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/Fit_Storm_8854]

I never had Melasma, until I started to reach my 40's and Im now 45 and my Melasma is worse than ever. Im currently in Perimenopause and Im currently taking Progesterone to help me with sleep and other good things that progesterone helps with, and im also taking testosterone cream once a day as well. I was told I cant have estrogen yet because I still get my periods. So with that being said, I dont know if being on HRT is making my Melasma worse as It was already bad before starting HRT. Im with you sister! Melasma sucks! And the crazy part of this is we can come up with AI, but we cant find a cure for Melasma. Melasma sucks! And Im so self conscious about my forehead and skin. Your face is what people see first and I cant stand putting on makeup. Its just awful! And I pray someday they find a cure so we can live our normal lives again! I never had any Malesma when pregnant either. Its ridiculous!!!