Advice on starting HRT - confused!

[Axlcat]

I’ve been prescribed oestrogen gel and progesterone tablets. My GP had said to ideally start my HRT when my period started so I could potentially avoid erratic bleeding.

After waiting 2.5 months (!) for a period to arrive, I started both today but now after reading other threads I’m questioning myself. It looks like most people have been advised to start oestrogen and then 2 weeks later start the progesterone but I’ve started both on the same day. Have I got this wrong?!

Side note - felt really jittery a couple of hours after my first dose of oestrogen and it was only one pump. Is this normal?

I was feeling quite positive about it all but it feels like I’ve read lots of horror stories about side effects so wondering if I’ve made the right decision now.

thank you

I started both on the same day, immediately, as periods were random anyway.
Tablets are supposed to be days 15-28.
Give it a chance and stop googling. After 2 weeks my symptoms had pretty much gone.

Thanks @House4DS just having a moment last night so appreciate the reassurance

It really doesn't matter a jot as long as you are taking the prescribed amount of progesterone in a manner that will provide adequate endometrial protection.

This is usually two weeks out of every four, or you can take half that dose continuously.

Menstrual irregularity is a hallmark of perimenopause anyway and it is somewhat naive to expect sequential HRT to magically produce a regular cycle - unless used by postmenopausal women in which it usually can induce regular withdrawal bleeds without their own cycle still trying to do it's own thing in the background.

There are multiple bleed free options that can be preferable in perimenopause f you don't want all the bleeding.

I started both the day that I got them - no idea where I was in my cycle. All fine and it’s been life-changing.

I started the oestrogen the day after I got the script but I was was due my period the same day (ish, but obviously it varies) so thought it would work out well. As it happens my period didn’t start until a week later. I started my progesterone the week after that (so had been on oestrogel for 2 weeks by then) and took that for 12 nights.

I was really scared about side effects - I have health anxiety as well as M.E. and the M.E. means I don’t often tolerate meds very well so I was extra worried about that too. It’s honestly been brilliant up to now in terms of minimal side effects, both on the oestrogen and progesterone, apart from bloating and being bunged up, something which is unusual for me as an IBS (mainly diarrhoea) sufferer.

I haven’t noticed a huge difference in peri symptoms yet, but there have definitely been some subtle improvements, so I’m hoping these will continue and even increase. They say it can take a few months to fully settle.

All, I’d say is try and give it a chance as best you can. If you can ride the anxiety for a few days (I do know it’s hard) to see if it gets better. If you can ‘look after’ yourself in the first few days/weeks..so do things you find comforting or distracting if the anxiety creeps up. One thing my friend kept telling me is that it’s not permanent and you can always stop if you don’t get on with it. (Or change your prescription as I’ve read some people tolerate the gel better than the patch and vice versa).

Good luck!💐