- Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
- Irregular heart beat
- Irritability
- Mood swings, sudden tears
- Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
- Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
- Loss of libido
- Dry vagina
- Crashing fatigue
- Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
- Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom
- Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
- Disturbing memory lapses
- Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence
- Itchy, crawly skin
- Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons
- Increased tension in muscles
- Breast tenderness
- Headache change: increase or decrease
- Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
- Sudden bouts of bloat
- Depression
- Exacerbation of existing conditions
- Increase in allergies
- Weight gain
- Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
- Dizziness, vertigo, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
- Changes in body odor
- Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head
- Tingling in the extremities
- Gum problems, increased bleeding
- Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor (despite sticking with your regular brushing routine)
- Osteoporosis (after several years)
- Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
- Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, ‘whooshing,’ buzzing etc.

MY JOURNEY WITH HRT
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My journey with HRT. HRT, is such a scary drug to take if what you read in the media is to be believed. I had my hormones checked in the summer 2019 as my body was still having problems with my knees despite my new medication working with my hands. My brain started to play up, I was forgetting some many things. I even missed one doctors appointment, and went in the next day. Those that know me personally, know this is not me. My menstrual cycle changed so much this year and I just did not feel myself. After my travelling last year, I though a long rest would sort me out, after month four this is when I noticed all theses changes.
Perimenopause
My doctors tested my hormone levels through one of my monthly blood tests for my rheumatoid arthritis. And confirmed that I am at the perimenopause stage. Perimenopause, or menopause transition, begins several years before menopause. It’s the time when the ovaries gradually begin to make less estrogen. It usually starts in a woman’s 40’s, but can start in her 30’s or even earlier.
35 Symptoms of Perimenopause
I have over half from this list. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. My doctor then told me that there was a national shortage of hrt medication in the UK. He prescribed me Femoston but this was out of stock and I was given the alternative of Elleste Deut and I tried it for three months to see if this had any effect on my body.
Blood Pressure Monitoring
I also had high levels with my blood pressure. So I know have to check this four times a day. So I had to buy this and keep my eye on my blood pressure aswell. HRT in addition increases your blood pressure. So I now need to have monthly appointments at the doctors aswell as monthly blood tests. Lucky me not !
Elleste Duet 1mg
Elleste Duet is a hormone replacement therapy. It contains two types of female hormones. This box contains one white film-coated tablet contains 1 mg estradiol (as estradiol hemihydrate). Another green film-coated tablet contains 1 mg estradiol (as estradiol hemihydrate) and 1 mg norethisterone acetate.
Three Month Review
My memory is still playing up but nothing I can do about that. I thought this was giving my bad headaches, but that was my neck inflammation. I am going to continue on this drug, until other things start playing up in my body. This is the start of my journey of getting old. But it did relieve most of the other symptoms that I had been suffering with. So I know what is happening with my body. I will stay taking this HRT until my doctor tells me different.
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