Good evening Ladies - hope you have all had lovely weekends!
To cut a very long story short have had the most difficult perimenopause and have shared many of the symptoms described by some lovely ladies here. I have given in (again) and have agreed to a therapeutic dose of bio-identical HRT - Estrogel. I was really struggling with anxiety, depression, night sweats, hot flushes and insomnia. I agreed to try the gel after trying every other therapy/herbal remedy in the book with no obvious improvement! However, after day 2 I am scarily depressed - it is awful - please can someone advise if I should stick with it - i.e am I going to feel worse before I feel better or is this it???? I would be very grateful - just want to find who I was again - don't recognise who I am anymore and it is really hampering my life in all aspects! I wobn't be able to get a GP's appointment for at least 2-3 weeks so all help appreciated! Thank you
Hello kitten. The gel will take much longer to work than say tablets or pessaries because less is absorbed so it's going to take some time before you feel any benefit unfortunately.
Hi, Hope you feel better soon. Just to say Hav e you had your thyriod and vit D checked to rule out its not anther hormone giving you gip. When I was 38 they put me on hrt and it was my thirod giving me problem. Not saying it is that with you x
Ah thank you Melody - really losing the will to live and am normally such an optimist! Yes, all my bloods seem to be in 'normal range,' - but may be worth mentioning again! I am not sure I have too much faith in GP's and the menopause/thyroid issues - have not felt confident in any of the doctos I have seen at my local surgery. There seems to be three options, anti-depressants, sleeping tablets or HRT??!! I have been taking my own newspaper/journal aritcles in for them to read! Scary really as it seems to be so dehabilitating for so many women and there seems to be very little knowledge/progress.
So sorry you are feeling this awful. It really is a nightmare for us unlucky ones! Its early days yet.. i would give it a while longer, hormones take a while to settle down, it will get better, just try to keep as positive as you can. Kick out the crappy thoughts and think about something that makes/made you happy (easier said than done I know!) it took me a couple of weeks and then the flushes became less and less. I have been on hrt for 13 years now and intend to stay on it all being well :-) so, give it more time and see how you feel sfter a couple of weeks. If you still feel awful ask your doctor if you can try another type of HRT. Fingers crossed ...
Were you prescribed just one pump a day? I'm not sure that would help because it will still take a while to be absorbed. You probably would have been better with vaginal pessaries as well to give you a boost.
Thank you so much Pat for taking the trouble to reply - yes it is hideous for us unlucky ones! This is the third time I have tried HRT and each time I have not reacted well - thought I would give bioidentical a go and see - yes fingers crossed! I think it is the empty sad feeling that I can't bear!!
To be honest there is nothing on the instruction label apart from apply once daily! I have been using one pump per area of skin? I wonder if it would be worth trying more? I didn't realise pessaries were avaiable - thank you Matron I will investigate.
If you had tests it prob hrt is prob what you need. I went to see a gyni last feb they put on hrt i was told it could get worse befor u get better. to give it a few weeks to get in your system like Matron said . I ended on antideprssents to help sleep .
I know that feeling well.. been there! you are not alone and can always find support here, so please post when you need to and keep us updated. It helps others too :-)
Thanks for that melody - yes it is difficult to exist if sleep is an issue. Perhaps I just need to expect a rocky few weeks and then hopefully everything will settle down!
Thanks Rhino - wise words I do hope you are right and it will be worth it in the end - everything seems such a challenge! Are you speaking from experience?
I'm on bio identical HRT - evoral conti patches and the symptoms stopped in 5 days. No hot flushes, sleeping better so there are other versions and methods you can try. Have another chat with your GP.
You say you've tried other therapies - have you tried other forms of HRT before this gel? I first started on HRT tablets, which didn't suit me and made me feel queasy. I was recommended to try patches by a friend - my GP of the time agreed and I didn't look back. That was about 9 years ago. Many people try a few different HRT options before they find the one that suits them. I'm on Elleste solo patches (Estradiol) which seem to suit me fine. They took a week or two for the hormones to kick in initially but once they did, I felt normal again.
Make an appointment with your GP, if it takes a few weeks and see if the Estrogel starts to work in the meantime. Don't double the dose without checking with your GP first - the hormones can take more than a couple of days to kick in. If you feel OK by the time your appointment comes up, you can always cancel it and if not, discuss trying a different option. Don't give up, I'm sure you'll find something that suits you and you will feel better!