New patch.. posting my progress

[rockingbird]

Hey how we all doing?
I've been on various HRT for 4+ years. Had a review on Monday with the menopause consultant at the doctor's Monday. She was very good and seemed to know her stuff. I've been on Femoston 1/10mg for around 2.5 years. I'd started to noticed a real fluctuation in my mood toward the end of the pack week 3-4 and kept a record of it. Very little bleed if at all which became more apparent in the last 6 months - but the pmt was fierce 🫢 I'd had bloods done a couple of months back which were tested for all sorts and it's been agreed that I'm probably through the peri stage.. but still have some menopause symptoms. So now I'm trialing Evrol Conti (lowest dosage). Just here to document how it goes really.. patch seems to be sticking, too early to see any change obviously but I'm feeling hopeful 🙏

No side effects or menopause symptoms as of yet.. guess it's too early to tell so far! One of the biggest issues I seemed to have with femoston was changeable moods.. so far there has been no sign of highs or lows.

How are you getting on? I'm a big fan of the patches - much less faffy than the gel!

Hi
I'm on Evorel Sequi but taking a break because my doctor is doing blood tests over a couple of weeks to see if I'm past peri yet. So I will be off my patches for about 4 weeks. Ive noticed some symptoms coming back - nothing too severe but my body thermostat feels all over the place and sleep has declined.

If past peri, then I will be going onto the Conti patches like you, so interested to see how you get on with them.

My doctor thinks I have low iron because of the bleeds that still occur when on Sequi. My periods were quite frequent.
Will see, I suppose.
Good luck!

So far so good.. no symptoms creeping in as of yet. I agree the patches are far better than anything else I've tried and not too much effort - changed twice a week and they seem to stick on well enough. Sleep is a bit hit and miss but my life is pretty up and down after my marriage breakdown so to be expected. I'm feeling hopeful, started strength training at home 3/4 times a week to try and lose a little weight.. still convinced the menopause has caused this 🥴 thinking back to when I had a complete break from HRT my hot flashes were back in no time so these patches must be at least keeping that at bay.. have seen no mood changes fortunately. If anything I'm a little more upbeat and have more energy!

Back to document some more details.. I'm getting sweaty (ish) at night and definitely a little more sticky than usual 😬 I've also noticed that the heels of my feet are hurting more - like I've done high impact running (I most definitely haven't). Energy levels remain the same and my mood is OK. Not down and depressed, dare I say a little more upbeat about life. The achy feeling in my feet worries me and this was a sign when I stopped HRT a while back and the night sweats crept back in.. it's been a month this week on the new patches so I guess it's still too early to say but I'm scheduling a review for mid March just to see how it's all going.

OP, I've been off my patches for a month because the dr wanted to do blood tests to check my hormone levels and see if I'm still peri or actually menopausal.
I've been back on them for a week now. While not taking them, I had hot flashes for the first time. Like you, I'm now monitoring to see what happens to symptoms now I'm back on them.

Come back this evening to see when I started this thread.. so two months in things aren't great. The foot pain is especially bad the bottom of my heels are painful I'm almost hobbling first thing in the morning and when I'm sat at my desk for more than 40/60 minutes when I get up they are sore 😩 I raised my concerns with the doctors surgery and my nearest available appointment is 12/4. I take vitamins so nothing has changed there, I have no hot sweats at night as long as no one touches me! I am much calmer and I'm actually focusing more on work and getting stuff done .. but the foot pain isn't great at all. Something has to change.. in an effort to move more I've got myself a fold away walking machine (yet to arrive) ..

Back again.. review at the doctors didn't go as well as expected - very hit and miss who knows what and who is even listening 🥴
The conti patch wasn't going great, I felt a little more upbeat at first but my overall mood was flat and the pain in my feet and general zest for life had completely disappeared. The joint/foot pain was my main concern and I made this clear. I've been given an additional patch to slap on which has puzzled me somewhat. The conti patch only comes in 50mg, my question was 'is this enough' should I be trying a different combination or are these patches lacking something I'd previously had in the femoston tablets that I wasn't now getting 🤷🏼‍♀️ I'm clearly going to have to do my own more detailed research as despite me saying the conti patches only came in 50mg the doctor was insisting this wasn't the case ! Then backtracked and opted prescribe an additional patch of evrol 25 to make it 75 so now two patches.. anyone else have this combination? I'll be honest and say I'm sceptical not to mention exhausted from all this trial and error sh*t.

I've just seen an advert for a private menopause clinic near me. Am considering having an initial consultation with them and then getting the nhs to prescribe whatever it is they conclude that I need.
My health board won't prescribe testosterone for ex without a specialist saying that it's needed, but nhs waiting time to actually see a specialist is years long. I'm thinking it might just be better to take along my latest blood test results and go from there.
Am a couple of months into using Conti now and tbh I just feel permanently pre menstrual and bloated. And I had a long period anyway, so it's not even doing the thing I'm taking it for!

@ABirdsEyeView probably a wise choice! I'm becoming frustrated with the lack of knowledgeable doctors and the 'try it and see' approach. I appreciate everyone is different and what works well for one person might not necessarily be a great fit for another.. to be fair I'm having a down day about it all. Women spend years having periods, pregnancies and waves of emotional highs and lows with hormones only to get to the next phase of life and hit over the head with the frigging menopause 🥴

Nope that is terrible prescribing. The progesterone in the conti patch is only enough for the conti patch itself so you may now experience spotting as you are not getting enough progesterone. GP should have prescribed a 75 oestrogen patch and separate progesterone like utrogestan. The patch and progesterone can then be titrated separately as needed. Utrogestan is body identical x

I wish I could take utrogestan but it gave me awful headaches. Since the progesterone in the Conti isn't body identical, I'm actually wondering if it's a good idea to be on it all the time - at least with Sequi, half the month was oestrogen only.

Idk, these Conti patches make me feel permanently premenstrual. I think I might put myself back on the Sequi and make an appointment with the private clinic.

@Christine0708 I suspected as much.. I'm not using them together and I asked to have another conversation - by the time that appointment arrives I'd have done my own research. I'm baffled about this half hearted approach the doctor has taken as was the chemist prescriber who advised me to go online and do some more research.

Back again! So.. reverted back to femoston as of today. Overall my symptoms on Evorel Conti and the extra patch was indeed 'badly prescribed' the low energy and libido should apparently increase with the tesogel also now prescribed. Three months given, I shall see if the symptoms persist/change. Determined to get this sorted 💪

Hi @rockingbird I've started the evorel Conti patches this week - slightly disturbing to read your experience of sore feet. Bloody menopause has endless symptoms!

I've put myself back on Sequi - still feel premenstrual but perhaps it's going to take a while to settle again.

Re the Conti and topping up with additional oestrogen, I vaguely remember being told that the patch was equivalent to two pumps of oestrogel and that there was sufficient progesterone in the patch to cope with up to 4 pumps of oestrogel, so women could top up a bit if one patch was insufficient. But if they needed more than the equivalent of 4 pumps of oestrogel, they needed to up the progesterone.
But I can't remember where I heard this now. It all seems very made up as we go along and that's quite worrying.

I'm going to ring my dr and find out if they will take over any prescription. A private menopause specialist prescribes, since I'm thinking I need testosterone but my health board won't prescribe until a specialist says it's okay. I'm not sure whether they mean a specialist of my choosing or the nhs one that I'm still waiting to see!