I’m 50 and think I started peri around 45.
Initially the biggest symptoms were gut issues, poor sleep, low level anxiety.
Over the past 5 years some symptoms have improved whilst others then started to come into the mix. I started having ear problems, tinnitus, TMJ alongside the gut issues and poor sleep too.
The ear issues and TMJ improved and so have the gut issues to an extent but I’ve gained weight (about a stone over a year) and then itchy skin and sore genitalia came into play.
I asked for HRT a few weeks ago and primarily my symptoms now are poor sleep on the run up to my period, itchy skin and sore genitalia, low level anxiety at times, a low level of gut issues, a little bit of brain fog and occasional headaches.
I was prescribed Oestrogel and utrogestan tablets to be taken for 2 weeks at the end of my cycle (still have regular periods).
I started low dose of Oestrogel just 1 pump in the evening 5 days ago, the first day of my period to coincide with my natural cycle. I’ve woken this morning and the TMJ ache is back, I’ve not had that for a long while. I do feel I’m sleeping slightly better but I always did anyway early on in my cycle so it’s too early to say whether it’s making a difference really.
Does this mean that maybe my oestrogen was always too high and now it’s falling down into normal ranges hence the improvement in some of my symptoms over the last year? But how then am I so itchy? I’m not sure whether to stick at it, how do I know if my oestrogen is actually high enough? Maybe it’s just progesterone that I need? Any ideas please?