Louise66 said:

Hi, I'm Louise,  53 years old and I've been going through the menopause for about 2 1/2 to 3 years now. I feel I'm getting worse though. I wear the Ladycare magnet in my knickers and that has helped the hot flushes, I do still get them but not as severe. I still get a horrible clammy skin after one though, i just feel dirty. It's the exhausted feeling and foggy brain I'm having. Im making stupid mistakes at work and my manager isn't the most sympathetic person at the best of times. Im thinking of trying hrt but does your symptoms come back once you stop taking it? 

The length of time a woman takes HRT is variable. There is no set length of time that you should take HRT for. Some women take it for a few years to help improve their worst symptoms of the menopause. Many women find that when they stop taking HRT after a few years then they have no more symptoms of the menopause.

However, if your symptoms return when you stop taking HRT this is not an effect of taking hormones, this is because you would still be having symptoms of the menopause at that time if you had never taken HRT.

Some women decide to take HRT for a much longer period of time than a few years. This is often because they feel better and have more energy when they take HRT and they also want to benefit from their reduction in risk of osteoporosis and heart disease when they take HRT.

I think it's definitely worth a conversation with your GP.

You can use the attached symptoms checker to help aid the conversation with your doctor if you think that would help.

https://menopausesupport.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/MENOPAUSE-SYMPTOM-CHECKER.docx

Hope this helps 😊

Im on hrt and having hormone injection and still having periods

https://community.livebetterwith.com/menopause/discussion/664/im-on-hrt-and-having-hormone-injection-and-still-having-periods

Ive just had a period after having two months of hormone injection and are still havingbyhem until sep but doctor has also put on hrt and had rhem for two…

Hello @Jaws,

Thanks for joining us on the forum.

It's hard to know what to advise you. You will get bleeding with some HRT treatments and it varies very much from woman to woman and treatment to treatment.

I think if you're concerned enough to have asked the question here, there's no harm in giving your GP a call to double check with them just to put your mind at rest. ☺️

When will periods end

https://community.livebetterwith.com/menopause/discussion/613/when-will-periods-end

Im 57 and have had 7 months with no period then out the blue painful period

Hi @Shaza

Welcome!

It's awful isn't it? You think you're on your way to being done with periods, and then one appears out of the blue. It's frustrating not knowing when it will all stop.

Are you coping with other symptoms too? It's a real rollercoaster of hormones at this point in our lives which makes it difficult to know what's going on - I'd say if your period is more painful, heavier or significantly different to what you're used to or there are other symptoms that you have concerns about, it would worth having a conversation with your GP. 😊

Hi @HummingB1rd, the wonderful ladies seem to have covered most things I would say. I would only add if getting off to sleep is the issue you could try journaling perhaps. Writing down all your thoughts can be both cathartic and help them out of your head to help you get off to sleep.

I would put a proviso in there that you need to always end your journaling with 3-5 things you're grateful for to make sure you cut any potentially negative thought loops. Make them specific and try and look for different things during your day to add to your journal at night.

There's also a great book just released called 222 ways to trick yourself to sleep by Kim Jones that might be worth checking out https://amzn.to/2MwioSI

I wish you a deep and refreshing sleep 😁

Sleep

https://community.livebetterwith.com/menopause/discussion/598/sleep

I can't sleep I have trouble dropping off and i can be lying there for ages.

Hi @HummingB1rd

It's so exhausting if you don't sleep well isn't it? I used to get so stressed about it, and in turn, the more stressed I got, the less I could sleep. It's a vicious circle!

I had years of only getting two or three hours sleep a night and for that reason I am a firm believer in routine, routine, routine. If I deviate from the routine, then the sleep starts to slip again. Now though, if I have a bad night I try not to obsess about it, because when I stress about it, it turns into two bad nights and three bad nights, etc, etc, etc...

I go to bed and get up at roughly the same time every day, including weekends.

My window in the bedroom is always open, so the room is always cool, even in the middle of winter.

I have an alpaca duvet which helps to regulate the bed temperature ( a pure wool duvet works the same I believe) and a fan and chillow/gel pillow on standby for the hotter months, or the nights when the heat gets to me or I have a headache. There's nothing nicer than putting your head on a cool pillow when you're overheating! On the bedside table I always have water in a flask that keeps it cold for use through the night if I need it.

I take a magnesium supplement and 5HTP - both have helped regulate my sleep pattern. I had the best results with 5HTP (but you can't use this with anti depressants and you should always check with your GP or a pharmacist before you take anything unfamiliar to you)

I try not to use my electronic gadgets in the run-up to bed, but since I use a mindfulness app on my iPad to help me drop off, I know I'm not the most successful at that step!

I always try to read a few pages of my latest book. Like I said - for me, it's all about routine!

I don't know how you feel about mindfulness? I used to think it was nonsense - but I've been using the Clarity app (designed by one of our experts @Becks_Armstrong) with huge success for sleeping - and it also helps with hot flushes! I know it sounds like it shouldn't work, but I use it every night to help me sleep, and I tried the Instacool button when I was having a hot flush one night, and that really worked too! It's drug free - which I also like. You do need to practice a bit - but it's not a huge effort. I tried it, it worked, and I kept going with it! The app is made for menopausal women by women, so may be worth a look for you. If you think it might work for you have a look at the website 

https://clarity.app/

I try to limit my liquid intake a couple of hours before bedtime so that I only have a couple of loo stops during the night, athough I seem to have fewer loo steps now at I'm on HRT patches!

If I wake up and can't get back to sleep, I pop the app back on. I find that this is the quickest way to help me drop off again. I'm a huge advocate of mindfulness apps - they've really helped me to deal with anxiety and negative thoughts. It does take a bit of practice, but is really worth the effort.

I've tried lots over the years - bananas at bedtime, warm milky drinks, OTC herbal sleep remedies, eye masks, ear plugs, exercise till I'm so physically exhausted I should sleep for a week, antidepressants. Probably other things too I've forgotten about! It's frustrating when think you're doing all you can but you still can't drop off to sleep.

I think the biggest change for me was a shift in my attitude. When I relaxed about sleep, instead of analysing how many minutes of sleep I'd had (I threw out the Fitbit!) and I stopped getting upset about it, my sleep started to regulate. I know Ive rambled on a bit, but perhaps there will be something that you havent thought of or tried that might help you. Good luck! 😊