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Menopause

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Original poster

What made you pull the HRT parachute?

113 replies

carameansbeloved · 17/07/2023 19:21

I’m sure this has been asked but I’ve read three pages of threads and haven’t seen it.

I’ve had a range of symptoms over the last 18 months, all mostly manageable, but one new symptom (bouts of crying at things I would normally take in my stride) is making me consider seeking extra support. But I don’t know if it is “bad enough” to ask for HRT.

What made you pull the HRT parachute?

Or, if you had bouts of crying, did anything other than HRT help?

OP posts:
AnnaMagnani · 17/07/2023 22:15

Had been getting mild hot flushes for years. Thought I might just see how it went, might need HRT, might not.

Then had about 2 weeks of hot flush every night, followed by migraine, and insomnia.

As soon as the sore vag started as well I was done.

So literally 2 weeks of symptoms. And as soon as I was on HRT I felt sooo much better, loads of little gripes that had built up over time just got better and disappeared.

moanybird · 17/07/2023 22:15

Joint pain for me, I felt like I was 90 every morning getting out of bed! I'm 46 and started on Evorel Sequi 6 weeks ago and I can't believe the difference. I am far more energetic and less sore.
I also had mild bladder leakage and terrible anxiety which have both lessened. I'm glad I bit the bullet.

rockingbird · 17/07/2023 22:24

I had to do something.. I was literally going out of my mind. The brain fog, emotional rollercoaster and night sweats were awful.!! I tried patches first and they seemed to work ok -ish then we went into lockdown and couldn't get them for love nor money. I was then switched onto femoston which I've found to be very good. Less brain fog, anxiety levels are much better and the night sweats are gone. I recently tried to come off HRT and lasted just over a month.. sadly all the awful symptoms returned and I gave in and went back on femoston. It's taken just over a month to feel human again 😵‍💫

Passthecake30 · 17/07/2023 22:37

I felt that I’d got through the worst of it - hot flushes, brain fog, insomnia and was just about coping with the vaginal dryness. Then the palpations started so I caved in. I was astounded I much better I felt in just a day.

Original poster
carameansbeloved · 17/07/2023 22:52

All these replies are giving me tremendous hope. Thank you all for sharing your reflections.

OP posts:
Alfiemoon1 · 17/07/2023 23:06

i am going to bite the bullet and ring the gp what types of hrt do you all recommend for me it’s the brain fog insomnia hot flushes and joint pain plus lack of libido i used to get terrible rage and emotional when I started peri but that seems to have calmed down

TheOGCCL · 17/07/2023 23:12

Plenty of women in their forties are still on the pill. I took it to balance my hormones (due to PCOS) in my twenties and thirties, so to me HRT is just more of the same and actually safer at my age (obviously it doesn’t act as a contraceptive unless you have the Mirena). My testosterone levels were found to be really low but if I’d just taken that, my body would have started converting that to oestrogen once that started dropping too.

I also buy the argument that women have much greater lifespans now and we want those years to be healthy and I’ll take all the help I can get especially around bone and heart health. I don’t think it’s a particular badge of honour to ‘get through it’ without HRT especially as it’s not necessarily the immediate issues or lack of them that are the biggest problem. Hip fractures are a major issue in women in their seventies and eighties due to osteoporosis. These can really affect quality of life. For me it’s the longer term picture. The risk of breast cancer is increased but only by as much as something like drinking a glass of wine a night (and I’m teetotal) and the actual mortality rate has not been cross referenced against all the deaths from heart disease.

I think a lot of the noise around HRT is sexist, we are just supposed to go away and sit quietly when you are no longer of any child bearing use.

It’s given me more motivation and the ability to take on a new challenge at work when previously I was counting the years down to retirement.

entitledparents · 17/07/2023 23:14

I felt 90

sagalooshoe · 17/07/2023 23:27

Furious anger interspersed with crying/depressive thoughts
Anxiety
Itching all over
5 week heavy bleeding, one week off, repeat.

Notellinganyone · 17/07/2023 23:34

I got through menopause without and really regret it now. At 56 - four years post menopause was still getting night sweats and had zero libido so started it. Revelatory and wish I’d done it years ago.

Windowcleaning · 17/07/2023 23:34

Insomnia. The type that is hormonally induced eg like when you've run 20 miles and can't sleep because of the adrenalin, not the 'ohh, I've got something on my mind' type.

Hot flushes, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety controlled by exercise, reducing alcohol etc. Nothing could touch the insomnia although HRT made a difference in a couple of days.

Beamur · 17/07/2023 23:40

Joint pain and exhaustion. Not feeling myself, grumpy and fed up.
Still a bit grumpy...
Blood tests also picked up some deficiencies which have also contributed to me feeling much better now they've been addressed (iron, vit D, calcium)

DramaAlpaca · 17/07/2023 23:43

For me it was joint pain along with vaginal atrophy that wasn't helped enough with topical oestrogen. I was already postmenopausal when I started HRT, having struggled through perimenopause just taking supplements. One day I thought sod it, I don't need to put up with this, and made an appointment with my GP. That was about a year ago and I'm honestly like a new woman.

MooseBeTimeForSnow · 17/07/2023 23:44

Get the hip pain checked out though. I had a full hip replacement at 46!

ChocChipHandbag · 17/07/2023 23:51

My work offered it privately for free. Read about how safe it is now. Was noticing anxiety and heart palpitations. Couldn’t see much of a downside to be honest. Have been on it about a year and am 49. I don’t really think about it all that much, to me it was not accepting ageing but defying it by artificially administering the hormones.

WyrdyGrob · 17/07/2023 23:53

entitledparents · 17/07/2023 23:14

I felt 90

Ha. This.

plus suicidal depression. Really dark.

and like a PP, Evorel patches worked like magic on all the feeling like 90 symptoms in about 48hrs.

the depression proved slightly more entrenched and took a couple of months to fully lift. But that’s still a big win.

im intrigued about hip pain though , I just hadn’t tied that to menopause. I was blaming my mattress.

LemonadeSunshine · 17/07/2023 23:58

I don't understand the martyr attitude at all.
Would your broken leg have to be 'bad enough' to have a plaster cast?

Menopause is a female condition that comes with many symptoms and physical changes, some of which can be detrimental to long term health. Medication (HRT) can mitigate some of the symptoms and improve long term health.

Original poster
carameansbeloved · 18/07/2023 05:20

LemonadeSunshine · 17/07/2023 23:58

I don't understand the martyr attitude at all.
Would your broken leg have to be 'bad enough' to have a plaster cast?

Menopause is a female condition that comes with many symptoms and physical changes, some of which can be detrimental to long term health. Medication (HRT) can mitigate some of the symptoms and improve long term health.

I honestly don’t get it either. It’s weird - I’ll endlessly moan about a cold, but anything actually wrong needing some intervention and I get a “I’m fine! It’s merely a flesh wound!” type attitude about it.

OP posts:
Athrawes · 18/07/2023 05:45

Night sweats, limping up and down stairs, insane behaviour.
HRT has been a bit like anti depressants in stabilising everything so I feel like me again.

ChaToilLeam · 18/07/2023 06:02

It was the night sweats and resulting insomnia that did it. Had other symptoms too, but the exhaustion from lack of sleep was the deciding factor.

One week of HRT and I was sleeping better than I had in years. Brilliant result.

AceofPentacles · 18/07/2023 06:04

Felt like I was getting dementia and it was affecting my work. Also horrendous joint pains.

vjg13 · 18/07/2023 07:09

ChaToilLeam · 18/07/2023 06:02

It was the night sweats and resulting insomnia that did it. Had other symptoms too, but the exhaustion from lack of sleep was the deciding factor.

One week of HRT and I was sleeping better than I had in years. Brilliant result.

It was this and increasing feelings of anxiety. I wish I had started sooner, similarly after about a week on HRT this drastically improved.

Rainallnight · 18/07/2023 07:17

I began to experience cognitive difficulties, specifically with word finding when I was speaking. That freaked me out very badly, more so than the anxiety, the sweating etc, so I went to the doctor.

FreshlyFallenSnow · 18/07/2023 07:22

A combination of increased migraines and sort of brain fog/heaviness in the head. I have always suffered hormonal migraines. For a while I didn't realise they were migraines as I could function - just with a constant dull heavy ache in my head and an unrelenting heaviness (at certain times of the month) My GP said that it is a common misconception that for it to be a migraine you must be unable to function lying in a darkened room (although I know for some this is true)

I was also quite volatile in my moods. For what should have been a slight irritation I punched and broke the lid of our food waste bin. Little flares up of rage. I think that was the final straw.

I have the gel and fortnightly progesterone and feel so much better - the heaviness of head has lifted so much. I take so so much less migraine/pain relief for headaches. I also feel more on an even keel mood wise, less volatile.

It did throw my periods out for a while but on balance it has really helped me.

FreshlyFallenSnow · 18/07/2023 08:02

Also one symptom I now realise could be perimenopausal was my eyes watering seemingly all the time. Does anyone else get this? I still get it a little on HRT but not so bad. I am 47. Thinking back I think a lot of these symptoms started as far back as my late 30s but just gradually intensified until I bit the bullet and started HRT at the age of 47.