Transdermal HRT doesn't seem to be working any more - now what?

[whippedfeta]

Am 49. Went on HRT about 4 years ago to help with joint pain, insomnia, periods all over the place etc. It did seem to help calm everything down...but now, all my old symptoms have returned with some new ones to boot - I seem to be getting hot flushes now, and the exhaustion is worse than ever.

I haven't had a bleed in a year, so I strongly suspect that whatever hormones the HRT was topping up previously have now dipped to sub-optimal levels. It ultimately feels like the HRT is no longer working. I upped the oestrogel dose to 3 pumps from 2 but it doesn't seem to make any difference whatsoever.

I know I need to go see the GP, but they aren't that great - and I suspect that they might try to get me to come off entirely because of the length of time I've been on it. But I'm not sure I want to just carry on feeling crap when I'm still quite young for menopause! Has anyone been in a similar position? What did you do?

In the same boat as you. Even seem age. So following with interest.

It's such an effort to see the doctor. My peri has been going on since 2014 and I didn't get hrt until 2021. I've had to literally change Dr's practice and wait for a pandemic to come along and e-consults to be introduced before I listed my symptoms and I had a blood test and I finally got the patches. Disgusting really.

I tried going off it completely which was as awful as expected and then restarting on three quarters of one pump which worked well for me.

I am confused you are both my age we were 38 in 2014, in what way were you in perimenopause at that time ?

I was skipping periods. Wasn't on any birth control. At some point, maybe 2015 or 2016, I went 16 weeks without a period. Went to Dr, who said it was strange but they wouldn't investigate until I was trying to get pregnant!

Also, bad headaches, digestive issues. Mood swings all around that time. So assumed Perimenopause was happening

Personally I don't think my peri symptoms started until I was about 40...periods became heavier and shorter cycles.

Would love to hear what other people did at this stage. One thing that confuses me is if all the awful peri and menopausal symptoms do eventually calm down once menopause is completely finished, and how long does that take?! We don't just carry on feeling shit forever, do we?

Either way, there must come a point where the level of hormones is no longer 'enough'. I also feel like I've physically aged a lot over the past six months, and I hate it.

Also curious as to the balance of benefit versus risk. I'm confused about whether or not it is good for those with cardio-issues. Big history of heart disease in my family and I have high BP (controlled with meds) - but I read conflicting things about whether hrt is good for heart issues.

Yes, I always assumed that the natural hormones would dwindle down as I got older.

I'm also on meds for high BP. Although technically it wasn't THAT high. A Chinese? doctor dished them out. I suspect an English doc wouldn't have lol

I'm on oral hrt having worked my way through gel and patches (have coil so oestrogen only hrt)
Gel was like a magic bullet to start with, but symptoms soon returned and lots of blood tests over a period of time showed oestrogen levels still at rock bottom.
Been on the tablets a few months now and starting to feel reasonable..not completely well, but then I'm 8 years older than I was at the start of this journey!

I struggled with the gel when the packaging changed, but twice I have stopped for 1 week-10 days and restarted and it has started working again! That too a lower dose. No idea how this can happen but it was like a system reset. I also tried different body parts and found what worked best for me (e.g. inner forearm works for me which is not what packaging/gp suggests).

even with your fluctuations the gel should work if you adjust the dosage and tweak it

It sounds as though your dose needs increasing. I’m on double the average dose (gel).