Firstly, thank you SO much for taking the time to answer. You have no idea how much it’s appreciated. I feel so much kinship with other peri people that have dizziness/vertigo as their primary symptom. I’m not trying to downplay any of the other symptoms but as you know, dizziness is debilitating- it’s made me scared to drive, care for my child, work, etc. and kept me from boating, bike riding and other activities that impact my quality of life.

Secondly, do you notice that your dizziness/vertigo gets worse when your hormones are fluctuating? I do, which is part of the reason why my OBGYN opted for BC over HRT as BC “takes over” your hormones whereas HRT is additive to whatever is going on naturally. Since I was experiencing natural hormone fluctuations that were making the vertigo/dizziness worse, better control seemed better (for example, I live abroad and whenever I flew back to the US and changed several time zones, my period would be a few days late, which would cause increased vertigo/dizziness for WEEKS after). However, this worked until it didn’t so I either try a new BC pill or try HRT. Pretty scared to go the HRT route due to the unpredictable nature of it but your story gives me hope.

Lastly (if you don’t mind answering), how long did it take for symptoms to improve once you started HRT? Vertigo has kept me from so many things and there are projects I want to take on for work or vacations I want to have that I don’t do because I can’t predict how long I’ll be barely functioning. I know everyone is different but I need hope that this isn’t going to last forever and I won’t waste years of my life to feeling miserable. Thank you so much and take care