Coming off HRT patches

[KBird01]

Hi everyone,

I'm 55 years old and I've been on a bit of a health journey these last few years to say the least, with many debilitating symptoms including crushing fatigue. As part of the treatment for this, I went onto HRT oestrogen patches 18 months ago, along with the mirena coil I already had.

I had some side-effects including breast tenderness and bloating and couldn't tolerate a patch higher than Evorel 25. There did seem to be one or two slight benefits, but nothing major, but the health and mood issues did keep coming back. On top of that I've piled weight on that just won't seem to shift. I've always been very active and this doesn't sit well with me.

Having had no sense from GP's I took my health into my own hands and started my own regime of supplements, including iron, as I discovered my ferritin had been low for all the time I was symptomatic (~ 6 years). Within a few weeks, I'm now feeling better mentally and physically than I have for years. This leads me to believe the deficiency was probably the main cause all along.

I'm now looking to reducing my HRT, as I'm thinking this is the main cause of my weight gain. I'm reducing my patches very gradually, but wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction with information regarding the best way to taper these out? Obviously, if any negative meno effects return, this will tell me I need them, but I think this is worth a try.

Thanks

😊

[wobblybee Administrator]

🙂 Here’s a couple of links that give recommendations.

I was using patches (way back when) and stopped them abruptly…it was like hitting a brick wall, I felt dreadful…this didn’t last and I didn’t resume using them.

harrowhealthcare.co.uk/stop...

womenshealthnetwork.com/hrt...

[KBird01 in reply to wobblybee]

Thank you wobblybee ! I'll check these out!