HRT Update - Evidence it's Helping
Jan. 19th, 2026 02:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pennswoodsThis is going to be a positive post to offer distraction to myself and others.
I met with my therapist last week and despite EVERYTHING going on domestically and internationally, the general doldrums of January, and dealing with the memorial session for my colleague who passed away shortly before Christmas, we discussed how much I am feeling okay. I mean I feel emotions, but I am not overwhelmed by my feelings to the point that I can't do anything all day. I think this is the birth control pill (what I am taking for hormone replacement during perimenopause) doing its work at stabilizing my estrogen so I can regulate my emotions.
My husband has also observed that I don't need to keep adjusting the temperature to be colder, so this is a sign of better temperature regulation. I didn't have a lot of hot flashes, but I was generally much more sensitive to heat and really needed to adjust the temperature down so I could sleep. I am not doing this at all and sometimes even crank up the heat a little if I am cold.
Speaking of sleep, I am not waking in the middle of the night. And I am not waking up to sour-smelling, sweaty pajamas and t-shirts so the nigh sweats have disappeared. That is huge and important because disrupted sleep is terrible for dealing with fascism and life in general.
I also don't smell as bad when I sweat when I work out. After my runs, I had noticed my crotch giving off a really sour/foul smell that is just gone now.
All this is to say, using the birth control pill for the past 7 weeks is working for addressing my perimenopause symptoms. I note absolutely no negative side-effects. No weight gain, no digestive issues, no breast tenderness, no weird moods.
I met with my therapist last week and despite EVERYTHING going on domestically and internationally, the general doldrums of January, and dealing with the memorial session for my colleague who passed away shortly before Christmas, we discussed how much I am feeling okay. I mean I feel emotions, but I am not overwhelmed by my feelings to the point that I can't do anything all day. I think this is the birth control pill (what I am taking for hormone replacement during perimenopause) doing its work at stabilizing my estrogen so I can regulate my emotions.
My husband has also observed that I don't need to keep adjusting the temperature to be colder, so this is a sign of better temperature regulation. I didn't have a lot of hot flashes, but I was generally much more sensitive to heat and really needed to adjust the temperature down so I could sleep. I am not doing this at all and sometimes even crank up the heat a little if I am cold.
Speaking of sleep, I am not waking in the middle of the night. And I am not waking up to sour-smelling, sweaty pajamas and t-shirts so the nigh sweats have disappeared. That is huge and important because disrupted sleep is terrible for dealing with fascism and life in general.
I also don't smell as bad when I sweat when I work out. After my runs, I had noticed my crotch giving off a really sour/foul smell that is just gone now.
All this is to say, using the birth control pill for the past 7 weeks is working for addressing my perimenopause symptoms. I note absolutely no negative side-effects. No weight gain, no digestive issues, no breast tenderness, no weird moods.
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