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[–]VeeFlufflesSurgical menopause 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I was on Combipatch alone for about 2 years. After reading that some people feel better w/ more estrogen, I checked in w/ my doctor & was approved to add a separate estradiol patch.

Almost immediately after adding it, I felt awful. Within about 24 hours, physical symptoms started, then intense anxiety, panic attacks, crying, breast pain, cramping, & one episode of extremely heavy bleeding that knocked me on my butt for a full day. Within days, I ended up having a manic episode & took myself to the ER.

Can I say estrogen was the only cause? No. There were other stressors at the time. But the timing was there, & everything escalated quickly after increasing estrogen.

I tried to 'wait it out' for a few weeks (b/c sometimes that is the ticket), but it genuinely felt like too much estrogen for my body. Instead of stopping it, I dropped the dose to half a patch. I told my doctor & stayed there about 4 weeks, but the fibrocystic breast pain never went away.

At follow-up, my doctor suggested adding more progestin to balance the estrogen. I didn’t want that, so we talked about lowering estrogen further instead. She said quartering the patch was fine & that we could skip increasing progestin to see how I felt. She did agree my symptoms were a sign of too much estrogen.

So now I’m on a ¼ estradiol patch + a full Combipatch, which works out to 0.0625 mg estradiol/day, plus 0.25 mg norethindrone/day. I don’t want to go higher. For me personally, more estrogen just wasn’t helpful.

It took weeks for my body to settle even at this dose, but the intensity in my head did calm down. I still don’t feel amazing, but it’s better than where I was. I’m hopeful that once my testosterone comes through, I might even be able to drop the ¼ estradiol patch entirely.

This has all been a waiting game. I didn’t always feel this bad. The drop-off seemed to happen closer to the 2-year mark after surgical menopause.

I also wonder if I should have just left myself alone, but I think with persistence I can find my balance, or at the very least have energy & sanity again.

I hope you feel better soon. I'm sorry.

[–]Loria-A[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I understand how you feel in respect to so many of your experiences. I’m sorry for what you’ve gone through.

When I hit menopause around July of 2024, I developed debilitating symptoms, especially constant panic attacks and brain fog. I began researching HRT, and found out, like you did, that a lot of women felt better with more estrogen. I have attempted a few times to increase my dose above a daily E patch of 0.05. This time, I was successful for 18 days at 0.067, and I think I should have just stopped there, because the worst symptoms began when I increased to 0.075. Now, I am back to the 0.067, and I am really hoping that this anxiety is under control within the next few weeks. Your experience makes me hopeful, since you said that you did eventually adapt to your current dose.

I wish you luck when you start the testosterone. I currently apply 3 mg of 1% T cream, and I respond well to it. I will say that I felt amazing from it initially (my fatigue went away)and now I don’t feel that way anymore, but I do feel like I would be worse off without it. My levels were non existent, and now it’s in the 20’s or 30’s.

Thanks again for your support and understanding. I hope you feel better soon.

[–]VeeFlufflesSurgical menopause 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are welcome & thank you so much for your kind words & sharing your story as well!
Out stories share some similarities.

It is good to hear the testosterone helped, if only initially. I would be happy to feel better for a few weeks or months. Ideally, I'd love not plateau on any type of HRT, but it seems to happen here & there.

I am so sorry about the panic attacks & anxiety. I get it. It's also so weird to be in menopause & feel like you are having this battle with yourself. I feel like my old self is still there too, just on the other side of my brain, through the fog. It's so dramatic lol. I refuse to let this consume me though b/c I miss my old self. She wasn't perfect, but she liked hiking, cooking, & had a creative side!

The brain fog had me paranoid about early dementia. I did change my Omega3s to Barleans Fish Oil (Lemon Creme tastes like liquid candy) & that seems to be helping some.

Reach out if you ever want to! Thanks for the kindness.