What age did you start HRT and what symptoms made you try it?

[ForLoveNotMoney]

And did it help?

I have a Drs appointment next Friday as part of me feels its time whilst another part is scared to start.

Currently have crippling anxiety and poor sleep that I just cant relieve with lifestyle or supplements. Definitely don't want to get fobbed off with antidepressants!

Did you have side effects? Did it help? I just want so sleep and to not feel in an adrenaline rush 24/7.

Start the oestrogen straight way.

The oestrogen is the hrt treatment. The progesterone is just an add on for endometrial protection, but your talking about protection for months or even years down the line, not days.

I had the blood tests when I started HRT in June, and they came back OK apart from the fact I was very low in vitamin D. No idea why, but it was so low that they said I should really have medical grade (whatever that means).

Anyway, I bought some supplements and I said I would try those first before they start handing them to me.

What time of day do you all take your oestrogen? I’m nervous about side effects. I was an aura migraine sufferer but haven’t had one for years. The doctor said it’s unlikely but that it may start them again. I’m thinking I’ll take this evening after my shower. Will it further disrupt my sleep?

So many questions!

That is good.

The junior doctor who was shadowing took my bloods whilst I was there so that was a win.

The Dr said my symptoms were more than enough for a prescription and she doesn’t believe the blood tests help with diagnosis but are useful for checking thyroid and vitamins. I am 41 though so the younger end of normal 😂

The oestrogen actually aids sleep. I take mine just before I go to bed, around 11pm. But I have seen posts where others take it earlier.

The first time I took the tablet I woke up the next morning in a bit of a fog, which took a few hours to clear. But it hasn't happened since.

Sleep! I’d love some of that right now 😂

I will this evening and see what happens I guess.

Oh - its wonderous. I started on HRT due to the hot sweats and lack of sleep. I had been taking herbal sleeping tablets (shit) before I went on HRT just to get a little shut eye.

But HRT was miraculous. Day one, I slept like a baby. Its good that you're taking it on a Friday night as you might need a lie in tomorrow morning!

I think it's the progesterone that aids sleep. I do the estrogen gel in the bathroom in the evening before I do my contact lenses, face, teeth etc so I can wash my hands and it has time to dry. Then progesterone capsule just before getting into bed. If I forget the latter I don't sleep as well.

I put the oestrogen gel on in the morning, after my shower, wash my hands after.

I take the progesterone before bed.

I think they both aid sleep in different ways. I think the oestrogen levels out hormones which aids sleep generally (so doesn't matter when you take it) but the progesterone actually makes you drowsy (well, apparently, it doesn't to me) so best taken at bedtime.

I'm fairly progesterone intolerant and it ruins my sleep, so sadly it doesn't work the same for everyone.

I'm actually (potentially fatally) allergic to the progesterone in the POP, but luckily the HRT one is different and I'm not allergic to that.

Age 44

Started 2 months ago with Mirena coil (never wanted this, hated it, bled for months - so much for no periods).

Added Oestregen gel this week.

Reasons for starting: night sweats, brain fog, night sweats - did I say that already? Hot flushes. Anxiety. Feeling totally weirdly emotionally unbalanced and over reactive to basic things.

Good luck!

@ForLoveNotMoney my GP made me have bloods done but I think she just wanted to be thorough because I have a history of anaemia and Vit D deficiency. Just do the bloods because they might be informative in ways that we dont know.

I’ve got an appointment at the GPs at the end of September for HRT. I’m 54, very erratic periods, awful brain fog, shocking sleep, tinnitus, aches, especially shoulders, plus lots of anxiety around my son.

57 - for insomnia and restless legs - it's helped a lot

I was so so tired and slipped between suicidal and murderous hourly. Dripping in sweat every night:

Had all my bloods done which were perfect but thankfully I went to a private menopause consultant who sensibly advised they prescribe based on symptoms not blood test results.

I feel fantastic now: healthiest and fittest I've ever been:

Here I am, aged 48, wondering whether to go for it with HRT and this is the comment that has convinced me. It IS torture. Glad it has resolved it for you!

In addition to the hrt, try MCT coconut oil in one of the little olive oil ear spray bottles it is a game changer!

Ha, I've now read through the rest ofnyhe thread and noted that comment also!
Isn't it a solid though? How does it spray?

I'm under consultant endocrinologist and have been for more than a decade.

She told me that the only definitive symptoms that would make her start hrt in somebody is hot flushes, and your period slowing down.

She said there are many women who are diagnosing themselves as perimenopausal in their thirties, but she said it's actually very rare in anyone younger than forty five. Meaning, those who haven't previously had a hysterectomy as well and no other underlying issues.

She did actually say to me that anxiety and poor sleep could be anything. She said that the media had fueled this up, and that it's tempting to think its menopause, but she doesn't understand the current trend that makes women want to have it earlier and younger. She said that they don't like being told that it's not the menopause and she wasn't seeing this even ten years ago.

I was happy to take the advice of a consultant endocrinologist at a top teaching hospital in london over what I read in the paper or find out on google.

I guess I'll be savagely torn apart now or minimising symptoms and denying women, their menopause but, go ahead.

I quite honestly was happy to be told that I was nowhere near it.And unless i'm getting hot flushes, I don't have it

What I'm getting at is don't go to your GP with the mindset that it must be menopause.
There could be any number of underlying conditions causing you to be tired and having poor sleep. Don't rule any of those out and get your GP to do a load of blood tests. Best of luck.

Quotes self like an arse. Ok I've now googled it and realised mct coconut oil is a liquid.

And yes, I did note the other post about it helping a dry vag !

56, lack of sleep and inability to regulate my body temperature at night. All gone within a couple of days. Should have done it much earlier. I am on bio identical HRT.

She told me that the only definitive symptoms that would make her start hrt in somebody is hot flushes, and your period slowing down. @ILoveWhales

That is still the case. So she's right.
The first symptom on 'the list' is irregular periods.

One problem is that some women never have regular periods.

HRT is rarely (or shouldn't be) prescribed only for psychological symptoms but if they occur with other symptoms, it's the first choice over ADs.

I'll give my flip side to that.

I'm under a consultant endocrinologist at a leading regional centre who was appalled at my care up to the point i saw her.

I had been fobbed off by my GP for 9 years as "too young" and "periods too regular" and told to "work on my marriage".

My symptoms were weight gain, exercise intolerance, loss of libido, vaginal dryness, fatigue. By the time i reached 42 i was broken and had almost every symptom on the list, and felt like i was loosing my mind. Yes i had some hot flushes by this point but they were so insignificant in the wider scheme of things and a later symptom.

I was only started on HRT when i eventually did a private home blood test and my oestrogen was 54pmol/l, and then the GP couldn't get me in and started on it soon enough!

My problem was secondary menopause/ pituitary insufficiency (low FSH) and your endocrinologist should be well aware that whilst rare this is a very real possibility.

Any women with troublesome symptoms however young should feel confident to discuss them with their GP and supported to explore a diagnosis, including adequate blood tests, repeated if necessary. NICE guidelines support this.

Previous post should have read "secondary ovarian failure" not "secondary menopause" but too late to edit now.