I am on my third week of using the Climara patch. It has eased hot flashes and I'm sleeping better. I'm noticing some breast tenderness which I've read about in several places. However, I'm also getting a "discharge" which seems nearly identical to fertile cervical mucous that I used to get during ovulation - only it's been going on for about 10 days now. Has anyone experienced this, and is this "normal" for some women?

Hi Barbara!  I used the Alora patch for about 9 months.  Yes, I had a discharge too!  It was constant -- all day, every day.  I got into a habit of wearing a panty-liner and sometimes had to change that 2 or 3 times a day.  I stopped the patch and started Revival 1 1/2 months ago -- haven't had the problem since -- yeah!!  It took me a couple of weeks to actually believe the problem stopped.  Hope you find a solution too!!

Take care!

Certainly does happen, and as Kath notes, sometimes it gets pretty heavy. My thought, since this mimics something that happens in a normal cycle, is that it may be driven by an imbalance of the estrogen/progesterone ratio similar to where we'd be if we were still cycling. If you really want to pursue it, you could figure out (looking at a monthly hormone cycle graph) when you used to respond this way and maybe derive some guidance as to what to tweak to get away from that ratio.

Being estrogen-heavy is probably not good, just because it needlessly exposes you to the risks of hormones beyond their benefits. A little breast tenderness suggests that. It's always good to consider whether you are at the lowest effective dose. That might make a difference in the discharge. For me, a slow creep upward in estrogen is mirrored in vaginal mucus before it shows up elsewhere.

Or that might not be any help at all. */Fram throws up her hands in frustration/* There's so much we don't know about this stuff.

Thanks for the feedback. As I said, this seems very close to ovulatory mucous - clear, stretchy, copious stuff, to be exact. My cycles for the past year have become very irregular, but mostly 12-14 weeks in length (as opposed to the old 26-28 days). My doc said he'd add progestrone once I went 4 months + without a period. So for now, I've been on the Climar patch which is supposed to provide .025 mg/day of estradiol.

Hi, I am currently about to switch my HRT to Femoston 1/10 mg, this contains 1mg estrradiol and 10mg dydrogesterone.  Anyone know anything about these ingredients?  Would appreciate any feedback.  Thanks, Jen

Hi Jen,

I'm in UK too and Femoston was suggested to me by my gyn, but I'm waiting for the results of a bone scan and CA125 test. What I really want is a cream or gel form of Estradiol, which I've heard good results about,  and I'm also wondering about Pete's compounded forms of HRT, for which I have his questionnaire ready. Needless to say my gyn disagrees strongly about all these! I have asked a very similar question to yours on another board and will let you know what answer, if any, I get. I would also be interested to l know how you get on with Femoston.

Good luck, Annemarie

Hi again,

I rather think that Femoston is not available in the US, or else it has a different name, because the only reply about it that I got was to suggest it was a form of contraceptive pill - which I know it isn't. As far as I understand oestradiol is the safest form of oestrogen, and the main one produced naturally by the body, it's supposed to be more easily tolerated in women sensitive to other forms of oestrogen, and Femoston doesn't have any of the unnatural forms found in the conjugated oestrogens. I would be interested to know how you do on it!

All the best, Annemarie  

Hi Annemarie,  I have only been taking Femoston 1mg for 2 weeks and I feel OK, I understand it takes about 3 months for it to take effect properly,  I was taking Climagest 2mg before the Femoston but I found that to be too strong and it made me feel a bit 'weird'.  I'll let you know how I get on.  Good luck with whatever you decide to use.  Jen  

I have been on Cenestin and Prometrium for exactly one month. I felt great, slept great and was relieved that my 7 week  "period" while taking low dose BC pill, Alesse, was over.  My nurse practitioner told me I might get a period when I started the HRT-which I did and it lasted about a day and a half.  Now today, one month later, I feel a little crampy and I'm spotting.  Is this normal?

Hi,I'm on an Estalis dual patch (estro/prog) and also have breakthrough bleeding every month.  My GYN says it's a normal occurence, but it still is annoying.  I'm learning to live with it.I also find this Estalis patch somehow  stimulated my metabolism and my weight has dropped.  Something I couldn't achieve on 15 years of various other HRT combinations.