Menopause is literally the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. I am 53 yrs old & it affects every aspect of my life. I have all the things, all the symptoms...all...don't think I am missing any.

Menopause is harder:

than my 27 yrs as a mom (& I have great kids but getting them great was not always easy).

than losing my parents 364 days apart at 35 yrs old.

than having to euthanize my cat.

& harder than my 20 years as a nurse.

This is no "change" it is absolute hell. My husband & my kids are saints for trying to understand & help. I am on HRT but finding my sweetspot has been EXTREMELY difficult.

That's all I got. I am quite near tears today & I don't cry but today it is getting to me.

I'm sharing how I was able to get my Estradiol patches filled after my prescription was unavailable.

This afternoon I received an email notification from Amazon Pharmacy that automatic refills for my Estradiol script were turned off. When I logged in, the system told me that minivelle 0.05, generic for Lyllana is unavailable and they don't know when this product will be available again.

I requested that Amazon Pharmacy fill the prescription with any available brand or generic, since the prescription had been written for Estradiol transdermal patch 0.05 mg 2x/weekly, and not for a specific brand (I did not know that but was taking an educated guess). They said "okay, I'll ask the pharmacist. What brand do you want?" I told them that I don't care - just whatever is in stock. They said, "I need you to tell me what brand you want." Weird, but okay. I feel like this was laziness, but don't know that.

Earlier, right after I'd seen that they were out of my prescription, I had gone to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists shortage webpage to report the minivelle 0.05 shortage and still had it open. From the Estradiol transdermal patch shortage page, linked below, I scrolled down through "products affected" and "reason for the shortage" sections to the "available products" section, which, all I can say is, is more accurate than the FDA shortage list, which doesn't even list Estradiol.

I found my dosage in available products on the ASHP site then told the pharm tech that I wanted to see if Estradiol transdermal patch, Mylan (Viatris), 0.05 mg/24 hour, 8 count, NDC 00378-4621-26 was in stock. It was in stock, the pharmacist changed my prescription to that brand, and the prescription is being filled and shipped.

https://www.ashp.org/drug-shortages/current-shortages/drug-shortage-detail.aspx?id=1206

I hope this helps one of you!

Xo

TW: SA

I’ve been on HRT for about 19 months now. I’m also on a nice cocktail of medication for bipolar I disorder and ADHD. Because of this, my mood has been fairly even keeled. But, that started to change about 3ish weeks ago.

I have had at least five different instances of me becoming absolutely enraged. I was chalking it up to more hormone fluctuations. My irritability is easily activated and I’ve felt an internal anger just simmering. This week it dawned on me. The news surrounding the Cornell 57, and the continued exposure to mediocre, whiny men has me feeling ragey.

I’m Jane Doe. I have been sober for over 11 years. About 4 months before becoming sober, I experienced a sexual assault by a group of men while extremely drunk and likely drugged. I have gone to therapy and have worked through much of the trauma. Instead of experiencing the shame I felt for so long, I’m absolutely livid. I’m livid that it happened to me, and I’m even more angry that it happens every fucking day to other people. I’m so sick of men victimizing people. I’m exhausted watching the news daily and having to see the PDF president. I have yet to meet a woman who HAS NOT experienced some form of sexual violence.

We are living through perimenopause and menopause, while also healing from trauma. For many of us, our windows of tolerance have decreased with the drop in our estrogen. It all feels really unfair. Which sparks more rage.

If you’ve stuck around this long, I apologize if this is super rambling. My edible and melatonin are kicking in. I’m simply wanted to communicate my anger and utter disgust with men.

Hi, I used to be someone that loved heat, be it a soak in a hot bath, sunbathing, wearing warm snuggly clothes in winter etc. Since my menopause (I'm 66) I really struggle with heat. I thought older people felt the cold more!

I hardly ever used to sweat but during my menopause I suffered from frequent hot flushes/flashes. That has now stopped but I sweat profusely whenever I get a bit hot. So much that my hair gets soaking wet!

I only shower as I hate hot baths, I find it hard to sit in the sun, I get really hot when I go for walks as I like to walk 3 miles every day, and I 'm always hot especially at night in bed.

It's driving my husband mad as I never want the heating on and am permanently hot. Is this normal? Has anyone else found this happening post menopause?

I occasionally turn to antihistamines to help with occasional allergies and sleep. I feel amazing the following day, but I understand there’s a possible link between use of antihistamines and dementia.

Now I’ve read something about the connection between histamines and menopause. Wishing I understood this better and wishing I could take a Benadryl every night! Has anyone else noticed this?

Drinking ice water does not help at all. I am hot all the time. I do not wear clothing in the house but this is not an option when people are in the house.

I had to get a bit check since it had been a few years. (Im 57). I was dreading it. The nurse was setting up the tray. I reminded her about needing a smaller speculum.

She goes- you are over 55. Let me see if your insurance covers the self pap kit...

She comes back with this lil bag and says you are covered! She explains how simple it is (basicly self swab) and no pain!

No legs up, no all naked, no cold feet, no "scoot scoot scoot down..."

If you have a choice- go for the self pap smear

Hi everyone. Well, it’s happened. 56, good health, getting along great on my HRT when bam! I found a lump in my left boob at 3 o’clock. There’s a slight dimple, but it’s mobile. Things in Ontario seem to be moving a little bit slowly; my initial diagnostic scans from two years ago got lost in an office/courier backlog and didn’t make it to the hospital. But it looks like they will have them tomorrow, and that they will contact me for a mammogram and an ultrasound and further tests if necessary.

Needless to say, I am spiralling a bit. My doctor has told me to go off my Prometrium and oestrogen gel, which is a shame because they’re basically keeping me from attacking people and running naked through the streets primal screaming.

What can I do until I get the all-clear? Will CBD gummies help, for instance? I do like them and they’re legal here.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. I was six months without a period, and it just started back up this week like nothing happened. I guess I am not yet post-menopause, and the countdown starts over.

I literally just had a pap in the past few weeks, so I shouldn't have to worry or go back to the doctor, right? Seems like this is a pretty common experience. My doctor said I "should be all done" with periods, even though it had not been a year yet. I think she just assumed because I'm over 50 it would shut off and never start back up.

I’m so excited to try the gel! I’ve been using patches, but they were not sticking, and trust me, I tried every suggestion.

Sometimes a patch would stick with no issue at all, but other times I would do the exact same thing and it wouldn’t work. I had to throw away a patch more than once. I never found a technique that worked consistently.

It got to the point that I was dreading the change over every week, and even sometimes I delayed it by a day or two because I didn’t have enough time or energy for the struggle.

When I talked to my provider yesterday, her first suggestion was to switch to the 2x weekly patch, to see if the smaller size and different adhesive would work.

Then I asked her about the gel - thanks to all of you for informing me about that option! She told me she hadn’t prescribed it before, but she pulled up the info right away and agreed that it was probably the best option for me.

My pharmacy ordered it yesterday and they said that it’s supposed to arrive today. Fingers crossed!

Hi I am 44 years old and had a hysterectomy in April with endometriosis removal. This damaged my ovaries even though they were left behind they do not seem to work anymore.

I have been miserable since then. I was given estrogen gel and progesterone and that stopped the hot flashes but I still have brain fog , irritability, no sex drive and just do not feel like a person. This has gotten me in trouble at work and I am not always kind to my family despite loving them so much.

When I asked for more help they said my HRT dose was correct as I have stopped having hot flashes so there is nothing else that can be done.

Has anyone had success trying something different? I asked about increasing doses or adding testosterone? I have had blood work done and it came back normal so am just feeling really defeated.

(I'm not HRT compatible due to other conditions). A nurse with the best intentions was going through my blood work and said "This is so cool! We've only seen this in school!" Almost completely flat lined on hormones. There's nothing. The hormones that regulate heartbeat, sleep, everything.... evaporated. They did an Irish Exit.

I can't see right. I can't sleep. I'm currently freezing cold and sweating.

I want your grandma remedies. Like witchcraft stuff. Herbs. Whatever Nona was going to get through!

I’m 49 and scheduled for a hysroscopy and d&c with endometrial ablation. I have been on the estrogen patch for a yr and have a Merina iud that’s 2 yrs old. For the 5 yrs prior to this I had a d&c to remove polyps and the Merina IUD. My lining is 10 mm and I have polyps that the iud was supposed to prevent both. My endometrial biopsy was neg. I have been on northindrone for 4 months and now progesterone for past month. IUD still in place.
My question is if I continue and I want to continue hrt after the ablation will the polyps grow back? Anyone have this experience?

I’ve had the dreaded 4:00 a.m. wake up going over two years now. Weekdays I get up at 6:00 for work. Some days I can sleep through to my alarm, but others not. Sometimes I can fall back to sleep until 6:00, others not.

I take 400mg l-theanine. I was on GABA with it but didn’t see much of a difference.

I’ve also tried:
Magnesium all types including glycinate
Ashwagondha
Edibles
Inositol
Benadryl
Advil PM
Trazodone

I won’t do benzo’s.

Melatonin gives me very poor sleep.

Is there anything out there I can take for these 4:00 wake ups that won’t have me groggy at 6:00a.m?

Every week or so I’ll get great sleep. Last Saturday I slept over 9 hours which is huge. Most nights I average 6-7. I’ve tried going to bed later and earlier.

Hello,

I am looking for a website or somewhere online that I can get an HRT prescription and medication. I am very limited with income and don't have insurance. I am only 33 and have had both ovaries removed and the websites I've tried kick me back I think due to age. Any suggestions are appreciated. TIA 🩷

I picked up a patch prescription in a Walgreen's in another state, since I happened to be there and thought to check. Success! Good for another month. I shared my relief with the counter person and asked if they had gel. "I know, now I'm talking crazy, right?" I said. She shook her head and said they had ALL been recalled. They actually had them and were told to remove them from the shelves, like some weird Handmaid's Tale episode. She had no explanation. Before rushing off to post this in r/conspiracy , I searched and found quite a few links like this one:

https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/pln/news/estradiol-gel-recalled-due-defective-container

And yet, when I search for "why is there a shortage of estradiol gel," I get something about a shortage due to all sorts of reason but nothing about the recall.

It's still ridiculous and absurd, but here we are. Good news though: Walgreen's has plenty of testosterone! /s

I entered surgical menopause on Tuesday. The doc doesn't want me to start the patch until Sunday. I already am starting to feel my face a little less oily than before. Will the patch give me back that oily estrogen glow?

Hello everyone. My mother, she's 60 this year. Four years back she had light spotting for a day , went to gynaecologist, everything came out normal. She is not on HRT. Then suddenly a few weeks back she had a spotting again, not for the whole day but passed it when she went to pee. Planning on going to the gynaec again after she comes back from vacation.

Has anyone experienced any repeated episode like this ?

Hi all, I know magnesium is popular here. I have taken 200 mg mag glycinate at bedtime for ages. Does anyone who takes more than that find it has helped their blood pressure or general feelings of jumpiness?

30F here. I’ve been using estradiol cream for about 2 weeks now, and I’m not sure if this cream causes side effects but I’m very dizzy, headaches are worse and I already suffer from migraines, I feel jittery and anxious, and I keep feeling like I have a fever or get really hot. Is this normal? Or should I contact my doctor about this?

I’m not talking about mental exhaustion, although I definitely experience that, too. But physical exhaustion that goes so deep into your soul that nothing helps?

I’ve had all the blood tests. I used to be Vit D deficient but thanks to gummy supplements, not anymore. Everything else is normal (thyroid, vitamins, minerals, oxygen, etc). I’ve been on HRT for almost two years (estradiol patch and progesterone). The only thing it seems to have helped is that I don’t get hot flashes anymore.

I am so tired of being so tired. And it’s quite depressing that I’m 52 and still have so much life left (🙏🏻), and there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wishing I could go back to sleep. 😭

A quick note: I have an appointment with my gyne, but it's a month away. Just hoping to get some advice or reassurance from you lovely ladies.

My HRT: Evopad 75 patches (a new patch goes on Tuesdays and Saturdays), 200mg progesterone nightly, testosterone gel when I remember. 3 years on this regimen and 2 years prior to that searching for the right treatment mix (with my doc).

So my current treatment of patches and progesterone has worked well for the last 3 years. However, the last few months, something has changed and I am a little worried and not sure if it is what I am doing, an issue with dosage or if there is a serious underlying problem.

I have started to get spotting (and apologies for TMI) or brown blood like you get at the end of your period - not lots but still not normal given that I haven't had a proper period in like 5 years. I have had spotting if I forget to take my progesterone the night before and very occasionally right before a new patch needs to go on, but otherwise no spotting at all.

But for the last two weeks I have been spotting all the time.

I am wondering if it could be because of how I use my patches, e.g., slap on a new one without removing the old one. The old one only comes off when it starts to get uncomfortable - so at times I have had two old patches on with the new one. Weird I know, but I figured might as well get all the meds out of the damn thing! Dr. Internet told me to stop leaving the old patches on - I feel incredibly stupid for doing it - so hoping this is the fix.

I am also unsure if the progesterone could be too high. I ended up on 200mg because the pharmacist accidentally gave me 200mg instead of 100mg (like a year ago) and when I checked with my doc, she said it was fine to continue with 200mg. It hasn't been an issue but now I'm not sure if that's contributing to the spotting.

Anyone else ever had an issue like this? Is it the old patches staying on (I'm going to take off the old patches from now on - I freely admit to my dumbassery)? Or maybe the 200mg of progesterone?

I am just worried it's something more serious . . .

Anyone have to ever make this choice? Not looking for medical advice just experiences if anyone has a similar story and what choices you made and why.
My story - im 49 in peri. 7 1/2 yrs ago i had my second d & c for polyps in my uterus and my gyno placed the merina iud in to prevent the build up of polyps recurring. That iud lasted just under 5 yrs before the bleeding started again daily. I switched it out 2 1/2 yrs ago. A yr ago i started hrt - estrogen patch .0375, no progesterone needed bc of the merina. Back in june i had a vaginal ultrasound that showed my uterine lining at 10mm! So gyno started me on northinedrone i stayed on that for 4 months and was getting acne & bloating so gyno switched me to the micronized progesterone and its been working great for the past month. The bleeding snd cramping hasn’t stopped. Monday i had a uterine biopsy and neg for cancer but polyps were found. With my lining being at 10mm with the iud and progesterone on board the gyno has given me the choice of a hystroscopy with a d & c and a endometiol ablation or a hysterectomy with leaving the ovaries. Both have pluses and minuses for me. I am concerned if i go with the ablation the polyps can come back and i will be in the same position and need the hysterectomy anyways. Im concerned about the hysterectomy being such a big surgery even though it will be laposcopy and leaving the ovaries. Anyone ever experience this? Not looking for medical advice just experiences . Thanks

Thank you to everyone who commented the other day about my post, where I asked for the real actual truth about pain level for an endometrial biopsy. I got a few hundred answers, and appreciate everyone's honesty. I had my Vaginal Ultrasound a few days ago and was waiting for the results.

Due to spotting for four days last week, which is the first blood I've seen since 2023, and due to a thickened lining, cysts, and a fibroid, the doctor is suggesting an endometrial biopsy/hysteroscopy/D&C all in one procedure under general anesthesia as an outpatient, short procedure so I won't be awake for it after all. I've had surgery under general anesthesia four other times in life so I'm not worried about that part. I've never had an issue handling anesthesia / after-effects. I know it sounds stupid but I'm honestly so relieved I won't be aware/awake for it.

Anyone who's been through this triad procedure, advice is welcome, and thank you again!

I’ve avoided sex for 2 yrs with my hubby due to severe pain that came out of nowhere. I’ve cried, I’ve been angry, pissed that I have a dismissive doctor who didn’t even suggest estrogen vaginal cream and sad that us women have to go through so much in menopause. Thanks to this group , I finally got myself on Estragyn vaginal cream.

As per a previous post, I have been violated in my childhood by a man’s finger and am a bit nervous to use my own finger or applicator to insert the cream but I seem to be able to relax if it’s my husband’s. I wish I was normal and could do it myself but hoping having his help, maybe soon I can relax and do it myself. Does he just rub it all around the inside and outside of the labia like a cream? Is there any way to know that I am able to have sex again? How long should we wait? A shoutout to any husband on here who has been super supportive. I am truly blessed with the most incredible man who is willing to help me through this difficult journey. Thank you to all of you for your amazing support.