Will HRT( estrogen patch) take away hot flashes and feeling hot all the time especially in my face?

I'm about to start the estrogen patch in a couple days after I see my gyno. I have no estrogen due to the fact that I haven't had a period in over 20 years due to chronic anorexia. So I'm having severe hot flashes and I feel hot all the time especially in my face. She feels the HRT and the will give me the needed estrogen that my body isn't making and will take away my hot flashes. Does anyone know if this will work and did it take away all your hot flashes and especially did it take away that symptom of feeling hot in your face all the time?

[MyStar86]

yes having any oestrogen will help with that side of menopause. I am on the lenzetto spray age 37 as I had a total hysterectomy last year age 35. I initially had pink cheeks from the hrt but I couldn’t feel them and caused no issues I don’t get hot flushes I can sleep and don’t get any side effects so I’m very happy having my hrt I wouldn’t be without it. Good luck xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Oh good thank you. I hope it works that well for me as I'm so hot esp in my face ALL the time and I really hope it takes away all my hot flashes and feeling hot all the time especially in my face. Did the HRT(estrogen patch) cause any weight gain? I'm fearful of that...

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

No I didn’t have any weight gain from the patches or the spray but everyone is different however I certainly didn’t get any as I lost weight during my hysterectomy recovery so I’m sure you will be fine and taking away the menopause symptoms will make you feel more like yourself and more able to do things and be active etc so fingers crossed for you but try not to worry as I was just happy it took away the nasty menopause symptoms.

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Okay now she's decided that she is going to give me the hormone replacement therapy meaning the estrogen patch and the progesterone pill. So now my big fear is I'm terrified that it's going to cause weight gain so I hope I have the same experience as you and don't gain any weight from it. I'm starting it tomorrow and I'm nervous as can be as like I said my biggest fear is of gaining weight since I'm anorexic.

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

Please please don’t worry when you feel better mentally you will be able to see that taking away the menopause symptoms makes you feel so much better and you will soon be thankful for the hrt. Just don’t let it freak you out or spend every day worrying just keep a check of it and hrt alone doesn’t make you gain weight if you eat more and exercise less then yes like without hrt you would gain weight but if you stitck to what you are doing now then you will be ok. Try to focus on the positive aspects like taking away the symptoms that are upsetting you vs worrying about weight. The only thing that could happen is water retention but there are pills to help with that if it happens but that’s the only way you would gain weight but it’s not weight it’s just water but you will see if you calves feel sore or anything like that but you won’t gain body fat just via hrt or will only be if you physically eat more or do less. Keep in touch if you need to talk I will be here just take care and be kind to yourself give the hrt a chance to work don’t see things that are not there because you are panicking just focus on the good no more hot flushes etc xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Thank you for your kindness and for your listening ear and I will take you up on that. I'm a person who as you can see has generalized anxiety disorder on top of my anorexia so I'm constantly anxious about anything everything anyway but like I said anything related to the anorexia and weight gain just makes me fear through the roof. So thank you so much for trying to calm me down and listening to me and being compassionate. I did put the patch on this morning and I'm going to start taking the progesterone pill tonight. I I know that I have to try this as right now I can't even be around you know my elderly parents because who I spend time with every day because they keep peed on in their house and I can't stand anything but like being an air conditioning so I mean I have to do this I have to try something for my hot flashes. But like I said I just don't want it to cause me any weight gain and I don't want to have to start restricting more than I already do in order to prevent it from happening and I'm so disabled that I can't exercise at all so it's not like a thing where you know I could just eat less or exercise more so I'm just praying it won't cause any weight gain. But I'll do what you said and try to just focus on how it's going to make me feel better and I pray that it won't cause me any late gain. I wanted to know because I didn't get to ask my doctor how soon did the hot flashes go away once you started the HRT?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

My gyno won't give me the estrogen patch bc the hot flashes are from the anorexia causing me to stop producing estrogen. What am I supposed to do now for these hot flashes?

[Hidden]

Thank you so much for your encouragement. And your information. That really helps me a lot. I hope I end up doing as well as you seem to do with the HRT as right now I am completely miserable and I'm disabled as well so I have chronic pain and this adding to it of this low estrogen thing with the hot flashes and feeling hot all the time is just ruining my life as I don't even feel comfortable in my own body so I really hope that this will take all this away as far as the hotness thing.

[Hidden]

My gyno won't give me the estrogen patch bc she says the real issue is the cause of the hot flashes and low estrogen is from the anorexia....so what am I supposed to do with these hot flashes???? I'm already on black cohosh and it's better than nothing but it really doesn't do much for the hot flashes and feeling hot all the time. She says I need to just get to a healthy body weight and that my body should start producing estrogen again to stop the hot flashes. But what am I supposed to do in the meantime for the hot flashes???

[Hidden]

Okay now the gynecologist has decided to give me the hormone replacement therapy because she took pity on me about how bad my hot flashes are. So I'm supposed to start the hormone replacement therapy tomorrow. So she wants me to start the estrogen patch and take a progesterone pill at night. I am terrified as I do not want to gain any weight from the HRT and I'm terrified that the woman replacement therapy is going to cause weight gain. So I hope I'm like you and others who it didn't make them gain any weight because I don't need yet another reason to have to restrict and fear eating for fear that it's going to make me gain weight now that I'm on hormones.

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

I’m wanted to check in and see how you are doing? I hope you managed to tell the hrt and have tried to keep calm about the weight side because you won’t gain weight without eating more and you clearly won’t do that so try not to worry hormones don’t make you put on weight it’s what you eat that would so enjoy the positive effects of the hrt and try not to stress about the weight. I really hope it’s helping you and you are feeling ok about it all and not restricting 🙏🏻 xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Oh thank you for checking on me, that's so nice of you!: ☺️ ❤️ I have only been on the HRT since Thursday morning but so far I haven't noticed any difference in the hot flashes but I'm hoping it's just because it's not been long enough time. I hope it will kick in soon though because they are miserable. I don't know how long it takes for it to kick in to take away the hot flashes? I haven't weighed myself and I'm trying not to restrict but it's very very hard because like I said in my mind I'm still fearing that it's going to cause weight gain. I just hope that it doesn't and if it doesn't then I would feel better about trying to eat and not restrict as I feel like lately I am wanting to restrict more due to fearing that I'll gain weight but I haven't restricted so far.

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

I’m glad you haven’t restricted and not weighed yourself but if it helps you maybe you should then you can monitor in 4 weeks time to see if it has caused any weight gain but I wouldn’t advise getting too caught up in it because it never did for me as I said I lost weight but I know we are all different however try to focus on the positives of the hrt once it starts working. I know mine is a wasn’t instant it all takes time they say give something 3 months but don’t worry you will see positive effects at least within a month but it’s not rapid it will just slowly start to help and might even help your anxiety as well because the oestrogen will give you a happy boost I know it did for me 🎉 I love the hrt I couldn’t be without it. If you ever need anything I’m always here and keep me posted how you get on and if you start to worry or want to restrict just message me and I’ll try to respond as soon as I can 💕. Keep calm and strong you are doing well so far baby steps remember xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Thanks so much, that's really nice of you. I will keep you posted. I also hope the HRT will help me to sleep because right now I'm not sleeping good at all. I hope that like you it won't cost me to gain any weight. And I hope that it does take away all my hot flashes and feeling hot all the time. That would be terrific. That's what I'm praying for. By the way I'm here for you too ☺️

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

The progesterone pill that you take In the evening will help you sleep. I was put on oestrogen only for a while and it was awful I had the worst insomnia it felt like my skin was crawling but thankfully once I was on progesterone as well I was finally able to sleep again that shouldn’t take too long but it will happen 🙏🏻 when you get some sleep they will help you mentally as well it will give you some strength I remember waking up so happy after finally getting some sleep. In time it will all happen but just know now you have the hrt life will get back to normal maybe even better as I felt so much better without the anxiety and lack of sleep so I hope it works for you. Sometimes it’s a different mix that you need I didn’t absorb the patches that well but now I’m on the lenzetto oestrogen spray and the progesterone pill which works for me so fingers crossed for you but it did take me a few months to get the right balance and changed hrt but I just hope you don’t need to do that xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Okay thanks you. I hope this HRT works for me as right now it's not helped the hot flashes nor sleep at all but I've only been on HRT 4 days. Did you take the progesterone right when you went to bed or like an hr before? I asked the pharmacist and she said it doesn't matter as long as I take it same time every night but I just wondered. I hope it doesn't take months for the HRT to work for me! I hope everything will feel better soon as I really want to get rid of these hot flashes and feeling hot all the time and also be able to sleep well.... I'm dying here!

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

I take it about an hour before and that seems to work but you can take it anytime of day but I spoke to a menopause specialist who recommended taking it before bedtime to help with sleep and it works for me. I hope it works quickly for you as the progesterone aspect did really help me quickly but try not to panic you will get a balance it just takes time unfortunately but keep focused on it working and it will 🙏🏻 keep me posted how you get on xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Okay thanks so much. You have been so helpful to me and so kind ☺️ I go to bed at 10:30pm-10:40pm so I take some other medicines then so that's when I've been taking the progesterone at night. However I was thinking that maybe if it would help me sleep better I was thinking about taking it when I have my evening snack at 9:30 pm. I just wasn't sure which would be better?

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

That’s the same as I do I take mine about 9:30pm and go to bed the same time as you so hopefully it will Help you too but I also take a sleeping tablet but I’ve taken sleep pills since 2010 so it’s part of my routine however without the progesterone the sleep pill did nothing it was only adding the progesterone that helped me.

Try not to think about it too much keep calm before bed enjoy that hour to unwind. I listen to hypnosis and when I go to bed as it helps stop my mind from overthinking which I do a lot but it also keeps me asleep for longer xx good luck but try some breathing exercises as well whe. You get into bed I never remember what they are meant to be but I breathe in for 4 hold for 4 and breathe out for 4 and do that over and over it’s very calming xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Hi. Do you remember how long it takes for the hot flashes to go away once you started the HRT? I started the estrogen patch (.075mg) (and also progesterone at nt) 13 days ago and I'm really worried because I'm not having any reduction in hot flashes. Is this normal for it to not have worked yet? I mean how long is it supposed to take for it to kick in to take away the hot flashes? I'm just so worried that it's not going to work and I really really want it to work and soon as I'm dying here....

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

I’m really sorry I did notice when I had the right dose it did work within about that time frame. However it might be that you are not absorbing the patches I didn’t get on with the patches so I have the lenzetto spray there is also the gel that I know some people use or there is also the pill form of oestrogen so there are options out there. Can you try to get an appointment with your gp or gynaecologist? I had to go private to get mine sorted as the gp was pretty clueless but there is help out there and something will work but it might not be the patches for you. So sorry I’m sending big hugs xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Yeah I have a follow up on Dec 4th so that would be a month from when I started it. I went to an endocrinologist last week that said it will probably take a month at least to help the hot flashes so I hope that is right bc then at least id know this is normal. I just hope it will at least kick in by then. I mean my estrogen is so low isn't it isn't even registering on the chart. Like it's below 0. So o hopefully that's why it'll take so long. Just pray it will work for me and take away my hot flashes and feeling hot all the time especially in my face. Thank you

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

I’m glad you have a review coming up that’s really good so hopefully by then things will improve just give it time and try not to panic not that I’m one to talk my anxiety is through the roof at the moment so I don’t think I’m absorbing my hrt properly following surgery I’m all over the place so I do understand it took me a long time to get my hormones settled and they are what had kept me sane and going for so long but at the moment I feel like I’m on the edge of a breakdown mainly due to pain but my mind has always kept me going and I had the hrt to thank for that so I am worried I’m not absorbing it so I do feel your desperation it’s a horrible time when nothing makes sense and it’s all so stressful. I am thinking of you and always here if you need to talk cx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Thank you I really appreciate that. Yes I really hope that pray that things will get better and that the estrogen patch will work to take my hot flashes away too. Yeah it's really hard with me about the anxiety thing too as I have generalized anxiety disorder and they're always telling me that my anxiety is making everything worse including the hot flashes is what the endocrinologist said but it's hard for me because I take an anxiety medicine and I still am such a rack and I'm too afraid to take any kind of antidepressant so I'm anxious all the time which I'm sure makes everything worse.I'm sorry to hear that you are struggling so much with pain. I know how that feels as if you've read my former post I have pain all over my body(CRPS/RSD) and severe kyphosis hunchback from broken T10-T12 in my back so severe back pain and nerve pain all the time so I totally understand. I hope that your pain gets better and that you will feel better soon!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I'm wondering if maybe I'm not absorbing the patches or if the dose just isn't high enough like for instance if maybe I would need something like the birth control pill where it would give me more estrogen than what is in HRT as I'm so so low in estrogen. I wonder if I were to take the oral HRT if I would absorb that better than the patches? How did you know that you aren't absorbing the patches and that they needed to give you something different? However the thing that bothers me about the Birth control pill is that I took the birth control pill about 4 years ago when these hot flashes started and I took it for like two and a half months and it didn't help at all with the hot flashes so that's what worries me is that if I were to try that I'm worried that that wouldn't work either. I'm just so desperate for something to work and I just pray that it's just because it hasn't kicked in yet.

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

I'm wondering if maybe I'm not absorbing the patch. I'm also wondering if maybe I would absorb the oral HRT better? How did you know that you weren't absorbing the patches? I'm also wondering if maybe my estrogen is so low that maybe I'm not getting enough estrogen in the HRT and that maybe something like the birth control pill would be better because it has more estrogen in it? It would give me more estrogen than what is in HRT as I'm so so low in estrogen. However the thing that bothers me about the Birth control pill is that I took the birth control pill about 4 years ago when these hot flashes started and I took it for like two and a half months and it didn't help at all with the hot flashes so that's what worries me. I don't know if I'm not absorbing the patches or if the dose just isn't high enough like for instance if maybe I would need something like the birth control pill to try. I'm just so worried that that wouldn't work either. I'm just so desperate for something to work and I just pray that it's just because it hasn't kicked in yet.

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

Hi, I just wanted to check how you are getting on with the hot flashes and symptoms now you have been on the hrt longer? It does take time for the body to adjust and the only way you know you are not absorbing it is if it isn’t relieving your symptoms? Do you mind me asking how old you are? The younger you are the higher the oestrogen dose you will need but the 75mg patch is a high start as the next one up is the 100mg then they don’t go any higher than that. The gp is much less likely to prescribe the pill hrt as that has more risks with breast cancer etc. that’s why I asked your age as you could add the combined pill with your hrt as I also take my old femodette pill but my gp doesn’t know this i but it online privately and I’ve been taking it since my hysterectomy age 35 and I’m now 37. So I have the sprays and my combined pill to keep me level but again that comes with more risks but I don’t really care about those as I need my sanity so that’s why I take the pill as well because without it hrt alone wasn’t enough for me.

I hope you are getting some relief. Thinking of you xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

I am 39 yrs old. No my symptoms have not gotten any better and I've not gotten any relief of the hot flashes and it's been almost 3 wks since starting 0.075mg Estradiol patch and progesterone pill at night.😭I messaged the gyno doctor yesterday and told her that it had been 19 days which of course today makes 20 and said is this normal that I'm not having any relief from the hot flashes yet? And then I told her that the endocrinologist that I saw the week later told me that it would be probably more like a month before I got any sort of relief but that I had wanted to check with her (the gyno) as well. I reminded her that I of course have and making no estrogen and even said I didn't know if I needed to be on a higher days or if you just want me to give it more time..So a few minutes later she had her assistant call me and said the doctor has said that the breakthrough bleeding is normal as long as you're taking the progesterone and she said that it could take a month or so for the hot flashes to go away so she just wants you to give it more time and renew another month's worth and then come to the follow-up appointment on December 4th which would be in 2 weeks so by that time I will have been on it for four and a half weeks so definitely a month.

When I go see her in a couple weeks I will have been on it one month and 2 days so I'm going to ask her at that time are you sure that this is the only dose I need or is there any way we can move it up to start giving me relief? I'm just going to see what she says... I just feel like a guinea pig because they've never had anyone like me and I think that they're all just guessing it like well we're hoping that this will do the trick but we don't know and we don't know how long it'll take.. so I'm praying that it will kick in in another week or so.

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Oh I didn't know that you were taking both the birth control pill and the estrogen gel to give you relief of your hot flashes...I thought you were just using the estrogen gel... Wiw. So you didn't get hot flash relief with just the HRT? Yeah I mean everything in me just tells me that I think I need more estrogen than what I'm being given because you got to figure if my levels are super super low, below 0, then I probably need a lot to get started but I'm frustrated that the patch only goes up one more dosage. I mean I know she's the doctor and she knows best but I'm hoping that she'll know what to do with this situation and I'm hoping that my body is just taking longer because it's needing that to build up in my bloodstream and like I said it's starting from such a low place that maybe it's just going to take me longer to get relief but I just want the relief if I just knew it was coming I'd be okay with that. It's just that I'm so worried and afraid it's not going to come and work to take away the hot flashes that I get scared about. I just pray it will kick in soon. Oh and thank you for checking in on me...that's really sweet of you😀❤️.I hope you are doing well.

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

I didn’t tell you I was taking the contraceptive pill as well because I know it’s not recommended and comes with risks so I didn’t want to be advocating something that could be risky however I needed it plus the spray as the spray wasn’t doing enough and I didn’t get on with the patches at all they even gave me a rash.

It’s very difficult with the gp I had a terrible experience with mine today following my surgery so was so patronising and left me in tears making me feel like I shouldn’t be in pain it was just awful I don’t find them helpful at all I don’t think the gp is useful for a lot of things these days unless you are a simple case and it sounds like both of us are unfortunately not that.

I know they usually make you wait a month some day 3 months but it’s easy for them to say when they are not the ones suffering. I’m sick of medical gaslighting it’s so awful I really hope they listen to you and you can get some relief as I do know how you feel it’s just awful when you are not yourself the anxiety is what gets me I’m really struggling with that at the moment xx big hugs

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

I totally agree with you and I completely feel the same way you do about the doctors making you feel almost as if you're making these symptoms up or looking at you like you're just a guinea pig and they don't know what to do with you. Or at least that's what I get because my situation is so complex with all of my health conditions. I'm sorry to hear you had such a rough time with your hysterectomy. But I'm so glad that you were able to receive good hot flash relief now. I just hope I can can get the hot flash relief that I need too. And yes you're right... it's very hard when they tell you to wait 3 months for something and you're thinking but I need relief now! and then especially if you don't like the side effects and you're thinking do I really have to give this 3 months? Like I told you that that's why I didn't take the birth control the last time that I tried to get hot flash relief because she wanted me to give it 3 months to see if it took away my hot flashes and after a month I had gained 7 lb and was freaking out and was like okay it's not giving me any relief so I'm going off of it. In some ways I regret doing that though because had I have given it another couple of months maybe it would have actually taken the hot flashes away but because of the weight gain I was too afraid to try it for any longer. I've been too scared to weigh myself since starting HRT so I don't know if it's made me gain any weight or not and I'm terrified that it may have but I'm going to continue to take it and try not to weigh myself until we go to I go to the appointment in a couple weeks at the gyno doctor office.

I'm just praying that by then the HRT will estrogen patch will kick in although I hate to say that I'm not very hopeful considering the fact that I'm not seeing any relief of the hot flashes at all unless it's just going to come on and start working one day. But yes I think what's bothering me the most is that they just don't know if this is going to work for me. Like if they had seen this before and they could tell me we're sure it's going to work it's just may be you know a month or a month and a half or two months then I would feel way better. But the fact that they are just guessing and they don't really know that's what is giving me even more anxiety. I know what you mean about the struggling with anxiety as I already have generalized anxiety disorder and then with having anorexia for over 27 years that obviously makes me very anxious because not only am I worried about this because of worried about if it's going to work for the hot flashes but I'm also worried about if it's making me gain weight or if it's going to make me gain weight and I'm sure that that of course is contributing to making my stress worse and my anxiety worse and making the hot flashes worse so it's just like a vicious cycle. I'm praying for both of us.

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

My anxiety stems from my hormones and I just had surgery for my bowel so I now have an ileostomy but I didn’t realise that it would mean that I wouldn’t absorb medication the same so the pill I’ve been taking to keep my hormones stable is now not being absorbed 😭 so I’m having to have an extra spray of the lenzetto as I don’t know what else to do I am panicking as I’m in so much pain and my bowels are worse than before so I’m really lost and scared my gp just said to me oh now you have the bag your bowels are fixed and I should treat myself do something nice and I said I would love to but I can’t do anything due to being in so much pain but she was so patronising it was horrible I told her I have been suicidal and she basically laughed and said oh don’t be silly that’s just your monkey brain 😱 my mum is livid as she has been struggling to hold me together but the gp has no idea how close I am to the edge I’m only holding on till I see the pain management specialist that I had to arrange privately as I would just be left by the nhs and I’m sick of it.

I agree we know much sooner re the hrt and to be honest I don’t think it will kick in if it hasn’t yet it sounds like you need a higher dose or a combination of hormones in a different form but I’m not a doctor I’m just going off my experience. I really hope you get some relief soon. I’ll be thinking of you on the 4th as that’s the same day I have the pain management specialist as well so we will both be hoping and praying for help. Keep strong not that I can talk maybe look online for some nature supplements that could help with the hot flushes in the mean time I will also have a Google for you big hugs xx I’m always here if you need to chat

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

I really hope I get some relief from The Hot flashes too. I'm trying not to say that I think you're right about the HRT but that's what I'm fearing to. I'd be okay with that as long as they could find something that would work ,like if they would just up my dose and if that would work or if they would figure out that say I instead need like a birth control pill to give me way more estrogen and if they said this will work but it's just going to take you know maybe two or three months then like I said I'd be okay with that if I knew it would work. I just want there to be some answer to this problem to give me hot flash relief. And I don't want to go the route of going on any kind of like antidepressant or other type of medicine because I'm very sensitive to this and not to mention I'm afraid of weight gain and all antidepressants cause weight gain... I know they did for me all the years that I ever tried them for my anxiety and anorexia. Plus that, I've always heard that the best treatment for hot flashes like what gives you the most relief as hormones so I would think that that's what would give me the most relief however who's to say. But then again like I said I'm afraid of going on the birth control pill because the last time I did it made me gain 7 lb in one month so it's like I'm afraid of that too if they were to mention that because like I said it didn't work in one month and so I went off of it even though they said that it would might take you know give it 3 months but I felt the same way like well if it didn't kick in by the first month and it's not going to work so I gave up on it. If I just knew that I was on the right treatment but that it was just going to take two or three months I'd be okay with that but my fear is is that I'm just stabbing in the dark and I have no idea what I'm doing and I feel like the doctors don't either. I don't know if I told you this but I already tried black cohosh 80 mg a day for 3 months and it barely barely took the edge off like probably equivalent to what I'm going through now or maybe even a little better but it did not help enough to make any difference you know like substantially. I know for most people they only go on like 40 mg a day and then there are some people who take like a really really high dosage like in the hundreds of black cohosh but like I said I was too afraid of doing that because black cohosh can cause weight gain and what do you think I'm afraid of... It's just a nightmare for me and my anorexia. Also, before the doctor was wanting to do the HRT like I told you the second appointment she decided that when she found the cause she didn't want to give me the HRT patches because she felt like she would just be giving me symptomatic relief when really I needed to do the work and gain weight for the anorexia for in order for my pituitary gland to turn back on the estrogen itself.... Well so when I left there that day I said well what am I supposed to do about the hot flashes and she's like well you can try Estroven over the counter and I said which one and she's like just get the regular one. so that's what I would have had to try had she not have changed her mind and decided to try the HRT but she sent me a note that out at like an hour after my appointment saying you know what I really want to make your hot flashes go away let's try the HRT instead of the Estroven so I've not tried that... I don't know if that would work or not. I guess I just really thought that this HRT estrogen patch would be the thing that works because for so many people it works and I kept saying well maybe I can try to you know if I get major relief with this then you know maybe I can kind of not freak out as much about if it makes me gain a couple pounds but the fact that I'm not getting any relief is scaring me to death and really really discouraging me and making me extremely anxious. Same as when I went on the birth control pill for a month and gained weight and did not get any relief at all it just makes me extremely anxious and discouraged.and scared and worried.

Yes I will definitely pray for you as I'm a Christian and my faith in God and personal relationship with God is the only thing that gets me through anything...all this all of my health problems. So I will definitely pray for your visit on the 4th and I pray that you can get some pain relief. And I'm so sorry that you're not absorbing your medicines like you should due to having bowel surgery... that sounds awful I'm so sorry you've had to go through that. Okay will you pray for me and I'll pray for you and I'm here for you too.

[MyStar86 in reply to Hidden]

On a quick look it says evening primrose oil is a good supplement to try and Black cohosh but it’s worth looking into xx

[Hidden in reply to MyStar86]

Yeah you can read what I wrote you above I tried the black cohosh for 3 months 80 mg a day and it only took away like 5% of the hot flashes so basically nothing but better than nothing but I have not tried evening primrose oil. Also there are a lot of people that they take like hundreds of milligrams of the black cohosh even though most people only need like 40 mg a day but again I was too afraid to do that because of some people saying you know that it can cause weight gain and like I said that's always my fear of everything taking any medicine. It's so frustrating to have to have anorexia and this because it makes all your treatment options so fearful and limited.

[Hidden]

I take a sleeping pill too when I go to bed at 10:30pm! Along with my anxiety and pain meds at that time. So maybe I'll start taking the progesterone like at 9:30 pm like you do and see if it helps me sleep better. My situation with the sleeping pill is the exact same thing you're describing...I've taken it for yrs but it still hasn't given me good sleep since I've started these hot flashes and feeling hot all day and night all the time which started this past June when I got a repetitive strain injury in my wrists that has never gone away.

So it's like I've got the chronic pain, the hot flashes, and the anxiety which are all chronic. So I'm hoping that if at least we could calm these hot flashes down and that would help hopefully with taking one thing off the table.

I pray a lot which is the only thing that I do that is relaxing but I will try this breathing exercises as I am not one for meditation but I would be willing to try the breathing because as you can see I have severe generalized anxiety disorder and even though I take an anxiety medicine it obviously doesn't help enough. So that's why I'm so anxious which makes all my other conditions worse. I'm trying not to worry about the HRT causing me to gain weight but I know that that's one of the things that's keeping me anxious as well is because I'm worried that it's not going to work I'm worried that I'll still feel hot, and I'm worried that it's going to make me gain weight and I know you say that it's not but it's I know that that constant anxiety is making everything worse. So I'm trying hard not to and I'm praying that God will lower my anxiety and take it away.