What 1-Week on HRT has Taught me at 36

As the title suggests, it’s been one week on HRT as a 36 year-old-woman (who, subsequently, feels like - especially now - a 20 year-old-woman). Actually, it’s been almost 2 weeks, so even better! I’ve got that much more insight to share.

The first three days began a little rocky, with me initially adhering my first-ever estrogen patch to my left index fingernail. Needless to say, it’s already gotten a little easier to place these little, sticky adhesives of bliss. Yet, every time I pull down my leggings intermittently throughout the day, I still can’t help but touch the top of my butt cheek to make sure she’s still stickin’ and kickin’.

During the first three days, I wondered what my readers would find most interesting, or important to know about this whole process. Is it how to get HRT prescribed in the first place? Is it how to know if you’re in perimenopause? Is it how to use an estrogen patch and what it feels like to be on one? Maybe it’s a mixed bag of everything. That said, please comment or email me and let me know your questions, and I’d be happy to do my best to include the answers in my future writings! The whole purpose of sharing this journey with the world boils down to two main objectives:

1. To reach out to an underserved community that may feel lost, alone, isolated, afraid, confused, exhausted, unsure, overwhelmed, misunderstood, and on and on.

2. To feel less alone in this journey myself as a younger woman forging through this world unknown.

If I can accomplish these two objectives, I’ve set out to do what I intended and I’ll be thrilled.

Wearing a patch is actually way less weird and irritating than I envisioned. The patch itself is clear, and slightly bigger than a dime. It’s round and honestly, quite comfortable - similar to a small bandaid, only better. Whatever adhesive these companies are using, they should put this on bandages. After an hour or so, you forget it’s there entirely. It’s almost like one of those sticky glue dots crafters use when they need double-sided stickiness for elaborate art projects. Regardless, it’s quite comfortable and easy to forget.

When I initially placed my first patch, I intentionally made the decision to not look for side effects, or conversely, improvements. I decided that going about my day normally and allowing myself the room to live expectation-free was a gift of ignorant bliss, which I deserved. For a few hours everything was normal.

Pictured above, as an aside, is the packaging the actual patch comes in. It’s wrapped similarly to a condom. These reside inside of a box that opens with an internal flap designed to serve as a ‘calendar’ for you to mark when to take your next dose. Since these patches last 3.5 days, you replace them twice weekly - once in the morning and once in the evening in exactly 3.5 day intervals. Pictured below is this calendar. I use a digital period tracking app on my phone to store data instead of the provided calendar. Keeping everything in one place is crucial to my successes organization-wise. Although, with my switch to the Light Phone III, I don’t currently have a replacement system in place.

Back to the main story: side effects. After the first few hours, my husband noticed a shift in my emotions. I cried over a very seemingly small problem at the store, to which he made the brilliant joke, “Well, I think that estrogen is working!” Thankfully, I wasn’t moody at that particular time and took it well. Why can’t men just think, though, before cracking that marginally misogynist dad joke that no one finds remotely amusing? (Sorry, dads.) Sometimes, though, stereotypes turn out to be true and this was one of those times.

Just as if you were to start a new birth control pill, you should expect at least minimal changes in your physiology when starting estradiol patches. For me, there were a list of both pros and cons:

PROS: better sleep, mood stability, increased energy, less fatigue, eliminated joint and body pain, better temperature regulation, no hot flashes, reduced night sweats, better GI motility, lessened palpitations and tachycardia events, increased vaginal lubrication and health

CONS: IBS-D activation (I can’t just poop normally, evidently), slight moodiness or sensitivities for the first 10 days, fluctuation in energy first 10 days, possible weight gain

All in all, without a doubt, the pros of the patch have far outweighed the cons. I no longer have radiating body-wide pain, similar to arthritis. I no longer struggle with mid-day hot flashes. Night sweats, as well as incidents of night waking and tachycardia, have been greatly reduced. All of the ailments that negatively impacted my quality of life to an exponential degree have either been eliminated entirely or have been immensely reduced, bringing me back to my twenty-something-self baseline - something I never thought possible again.

Now let’s touch on the negatives - while they aren’t deal breakers, they are worth noting. The unexpected IBS-D (diarrhea, for those of you unfamiliar) has been the worst side effect. For years I struggled with IBS-D, from the time I was 15, until I entered perimenopause around 32/33. Ever since, I’ve been chronically constipated. Despite diet, exercise, water, fiber, protein - it doesn't matter; I’ve never been able to have normal poos. It’s just not a complication I’ve had to deal with in many years, and to be honest, (THIS NEXT SENTENCE IS CONSIDERED TMI - IF YOU STRUGGLE WITH THIS, PLEASE SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH) my pelvic floor, and thus, my anal sphincter, is weaker than it used to be so this back-end Russian roulette is no longer tolerable. I am hoping that as with all hormone adjustments, this will dissipate with time.

The other cons, such as potential weight gain, energy fluctuation, and moodiness are all symptoms not unknown to most women. These are things we deal with intermittently for the majority of our lives. If you do not, consider yourself very lucky. Thus, these side effects don’t really impact my decision to continue or discontinue the estradiol patch.

After 12 days, I can confidently say that I am feeling more and more like myself. The person I thought was dead to youth is returning, wiser and healthier. Stronger and more joyful, I am beginning to be able to tackle life again in a way I never imagined. For the first time in a very, very long time I have hope. I have more than hope - I can see my future. And the future is so bright that it is the embodiment of my wildest dreams, and more. While the estradiol didn’t make my dreams come true, it certainly aids me in the physical aspects of that pursuit.

If you feel something is off with your body, trust yourself. Your intuition exists for a reason. I’ll be back to update at 1-month. Until then: live, laugh, love, and HRT, friends!

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FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THIS SERIES HERE: