r/Menopause

I started HRT about a month ago and see no difference. I am 61, experiencing hot flashes, bloating and mood swings. Foods I typically enjoyed in the past do not taste the same, carbs and sweets are the only foods that make me full. I I’ve gained 50 pounds in 5 years and see no sign of it letting up. My gyno prescribed progesterone and an estrogen patch. My psychiatrist also prescribed Wellbutrin. Has anyone been prescribed any or all of these and see any change? I’m do disgusted with myself.

I didn't even realize my crown was thinning until a family member took a picture of me from behind at a backyard barbecue last month. I literally gasped out loud the top of my head looked practically see through under the afternoon sun. I’m 53, deep into menopause, and feeling intensely self conscious about it. I wear hats now when I leave the house, which I hate. I’m ready to commit to a proper daily capsule routine if it means getting my coverage back, but I want to avoid marketing traps. For anyone who actually dealt with menopausal crown thinning, what supplement delivered real results.

Me again! Progesterone seems like the most touchy little hormone. I missed one day after we increased my E dose and I was loading the vaginal estrogen, and that’s when the nasty brownish/blackish discharge began. I’m not terribly worried as I know both things can be a huge adjustment, but now I learn the progesterone is really really important, and has a 12 hour window. Should progesterone be increased when you increase the E??? That would seem logical to me, but I’m no doctor. Has anyone had their E increased and also the P increased?

I have never been a super fan of patchouli, but I have a sleep spray that I keep in my drawer that has it in it. The last two months, every time I open the drawer, all I can smell is this product but also now that patchouli smells like straight up B.O. (jokes aside) to me.

I’ve noticed sometime that something won’t smell like I remembered as well, but those things are less identifiable.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this normal????

Ps. I would throw it out, but every time I close the drawer I literally forget about it. Guppy brain.

Hello! Sitting in my doc office after physical. I asked for an increase in HRT from .025 to .5 and requested a switch from the patch to the gel, as I was experiencing a recent increase in hot flashes and joint pain. He said that the gel/patch only work on the hot flashes and not the other symptoms and that I would need to take the pill to address those. I expressed concern with taking orally due to liver issues and possibility of blood clots and he said that thebl pill doesn't affect the liver. I call bullshit but wanted the opinion of others.

Hi

I have early menopause and use Evorel 150 patches plus 400 mg of Utrogestan continuously, mainly because it really helps my ADHD symptoms.

The problem is the swelling/water retention. When I add another 100 mg of Utrogestan (500 mg total), the swelling gets noticeably better.

Has anyone been on a similar HRT regimen? Any thoughts or experiences?

My mother had gone through the 12 months period-free time frame, which makes her post-menopausal. But after 15 months she started again to bleed once a month, rather regularly, for 5 days, as before this break. It seems like a normal period, with the exact same symptoms: headache, lower back pain, nausea, breast pain.

Has anybody gone through something similar? What is happening?

She scheduled to be checked by a gynecologist soon, but I'm curious what could it be, so I came to this community.

I’ve been on continuous progesterone for almost a year now. 42F, perimenopause. My sleep is much better (but not fixed), I’m not spotting a week leading up to my period and my moods feel so much more stable.

However, I’m still getting some 3/4am wakings, some loss of volume in face, and it looks like my fat distribution has shifted (suddenly got a tummy, despite no change on the scale or in my good diet and consistent exercise). Has adding in estrogen helped these things?

Hi all, please can I have some advice on the estring? It works like magic for me but the leaflet says it can only be used continuously for two years… meaning my time will be up in October!

Ideally I’d be on this the rest of my life, does anyone have any info on the risks of long-term use? I’m worried that if I speak to my doctor about this they’ll take my prescription off me and I won’t have a choice.

Please let me know 🙏

Im so exhausted and feel just generally unwell.

What has worked for you to clean off the adhesive that the patches leave behind? My stomach always looks bizarre from all the traces of the rims where patches were. I have tried various soaps and washcloths but nothing has worked well so far.

I have seen my doctor this week with some bleeding. She wants me to switch to a mirena instead of oral progesterone, saying I don't need systemic progesterone, it's just to keep a pregnancy going or to reduce the risk of endometrial cancer. When I said it helps me sleep, she said 'No it doesn't'

Long story short I had an ablation nearly a decade back, never had a spot of bleeding since it healed. No idea if I'm actually through menopause or not cos I've no periods to count.

Went on combined patch about 5 years ago - was brilliant for me and didn't need to change it for ages. About a year ago I started to feel shit, wasn't sure if it was hormonal or just life in general. About six months back upped my dose - so now on separate 75mg oestrogen patch and 100mg progesterone (plus some oestrogen pessaries twice a week). It took a good four or five months for me to start to feel human again.

Now the GP is suggesting reducing the oestrogen dose because of this bleeding - I honestly don't think there is anything left after the ablation to bleed. And switching to mirena. But I can't bear the thought of feeling shit again and I swear the progesterone has transformed my sleep.

I had been sick with severe depression, fainting, dizziness, insane hot flashes, extremely painful periods, painful left ovary, and now it has been over 6 months without a period. Sex is excruciating, and I am incapable of any pleasure, and doctors just kept telling me to use more lube for over 2 years, and now I find out that I actually have gone through pre menopause. I am devastated. All of these symptoms were treated as seperate issues, and nobody looked at the whole picture. I feel like the system failed me miserably.

I’m a natural blonde, I started graying about 2 years ago, not really a gray but more of a platinum color. I stopped coloring my hair about 3 years ago so it’s all natural at this point. I got on HRT last year, and yesterday a coworker asked if I did something different with my hair. I said no, but he said it looked different. Today I was looking at it and noticed it’s gotten blonder, like dark blonde?? The new growth is coming in as my natural blonde instead of the platinum/gray! Has anyone noticed a change in hair color after using HRT? I don’t know if I’m seeing things, lol, but I swear it’s gotten more blonde instead of gray over the last few months!

I'm moving up to 0.0375 patch/wk and picking up my prescription later today. I have 2 of the 0.025 left, plus the one I've been wearing for the past 3 days.

It looks like the higher dose has been hard to find where I am as well. I'm contemplating using up the lower dose before I start the new one and that should give me about a 2 week leeway in case of inventory issues. I've already been suffering with breakthrough hot flashes for over a month so I figured what's a few more weeks if it helps me get the prescription.

Is this what some of you do? How delayed have you been in actually receiving your rx after it's been sent to the pharmacy?

Hey everyone! Does anyone else have issues with dryness? I’m on estrogen patch 0.05mg. Progesterone and testosterone and my lips are dry and my clit. I started using the estrogen cream and the suppository, but it didn’t help at all and it seemed to burn when I rubbed it on my clit and inner and outer labia. I finally got the estring. I have only had it in for 3 days now so idk if it will be effective or not. I just don’t get why all of a sudden about 5 months ago it started. I have been tested for every thing. It all came back negative. I have been on hormone therapy for 5 years now with no problems then out of no where it just started. I’m so perplexed as to why and what’s going on. I have no idea what to do. Obviously, I have talked to my gyno about all of this. She is the one giving me the prescriptions. I was on a compound cream for all those years and recently started using the patch to see if that would help. It’s been 6 weeks using those with no relief 😢

I recently went back on HRT after a couple of miserable years HRT-free at the behest of my pcp. When she relented, she said I have to have yearly mammograms again (not when I was HRT-free). So I did and it came back cancer-free. Now after I have been reading about HRT and cancer, I’m learning there’s no link between Estrogen and cancer, and only a tiny link between Progestin, not Progesterone, and cancer. So why oh why do I have to have yearly mammograms? They are so painful!!!

They’ve been switching around my patch so much. Now this new one I am getting a weird almost like I had an alcoholic drink buzzed feeling. Also severe brain fog and insomnia. It is even worse with the gel.

And anybody else has this?
Would this be low estrogen or high estrogen?