Anyone else bled for MONTHS after starting HRT?

[Pantspangles]

I started HRT (Evorel Sequi patches) in March 2023, it helped greatly with my peri symptoms and helped regulate my periods. Hurrah all round. And then my November period came...and didn't stop. I saw my GP who referred me for a biopsy to be on the safe side, and that happened in January with nothing scary to report as a result but very slight thickening of the lining of my womb, for which the consultant prescribed the mirena coil. I already had the non-hormonal copper coil so he whipped that out and replaced it with the mirena at the same time as doing the biopsy. Changed my HRT prescription to oestrogen only as Mirena is already giving me progesterone, new patches to start after following a few more cycles on Sequi. I'm just about to start my first cycle of new oestrogen only patches.

I've still not stopped bleeding though. Has anyone else had this? Did the alternative HRT patches help even things out? It's just so depressing bleeding all the time! And bloody expensive 😡

That sounds a PITA.

They do say the Mirena takes up to 6 months to make the lining thin enough not to bleed, but if you're also using sequi patches, you'd expect a bleed once a month perhaps, not all of the time.

One small point- if your lining looked a bit thick when they did your biopsy, unless this was measured immediately after a withdrawal bleed, it could very well be above the 5mm they regard as 'safe'. Women on HRT can have linings up to 10mm depending on the timing of their HRT cycle.

It took a while for the Mirena to settle in with me, I was still bleeding a little bit after a year so had to go for a scan etc - but nothing for them to worry about so I'm sticking with the Mirena, and touch wood had no bleeding now for 6 months.

It really helped my moods, the progesterone in the pills had been driving me mad.

I had period-like bleeding for 78 days straight after having a Mirena fitted. Not 'spotting' as I was told. I paid to have it removed, went back onto Utrogestan at the increased dose of two capsules a day and bleeding stopped. I think some women do have issues with the Mirena. I was also really low, had continuous crampy pain, didn't sleep more than four hours a night and had thrush twice (not uncommon apparently in some women with a Mirena). I'm so happy to be bleed and pain free!