‘Down to my last sachet – and next week is too late’
FOR Liz Hennessy, 50, from Brighton, HRT has been a lifesaver. Here, she explains why she fears running out: ‘BEFORE I went on HRT in my late 40s, I felt exhausted, anxious, tearful and unable to concentrate on my job as a social worker.
‘Most alarmingly, I used to feel a huge anger and rage – kind of like a red mist – which used to build and build until I started shouting.
‘As a lone parent, a lot of this anger was unfortunately directed at my 12-year-old son, Joshua, which was awful.
‘Once I started on HRT the change was dramatic. I felt calmer and happier within weeks. My son [pictured, right, with Liz] said to me, “Mummy, you’re just so different. You were quite terrifying at times”.’
‘I’ll do anything to avoid going back to that dark place. So when I heard there were shortages of HRT I rang the GP because I knew I was running out.
‘Last week two pharmacies were out of stock of my usual treatment, Sandrena oestrogen gel. A third said they could get it next week – which is too late, because
I’m down to my last sachet. My GP then prescribed me Lenzetto. But the pharmacy was out of that, too, so, finally, I have been prescribed Estradiol.
‘I’m worried about how the dosage compares to my original HRT, but I have to give it a try. I said to the GP, “I’m a single parent. It’s just me – and the mothership can’t go down”.’