I did it! I have joined the ranks of women enjoying supplementary estrogen. In my case, a patch that is changed 2x/week.
I had heard tales of happiness from women who went before me. I wasn't sure that I'd be eligible, as after ending fertility treatments no one would prescribe me estrogen-based birth control (for PCOS management, not actual birth control, since that was proven utterly unnecessary). That was because buried in my medical records was a heterozygous mutation for prothrombin, which puts me at higher risk for deep vein thrombosis (aka scary blood clots).
Soo, I assumed HRT was not possible for me.
EXCEPT! There were all these studies that showed significantly decreased risk for transdermal estrogen, and so I had hope again.
After two years of questioning myself: "am I really in need of this?" "are my hot flashes 'bad enough'?" and other thoughts that weren't really productive and are a result of lifelong medical gaslighting, I asked my gynecologist about it at my last annual in July.
I have now been on the patch for a full month, and I am so happy I did it. With the exception of 2 night sweats and 1 day of hot flashes that broke through, I have been relieved of my inner furnace! I feel less like I wake up in a state of high anxiety. It was getting real old to both wake up slicked in sweat AND feeling like I was just chased by a bear.
It's also great to know that estrogen-only therapy can decrease risks of dementia, and HRT in general decreases risk of osteoporosis. Part of me wonders why I didn't do this sooner!
The one downside is that I alternate placement of the patch every time I replace it, which is giving me flashbacks to the dreaded progesterone-in-oil injections of yesteryear. We would switch from "dragon side" to "non-dragon side," based on a tattoo I have on my right hip/lower back. Same thing with the patch, although it is WAY less painful to unpeel and stick a little patch on my skin than sinking an inch-and-a-half needle in my flesh. AND I'm actually getting something out of this treatment! Win.
So, if you are questioning whether or not "it's time" to look into the patch, trust yourself. I was told if you are experiencing symptoms of perimenopause, you are IN PERIMENOPAUSE. There's really not a great metric as blood values change day to day, and if you've exorcised your uterus had a hysterectomy, there's no "red flag" so to speak for when your periods start to wane.
Everybody has different risk factors, everybody has different needs, but it doesn't hurt to ask about it. I am so glad I did.
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