Anyone feel better coming off Hrt

[whatisforteamum]

I've been taking utrogestan and oestrogel for 6 yrs.
Straight away I felt low on progesterone but persevered as my other symptoms were debilitating.
Now I've come off both and feel lighter mentally but dizzy...perhaps a virus.
Anyone else felt better off the progesterone and more like themselves?
I'm 58

Would love to know the answer! Been on HRT about 6 years as well and no period now for the past 9 months so pretty sure I’m in menopause. I’m 53
Thinking of stopping the HRT as I’m not sure it’s working for me anymore I feel like I’m on the shortest of fuses now!

Vertigo is a menopause symptom. Sometimes magnesium can help

Thanks candlesandmatches I already take the max dose of magnesium.
I may have to go back on hrt as the dizziness made me stop driving or doing things.
Speaking to GP this week so hopefully will get advice.

Have you a BP monitor at home? It's worth getting one (everyone should!)- they're about £25. And check your BP.

If you're dizzy ALL the time (rather than just when to stand up from sitting or getting out of bed - which is low BP and not a cause for worry, usually) you need to see your GP.
It's more likely to be an ear infection in your inner ear/ labyrinthitis.

You might want to check the side effects of supplementing with a large dose of magnesium in case it's that.

Stopping HRT won't cause dizziness. Or put it the other way- being dizzy is not related to not using HRT!

HRT usually lowers BP- Utrogestan does that which is why it's taken at bed time. So you're more likely to feel dizzy ON Hrt, not off it.

@AchillesHeel23 Bit confused by what you said about your periods.

On HRT you'd either have no periods at all, or a withdrawal bleed every month (forever- if you're on that type- even into your 90s if you took it that long.)

If you were using combined continuous HRT, you'd have no bleed- it's the no-bleed type. I suppose it's possible your GP put you on a no-bleed type straight away (too soon and before you were post meno) and your own periods were still breaking through.

If you were using cyclical HRT (progesterone half the month) you'd have a withdrawal bleed every month.

@JinglingSpringbells i was on progesterone for 21 days & 75mcg patch
last time I had a withdrawal bleed/ period was about 9 months ago

Was put on HRT to try and improve fatigue and it actually gave me all the symptoms of HRT, which were horrible. Came off it after a few months and, eventually, felt much better. Possibly a slightly different situation but definitely explore options.

Yes, I do, but I don't think I should've been put on it in the first place, or at least there should've been more discussion about my history, as I have had hormonal issues all my life. I got vertigo on HRT, which stopped when I stopped it.

That's a really odd dose (sorry!) Did your GP prescribe it? @AchillesHeel23

The two versions are -
12 or 14 days of 200mgs Utrogestan per month = withdrawal bleed
100mgs Utrogestan (1 capsule) every day= no bleed.

Just to confuse things, the patient leaflet for Utrogestan mentions 25 days out of 28. This is now outdated and has been replaced in practice by 28 days/ 28- in other words continuous, every day.

The 25 days was to allow a light bleed if one was needed. But 99.9% of drs now ignore this and tell women to use it daily, to being it in line with patches or tablets which is estrogen every day and a progestogen every day.

So I 'm wondering how/who/ why you were told 21 days?

It's neither one or the other- it's not combined continuous and it's not sequential.

Hi

Long time lurker here, sorry for hijack. Please do let me know if it’s better for me to start my own thread.

Quick history, I’ve been on HRT for around 6 years, since I was 44. I was originally prescribed 4 x pumps of the gel but this felt way too much - I put on 2 stone in 3 months and had sore boobs, was very weepy and was flooding every month. I dropped to 2 pumps a day and that’s been working pretty well for the last 4/5 years along with 12 days of progesterone.

The thing is, I haven’t had any kind of bleed since then, at all. I checked with my GP and she said that’s fine. But is it?

I’m actually considering coming off HRT as the progesterone appears to now be giving me some awful side effects including palpitations, racing heart night and day and insomnia. I had full bloods this week and everything is ok, very low on lots of things including white blood cells but considered ‘normal for patient’. They do show I am now post menopause.

Should I be worried about the lack of withdrawal bleeds? I can’t decide whether to try upping my oestrogen to counteract the progesterone or just call it quits.

Any/all thoughts and advice welcome!

@significantfish
The first thing that stood out for me if you appear to have had an early menopause. You're now just 50 and they do recommend HRT until at least 50-52 (average age of meno) for anyone with an early menopause- to protect bones.

Your blood tests for meno won't be accurate- they can't show post meno when you're on HRT.

To me it sounds as if your estrogen is low and you may need more. No bleeds is usually a sign that the lining isn't building up - and that's linked to the amount of estrogen you use.

Maybe go back to 3 pumps or consider using Utrogestan daily ?
Your blood tests won't be accurate, but no bleeds and the other stuff you mention makes it look as if you are likely to be post meno (assuming you were quite a long way into peri at 44.)

FWIW I didn't start HRT till almost 53.

I get some of those symptoms when using Utrogestan - a bit of insomnia and hot at night- but I'm much older than you and still use cyclical for various reasons.

Thank you for replying. Ahh ha interesting that HRT skews the blood result, makes perfect sense.

I had two (breastfed) babies, a miscarriage that ended in a blood transfusion and went into peri all in the space of about 3 years so my hormones were fairly out of whack when I started!

I’ll try 3 pumps to see if that lessens the progesterone side effects and reassess in a year or so. Thank you again, I appreciate the advice

I had to stop for 6 weeks a few years ago. I was fine at first, lost a bit of tummy pouch, but then started to feel really awful - low mood, sleeping really badly, just totally off in general. I was so happy to go back on it, apart from getting the tummy pouch back 🤦🏻‍♀️

@JinglingSpringbells prescribed by a consultant after extremely heavy bleeds
Now have none!

Interesting.

My blood pressure has been fine all my life and always gets checked for hrt.
Tbh I had vertigo before I get Hrt.
I read online falling oestrogen can cause it something to do with the middle ear.
Could just be all the winter bugs around .

I spoke to the GP who agreed I can stay on hrt to prevent symptoms and get another more a coil fitted to prevent the progesterone symptom of depression and low mood.
No idea why the other GPs I spoke to for check ins never mentioned this as an option for a 58 yr old.