Hi everyone
I’m just looking for a better understanding of what’s happened over the past 5 days.
I’m 51 and have been on HRT for approx. 3 years, I haven’t had a hysterectomy. I found a lump on Monday evening and was in the doctors the following day. She said so your on HRT are you still having periods? I said no not since id been prescribed a different HRT called Zumenon because of the shortages. I said I would like to get a new prescription whilst I’m there. she said no problem and maybe I’ve just hit the where my periods have stopped altogether. I also said when I had first got the Zumenon, they made me feel ill, they were 2mg and id been on 1mg Fermiston before so I would cut them in half (was quite proud of myself). We discussed my lump and she has referred me to the breast clinic. She said she would call me in a little while to tell me what HRT prescription she would give me.
She did… this is where I am confused and my anxiety has hit the roof. She explained to me that I had been on the wrong type of HRT since September 2019, Zumenon was one hormone and I still had all my womanly bits so should have been prescribed the one with 2 hormones - which was what I was on for 2 years prior. she was apologising profusely and saying that she was going to open some sort of case to ensure this couldn’t happen again - to be honest, I wasn’t taking in exactly what she was saying because of the events of the day. She ended the conversation saying she has prescribed Fermiston which is absolutely the right HRT for me.
I’m sorry this is a long read. I looked back to last year and it so happened I had a routine breast screening in September 2019 and came back with a clear result. I was mis prescribed the Zumenon in September too. fast-forward to February 2020 I had ran out of pills, my surgery uses an eConsult service to get a doctor to respond to queries by phone or through the service. I explained in the eConsult that I would like advice from a doctor because I felt I was on a totally different type of HRT than before. I explained about them making me feel sick and cutting them in half. I got a response back saying because I had side effects with the 2mg Zumenon, there is a prescription waiting for me for 1mg Zumenon.
I saw the doctor on Tuesday - The breast clinic phoned me on Thursday to say I’ve got an appointment on Tuesday morning. This is freaking me out a little - why so quick? I was told its usually by letter for within 3 weeks.
I’m normaly a sensible person and realised when I felt the lump I would have to get it checked out and not jump to conclusions of the big C. I know there is a slightly higher risk of breast cancer in women who take HRT, has this been escalated in me because of the wrong type being prescribed? I feel paranoid, anxious and very teary.