier this year. I was taking it mainly due to the long term benefits as I have some symptoms but usually mild

Anyway, I'm a little bit overweight usually but I just could not lose a lb on HRT and was gradually putting on weight. It seemed like my sugar cravings were really high and I was constantly hungry

I stopped HRT just over 3 weeks ago and I'm now 11 lbs down and ot was very easy

So, for me, HRT was preventing me from losing weight and my weight was creeping up

I was on the gel and utrogestan.

I probably will go back to it but the weight thing is a slight concern

Just to put an different perspective, I've been successfully losing weight throughout starting HRT. About 11lbs after. It did make me hungrier initially and boobs bigger but this only lasted a couple of weeks. Increasing protein and keeping food intake limited (myfitnesspal) have been key for me. My tummy seemed to drop padding it had been holding on to.

I can imagine the hungriness could easily lead to eating more without realising, or water retention..I have mostly cut salt out which seems to help a lot. On days I have salt the bloat is real!

I was on Femoston conto 1mg/5 mg. For 28 days. The night sweats improved straight away. The rest was worse. Brain fog was terrible coming off them. I never want to try them again. I've actually found my own way of dealing with it. I have one ovary that is still slightly working, one folicale left, so I've gone on to the combined contraceptive pill. I'm only 44 so I think this is acceptable until I reach 50. I'm not prepared to try anything else for a while. I feel better for it. Things seem normal again down below too. I was previously on the mini pill (before I knew I was in menopause) but I obviously need both hormones for my body to work properly. What made me realise I was in menopause was a UTI and a slow weight gain since 2 years ago. I saw the doctor who gave me an internal ultra sound.

And that's when I learnt I was in menopause. One ovary has completely stopped working and one is hanging in there. The doctor tried to put me on something else but I just wasn't prepared to try it. I feel fat and ugly. Anymore weight gain and I can honestly say I would have become severely depressed. I know that sounds dramatic but that's how I feel. I try and be chirpy saying weight doesn't matter, clothes size doesn't matter but for me it does. I feel to young to be dealing with this shit. I was so slim 4 years ago. 😢

Even this time last year I was 2 stone lighter.

Gaaaah - I get it! I have the same conversations with myself. Especially as my daughter had some issues around eating and I want to be a good role model but I hate it. I just don't feel like myself anymore.

I know. Before I knew I was in the menopause I remember feeling different. I remember saying to my husband that when I look in the mirror I don't recognise myself anymore, and I ment more than just my looks. Some days I just feel lost. I try to make the best of it but not feeling yourself and not looking like yourself is very hard to cope with on a daily basis. All the signs were there, hair thining, weight gain, moods and drinking too much due to la k of confidence, anxiety, awful sore labia skin... How I didn't know! I never realised that the menopause was so bad. I feel completely let down, I don't know who by but why didn't I know all of this?

I'm in the same boat. I'm carrying an extra stone which I can't shift. I've lost my sense of humour. I'm uptight all the time. My eyelashes seem to be disappearing. I can't tolerate alcohol anymore. My boobs are the size of my head and they HURT! Im on 100 Evorel patches and continuous Utrogestan and I am fed up with all of it. I want to stop taking it but then the dryness and hot flushes will come back and there is no way I can deal with that either. I just want to be me again and I feel like I will never be the same person again 😢

Wanting to be me again is my biggest wish. I went out tonight for a meal with friends, I tried on 3 outfits, and redid my eye make up 3 times. 4 or 5 years ago my friends were saying I'd look good in a bin bag. I'm so sad for what I've lost. All my confidence has gone.

So what's the answer? What does everyone else do? How come Davina M is slim and fit and smiley?

Probably because she eats very little.

I suggested upthread that if weight gain is an issue, look at swapping the progestogen or using it only 12 days a month, even if post-meno.

Metabolism can change during meno (there are some articles about this online- science not just 'opinion') and some of the gut-health science points to it being helpful for meno and weight (see the Zoe library on the website.)

Agree Davina is very slim. I just dont want to creep up another size. Was on 50patch then 75 then back on 50. No amazing results. Sleep is mixed still sweats. Its very hit and miss for me.

She recently shared what she ate in a day. It wasn't pasta n pizza every night that's for sure. It was leaning towards high protein and portion controlled.