really struggling with femoston hrt,so i've just stopped it.

Hi,michelle,thankyou for your reply,i think you're right about the progesterone,i feel worse with that too,i'm glad you're starting to feel better though,i hope when i start on something else, things may improve, i think i'm a little impatient and probably expect results straight away! I think it's helped venting a bit on here this afternoon,thankyou.

thankyou for the reply judy, i often wondered if estrogen was still low,i had read about low estrogen symptoms and seemed to be able to relate to quite a few. I too have sore and bleeding gums,memory lapses and foggy thinking,but the aching joints seem to be the biggest symptom,i know you're right about it taking time,i think i must have got a bit down after 9months on hrt and felt a bit like giving up, but after your replies i think i need to stick with it,i think the tiredness some days just makes it all seem worse! thankyou again. 

Hi there

I was interested in what you wrote. I suffered an awful burning mouth,tongue and jaw. I had a sour mouth too. I couldn't and still can't eat anything spicy or salty crisps or red wine etc. Specialist said it is burning mouth syndrome. I also had bad twitching. Looking back the anxiety was frightening. I couldn't go out the house. That's a lot better the last 3 weeks. I only use one and a bit pump of gel,perhaps I should up it?

Oh, the tiredness, I forgot about that. I too was so tired that I had to sleep all afternoon - which I have never had to take naps as I have always had so much energy (thank God I'm retired). Yes, I also had foggy thinking (like a dark cloud suddenly started coming over me) and my estrogen level got so low that I literally had full blown panic attacks, which made my blood pressure spike sky high. Xanax and Tylenol PM literally saved my life (but only taken when I really needed them). I no longer need the xanax (except for extreme problems, but you have to be very careful to only take it when you only absolutely need it and no more than 1 or 2 days in a row). I had a panic attack one night so bad that I told my husband I had to go to the ER as I felt I was having a mental breakdown. 1/2 mg xanax and 2 Tylenol PM pills calmed me right down (Aleve PM works better for me, but I know it's bad on the stomach). My joints hurt so bad I could barely get out of bed at times. Upping the estrogen made everyone of the problems disappear. In the beginning, my present OBGYN did blood work on me and discovered my estrogen level was extremely low. One piece of advise that I learned the hard way. He upped my dosage from 3-1/2 mg estradiol per week to 10-1/2 mg per week. Your body can't take that much, that fast. GRADUALLY up or lower the dosage by 1/4 to 1/2 mg every couple months. One of the ladies in my husbands office went  through the same as me. The thing that I kept hanging onto was when she said, "at the end of 6 months you'll feel a fraction better, at 7 months you'll start to think maybe this will work, at 8 months you'll begin to think 'yes' it just may work." It's true - that's exactly how I felt. But, you need to find the level that works for you. I kept calling my doctor every two weeks crying and saying this wasn't working, so he kept upping the dosage until I ended up at 14 mg per week. After being on this dosage I started having the "too much" estrogen symtoms so I'm slowly tappering back down. By lowering it 1 mg all my "too much" symtoms went away" and I now feel pretty good, but I can tell I'm maybe a smidge over. You just have to keep at it until you find your perfect level, then you'll be normal again. I WAS normal for 9 years until my old OBGYN told me, "well, your 65, time to get off hormones" WRONG that's when I started having all my problems. My new OBGYN said, "Wrong, you need estrogen" I'll never get off estrogen ever again. I'm sorry for putting in so much information, but I thought you should know what happened to me. We poor women and our hormones

I can't believe it,i sometimes feel exactly the same,when you describe not being able to get out of bed and wanting to sleep,it's so awful,you've made me feel so much better,i began to think it's just me! I can see now that it will just take time,i think i've just heard the stories of people that have felt better in a matter of weeks,so at least i now know! The anxiety can be terrible too and the way it just creeps up,i think i'll ask my doctor to retest my estrogen when i go back next week,i feel such a nuisance i swear i all i say to her is "i'm really sorry to bother you"! I sound so pathetic,i think thats another change in me. I've really enjoyed my children being off school for the summer holidays and i'll be sad to see them go back to school bet this school holiday has been one of the most challenging! Thankyou so much Judy,i'm able to smile a little as i reply,i think from pure relief and i look forward to being able to get out of bed during the night,in the mornig or out of a chair without crying out in pain!   

And.... I forgot something else until you mentioned it. When you first start your new dosage, the first few days are a little rocky, by the second week you feel like you're cured THEN the bottom drops out and you feel like you're going insane. The reason for this is because the new doseage is like a shot in the arm, but then you start the troughing rollercoaster and your body is going up and down for weeks/months and then will very slowly start evening out. I had my annual exam this past July 22nd and I asked him to retest my estrogen level by doing bloodwork. He checked me the very first time (last year) when I first started with him and has refused to do bloodwork all the times I kept calling/crying on the phone. I looked him in the eyes and asked him why he can't do bloodwork this time and he said because testing estrogen levels by bloodwork isn't really all that accurate. The reason he did it the first time was to get a handle where I was when I first started with him. He said to continue as I was doing, slowly tappering down - little by little, waiting a few months in between the tappering and see how it goes, until I feel good again. I also told him and his nurse about this wonderful website for his other patients (his nurse wrote it down) to get information from. I also told him not to tell anymore of his patients that it only takes two weeks for the estrogen to get into your system. The truth is it takes two weeks to get it into the system, by the third week the bottom drops out and you'll feel worse than you did from the beginning and he should tell them to grit their teeth and bear with it until at least the 6th month. Sometimes it may take a year on some women (yes, I was mad and determined to let this man know how I felt - I was like you in the beginning in that I didn't want to make him mad - I was/am at the point now I don't care - he was going to hear me). He grinned, nodded and said I was completely correct. Can you believe that? I wish I was told that in the beginning instead of me having to think I was going crazy (I even considered I may need anti-depressants, until my internist said NO, it's all hormones). I feel like I've had to do this all by myself, thinking I was losing my mind or dying of something when it was all hormones. I even had people tell me maybe I should go back to the doctor, something just isn't right. Of course if they had been through the mess I've been through they wouldn't have said that. Luckily I just kept telling everyone that would listen and Lo and behold I started finding a few (a neighbor and the lady in my husbands office) that went through the same thing as me and lived to tell about it. Good luck Michelle, my advise is until you get back on track again, take this time and lay on that couch, do your quivering (both the body and even the heart), watch TV shows that make you laugh, grit your teeth and hang in there - you're going to be just fine - just know it takes months.

That's great advice and comforting. I went on HRT on the 1st April this year. I was put on Evorel 50 patches and utrogestan. By the 3rd and 4th week I felt terrible . The anxiety and nervousness was awful. My symptoms just weren't getting better. 4 weeks ago I changed to the gel rather than patch. I'm adjusting my dose as to how I feel. I'm on one and a bit pumps. I take 100mg utrogestan for 12 days of the month. I do feel wired up when I take the progesterone though. A lot of the symptoms have got easier bit by bit.

FYI: Those ladies who told you they felt better in a matter of a few weeks..... they either weren't as low in their estrogen levels as you are, "or" the bottom probably dropped out not long after they talked with you.

On the anxiety creeping up on you; On two different occasions I got up feeling really good, so I decided to go shopping. On both those two occasions as I was shopping and feeling wonderful, it (the dark cloud) started creeping up on me and I felt like things were going black, only I wasn't fainting, but instead the darkness hit me along with the sweating on one occasion and didn't go away for a few days. I felt so bad I got to my car asap and headed home.

Another tip: STAY OFF CAFFEINE! No one tells you that either. I noticed I'd feel great, then I stop in at Starbucks and get a coffee or iced coffee, then for the next 3 days I would feel terrible with anxiety, quivering, etc. Then the lady that works with my husband told me STAY OFF CAFFEINE and I got an AH HA moment. I haven't had caffeine in my coffee or chocolate in over a year. Although, at times, when I don't have anything planned for the next week I might eat a little chocolate. I read labels religiously now for anything that has caffeine in it.

judy, what were your 'too much' symptoms.  how did you feel. this is a very interesting post, thnk you.