When did you start hrt?

[EllaMenopee]

I've been feeling very flat for the last year, very little energy, sleeping poorly. I've had a few night sweats but nothing regular. Periods aren't heavy (mirena) but irregular and heavier than before. Mood all over the place, really bad pmt, anxiety creeping in, very much feeling like my hideous teenage pmt rearing its head. (Scared myself last month feeling extremely low for a coupoe of days.) Gp happy to discuss hrt but sent me for a full gynae review and blood work to rule out other causes before starting. I'm planning to go talk to her in the next couple of weeks but now I'm wondering if it's actually "bad enough"? Should I just double up the evening primrose oil for a bit longer as it is making a dent? I'm 44 so on the younger side for peri but not out of the ordinary. Maybe I've just watched too many perimenopause influences peddling their socials??

I was 44 when I started HRT. Similar symptoms to you for 2 years previous and I was repeatedly told I was ‘too young’ for peri menopause.

Anti depressants were the only option on offer, despite me saying I had suffered from depression earlier in my life and I didn’t believe I was depressed, so I reluctantly started taking them.
they did relieve some symptoms, but something wasn’t feeling right.

I was lucky that my next GP appointment was with a menopause educated GP who said I absolutely wasn’t too young, they go on symptoms and prescribed HRT.
I had no side effects and within 2 weeks I felt an immense improvement.

I have had to tweak my regime over the years - Covid scrambled my hormones.

Overall I do think the benefits of HRT have hugely improved my quality of life. Though it is sensible to check for any other causes before starting.

Good luck with your appointment, though I’d rephrase is it ‘bad enough’ to is it ‘good enough’

I started having peri symptoms in my early 40's. Looking back now, I spent a few years putting up with it and trying GP prescriptions to treat the symptoms rather than the cause (ie, hormones), such as anti anxiety meds, which took the edge off but didn't really cut it. In my late 40's a different GP prescribed Hrt and literally within a few days the improvement in symptoms was nothing short of miraculous. I wish I'd started years earlier.

I started HRT at 44, to be honest I had symptoms a long time before that.

I've been on it 6 months now and some things have definitely improved, others not so much.

I'm about to switch from the gel to patches and and change from taking the tablet for 25 days to 12 days on 12 days off to see if that makes a difference.

On my 47th birthday !

Thanks so much for the responses. Sounds like it might be useful for me to start taking something. I'm lucky that my gp is open to prescribing it for me, at least I don't have to have an argument about it.