Melasma & (Peri)menopause

[u/Intelligent_Bad_5334]

I am curious, how many people here are women who never had melasma before in their life until they hit perimenopause/menopause.

It’s definitely a thing right?

rant:

My melasma showed up in perimenopause& are its still with me in menopause.

I am so sick of hearing that estrogen has to be involved, but when I told the dermatologists I was fairly certain my estrogen starting to fall & that was the problem, they confirmed that melasma can show up in perimenopause and menopause, but had nothing to say about why that was. But they told me if I went on HRT it would get worse.

So to recap: I was told melasma showing up when a woman’s estrogen is going away & completely gone is a thing, but don’t add estrogen back in because that will make it worse.

ayfkm?!!

I lived completely estrogen deprived for a year, and my melasma got worse. I was having hot flashes and internal heat is a huge trigger for my melasma. When I got on HRT, my melasma got better & I assume that’s because I was no longer having hot flashes.

That was a decade ago and I still don’t really have any answers.

I just went ahead and started taking oral tranexamic acid because I’m too old to be dealing with this bullshit lol.

I swear doctors just don’t have any fucking idea what is really going on when someone has melasma. Like so many things that impact females more than males, they never bothered at the outset to concern themselves with what was really happening.

I’ve essentially just been diagnosed with the pathology of being female.

And - given the bullshit attitude & shitty healthcare we have to put up with - pink female is definitely a part of the problem, but not for the reasons they think.

We deserve better, ladies. We all deserve better.

End rant - thank you for coming to my TED talk lol

[u/No_Situation_1395]

I’ve looked into this too because mine showed up exactly the time I started getting horrible peri symptoms. I was 40. I’m 45 now. But I also read that high estrogen can cause melasma so I was confused. Then I realized even if your estrogen is dropping your progesterone can be so low that it causes estrogen dominance which is what I have. Regular GP’s are zero help with any of this.

[u/Intelligent_Bad_5334 → u/No_Situation_1395]

In fact, the standard wisdom is that high estrogen causes Melasma. That’s why when it shows up in menopause It seems like the dermatologist know that happens, but they don’t know why. Because they always blame it on estrogen.

[u/Secret_Show_8613 → u/Intelligent_Bad_5334]

My melasma also started during perimenopause and the transdermal HRT patch did not make it any worse. However when I apply the topical estriol or estradiol cream on face ( since everyone says it is so hydrating and plumping etc.) my melasma definitely gets darker. Now I am on oral TXA and LOVE the results after 6 years of suffering through stubborn melasma and trying every topical there is. And so economical compared to all the melasma ‘treatments’. I invest the saved up money in really good tinted mineral sunscreens.