Jittery, nervy feeling - Oestrogel?

[newnamenellie]

I’m at the beginning of my third cycle of Oestrogel and Utrogestan.

I’m 49 and still having regular periods.

First month I used 1 pump gel and 12 days of 200mg Utorgestan - all was well.

I told to start on two pumps but wanted to take it slowly so started on 1, then went to 1.5 after a few weeks. I recently moved to 2 pumps and for the past week have been experiencing a feeling of my heart racing (not constantly but most days at some point). This alternates with a jittery, nervous knotty stomach type feeling. The other day I felt so jittery that I could hear myself speaking in a weird shaky voice!! This passed thank god.

is this likely to be due to the increase in Oestrogel? I’m dropping back to 1.5 pumps to see if that helps.

Thanks

I had the jitters before starting HRT. In your case I’d split the dose, have some in the morning and at night but if it doesn’t stop go back to the docs and try the patch, for me I feel better on the patch, it’s a constant dose rather than a whack of it once a day.

Thanks @Passthecake30 I’ll give that a go!

Speak to your gp it's a histamine reaction, and you need to get back on a lower dose or patch. You can google and read up on reactions there is t much but some experts are starting to link reactions.

Maybe low histimine diet fur a while,

Do you have endometriosis or other inflammatory conditions? Also are you petite?

The dose of a pump and 2 pumps is given out regardless of physical size.

My understanding stems from first hand reactions that were awful the jitters feel out of the world weird. But I'm ok with a patch, I get a bit jittery for the first hour of a patch, but nothing like the gel.

It might be - a menopause specialist at a local NHS meno clinic has told me she suspects my almost constant heart palpitations may now be down to too much oestrogen rather than depletion. It can get you both ways. (On the other hand, I may have something else going on - though so far, all investigations have failed to find anything massively untoward.)

@whyamiawakestill thank you.

I don’t suffer from any other inflammatory conditions and I’m not petite either (5’9” and average weight).

I’ve reduced it to 1.5 today and will see how that goes.

I’m wondering if I maybe still produce a decent amount of my own oestrogen and the gel is tipping me over!

@GlomOfNit that’s interesting and I can totally believe that excess or depletion could cause similar issues. It’s such a tricky thing to get right.

TBH those symptoms can be part of peri and low estrogen.
The medical advice is you give each new dose 3 months before swapping.

Palpitations and feelings of anxiety are very much part of peri for women.

I've never heard of a histamine reaction to HRT and it would be unusual, given gel is body-identical.

Body size is not a guide to how much estrogen we need. I am tiny, and use 2 pumps now, but in early meno I needed 3 for some of the time.

You should try to stick with a dose for a while. That's why the '12-week rule' is there, as it can take a while to settle down.

It's all very much linked to oestrogen so when adding in more than the body potentially needs it can cause reactions.

Like everything female and menopause related it's under researched, but with more women taking HRT it's not as rare as you'd think, and women who's had allergies for life are more prone to reactions to added oestrogen.

So any reaction should be referred to the GP or specialist.

There is one article below but google will give more.

www.menopausespecialists.com/histamine-intolerance-menopause-hrt#:~:text=Hormone%20replacement%20therapy%20(HRT)%20can,due%20to%20higher%20oestrogen%20levels.

@JinglingSpringbells thank you. I totally get your point about sticking with the dose, but I'm feeling so jittery today, heart racing etc...

One of my main peri symptoms (prior to starting HRT) was low mood and feeling anxious at certain times, so I agree that this feeling is part of peri. I started to feel my mood improve quite quickly and was feeling more settled until a week or so ago when this nervy feeling started. It really did seem to coincide with increasing from 1.5 to 2 pumps.

I'm just wondering if 1.5 is actually all I need and that by taking 2 pumps, I'm getting too much oestrogen?

Go back to square one. Start with 1 pump and see how that goes?

Also consider splitting the dose am and pm.

(I do this as initially 2 pumps in the morning made me feel sick.)

@JinglingSpringbells that’s what I’ll do starting tomorrow I think, drop to 1 pump and split it am and pm.

Thanks

I had this on the gel but fine on the patch.

I think you're right to reduce the amount and split it between am and pm. I use Oestrogel and Utrogestan too and, although I'm nearly one year on (and much older than you), I had great feelings of anxiety, especially during the night and early morning, for a month or so at the start (ie maybe 3/4 months in), and this is from a not-usually-anxious person. It's all settled down now tho', so persevere and see how it goes.

Hi there

I have exactly the same problem. If I take too much gel (around 1 pump) then I get really anxious and get the stupid rage at times. This isn't menopause symptoms, I get it sometimes as soon as 30 minutes after taking the gel. When I don't take it I don't get these symptoms so I know it's linked.

Just turned 48, my periods are irregular and I'm certain I still produce my own oestrogen which tends to oestrogen overload.

What seems to work for me, is little and often. I take blob in the morning and the same throughout the day. I'm petite by the way, which is why I think a whole pump is too much for me.

I top gynaecologist told me just to use it as and when I need it and he is right. Too many people seem to think it's a one size fits all. And it's not, we are all built differently and all react differently. Find what suits you and stick with it

I had my first pump of oestrogel today. People that are splitting one pump between morning and evening - how are you doing this please? Are you dispensing half a pump or a full pump and saving half? Just trying to work out logistics