HRT?

[Miserableaf]

Nearly 50. Irregular periods. Insomnia. Possible mild hot flashes. Horrible anxiety. Have a cardiac condition and my cardiologist recommended HRT. Gynecologist refused as I haven’t missed periods, but given how erratic they are I may have done without realizing. Only offered progesterone but I feel dreadful on heavy progesterone days. In the process of changing to a different gynecologist. In Germany so can’t quote NICE guidelines.

Trying everything natural food wise to boost estrogen - soy, linseed, legume heavy diet. Taking magnesium glycinate.

Please let me know anything to request? Anything I can buy over the counter?

You clearly need HRT, which would normally include oestrogen as well as progesterone. I think it might be hard for us to advise unless you tell us more about the healthcare system in Germany. Why does it need to be a gynaecologist who prescribes you HRT? In the UK, it would usually be your GP who prescribes, and once you’re 45 or older, with symptoms, you should get HRT (obviously it doesn’t always work that way, but it should!)

Is going private an option? My symptoms were killing my career and making life truly miserable, so I went private. It was financially painful, but worth paying a few hundred pounds to get my life back on track.

• edited typos

Lie. Tell them that you have missed several periods, are having hot flashes and don't want sex anymore. Gynaes usually take husbands not getting any sex, seriously.

Thank you @BlueberryFlapjack @Ilovelowry

The healthcare system here is insurance based (we pay every month) or private. You have to go to specialists - everything is separated, so the GP or HausArtz is just for things like infections or to get given a referral elsewhere.

It is ridiculous how hard it is to get HRT from some gynecologists. It seems they let their personal preferences override patient wellbeing.

I will say I have missed periods.

Have had to take steroids so gained weight on those. Any ideas what is a good HRT option to request? Is the progesterone a must? Was considering just buying a plant based oestrogen gel online.

Sorry for typos. Phone autocorrects a lot out of English.

Is coming to the UK to see a private specialist an option?
You'd normally only need a review after 6 months, then annually if all was okay.
Many now also offer appts remotely, if you wanted that, although I think they'd prefer one in person to start with if possible.

You'll be offered either patches or gel (not tablets because of your heart issue.)
So, think if you prefer a patch or rubbing gel on your arms/legs each day.
You can't just have estrogen- you have to use progesterone too. This is to stop the womb lining growing out of control which can lead in time to cancerous changes.

Not sure how you could buy Oestrogel online without a consultation or prescription and they won't prescribe without progesterone.

Newson Health will see overseas patients if you visit the UK, but they can’t post prescriptions to a non-UK address, so I’m not sure that helps unless you come here a lot.

Agree with PP that it sounds like the quickest route would be to lie about your symptoms to speed things up. It’s so ridiculous how difficult it is to get the treatment we need!

I was still having regular periods. Ut between 40 and 60 days apart when I was first prescribed HRT. It fixed the sleep overnight, the other things took longer.

I will say thought that the first month I took progestogen (which I take for 12 days every month) I had the worst "PMS" symptoms of my entire life, although that has settled down now.

But OP could get her HRT here- you can get at least 6 months prescribed- and take back with her.