u/LuckyStars_83

I’m going to tell you about my journey over the past 16 months. It’s a long one, so please bear with me, but I’m honestly at a loss 😞

I first started HRT last May. I was on a 0.25 patch and 200mg progesterone for 14 days on and 14 days off as part of my 28-day cycle. I actually had to cut my oestrogen patch in half because it felt too much for me.

But during those first 12 days when I was taking both, I felt the best I had ever felt on HRT. I genuinely thought I’d finally found something that worked.

Then the next cycle came around and, when I started the progesterone again, I felt awful. Things just seemed to go downhill from there. I even switched from Utrogestan to Cyclogest and OMG, that was even worse.

Eventually, I came off it altogether and booked to have the coil fitted so that I could try again.

Once I had the coil, I started oestrogen again and felt so much better. I gradually increased the gel until I got to 2½ pumps. I did notice that after having the coil fitted I became constantly hungry, and increasing my oestrogen seemed to make that worse, but I managed it.

Then, because I have surgery coming up, I decided to switch from the gel to a patch. The gel takes around 20 minutes to dry on my body, and I thought that while recovering from surgery I’d be in too much pain to mess around applying it every day. I’d also been doing well on the gel for quite a while, so I thought I’d be fine switching to the patch.

Well... I was SO wrong.

My body clearly seems to absorb the patch much quicker or stronger than the gel, and I think that may be why I’d been okay on the gel.

After two weeks on the patch, I quickly switched back to gel. But then I was given the green-lid gel instead of the white-lid one I’d previously been using, and wow... I felt like I did on the patch again.

Eventually, I got my usual gel back, but I was still having lots of anxiety and wasn’t sleeping properly. I was advised to try progesterone again, so I did.

For a few days, it actually made me feel like I did right at the beginning of my HRT journey — really good. But then it all went downhill again. I tried increasing the progesterone and the same thing happened: I felt better initially and then worse again.

I was even put on testosterone, and that made me feel worse than the patch did.

My body seems incredibly sensitive to hormonal changes, and all these fluctuations make me feel awful. I just cannot seem to find the right balance, and I’m so mad at myself for switching from the gel to the patch 3½ months ago.

These past 3½ months have been a complete rollercoaster — switching to the patch, taking progesterone again, trying testosterone, being given the wrong-lid gel... it’s been a journey, and definitely not one I’ve enjoyed.

I stopped the progesterone last Saturday. On Sunday, I had nine hours of crippling anxiety. Since then, every day has got a little better, but now I can’t sleep. I feel completely worn out, fed up and just not like myself.

I know people will probably say it’s because I’ve switched from one thing to another, but the only reason I kept making changes was because I didn’t feel right and was desperately trying to find the right balance.

I feel like I NEED HRT because I had so many symptoms before starting it, and it has improved a lot of them, even though it hasn’t completely resolved everything.

I honestly feel damned if I do and damned if I don’t.

Now I’m thinking about coming off the oestrogen completely, giving my body a break and then maybe starting again. I won’t be having my coil removed because obviously that isn’t as simple as just stopping a medication, but I’m considering stopping the oestrogen for a while to give my body a break.

Has anyone else done this? Have you stopped HRT for a while, started again and then felt better the second time around?

I really don’t want to come off it because I know how I felt without HRT, but at the same time, I don’t want to stay on it feeling the way I do now. I genuinely don’t know what to do. FFS 😞

One thing I do know is that I’m SICK to death of complaining and feeling like this. In my head, if you’re taking HRT, you should feel better — because surely that’s the whole point of taking it? 🤷🏻‍♀️😕😞

Hi so ive been on HRT for a year now I went on the Mirena coil and estrogen gel because the patch and progesterone was no good for me.

Then 4 months ago I started getting anxiety even when I highered my gel it didnt go and I couldn't sleep so I introduced progesterone again utrogestan. Ive had a mixed feeling with this sometimes ive felt so much better and most of the time ive not and felt sedated and tired all the time.

Got told to higher it up because im lacking progesterone and it did the same it gave me an excited feeling and I felt happy but then just went back to sedated and tired and just flat and emotional I also was super sensitive and just felt it wasn't for me.

Ive come off it 4 nights ago and the past 2 days ive had the worst crippling anxiety that bad it woke me up from my sleep and had the worst panic attacks..yesterday I had cripping anxiety for 9 hrs and then I finally cared down abit.

Today ive woke up and decided to lower my estrogen to 2 pumps from 3 and still I have bad anxiety but nothing like yesterday. But I feel dizzy and just off and so much anxiety and overthinking its awful and I dont know what to do.

I dont want to speak to my Dr because there unless so i feel at a loss atm. Will I settle and will this anxiety go?

I’m currently taking 3 pumps of estrogen, 100mg of progesterone, and testosterone, and I also have a Mirena coil. I’ve only been taking the 100mg progesterone for about a month and the testosterone for 2 weeks.

Since starting the testosterone, I’ve done nothing but spot, and over the past few days I’ve started feeling really weak. My legs feel heavy, my mood is low, and I’m extremely fatigued 😩 I’m not sure which hormone is causing the problem.

I don’t really like how progesterone makes me feel either, as it seems to lower my mood. At the same time, though, it takes away my anxiety and keeps me calm. I also feel like it helps suppress my cravings, but it almost feels like it suppresses me as well, if that makes sense.

I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place because the progesterone is giving me some benefits, but it’s also making me feel crappy.

What I’m really unsure about is this recent low, weak and fatigued feeling. I don’t know whether it’s the progesterone, the testosterone, or whether my hormones just aren’t balanced yet now that I’m taking all three. Could one hormone be too high or too low compared with the others?