Talk to me about HRT

[threelions]

I have just been prescribed today Evorel Sequi.

I have had symtoms coming thick and fast for maybe a year or so.

Anxiety - I have always suffered with it and manage it unmedicated. Lately though I feel anxious about everything. The slightest ache or pain and I'm overthinking and becoming a hypochondriac if I'm honest.

Digestive issues - bloating, wind and random pains in my abdomen. Had lots of tests and I keep getting told it is IBS. Anything I eat seems to give me
horrific wind.

Feeling hot - I would say im having hot flashes. I do have days where I'm just hot and it can last for hours. I often wake in the night feel hot

Sleep pattern is rubbish some nights. I often wake for no reason in the night then cannot get back off to sleep until it's almost time to wake up.

I've also got hair loss, weight gain and crap skin, I'm knackered all the time amongst other things.

Will HRT help me? I'm interested to hear others experiences before I start using the patches.

Forgot to add I was put on the mini pill last year to help with painful, heavier periods and my cycle went from every 28 days to every three weeks or every six weeks.

Oh and the brain fog I have is awful. I can't remember the right word I want to use, forget what task im doing while im
doing it and cannot think clearly at all!

had same anxiety issues, night sweats and insomnia, joint pain, hair thinning bad skin
started on same patches as yourself in August last year. By December 2024 I had gained 1 stone. My starting weight was 8st 12. Did nothing different. I eat healthy, I run 5k twice weekly and have done for 3 years. I turned 48 last month and I am now 10 stone which is what I weighed the day after I gave birth to my third child. I have decided today to stop the patches as the weight gain is causing me so much distress and is stopping me wanting to go out.

The weight gain isn't something I need right now, I'm already about 1 stone overweight and can't do with gaining anymore.

Have you had your thyroid tested? A lot of menopause symptoms overlap with thyroid disease so it’s worth ruling that out too.

FWIW I was on the patches for a couple of years and recently switched to gel as the patches made my skin sore but I wouldn’t be without them now. I was already overweight so can’t comment on that part but its helped my anxiety, brain fog and general feeling of hopelessness. Adding testosterone into the mix gave my libido a little boost and I know it’s protecting my bones and reducing the risk of dementia, so I’m willing to chance the tiny increased risk of breast cancer, especially as that’s something that can be detected early in many cases.

I don’t like the progesterone weeks as much as I sometimes feel tired and feel uncomfortable like mild period pains, plus its annoying having ‘periods’ again after months at a time without any. But I don’t have any breakthrough bleeding or frequent/long periods etc. It just seems to be that when I stop taking the progesterone I get a bleed, but its sometimes only a couple of days.

Give it a try for a few months, give it time to settle and see how you feel. But also find out what your iron and thyroid etc look like, because if those aren’t optimal you won’t start to feel better.

I had a really positive experience with Evorel Sequi, really helped me.
(Unfortunately I am now post menopausal so had to swap!)

I haven't started these patches yet as I've had a stressful few weeks and my symptoms seemed to be the least of my worries.
Im now on my second day of feeling lethargic, not sleeping well, feeling sick and having stomach pains, wind and bloating. I'm also really having an anxiety flare up at the moment and can't seem to make it go away.

Im going to stick one on later, will they really help or make me feel no different I'm so confused about whether to use them or not.