Can HRT kick start your periods again?

[Sandcaaarstle]

I’m on HRT. I went over 12 months with no bleed so told I was post meno. Put on patches and daily progesterone tablets.

That was a year ago. Since then I’ve had two full on periods and now I get monthly sore boobs, pmt, ovulation pain then I get weird discharge for a day or two.

Ive been checked, scanned etc and told all was well.

So, before my ‘last ever period’ I went 11 months and before that I went 9 months. Could it be that I wasn’t actually post meno, my periods had just massively slowed down and now the HRT has started them up again?

No, it can't.

You're post menopause when your ovaries run out of eggs.
HRT can't change that.

Post menopausal is 12 months with no period.
You 'only' went 11 months.
So you're not post menopausal yet.

Sorry @JinglingSpringbellsI went 18 months with no bleeding. The time before that was 11 months.

So the time between was 8 months, 9 months, 11 months, 18 months (during which time I started HRT) then 3 months after HRT I had a full on period. And ever since then, I’m getting monthly PMT (which I’ve not had in years) and a couple of weeks later I get brown/black stringy stuff (sorry, TMI) in my discharge. This has been going on now since March.

It’s so odd. I was peri over 10 years ago with night sweats and hot flushes so it makes sense that after 18 months of no bleeding I’m post meno. But why have I started feeling like I’ve got pmt again? Can HRT be responsible for that?

If you were able to get a scan by a consultant, I think they would be able to assess your ovaries and see if there were any follicles. You could ask your GP for a referral maybe?

It sounds as if you're not post menopause.

For women whose periods stop before 50 (and also for women with early menopause before 45) they are advised that periods can resume in up to 2 years (which is why contraception is advised for 2 years after a last period.)

HRT can cause PMS but only if you're using it on a cycle- not continuous.

Oh wow, that’s really interesting, thanks @JinglingSpringbells. My GP didn’t mention anything about follicles or waiting 2 years. I’ve been put on continuous and I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have been. It’s all so confusing and because you see a different GP every time, you never get any continuity.

Everything that you said makes sense. I wonder if I wasn’t post meno and I had a few more periods left in me (albeit very spaced apart). The scan was only an ultrasound so wonder if that wasn’t detailed enough? I might make an appointment next week when I’ve got some time off work and see if I can push for further investigation.

Thanks so much for your replies - you’ve told me more in two messages than my GP has in 18 months!

I've had loads of scans done by consultant gynaecologists (at one time they were every 4 months because of an ovarian cyst) and to see everything it needs to be a transvaginal scan. Not sure if that's what you had?

There is a huge difference between someone trained in doing simple scans who is not a doctor, and a consultant who does them - sometimes to do with fertility or more serious issues.

A good consultant would be able to see any ovarian activity or if they were old and shrivelled ( as mine were post meno!)

Yes that’s what I had, one on my tummy then a transvaginal one. I think they were only checking the thickness of the lining and certainly never mentioned anything else. She wasn’t a doctor or a consultant so I wonder if she wasn’t even looking for that?

I imagine mine to look like a couple of withered up prunes - maybe I’m doing myself an injustice 🤭

She'd just be measuring the lining and looking for any obvious abnormalities.
There is a huge difference between that and what a consultant gynae or a radiologist (who specialises in uterine scans) can see.