Mirena / patches advice

[Daftasabrush123]

Hi I wonder if anyone can advise please.
Peri-menopause hit at age 44 a year ago with irritability, very heavy periods, IBS, memory issues, aches and pains and no libido (though looking back definitely began ramping up
slowly before that). It gradually went from feeling awful for a few days a month, to 2 weeks after ovulation to all the time, to periods no longer being regular.
I went on evorel sequi and within days things improved massively just in time for our family holiday which I enjoyed and was no longer irritable and flying off the handle easily.

The only reason I changed the HRT a few months after this was because my periods were still heavy on sequi HRT and my iron has been low for a few years. Also I liked the idea of less systemic progesterone so I went on the coil and continued on evorel 50.
The first few months on the coil the irritability returned along with overwhelm and inability to make important decisions and feeling very unsettled. Also sensitivity to noise in a busy household is very difficult to deal with - my husband chewing is off the scale rage inducing. I gave it 6 months on the mirena and the overwhelm has reduced somewhat since I started on mirena when it caused me to be stuck completely by overwhelm and indecision about anything and everything but I am still getting very cross suddenly (affecting my relationships with my family) and libido has dropped off again to zero (literally hate being touched which is causing issues in my marriage) so I have tried moving on to the gel (as advised by the GP who thinks my symptoms are low Oestrogen and I need more) so I can increase oestrogen to try and manage symptoms this way but no luck so far on 2 pumps of gel. The rage / speed at which I go from 0-60 when upset isn’t normal, it’s definitely hormones and I’m struggling :(

Do I get the coil out and go back to sequi? Can the coil cause rage and literally muttering in anger at the smallest things. Or is it just coincidence. IBS still not as bad as prior to HRT but also stepped back when went from evorel sequi to mirena + evorel patch and not oestrogel instead.
Trans-dermal applications are best for me.
I wonder if anyone can advise please.

When I started on the gel my GP said I should start with 2 pumps but if after settling period I still didn't feel right then I could increase the number of pumps, 1 at a time up to a maximum of 6. 3 was my optimum

I've been on Mirena and TD oestrogen since I was 43. I totally recognise what you describe! I started off with patches. During the shortages a few years ago I switched to gel, and that was when I realised I had been under-medicated on patches. On 3 pumps of gel I am so much better in every way - especially my mood.

Libido, sadly, is virtually non-existent. I'm trying testosterone gel, but it isn't really making a difference.

My food intolerances are getting worse, but I find my IBS symptoms clear up completely when I avoid my known triggers. There are clearly some unknown triggers, because I get the occasional mild episode.

@HesDeadBenYouCanStopNow ha your name made me laugh! Thanks maybe I will try upping to 3 if doc says okay to, I’ll look into it!

@Aparecium thanks for your reply. Did you find your mood got worse when had mirena? I was on patches with both hormones in but since went to mirena and just Estrogen it seems like I’ve get cross easily :( not ideal and part of the reason I went on hrt to begin with! Maybe I’ll get an additional pump before resorting to removing the mirena.

No, I don't think it got worse. But it stayed dreadful until I increased the oestrogen. The higher the oestrogen, the less volatile I was.

TBH I also had a couple of courses of CBT and ADs during my first few years on HRT. I'd had a few episodes of PND in the preceding years and my youngest dc was 2 when I started HRT, so there was a lot of unresolved 'stuff' going on. The nightmare of peri made it all flare up again.

@Aparecium ah thanks, yes my youngest was only 3 too so was hard to tell if it was peri at first but feel like it was starting even before I had her. I think my regular periods going all over the place last year made me realise what was going on thank goodness. Was glad I could put it down to peri!
maybe coincidence then with rage returning when I changed my hrt to mirena and maybe it was just time to up my dose of oestrogen.

I've also found CBD helps, I take a relatively cheap one from savers. I've tried more expensive ones but didn't seem to work as well.