Has anyone gained weight while taking HRT during menopause?

[Touty]

Anyone else put on weight with hrt? Since increasing my dose of oestrogen and switching daily to oral progesterone I’ve put weight. Not happy.

Yes, about 2kg. Nothing shifts it now unless I am super strict with zero carbs and serious strength training and long cardio. I yo yo now because it can be no fun.

Yes. Loads. The HRT makes me
ravenously hungry.

No I lost weight. I’m a size 6-8 but eat very little. I find as I get older I really need to cut my portion sizes as I put in weight more easily.

No none at all been on it 2-3 years now.

As far as I can tell it’s the reduction in your daily calorie needs that accompanies menopause that correlates with you starting HRT that causes weight gain - not the HRT itself

Yes I have a tummy now, was always slim. Hate seeing my fat belly when im sitting down. Have weight loss injections sitting in the fridge ready to start when I come back from my holiday.

Yes but it's not the hrt I'm definitely eating more. So maybe it makes me hungry but it's the calories making me fat, not the hrt itself.

My plan is to start fasting seriously and admitting that you just can't have nice things anymore.

This. And it’s definitely the HRT cos I’ve been post menopause for a while and lost weight easily because once I stopped cycling my drive to eat all the things went away. On HRT and it’s back. Worth it for me: the joint pain has gone. Considering WLI to see if that stops me from shovelling food.

Yes, I am now on WLI along with the HRT! (They work)

This

It’s been 1 month since I increased my hrt, I’m going to reduce it. It’s gone on my thighs and face. I haven’t eaten anything different.

Before I hit 50 I was a slim 10/12 with a relatively flat stomach. Not now! And it's nothing to do with HRT as I came off it and gained weight fast. I'm now 54 and a size 14/16. What doesn't help is having a sedentary job and no time to exercise on a regular basis. I'm fat and wobbly, have no muscle tone and have never felt so low in mood in my life. I never thought this would happen as I used to love exercising and now every time I try to restart it, it hurts so much everywhere I could cry. 😢

They say this but this is my third attempt at starting HRT. First time I tried the patch and put on 2kg in 2 weeks so stopped. Weight came off. Then a bit later I tried the gel and tablet, put 2.5kg on in 3 weeks. Stopped taking it and weight came off.

third time I took it, gel and tablet again and have put in 2kg again. I’ve just accepted the weight gain and am hoping it’s just going to be an initial 2kg and not keep increasing.

if the weight gain was due to a reduction in calorie needs I Don’t th8nk the gains and losses would have mirrored the starting and stopping of HRT so much.

@JulietteHasAGun i’ve had exactly the same experience with stopping and starting HRT 3 times which has led me to conclude it is HRT related, but for me because HRT ramps up my appetite.

I had a trial of HRT for 3 months. I put on half a stone and had a bloated belly. I stopped it with agreement from GP and weight fell off again.

I put on a stone in weight with it. I have been off it a year and unfortunately, the weight has stayed. I have a tummy that I never used to have and also lots of fat under my bra strap which I really don't like.
I am now a size 14 which has taken a lot of getting used to but measurements wise, a size 12 (but they are too tight)
I have started jogging and have seen inch loss rather than weight loss.
I tell myself as long as I am healthy that's the main thing.

Yep. 1/2 a stone every time. I’ve stopped and started again. Same used to happen to me on the pill.

Nope

No, been on it for a few years, weight is no different. What do you think is in it that is making you gain weight? Would it not be helping you to not gain weight if anything as it's mimicking the hormones of a younger person?

@TorroFerney but as a younger person I carried extra weight that I lost easily once through menopause. All of my PMS carb tests stopped immediately. Appetite, metabolism and sex hormones tightly related and it seems there isn’t a single pattern.

Hi
One of the side effects of HRT is bloating. That shows on the scale. Also what I tend to find these days I am 49 and on Sequential hrt that I get really bad food cravings. I count calories otherwise I would have definitely put weight on

Yeah I gained loads of weight on HRT and came off it as a result.

That's interesting that you actually lost weight through menopause. I have gained it in a big way. When I was bf my DS I was a slim size 10/12. I felt amazing and had loads of energy. I was an older mum too at 40. Then when I hit 50 it was like a switch was turned on/off and I had zero energy, started suffering with aching and heartburn and now I can't even fit into a 14. There is definitely not a single pattern.

Menopause has been the most depressing thing to have ever happened to me. My DM told me it lasts 10 years but failed to tell me how hard it is as she was the generation that loved to suffer in silence. HRT actually made things worse and I had to come off everything. DM got breast cancer at 60. She was never on HRT. She went on to live another 16 years but her quality of life was knocked for six due to the chemo and radiotherapy. I am so scared I'll go the same way 😔

Yes. I gained almost a stone in 12 months. I came off it for 2 years as the weight was just creeping up at an alarming rate. Almost had a nervous breakdown mentally due to anxiety and basically menopause sending me crazy. Long story but that time I came off hrt fucked me up big time...i ended up quitting my dream job as I had lost the plot and ability to cope with stress and had huge increase in brain fog insomnia etc
Coming off HRT the weight fell off, upto a point.
I went back on HRT in January this year. Gained a stone in 3 months. But im back pretty much sane again, albeit sad Im not working where I once did.
Ive now resorted to Monjaro for weight control.

Im on mounjaro already and seem to have had 2 months where ive stalled while going onto hrt patches. After an initial gain.

It looks like its going abck down again now hence my interest in this thread.

Im curious if the gain/bloating is just inital and then thats it, rather than keeps increasing.