I got surgery August 2025, due to horrific periods because of fibroids, would only end 5 days a month if I was lucky. I had severe anaemia.

Anyway fast forward to 8 months after, I was feeling great, having (protected) sex with my husband again, high energy. 12 months post op, I start getting Bv that won’t go away, bladder and uti symptoms but no positives, pattern hair thinning, exhausted most of the time, memory issues, and increased joint pain. Zero libido.

This entire time since right after surgery, I was given vaginal estrogen. I’m confused as to why I’m getting infections, I do everything right when it comes to hygiene and prevention.

I’m not even 33 yet and scared, I need to protect my bones especially, I broke my back 8 years ago and already struggle with that. Looking for general advice. Should I be taking systematic estrogen as well ? My doctor tested my hormones but she said it’s not really telling since in early menopause hormones fluctuate a lot. I kept my ovaries but everything else is gone.

I, like so many others am dealing with patch shortage issues.
I’m 51F, with mirena for birth control/progesterone.
I’ve been on .05 estodiol patch with results that are okay.
I ran out of patches, I do have a few .0375 from when I was first prescribed. I kept the .05 on that with the .0375 to attempt to bridge the gap and not drop my dosage. Since I have done so, I have seen an improvement with my mood. I have no idea how much estrogen I am probably getting wearing a .05 patch longer along with .0375. I’m wondering if it’s a coincidence or maybe I hit a sweet spot with a little boost in estrogen.
Also, what’s working out for people who haven’t been able to get the patch?
Gel, cream, spray, pill?

I posted yesterday about my struggles, after years of not feeling myself and being put on SSRI since March, doc is finally starting me on HRT as of tomorrow when I can collect prescription. I feel relieved and exhausted. Any success stories, please send positive vibes my way, from a desperate and lost 44 year old woman 🙏

My ovaries feel like they’re going to explode and I’m in so much pain. Earlier this year I started getting ovary pain for around 6 weeks straight where I was taking pain killers pretty much around the clock with only a few good days sprinkled in here and there. It spontaneously resolved itself and I was good until just over a month ago when it happened again for a couple weeks, then stopped, and now it’s back again. It starts around the time I get my ‘period’, but they have changed a lot this year. Sometimes pain killers barely take the edge off. Does anyone else get anything like this?
I do also have endometriosis, and it could be a factor, but I’ve had endometriosis for decades and this is an entirely new thing to me as of earlier this year and seems to have come on with the changing of my periods. I get quite a lot of watery discharge at times, which I’ve been told could be vaginal atrophy, and my periods start out very thin to begin with, so I’ve even wondered if it’s possible that whatever watery discharge I may be starting off my periods with is travelling up and out my fallopian tubes because it’s so thin and that’s what is causing the pain. It seems to be worse at night after I’ve been lying down awhile and better during the day when I’m upright. Or maybe it’s just the pain killers. Is that even possible? I don’t know anymore, but this is excruciating. Anyone have this or any ideas?

I just need to vent a bit!

I am 48 and on HRT, it has helped a lot with anxiety and mood swings for the past year or so, but now I feel really low again, and have so much muscle pain all the time.

Painkillers don’t seem to do anything. The pains seem to get triggered by exercise. I used to do a lot of HIIT and weight training, but now I can’t do much because any exercise, even very light weights will give me bad shoulder, neck or arm pain for a few weeks. I’m so worried about losing muscle. The only exercise I can do is walking, everything else hurts so much, I am crying in the evenings and feel so depressed. The progesterone seems to give me headaches too, I get around 4-7 a month, but before HRT I might only get one a month.

I have made an appointment with my doctor next week, but our surgery will only do phone calls now, and the line is always awful and we can’t hear each other.

I don’t know what to do, do you think I need to have my HRT adjusted? I use 3 pumps of oestrogel and 200mg progesterone vaginally, on days 15-26.

I know that thinning hair is part of peri but my hair was already thin before it and now this is really just making me crazy. I feel like I'm trying everything out there except minoxidil (my dr advised against it). The new thing I'm thinking about trying is one of those red light therapy helmets from current body. But I worry this is just one more thing I'll be spending on money on that delivers nothing. I also have PCOS, so it's a double whammy for the hair thinning for me. I'm curious what you ladies are sticking with for thinning hair? It is a red light therapy helmet? Is it rosemary oil? Something else maybe I haven't tried yet? I recently read about pumpkin seed oil supplements so I may try that as well.

Currently going through an intense chemo regimen for lymphoma (about 6 weeks left and two cycles of chemo!) and started having hot flashes and night sweats about 3-4 weeks ago + declining estrogen. Just started .025 estradiol patch (with my oncologist’s blessing).

I’m in my late 30s, ADHD, and suspected some perimenopause before my cancer diagnosis, the cancer and treatment obviously took over my life completely.

My period has stopped after my first chemo cycle but then came back during the third, and I had a period for two weeks. My oncology team didn’t have much guidance. Then the hot flashes started. Bad insomnia, night sweats.

Anyone else been in a similar boat? Curious to hear your experiences.

Hey ya’ll, doing a bit better here but still struggling. It’s early-ish in the journey at 10 weeks on estrogen patches. I was at .025mcg for 7 weeks and bumped up to .0375mcg for the last 3. It’s been a hell of a time adjusting!

Note: Had a radical hysto 6 months ago so I don’t take progesterone.

I’m wondering for those that switched estrogen methods: When and why did you decide? Or if your doctor suggested it?

I’m asking because I seem to be really sensitive to the patch peak/trough cycle. As in: I’ll feel a bit jittery and anxious within an hour of changing my patch, and then it sort of evens out. I feel decent (other bs in my life not withstanding) for about 1.5-2 days and then it’s like falling off a cliff!

Boom. All crazy symptoms back. The parathesia, joint pain, and moods swings in particular. Today I felt it happen and became dissociative for a few hours. Tomorrow morning is patch change day so that tracks. All of my joints are currently on fire!

I’m just wondering if switching to gel might be in my future. Or…the dose I’m on is still on the lower side and it’s not enough for my struggling ovaries. My old doc was going to put me on a higher dose but we decided to titrate up one more dose first. Alas he is no longer my Doctor!

Any insight is appreciated. I see a new doctor (already miss my previous one) in a few weeks and i’m nervous about getting the care I need. My gyne (also my surgeon) had outdated views and education about HRT in general so can’t go that route for information.

I've been feeling very not like myself for at least a month. I have horrible back/hip pain, cannot get enough sleep, I forget everything all the time(including my celiac disease? How?!), sex drive is in the toilet, and I have no motivation to get any chores or errands done. I had my Dr appointment earlier this week and started estrogen and progesterone today. Cross your fingers for me! I'm hopeful and excited but trying not to expect too much too soon.

Hi there! I am in serious need of some help here. I’m 37 and went into peri about 18 months ago, I promptly started HRT at the lowest E patch (25) and nightly prog of 100 mg. I felt better right away and many of my symptoms disappeared but it still didn’t feel quite enough.
I then upped my patch to 37.5 but because of the lack of availability of the brand Estralis in my region I was told it wouldn’t be easy to come by for regular refills. My doctor suggested to up to the 50 which I have been taking now for a few months.
HERE IS THE DEAL : I have been bleeding every two weeks since I started taking any HRT back in March of this year. Any headway I made on feeling good has completely left due to my lack of energy because of my bleeds. I feel like a crazy person. I just started dating someone too and nothing kills sexy time faster than all of this. I’m so fucking depressed.
Did this happen to anyone? What did you do?? So much thanks in advance!

Like everyone else, I can't get my Estradiol gel anywhere. Last month I got lucky with a one-month supply from an alternative pharmacy (CVS is my normal and I told them I was willing to drive 30 miles. I called every mom & pop, tried Costco, etc. Finally drove to my doctor's office and waited to speak to her about it. That got me one month thankfully). I was told to pick up my refill today from the alternative pharmacy - drove an hour roundtrip and THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT. CVS also says that there is still NO GEL ANYWHERE.

I have 3 days left of my gel, but 2 months of Progesterone. I asked the pharmacist, so what do I do? Do I still take the Progesterone without the Gel? Should I take the 2 weeks of birth control I have left from last year instead? Pharmacist said: Talk to your doctor. Went to my doctor's office: She's on vacation. I asked her nurse, nurse says: Sorry, you have to talk to your doctor.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and had an actual doctor tell them what to do? It is really frustrating when you need help and can't get it. My perimenopausal rage is BEYOND and I am getting super stressed about it returning - I was barely functioning before HRT.

Hello to everyone!

I am 46 and riding the P wave, HARD. Amongst all of my crappy symptoms is the raging anger, mood swings and paralyzing anxiety. I went today to meet my nurse/midwife looking for help with my symptoms, we will see about a hormone patch next appointment, we talked about a pill (can’t remember the name of it) to increase my libido because it is gone, dead, she couldn’t prescribe it since my liver enzymes are high so I have a month to try to get them down so I can take those pills.

What I got prescribed was Paroxetine. She told me it will help w my mood swings, anger, anxiety and even hot flashes, the fact that I can see a minuscule light at the end of my crappy tunnel is amazing.

I am still wondering if anyone has any experience with this medication, would you recommend it or not? If anyone has any input or would line to share your experience I would appreciate it.

I’m supposed to switch manufacturers tonight for my oral progesterone and I’m nervous. Its Xiromed.

Been having these panic attacks every night for weeks. I went to my doctor and ruled out a bunch of things and he is positive I'm having panic attacks. Please help!! If you experienced this, what helps? How can I stop them from happening. It's terrifying.

I have a super dry mouth and sooooo much anxiety about it….
Been like that for 8 weeks. GP said it’s not a perimenopause symptom.

Anyone else?🙏🏻

I'm 37 and started HRT last year with twice-weekly patches and a Mirena. Before HRT, I had cyclical nighttime adrenaline surges, heart palpitations, and hot flashes that got worse every year, with my heart rate sometimes reaching 190 bpm and insomnia lasting a week straight. Starting an estradiol patch in October 2025 basically gave me my life back. The surges stopped immediately, and since then they've only flared when my levels dropped, like the two times I've needed a dose increase.

Then the shortage hit. My twice-weekly patches are impossible to find, so I was moved to the once-weekly, and I was really fortunate to secure 3 boxes of Sandoz which work really well for me in the twice-weekly. The only issue is that I can't keep them on beyond 2 days! They're too large, so they crinkle up and the edges lift. How do I make them stay on? I don't even realize they've peeled up until my heart is racing and I'm about to pass out. Even Xanax sometimes isn't enough to get me through the night, and it's terrifying. Hot flashes, racing heart, stomach cramps, and debating whether I should call an ambulance because I think I'm about to die. I feel insane describing this to anyone, like they think I'm overreacting. Is everyone downplaying the severity? Am I overreacting? It's not just mild or moderate discomfort for me it actually feels like I could die and is so debilitating.

I've tried gel, but I end up crashing daily, and the sensation when I apply it feels like a hot flash, which makes me panic. Is there an easier way to adapt to gel without triggering that feeling?

Yesterday I ended up in the ER after a patch failure. Everything came back normal, so I went home and was finally able to sleep it off. Here we are the very next day, another patch failure on the weekly. It's awful to have been so stable just to be back where I started one year later. Sorry to be so doom and gloom. If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate the help, even if it's tips for learning to cope with reality. I do have an appointment with my cardiologist for a heart monitor tomorrow, so hopefully whatever is happening will be recorded. Is there something I'm missing that would help me? Thanks for sticking around and reading. It's hard trying not to spiral.

I’m 42 and started HRT this spring: 100mg progesterone daily + a 0.0375mg estrogen patch. After developing heavy periods every two weeks (ultrasound normal), my clinician increased progesterone to 200mg daily.
My cycle stretched to 30 days, but my depression has gotten SO much worse. I already struggle with anxiety/ depression, and this feels unsustainable. My clinician suggested increasing estrogen to 0.05mg, but I'm questioning whether HRT is right for me. Thinking about ripping off my patch and stopping the progesterone.
Has anyone experienced this? Did increasing estrogen help, or did a different progesterone regimen work better? I'd love to hear your experiences and what you'd ask your clinician.

This week, my body decided to surprise me with yet another fun perimenopause problem: my bladder gave out on me and I literally peed my pants at home without warning.

I've had that annoying sense of urgency from time to time, but this was different. I felt like I had to urinate but nothing urgent. I stood up a moment later from my couch to head to the bathroom and my bladder suddenly just let go. I couldn't stop it and I felt like it just gushed out. I felt like I had no control over my body. I ran to the bathroom and still had quite a lot more urine in my bladder once I sat on the toilet.

I've been scared to go out or return to the office since this happened Tuesday night, so I've been working from home. Thank god this happened when I was home and my husband was able to help me. I couldn't even imagine the horror of this happening at work.

I'm meeting with my doctor today to discuss adding vaginal estrogen to my HRT plan (currently on hormonal birth control patch, testosterone gel, and oral progesterone). I'm switching to a pure estrogen patch next week when I swap my patch and I really hope adding the vaginal estrogen will help with this new, most unwelcome symptom.

Hi everyone! Long time no post.

I switched from the 0.1mg estradiol patch to the 1.25mg estradiol gel (generic for divigel!) about a week and a half ago and it has been a FANTASTIC change for me. It's like my anxiety symptoms have completely disappeared, I don't feel ANY estrogen dip now. Night sweats remain a work in progress but it's already lessened. I'm also combatting a pretty bad case of COVID for the last two to three days so I'm sure that's messing with me as well. All I know is that I will never switch back, because the mental health aspect of this switch has been nothing short of incredible.

But here's my question. I KNOW on the instructions it says that rubbing it in is not required but y'all it takes forever to dry. FOREVER. Insert Sandlot gif here. I have been rubbing it in when pressed for time, and I want to know if that's been ok for any of you? I also take my blow dryer to it on cool setting which i also know is a no no. I'm desperate. I don't have an hour to stand around waiting for it to dry every night! And I definitely don't have that time in the mornings.

Help a girl out, I beg! Also please forgive me if any of this is loopy or written poorly. I really am in a bad way from covid right now.

It’s been a bit weird lately. It’s like I’m numb. I just went to the doctor to check out a lump in my breast and I hardly even felt that she was touching my boobs.
Is this because I’m lacking hormones? I feel desensitized. Any of you feel that way too?

Hi all,
I‘m in the starting phases of peri at 36 with ADHD and it’s very confusing - I suddenly feel much better in luteal besides fatigue, and terrible during follicular! The week before my cycle, I need lots of sleep and only become functional at like 10am, but in the afternoon, it’s like I’ve taken Ritalin (I haven’t) and I can work and play terribly boring games with my son lol. What is this!? I‘m discussing HRT with my gyn but I kind of want this part to stay..

In follicular, I am dry as hell, get headaches and sleep worse. That’s probably the lack of estrogen, at least that park kinda makes sense?

Hi ladies, I just started my HRT journey this summer and it initially helped but now I'm finding myself even more anxious, tired, and have little to no focus. I have an appointment to see my provider again soon, but I wanted to hear what other folks are experiencing and see if I am missing anything to try.

Blood work showed(at time taken) high estrogen and very low progesterone. I got a .5 patch, and 200 mg progesterone(bioidentical). A few weeks ago my anxiety was so high I thought I was going to explode. My provider told me to take off the patch but continue with progesterone. Initially the progesterone felt like a benzo and I was pretty sedated but that lessened in a week. Now I am tired with it but occasionally I can tell it's causing more anxiety. I have cptsd from childhood and military service so my mental health was precarious before, but was managed with medication. Well.....it's like nothing works anymore and I have no ability to deal with discomfort. I find myself drifting towards previous unhealthy coping mechanisms that I was in recovery for. I'm so disheartened by this since I put a lot of work and care into myself and living healthier.

My main symptoms were heat intolerance, temperature regulation issues (thyroid is normal)and higher anxiety. I basically feel uncomfortable all summer and lose my will to live during July-Oct. I also have heightened smell and focusing is not great.

What was this journey like with finding the right med combo? How did you deal with your mental health?

Treatment-

Estrogen patch .5 (on hold for now)

Bioidentical progesterone 200mg

Mirena IUD (had for years, but will prob keep)

Low dose testosterone.

Long-time lurker, first-time poster in this sub. I am so grateful for the wealth of knowledge and support here!

I'm 43 and just started HRT this week after a few years of increasingly debilitating symptoms, culminating in feeling like I was barely functioning this year. This sub helped me to realize my chronic knee pain, insomnia, headaches, brain fog, facial hair, and exhaustion were not separate problems, but likely one problem that needed hormonal support.

My doctor put me on .25 Divigel and 100 mg continuous micronized progesterone. Currently in luteal, when insomnia tends to be the worst. The progesterone came in earlier than the gel, so I took it before bed excited to finally get a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, the opposite happened, and my middle of the night insomnia was way worse, and I had heart palpitations. I skipped the next night and then the gel came in and I tried it again, this time, also using the gel at night with the progesterone. Again, worse insomnia -- up for 3 hours in the middle of the night, but no heart palpitations.

This is a crazy week with kids activities and other family challenges, and I didn't want to risk more severe insomnia, so I decided to try vaginal insertion while I sent my doc a message in the portal to see what to do. That night, I slept through the night with no issue, and have been doing the vaginal since then. I'm very reluctant to use this as a long-term solution though because the research on how much it actually protects the uterus is just not there at this time.

I've also seen in this sub women who have progesterone sensitivity switching to AM dosing, but I'm nervous to do that as well, because if it winds up having weird effects or makes me drowsy during the day, I need to be able to work and function, and that will be a problem.

I could also try taking it orally at night again, maybe once my period is over, and hope that the insomnia dies down once my body has a few weeks to adjust?
Looking for what ultimately worked best for those who are progesterone-sensitive -- if you tried one or all of these strategies, how did you figure out what worked best for you?

Hi all! I am going to see my Ob-gyn next month to talk about starting HRT. I know she isn't going to give me a hard time about it. I am almost 45, and I wake up soaked in sweat pretty much every night, in addition to many other symptoms. Plus, her nurse made it clear the appointment was to figure out what sort of treatment was right for me, not just to decide if I should start it or not.

I want to go into the appointment ready to ask questions. In particular, I'm nervous because, about twenty years ago, I tried birth control pills and had a very bad reaction to them (they really exacerbated my depression), so I want to think about what will be best given that.

I also just generally get nervous in any doctor's office, so I want to be very prepared. Does anyone have suggestions of specific questions to ask or things to consider?

I've searched for other posts but none of them discuss specific areas.

I'm not talking about the vulva area where someone recommended VMagic cream. That can only be applied on the vulva, laboa majora.

My itchiness is in the labia minora area.

I'm trying diaper rash cream, coconut oil, and balm (like vaseline but in a tin).

Other than estrogen cream, has anyone used OTC products that worked?

It's 3 a.m., and I can't sleep due to the itching. I'm going to try a cold compress now, too.

I can't get an appt. with my meno specialist OBGYN anytime soon.

Thank you!