Starting HRT for perimenopause without night sweats or hot flushes?

[Sleepy21]

Hi there, just looking for people’s experiences of starting HRT, but not suffering from night sweats or hot flushes? I have just turned 43 and feel like I have a very long list of perimenopause symptoms but no night sweats or severe hot flushes (I do get them just before my period, but I always have down) which my doctor seemed quite fixated on! Should I really have to have these 2 symptoms to start it? Interested to hear your thoughts and experiences - thank you!

Never had a hot flush or night sweats.
Started HRT at 49, now 56.
Started it for joint pain, 3 days later and boom it was gone!
Staying on it for ever-wonderful stuff. Good luck

I didn't have night sweats or hot flushes. My main symptoms were irregular periods, low mood, insomnia and tiredness/fatigue like I'd never felt before - like really bad jetlag every afternoon. My GP was fine about prescribing HRT based on those symptoms.

Had flushes but the folk at hospital (I needed referred due to PCOS looked at the overall picture rather than a tick box of symptoms.

I ticked a lot of boxes but not all. Hope you get some help. I’m 44 and it’s really helped me.

I had neither of those symptoms.

My GP suggested HRT for hormonal migraine, as well as long term health.

I had night sweats and severe PMT which prompted me to go onto HRT, but never had any other noticeable symptoms. There are lots of physical and mental indicators but I don’t think you have to have a minimum number before you start taking HRT.

I’m the same and am just about to start HRT at 46, I have an under active thyroid which they found a few months ago when running bloods to check the brain fog and low mood weren’t something else as I hadn’t had classic menopause symptoms like hot flushes. Maybe request a blood test just to check it’s not something else? It won’t delay you getting HRT for too long, but if it is your thyroid or something else then it’s worth knowing.

@embolass has the HRT helped your low mood? I’m having counseling and my thyroid is now under control and I’m still very weepy, I can cry at the drop of a hat. The Dr has offered antidepressants but I want to try HRT first as I’ve heard too many bad stories about antidepressants and want to try everything else first.

My Dr was very fixated with hot flushes (which I did not have )and my periods which I still had right up until about 52. I had a whole host of other symptoms including low mood and insomnia but taken together she wasn’t swayed to give me HRT even at 48. I was given Vitamin D and told to lose weight. I ended up going to a private GP to get my prescription and only afterwards realised how low I had become. She’s subsequently declined to prescribe testosterone which GPs in my region can prescribe. Thankfully referred me to a local specialist service ( it’s a menopause specialist GP who runs a weekly clinic ). I feel like I’ve now got someone in my corner who knows what they’re talking about. Incidentally I’m 55 now and still have never had a hot flush or night sweat.

My GP just prescribed for me based in sore breasts, aching joints, brain fog and reducing interest in family life. Im 44. No hot sweats.

I didn't have hot sweats but started HRT at 47. Find a different GP or (gasp!) just lie and say you are getting sweats as well as you other actual symptoms in order to access HRT. It is completely wrong for a GP to withhold access just because you are not getting sweats. There are so many other symptoms and not everyone gets sweats.

How are your cycles? I think you need a bit more testing. I’m 47 and have also always had night sweats before my period (and appallingly after giving birth!). At 43, they seemed to be ramping up a bit but my cycles were still completely regular. Now my cycles aren’t as regular but still every 4-6 weeks and no other real symptoms. There are risks to taking HRT if you still have essentially premenopausal hormone levels. My mother did this, I suspect, and ended up developing uterine cancer in her 50s — probably linked to the massively high estrogen levels of boosting mid-cycle estrogen levels with more estrogen.

A very late response to this post but wanted to thank you all for your responses which gave me what I needed to really advocate for myself with the GP - I ended up speaking to a really nice young male GP who did a number of tests (Iron, Vit D, B12, hormones etc) and did give me HRT due to the long list of symptoms I was having that were not improving. I do have an underactive thyroid which I have had for 5 years and am on thyroxine for, but recent symptoms have just felt very different to what I experienced with low thyroid. I know it may take a little time but I hope it makes a difference!

This is me as well. I've never a hot flush/night sweat/rage. I started systemic hrt because 2 years post menopause my joint pain was terrible and I felt about 90.

My joint pain went on day 3 and has not returned and I feel so much better.

I am 41 and was prescribed HRT patches a week ago (after 6 weeks of back and forth with my GP who wanted to give me antidepressants.) I have really noticed a difference in my joint pain and no longer feel like I'm 90 but my low mood and basically everything else hasn't changed. I know it's early days but I'm am just so disappointed so far. That may seem silly but I just get so angry and low mood around ovulation and I didn't make any difference at all. I live in hope that it changes sometime soon.

Binfire I’ve never really had an issue with mood, brain fog etc, joints was my thing. However lots of friends have have had great improvements, less teary, more positive, outlook changed. They too were looking or being led down the anti depressive line, but it was all hormonal. Best of luck 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

I didn't have hot flushes or night sweats but had massive issues with brain fog, felt that I was walking through treacle, had achy joints, was exhausted and was so very grumpy all the time.
HRT while not quite a silver bullet, massively improved my symptoms almost immediately