‘I WAS SO DESPERATE, I GOT SOME OFF A STRANGER I MET ONLINE’
Georgina Fuller, 44, a writer from the Cotswolds, thought she was too young for the perimenopause, but found HRT really helped her feel like her old self again. When her surgery ran out, she began to panic.
My heart sank when the pharmacist at my local surgery told me they had run out of Oestrogel. I had seen the headlines about shortages, of course, but naively hoped that I wouldn’t be one of the women affected.
I had only been on HRT for about four months, but found it to be, as my late mum once said, ‘a wonder drug’.
I’d first gone to see my GP in November 2021, after my menstrual cycle, which was usually regular, became erratic. I had found myself suffering with what felt like permanent PMT, insomnia and breathlessness. My GP ran through a list of 32 symptoms and I found myself agreeing with pretty much all of them. I felt embarrassed that I’d known so little about it and hadn’t even considered that I might be perimenopausal. I thought I was too young. The difference HRT made was huge. I got my energy back, found I was sleeping much better and felt like my old self again. So the thought of running out of the gel I had become so accustomed to, and which was working so well, made me feel pretty anxious. My GP put me on Evorel 50 patches as an alternative and said to check back in a few weeks to see if they had managed to stock up on Oestrogel again. But the patches kept coming off and left itchy marks on my thigh. When I asked the dispensary if I needed to
Almost half of menopausal women say they feel depressed. **
carry on taking the progesterone tablets with the patches, she just shrugged and said she didn’t know. In frustration,
I did an Instagram post, and within an hour, a mum from London – a women’s mindfulness coach – had very kindly offered to send me some Oestrogel in the post. I hadn’t asked anyone for Oestrogel specifically, it was more of a rant about the shortages. I wasn’t sure if it was technically legal to obtain another person’s prescription, either, but I had read numerous stories about women meeting in car parks and swapping
HRT, so knew lots of people were doing it. She didn’t want any money, either.
She said she thought that she no longer needed Oestrogel and was worried as her mother had had an oestrogen-related cancer which she believed might be linked to HRT*. She sent the two packs she currently had by recorded delivery. It was such a generous gesture and I was very grateful.
Within a few days of using the gel again, I started feeling calmer, more energetic and sleeping better. I won’t go without it again if I can help it, and don’t think any woman should have to. The shortages just go to show how far down the list of priorities
One in 10 women will quit their jobs because of the effects of the menopause. ***
so-called ‘women’s issues’ are to the current government. I hope programmes such as Davina Mccall’s documentaries will help show them that we are not to be messed with.
Most of all, I hope the two packs I am slowly working my way through last until they stock up on it again.