u/Beginning-Money-3981

I plateaued on 2.4 approximately 8 months ago. At my last appointment we talked about moving up to 7.2. My concern is the skin side effects as I already have sensitive skin. However, having recently started hormone therapy, I’ve gained 5 pounds in five weeks. Some of that is just water, but I also am having a much harder time with impulsive snacks that I hadn’t been having. I was afraid to do the inject the pen into a vile thing, but my niece is a nurse and said she’d help me learn it so contemplating that. Would love to hear from anybody with experience at non-official doses. Thank you!

Today was the first time I had an anxiety spike. I have a history of anxiety, but have been stable on an SSRI for years. I’ve been feeling physically anxious for a few hours. I had a completely disproportionate reaction to a work voicemail never happens. I had just shared a sugary crepe with my son. The funny thing is that I was with family this weekend and had ice cream and no problem. But I did have a full stomach then. Has anybody found that sugar without a full stomach causes anxiety spikes? It’s just as well to cut sugar, but I’m just looking for reassurance because I’m hoping this is not the beginning of free floating anxiety for no reason.

I am 51 and recently seem to have had a big shift in hormones resulting in poor sleep and bloating. Just started HRT less than a month ago and while I haven’t gained many pounds on the scale I look significantly bigger in my stomach. It’s causing a lot of insecurity because I’ve always gone up and down on weight, always been curvy, and in the last few years of marriage put on an additional 30 pounds. Over the last year and a half I’ve lost that weight and more and was just starting to feel better in my body only to now feel big again. I feel like I’ve regressed to younger years when I put all my worth on my body and didn’t shoot my shot with people I assumed wouldn’t be attracted to me. There aren’t any real solutions but i think camaraderie from other women and/or words of encouragement from anyone would help. Thank you in advance!

I can’t wake up in the morning and even when I’m out of bed I’m not awake. I’m at my peak in the afternoon to evening and then I can’t get to sleep at night. I am going to start HRT, even though I had side effects to progesterone before. How much before bedtime do y’all recommend taking it

I am 51 and started both wegovy and BCP about a year and a half ago. I lost about 40 pounds (200–>160 and 5’4”) from September 24 to September 25 and BCP was not helping perimenopause symptoms so started estrogen and progesterone. After the weight loss I couldn’t handle the bloating from progesterone and stopped. In the past month I’ve had out-of-control bloating and figured I would revisit HRT if I’m going to be bloated anyways. I’m also considering trying the new high dose of wegovy since I’ve been gaining and losing the same 3 pounds for six months. I know I can’t change both at the same time and i’m not sure which to start first. The main reasons for HRT are worsening of sleep (harder to fall asleep now) and possibility that decreased estrogen is making my back and neck issues worse. I’ve been told the progesterone side effects will decrease after a few weeks, but I am nervous about additional weight gain since I’m already on a GLP-1 and have more to lose. Wondering if anyone has any input. Thank you in advance!

I had taken a break for a while and was happy. I’d dabble online here and there but when there were no leads it was no big deal. Fast forward to 2 months ago when I started to feel my libido increase and I forayed again. I thought I was ready for long term but figured since I’m being more discerning and that takes a while, and I’m a single parent to two teens with limited time, I could have a fwb to meet the physical needs. I’m finding now that I am attaching and projecting things despite knowing he is in a transitional place in life. I think that’s partially responsible for driving me to compulsively swipe. Thanks to this sub I just started reframing the swiping as burning the haystack but I feel like that’s more than likely a justification for unhealthy behavior. Rationally I should probably stop the fwb and contain my OLD checking to a certain time of day. But I do enjoy the time when I’m with him and I’m desperate to have adult time as a single parent to 2 teens. Did anyone like me manage to match your energy output to context of relationship (ie not think about or project onto the other person? Also, have any of you successfully reined in the amount of mental and emotional energy you spent on OLD without going offline? Ie adjusting your attitude and/or limiting app time to certain windows? I know this is a completely subjective question and I guess maybe I’m looking for support as much as advice. I’m sure I’m not the only person who is rational mind and emotional mind are not completely aligned.

I’m wondering if anyone who experienced progesterone intolerance tried it again later and tolerated it. About a year ago I tried estrogen and progesterone. I loved the estrogen, but the progesterone made me feel like I was 16 with PMS. Also, the bloating just caused too much body dysmorphia as I had just lost weight and was distressed to see my stomach so big again. Fast-forward to now and just in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been crazy bloated, looking pregnant. So now I’m thinking if I’m gonna be bloated anyways maybe it’s worth another try so that I can take the estrogen. The issue is I’m currently taking lo estin and I don’t want to mess with that only to try and have the same experience of extreme bloat and feeling really emotional. I know everyone is individual but curious if anyone has any anecdotes to share. Thank you!