Estriol causing awful side effects

[BooseysMom]

I have been using Estriol cream every night for nearly 2 weeks as directed by the GP. The last few nights I have had really bad insomnia and aching all over and weird dreams, then today I suddenly started crying for no reason. I had crawling itchiness all over me too which I still have. I have tried HRT previously, both gel and patches and had stop it all. Should I stop the cream? On Friday I will be reducing it to x2 p/w. I started using it for burning sensations down below which I'm still getting but not as bad. I'm 53 and my periods have started going erratic. I would be so grateful for any advice or anyone who has experienced this. Thank you

It would be very unlikely that it is the estriol. It’s such a low dose of oestrogen that you’d have to use it for the whole year, twice a week to equate to even half of a HRT patch. Could it be that you’re coming down with a virus or because you’re feeling anxious about using it it’s giving you perceived side effects? I’ve used estriol for about 5 years now and it’s been absolutely life changing for me. I have interstitial cystitis and it’s made a big difference. I can’t take systemic HRT due to lupus related issues.

I remember some of your older threads. I think the mood swings etc are menopause- not the vaginal estrogen.

The crawling sensation is called formication and is a known symptoms of peri/ menopause.

Vaginal estrogen is SO weak- using it 100 times is the same as 1 day on medium dose HRT.

You might want to give HRT another try- different type, different dose- there is usually one that suits but it's trial and error.

Hi Jingling! Thank you for the advice. I have found my older thread about this and it's the same symptoms so could it be that I might be hyper sensitive to the oestrogen? It just seems more than coincidence to have a flare up of symptoms when using the cream. I also have sore breasts which I had when on hrt. I have decided to persevere with the cream however as I can't keep stopping and starting. If it really doesn't suit me I'll have to go back to the doctor again.