Ever since I hit menopause, I have been getting thick hairs on my chin, cheeks and jawline and had to pluck twice a day.  They were driving me mad and beginning to make me feel so miserable.  I have tried using spearmint oil in a carrier oil, massaging it in twice a day but this didn’t help but then I read online about spearmint tea which apparently lowers the androgen levels.  I thought I'd give it a go as I've tried everything else and ordered some - it took a while to reach me but it was worth the wait! I've been drinking two cups a day for the past two weeks, and I cannot believe the difference already!  I have still had to pluck a few out over last couple of days but nothing like before so I think it’s actually working.  It’s quite hard to find 100% spearmint in the shops and it can be expensive, but I found some online.  It was £9.50 for 120 bags so enough to last me a couple of months.  I’m sharing this, hoping it will help others as it’s been an absolute Godsend!  It’s working for me so hopefully it might help others going through the same. 

I’m 65 and went through menopause at 59. I recently started HRT—200 mg oral progesterone at night and a 0.05 mg estradiol patch twice a week. I just started last Saturday, so it hasn’t even been a week.
Since starting, I’ve been waking up feeling extremely exhausted. Not just a little tired, but sedated, foggy, and out of sorts all day. It’s the kind of all-encompassing fatigue where all I want to do is lie on the couch. I feel like a zombie.
I’m wondering if this is a common side effect when first starting progesterone. Did anyone else experience this, and if so:
Did it improve after your body adjusted?
About how long did it take?
Did you end up lowering your progesterone from 200 mg to 100 mg, and did that help?
One of the main reasons I decided to start HRT (along with a recent diagnosis of osteopenia) was that I’ve barely slept for the last few years. I typically wake up in the middle of the night and am awake for 2–3 hours. I haven’t noticed any improvement in my sleep yet, but I also realize it’s only been a few days.
I know it may simply be too soon to judge, but I’m concerned that I can’t function like this for very long. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who experienced similar fatigue in the beginning. Did it pass? Did you give it more time, or did you need to adjust your dose?
Thanks in advance for any experiences or advice.

I didn't know which flair to use, so chose Science.

The last couple years, my heart palpitations were so bad that I had to go to an emerg. There, they said my PVC is over 30%, so they referred me to a cardiologist. After many testes later, they said ablation is not an option since 30% is not enough.

Then I was put on Nextstellis for peri symptoms early this year, and it was gone!

Has anyone experienced or advised of the correlation by any chance?

Title says it. I tried all meds, they didn’t work caused permanent movement disorders that made depression 1000x worse gave me nerve damage. Hrt hasn’t helped me due to all progesterone causing the bad anxiety and not want to keep going on thoughts. I’m suffering with severe anhedonia memory loss I sleep maybe 10 hrs a week. I’ve endo and adenomyosis SEVERE PMDD that’s now bonkers and not just at my cycle anymore. Idk what to do.

I keep reading advice about improving recall and I have tried most of it. Sleep, supplements, brain games, paying better attention. Some of it helps a little.

But the thing that actually changed anything for me was giving up on the improving part. I stopped trying to remember and just started getting things out of my head and putting them in one spot. Not a complicated system, basically a list in a place I can find it.

I feel weird about it because it feels like conceding something. Like I should be able to fix this instead of working around it.

Has anyone else done this? Did it feel like giving up? Did it stop feeling that way?

I mean it does the job if..
you put it on in the right place, if you leave to dry and absorb properly ..
if I split the dose to get better night time sleep ?

Any tips - it’s winter here and I’m wearing singlets at 6am for 15 mins while it soaks in.

I apply to upper arm as this was my pharmacist’s advice. Because of surgical menopause I do this morning (2 pumps, one each arm leave 5 mins add 3rd pump then leave about 15 mins.

Then I repeat at night. When I’m out it disrupts, when I travel it’s also disrupting the routine with different times etc!

Such a pain. Was on patches but found huge issues with a few batches and all my symptoms came flooding back. So moved to gel - but it’s a constant process…

It’s 1 am and awake so not even sure this routine with gel works.

Sigh.

Estrogen is leaving our bodies during perimenopause and post menopause. This causes an array of symptoms that make our lives suck. We then put the estrogen back with HRT and the symptoms go away. Then what? Are we on HRT forever? Do we stop at age 60 (or whenever is right for you) and then have to deal with all the symptoms again because we have no estrogen? Do we just take HRT forever? Like I’m 90 in the nursing home taking estrogen and progesterone?

I can find lots of information about starting, and adjusting. But no information about how this all ends.

Hello everyone. I’ve been on HRT for a good while now, a little over a year I’m on 1.25 mg E gel in the morning and 1 mg at bedtime, along with 200 mg micronized progesterone. I am doing 80% better but still felt lots of joint pain, complete lack of libido, and motivation. My endocrinologist added 1.5 mg of testosterone cream compounded. I kid you not, 5 days into using it i notice my anxiety is kicking into high gear at night. The episodes would keep my up til 1 am. Then I noticed anxiety keeping me up ALL night and anxiety during the day too! I’ve only been on it for only 15 days and already noticed all of this. However, I also noticed that joint pain has seriously decreased and I am hardly in any pain. But now I’m having trouble sleeping cause of the anxiety. Has this happened to anyone? I love the no joint pain but cannot stand the anxiety. Any advice or experiences?

Has anyone’s hair started falling out after increasing the estradiol patch from .075 to .1? I noticed my hair has been coming out like crazy especially in the shower after I increased dosage. Nothing else changed.

Hey all, I'll be going on the one and only dose of Duavee. Currently I'm on the Sandoz .075 Estradiol patch. I'm progesterone intolerant and having the Mirena removed, I don't want another one. I'm 56 and one year post menopause.

For those of you who have 'moved down' in the estrogen dosage, how was that for you?

Frankly I think I'm a pretty crappy transdermal absorber with the patch as it is - Day 1 I'm in recovery, Day 2 I see colors and taste flavors again, Day 3 I'm headed into the dreaded E trough.

I am hoping so very much that this is not going to feel like a crash with the .045 conjugated estrogen dose in Duavee.

Thoughts?

Is anyone dealing with severe anxiety, panic attacks, depression. I’m sweating and my feet are super cold. I have nausea. My blood pressure is high and then low. I feel like I have a rock on my chest. Should i try HRT.

My PCP provider is somewhat reluctant to keep renewing my HRT prescriptions (estrogen patch and oral P), and I'm due for a pap test this year anyway, so I called women's clinics and specifically asked for a menopause specialist or provider who would be willing to prescribe hormone therapy. The OB/GYN office I found would only let me schedule a well woman exam or an appt to discuss HRT, not both. My insurance sucks, it's $110 for me to see a specialist, so I assume the doctor's office wants to charge me, and I'm fine with that, but asked that they just schedule the appointments together, or back to back. They won't do that, I can't even have the two appointments on the same day. I guess I'm just venting but is this normal now or is this an especially crappy office?

I’ve (49F) have been on oral estrogen (adhesive allergy) and 100mg progesterone for about three months. I’ve seen significant improvement in my sleep but have had super long, heavy periods which isn’t a normal thing for me. At my check in appointment today, my doctor recommended a mirena IUD to deliver the progesterone and minimize bleeding. My worry is that I will lose the sleep improvement by stopping the oral progesterone. Has anyone made the swap and still recognized improved sleep quality? Thank you!

Hi all! 35F. I went into medical menopause last December via surgery for ovarian cancer. I was having expected symptoms then, like five billion hot flashes every day. My oncologists and my PCP haven't been able to figure out what's happening to me now, and I was thinking it might be tied into early menopause.

In April, (after finishing chemo) for the first time I started getting aches in my ankles and the back of my calves. Now it's getting to the point where I have to grab onto stuff to walk around the house or if I need to stand up from sitting. The pain is constant but I'm mobile once I get going.

CK levels are high right now, and somehow continue to grow even though I've stopped exercising per doctor's orders. Kidney and heart function have come back okay, same with my nutrition.

I'm mostly just looking for something to ask or tell the doctors, because I think they've given up? Or at least are being quiet while they think about it on their end. I asked if menopause might've set off a different disease or disorder and they said maybe. Lmao. Unfortunately I can't do hormone therapy - sort of the opposite, I'm supposed to be on inhibitors but due to muscle damage, they took me off them about a month ago.

I finally got onto HRT and three months in, in March, I slept more than two hours without waking up for the first time in over a year! Yay!!!

Then a few weeks after that, I woke up and my middle finger was stiff and sore. No big deal - complaining about it sounds absolutely absurd: "Oh, no! My finger hurts!" Plus, I knit and it's not unusual for the muscles in my hands and shoulders to get tender after knitting for a long time (a knitting bender, if you will). Also, I'm only 50, so it's probably nothing. Right?!

Fast forward to now and I'm finally ready to admit I need to see a rheumatologist before it gets worse. My middle finger on my right hand is still stiff and sore. The middle joint is swollen, warm and sometimes pink, sometimes bruised looking. And just for funsies, sometimes it swells up like a sausage!

I talked to my sister about it, who reminded me that our dad had psoriatic arthritis. She - just over one year my senior - also has psoriatic arthritis, which she developed right around menopause, along with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Hashimotos. "Sausage fingers" is also apparently a symptom of psoriatic arthritis. Delightful.

So, it's true: menopause really is the time when the gloves come off healthwise. The time when, suddenly, there is a whole menu of BS, a choose your own adventure, so to speak, of new and exciting things to choose from to make you go, "WTAF?"

So weird question ladies lol
I been on patch and vaginal estrogen Imvexxy now for a few months. It’s going ok. Also using vaginal moisturizer. Well lately like within last couple days I have had a feeling I’m leaking but when I run to bathroom to check there is nothing. Unless it’s residue from products I use. I don’t actually smell urine. There could be a small amount of course but I don’t detect it. Is this something normal that we are blessed with as we go through this meno process? I don’t want to keep being in fear of leaking. Or wear liners. Can this be fixed? With like pelvic floor exercises?

I went up on my estrogen about three weeks ago and this week I keep waking up with awful cramps. Advil works, but once I’m up, I’m up, which sucks. Why does it only happen at night?! I had an ablation several years ago and haven’t had a period, but it almost feels like the E has brought it back. Is that a thing? Additionally, I also got cramps after having an orgasm.😩 Again, nothing Advil can’t take care of, but just want to make sure it’s normal (I see my doc in a couple of weeks).

I’ve been post meno for 11 years yet I’m STILL having hot flashes.
They are not as intense as they were at the start but c’mon. Enough is enough.
I’m 61. Doc says no HRT since I have a heart condition. Boo.

I'm 56, on HRT Oestrogel and Progesterone. We are tweaking doses to stop bleeding. Question: I'm getting PMT symptoms monthly - does that mean im still ovulating?

AuDHD woman here. Anyone else find themselves explaining to providers how all this is affecting our mental well being. Especially how menopause impacts certain parts of your autism, ADHD, etc… It’s so frustrating.

I started on an estrogen patch 6 weeks ago. One of the main reasons I started it was for mood stabilization. I have so much rage and mood swings. I read on here that so many women had help with the patches and their moods. I was so hopeful!
They started me on .05 and bumped me to .075. Things have gotten worse. Now I am a raging, irritable, weeping mess.
So much so that my husband hates me now. It has caused so many screaming arguments between us. He told me that even though I have a medical excuse., it's still an excuse and I need to get my shit together!
I took the patch off, but I have no idea what to do now. Any suggestions???

I can work through regular peri-anxiety, but this is another level. I need to get through this one knotty legal/family issue that pushes me to the edge of a panic attack for the duration of all associated tasks.

I'm doing Murderbot's Breathing The Crystal Air (haha that's a joke), what else can I try?

I'm going from 1 pump up to 2 pumps of the estradiol to manage anxiety and it says to do them both at once but is there any benefit in doing it say morning and evening? For a more even dosage?