Side effects from Estrogel

Hi,

My Dr gave me Estrogel today and I just tried it tonight. Now I feel weird. It's hard to describe. Maybe a bit of pressure in my head and my asthma started to act up. It's not bad. I used my inhaler and it's fine now. My head seems to be feeling better too. What I'm wondering is, could what I'm feeling just be a jolt of hormones and it will settle down in the future or is this the way it will always be when I use it? Also it came on pretty quick. Is that possible? My hysterectomy was 2.5 weeks ago.

Thanks

Estrogel does act quite quickly, or at least it does with me, that's why I like it. You are still early enough post-op that you body is likely using up its estrogen stores, so your body may not continue to act this way as it uses them up. I know I feel a litlle "weird" (perhaps dizzy, nervous, jittery, headachy, or just off) for the first few days - up to a week - of using a new type of hormone delivery system. Then it usually levels out for me. When you are early post op, the goal is to minimize menopause symptoms like hot flashes and moodiness, but after a couple months, you can tweak your levels to get to the right balance for you. It helps to keep a symptom diary. That can help you and your doctor track trends and changes. It can take up to several weeks to know whether a particular dose or delivery system works for you. The first time I changed my estrogen patch, I felt so weird I had a panic attack. It was all I could do to keep the patch on, but it was worth it. I have since moved on to using gels, but each time I have switched, I have had a few days of feeling really "off." Does that help?

Yes that does help a lot. Thanks!

I am so glad I found this thread on Estrogel. My GYN just started me on 1 pump of Estrogel last Tuesday (I haven't been on any HRT since my surgery) and I noticed for several days after each use I had this weird jittery feeling. Thankfully I used the Estrogel in the evenings after my shower so I could lay down.

The jittery feeling after application has subsided but this past Saturday I got one heck of a headache that put me in bed from 2:30pm till 8am the next morning. I was finally able to get up at 3am and not feel nauseous and able to put a little food in my stomach. I was wondering if this headache came on due to a drop in the estrogen since I only do 1 pump at night? I'm still only doing 1 pump (GYN wanted me to do 1 pump for 2 weeks with the possibility of going to 2 pumps if needed) and haven't experienced another headache (thank goodness) like this past Saturday.

I'm just curious on how other ladies apply the Estrogel. If you use 2 pumps do you apply both pumps at the same time or would it work better if 1 pump is applied in the evening and 1 pump applied in the morning? Is it better to apply to the same arm or alternate? This hormone jungle sure can get confusing