After reading that without hrt post menopause, bone loss can be significant, I went to an online provider to get hrt. As I went 5 years without hrt, I still worried about my bones.

At my annual with my primary, I explained I was on hrt partially because my grandmother and great grandmother both had osteoporosis and my mom had hip replacement surgery at 55ish. She said even though i was under 65, insurance would cover a dexa scan based on my familial history/hrt use. I called the facility to make sure and they said even if the insurance doesn't cover(which they thought it would) it would only be $125!

I had my scan and my bones are in great shape, no issues or levels of deterioration noted!

it took maybe 15 minutes too.

So my regular GYN refused to write me a prescription for vaginal estrogen cream until my oncologist approved. Background: I had a tiny tumor removed last year from my breast. I have been cancer free ever since. I did not even bother seeing the oncologist because I did not plan to take hormone blockers since I was already in menopause…..so my plan was to see the oncologist anyway (a year post-op) to get the clearance. Yesterday I mentioned my vaginal dryness and difficulty orgasming to my psychiatrist in an offhand way….guess what? She wrote me a prescription immediately and said my dr was ignorant lol. Can’t wait to try it! Fingers crossed 🤞

Hi! I'm sorry if this has been addressed or seems obvious or silly, but there's so much conflicting information online and with doctors.

Does everyone eventually need a hysterectomy? Like, welp, it's time to yeet the beast, let's go?! I know almost all of my female relatives that are older than me have had it done. Even my mum asked if i was thinking about it, and my gyn is a big cheerleader for it. Every visit, "any thoughts to getting one yet?"

I don't know what I'm so scared of, I just don't like getting surgery unless absolutely necessary.

I'm on an E patch, progesterone, and the E cream which I love (not the mess obvi, but the benefits)!

Thanks for any insight 😊

I’m having a hard time making dinner bc everything seems so bland or just not interesting. And when I eat I’m definitely eating bc I have to eat something. I am not enjoying my food and it just makes me feel kinda gross now. I am the cook for the family and I’ve been asking the fam to give me ideas on what to make bc nothing is appealing to me anymore.

How’s it going for you these days ? Vent and share

After dealing with what I now know is a covert malignant narcissistic, for 12 years, I’m finally done! Should have left 3 years ago after I was driven to a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. I’m 46 and have already hit menopause. My autoimmune system has been compromised along with many other health issues. Earlier in the marriage I put up with a lot and let him push so many boundaries that I’m ashamed of. The disrespect had became my new normal. I was psychologically conditioned before I could figure out what was happening to me. I cared so much about pleasing him and his validation of me.

Fast forward to my mid-forties, I have so much more clarity and confidence. The scales are off and I’m done with the mental torment and torture. I had my final straw break in May. Now currently waiting on the divorce to be final. It has been painful going through the withdrawals but I also know at this stage in my life, I’m able to get through this better than I would have before. I couldn’t see myself without him. Now I’m beginning to feel peace and freedom with him gone. Can anyone relate?

What are we using to get a drop of dopamine fun in our day? I need pick-me-ups beyond HRT and pot.

I just found spicy (Thai red curry sauce) helps, yeay!

I truly think I hit a new level of career embarrassment yesterday when I had what seems to be a giant hot flash/panic attack while running a meeting with 15 people. Needless to say a coworker drove me home and I went to the doctor where after running multiple labs earlier this week for a lingering sinus infection there still seems to be no real clear explanation for why I have been having pins and needles in my hands and feelings of heavy limbs for the last couple of days.

One theory is that the antibiotics I started taking a few weeks ago for sinus infection number one counteracted with my estrogen and progesterone that had recently been increased there by making me much more sensitive to physical sensations. Another thought is that I just had a good old-fashioned panic attack. Needless to say it’s been a very long week. Thanks for listening to my 55-year-old rant.

What is everyone doing when they can't get their estriadol prescription filled? No one around me has any and I guess the only choice is to go cold turkey? How bad are the side effects going to be? I already have anxiety, which I'm trying to get under control. So I'm most worried about that.

Has anyone had to quit HRT because they could not get the spotting/bleeding and crampiness to stop?

And yes, I’m working with my nurse practitioner who prescribes my hormones. She is aware of this, so let’s get that part out of the way. :)

I’ve been on HRT for 6 months and have had issues off and on the whole time. I’m 53yo and post menopause for 3 years. It seems I cannot get my estrogen and progesterone to play nicely together. I’ve spotted off and on the whole 6 months but worse so in the last month. I would say that at this point I’m having bleeding and not spotting. I am currently on divigel 1.25 and 200mg of compounded progesterone. I take the P at night and will still spot some in the morning, but by late afternoon it picks up significantly. I’m just getting so frustrated. My NP says this “typically” resolves….but WHEN?? I’m just so frustrated and wondering if I’ll ever get things right. Has anyone experienced this? I feel like I’m already on the high side of progesterone at 200mg.

I had a clean pap first of August. Next step is an ultrasound if the spotting doesn’t stop. (I’ve only been seeing this NP for a month so she wasn’t the initial prescriber.)

I guess I’m just looking for shared experiences and some hope…

Hey folks - Curious as to what you're asking your doctors to do in regards to the patch shortage, as far as prescriptions go. I want to annoy mine the least amount possible, she's awesome. 😆

Do you call around, find somewhere, and then ask your doctor to call it in? Or do you ask for a paper prescription and make copies of it to just have available when you find something in stock? Or something else I'm not thinking of? I still have a good stash, but should probably start looking to replenish.

Thanks for any tips you've got!

Hello all.

Due to endometriosis, this upcoming week I will be having excision surgery and both ovaries removed at the age of 26. I had my hysterectomy at 23.
This will be my third surgery due to this disease. Hopefully the last.

I didn’t make this ‘choice’ lightly — if you can even call it that. The pain from my endo is so awful I can barely function without having layered up gabapentin, indica edibles, Tylenol and ibuprofen — and even then it just brings it down from a 7/10 to a 4/10.
It’s not sustainable any more.
I’m barely sustaining myself.
I keep having to call out of work because the shooting nerve pain down my legs makes me unable to walk without crumpling. In my classes my focus is scattered due to the agony.
Hence, my ‘choice’.

The good news is, I go on HRT immediately after surgery (just estrogen for now).
But I keep reading so, so many horror stories. Of women with all-consuming brain fog, of aging rapidly post-surgery, of dead desire for their partner.

I know, logically that things aren’t going to be ‘normal’ for a good while post-surgery. I accept that. Yet it seems every time I try to find anything about what to expect after, it is all hauntingly negative and like my life is about to end.

So I am trying to be proactive, and seek reassurance from you all:

- What sort of HRT do I need to seek/advocate for? My chief concerns are my mental clarity and my sex life. Regular bloodwork, I assume? Do I need a referral to a specialist beyond my OBGYN?

- What can I expect post surgery? How long did it take you (or someone you know) to get back to normal sexual and mental function? I currently have a truly wonderful sex life with my partner (which frankly, has been one of the sole points of enjoyment through all of this) that I am so so scared to lose.

- Any other advice whatsoever. I’ll take it all. Please help me.

Thank you for reading.

Hey everyone! My mom has been having a really hard time with night sweats lately and it keeps disrupting her sleep. She always wakes up feeling way too hot, so I want to find something that could help. Right now her comforter is super thick, so I was thinking of replacing her bedding with something lighter and more breathable.

Has anyone tried switching to cooling sheets or lighter bedding for this? Did you notice any real difference? Would really appreciate any tips or recos. Thanks!

I am writing this for my wife. She has been on HRT treatment estradiol patches for approximately 15 years during this time, she was not taking progesterone, but was having biopsies every six months, her former gynecologist passed away and this new gynecologist wants to implant a Progesterone pump if she cannot tolerate a progesterone orally, how is she going to tolerate with a pump? She told gynecologist she did not want to have this done. She is having a vaginal scraping tomorrow I told her just go off the estrogen any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

*Just to preface this, my GYN knows and I have had a trans-vaginal ultrasound and have a biopsy scheduled for 11/25. I’m just wondering if anyone else here experienced this after increasing estrogen.

A year ago I started on .25 patches and 100mg progesterone. I had been deemed officially in menopause when I started HRT, as it had been over a year since my last period. I was fine at those doses, no spotting or otherwise. However, I wasn’t experiencing full symptom relief on the .25mg estrogen.

I began .50 patches 3 mos ago, but my progesterone was not increased. By month 2 on the new dose, I was seeing spotting. I notified my provider who had me go in for an US (done 9/26, results not in until 10/9, which showed a small fibroid and a slightly thickened endo lining). I made the appointment for the biopsy at that point.

As of yesterday I am having a full on period, complete with cramps like I had as a teenager. My provider just bumped my progesterone to 200mg, only been at that dose for two days.

I’m kinda freaking out. I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I’m beside myself right now, thinking I have cancer or something😭.

Has anyone had the side effects of vaginal estrogen get better with continued use over time? I know most don’t have issues with vaginal estrogen but all the creams and inserts I’ve tried has caused anxiety and made me tired and irritable.

I am trying to decide whether to push through to see if I can adjust or just go without. The dryness and bathroom urgency are bad without it but the anxiety is worse.

I am using a tiny bit 2x weekly. I skipped the loading dose since I had been using E3 daily. No side effects from the E3 but it didn’t work as well as the E2 vaginal estrogen.

If there’s a chance this could improve, I am considering using hydroxyine short term for the anxiety. Any insight/suggestions, advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi ladies, hoping for reviews from my Canadian cohort who tried Modern Menopause. Was it worth it? Better than your GP? Also if you have a NP you had and liked let me know!

I'm 56, post-menopause for 6-8 years (my memory sucks) and have been struggling with brutal fatigue, joint pain, brain fog for the last couple of years. I work full time, love my job but have been having to miss a lot, to the point that I was considering applying for disability (I have Sjogren's Syndrome and thought that was the main issue). I've tried so many different things, seen so many different doctors, and none of them suggested HRT (?!)

It took me having abdominal pain and vaginal atrophy to get me in with a new gyn, and I had already decided after doing a lot of reading that I needed to try HRT. I had a DVT 22 years ago due to a perfect storm of risk factors occurring all at once (pregnancy, bed rest, obesity, abdominal surgery, left in bed after surgery for days with no compression on my legs cuz they didn't do that back then.) And due to that, I'd been told early on that estrogen was a no go. I finally decided to push back against this since the DVT happened in a really extreme circumstance and I haven't had one since and don't have any of the risk factors now.

Dr finally agreed with me, and I was excited to get prescriptions for progesterone pills, Estradiol cream, estrogen patch, and even testosterone (though apparently they have to compound it at a special pharmacy? I'm picking it up today.)

I've been using the estrogen cream vaginally for two weeks, the progesterone for about a week, applied my first patch last night and will start the testosterone as soon as I pick it up.

Issues so far, the vaginal cream is goopy and leaks out for days so I'm having to wear a pad daily. Hoping that gets less-so now that I can drop down to twice a week. No other real problems with that and I do think it is already helping with the vaginal atrophy.

The progesterone was hard. Tried taking it before bed and it knocked me out within 20 minutes but I felt awful in the morning, exhausted and drugged, and had to go try to make it through work. Paused it a few days then started it again when I had 4 days off and by the time I had to go back to work, it wasn't as bad.

Started the estrogen patch last night and was nervous but slept well. Felt awful in the morning, though - exhausted and sore all over, had to call in to work and am in bed, resting and taking Tylenol 750. I know the first few days, weeks can be hard but I'm really hoping to feel better by Monday, at least enough to make it to work. Maybe the testosterone will help.

Trying to be positive, because this is my last resort to try to keep working and keep my job. Can I ask what others have found the first few weeks on the estrogen patch and how long it took to start seeing benefits?

So the patches are different sizes for different strengths. I am wondering/thinking that it’s the same amount of medicine over a larger diameter? I have a couple boxes of 0.075 which are too strong for me. Can anyone confirm I can just cut them down to the 0.05 size? My nurse practitioner told me to go ahead, just wondering if anyone knows if they are in fact the same amount of estradiol over a larger diameter as strengths go up?

Does anyone have a solution for this? I feel like I’m losing a little patch of gold. These things are so hard to find. I’ve never gotten generic before. Def not a good substitute. What can I put over this thing to keep it protected?

I have had it twice in 6 weeks. Is it possibile to stop it? I'm 50 and it gets me down af. On Monday I'm seeing my doc. If the USG shows this shit again, I'll be devastated.