How to manage perimenopause symptoms without HRT after autoimmune flare?

[FeelingSadToday1]

I have been in peri for a few years now. The last year I really struggled with anxiety (hate that word as it is a physiological running of adrenaline, I am not anxious), sleep disturbance, hot flushes, weight gain etc.

I started HRT in September last year. It was transformative. My sleep improved quickly, my appetite and sugar cravings ceased, I lost 4 kgs without trying and there was a reduction in the 'anxiety'. In all I felt so much better.

Fast forward 8 weeks and I had a severe flare up of an auto immune condition which required hospitalisation and 4 months to recover and gain remission. It occurred to me in hospital that the HRT could have been the cause of the flare so stopped taking it.

Now I am fully recovered and on 4 weekly infusions, my peri symptoms have screamed back. Sleep is terrible, skin is terrible, gaining weight, 'anxiety' is back again, lost my lust for life and just feel rubbish.

I will make a GP appointment to discuss but from my own research, there is little research into this so I guess the GP wont know either. My consultant (a man) just shrugged when I asked if the HRT could be the cause of the flare.

So my question is, how are you getting through this without HRT if you either cannot take it or choose not too? The anxiety is the biggest problem as this is impacting my sleep.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure how HRT could have caused this.

You can only experiment and see if it happens again.

Whatever type you take, maybe start again on a very low dose.

Many GPs jump in and prescribe the medium doses of gel/tablets/patches whereas it can be better to start low and work upwards.

I am not a doctor. I have, however been told that fluctuating hormones can trigger auto immune flare ups (and I believe that rheumatoid arthritis, for one example is more common in older women.) For this reason I am absolutely wedded to taking low dose hrt to keep my hormone levels steady and wouldn't dream of stopping. For me the relatively small risk of possible future disease is completely worth it for a pain free life now. As someone else has suggested, perhaps you could try again at e very low dose and see what happens? After all, it may not have been the hrt that was the problem.