Does HRT take anxiety/depression away in perimenopause?????

Hello shaznay I knew you would come up with the pros and cons brilliantly. You give us all food for thought. You are right this is the best place for good constructive advice. Thank you 😀

Ooh Matron! (said in a 'Carry On' voice).   That's very kind of you to say. 

Maybe we have a bit of a mutual admiration going on here, as I appreciate that you have actually 'been there. done that' to a degree.

I am new to this Peri mullarkey, and want as much info as I can get about pros/cons to help me make choice. 

I have sisters who are great fans of HRT and our dear ol' mum (RIP x) had very poor bones (3 hip repl. ops. TB in the spine and elbow), so we've all had to think of our bones too.

Let's hope more women find this forum, because they will feel so reassured to know other women  are experiencing the same symptoms, and may also have some answers for them.

Keep posting! x 

Evening ladies....talking of health anxieties, I woke up in a panic the other night, with a heavy, tight chest.  Thought I must be having a heart attack....it was the cat asleep on my chest.....!!! 😄x

Hi Shaznay.

I like your style!!!  I like to think of myself as an Earth Mother but this is just getting way beyond a joke.  This isn't normal no matter how natural we try to go.  I am actually on an antidepressant and have been for years.  This is what was thrown at me many years ago when all these symptoms were starting to harass me.  Thank god I didnt take everything that has been offered to me or I would probably be like your older sister.  Is your older sister on HRT as well.  I can have some really good patches and then it hits me again out of the blue.  The closer I get to the finish the more frequent the dips are coming and lasting longer.  I'm keen to try HRT as long as it gives me some quality of life.  (haven't got any at the moment)

Thanks for your help

Goodluck with your decisions.

Raelene  xx

Hi raelene

Eldest sister is now 71 (17yrs older than me). . She was on HRT

for about 12yrs I believe. Physically very healthy - never smoked, drank, ate well, exercised: yeah, the total Black Sheep of the

family ha, ha!

Shes always been the 'different' sister (quiet, lacking confidence

etc) .Dya know what: her mental health probably declined rapidly when they took her off it. Lost it big time when our mum died,

been looking out for her ever since.

I joke I'm no Earth Mother, but I'm very interested in what makes women 'tick'. I began to completely understand how and why my body did certain things at certain times of the month - by reading a fantastic book about pregnancy, while I was pregnant!!!

Everything just made so much sense!

Hormones rule us - and our men. Off whack and we pay for it.

My ol' man always jokes that we ladies can get HRT but he

couldn't get Testosterone t'ment, unless he paid a private Doc.

True, because when thy talk about the 'Male Menopause', that

drop in T levels give them some of our drepression symptoms

Oh! There is a God:-) !

I really hope I can stay mentally strong and avoid the SSRIs. I don't judge anyone who has the support of them - I see how the

right combo gives my sis some quality of life. But in the UK,

Docs are great at dishing them out. Keeps you out of the surgery, they're cheap, don't affect their greedy salaries and they don't

waste their Practice's Budget on alternative therapies - that you

can buy privately!!

Unfortunately our NHS is being eaten into by the very people

employed to deliver it with their enormous salaries. But when you get 'Managers' of Hospitals paid more than our PM, it don't

take Brain of Britain to see why its down the Crapper! For me: I'd be happy to pay health insurance for MY needs, as they do

in Oz and the US.

(Ouch! That's me falling of my Soapbox!!:-)

Sorry.....just had a blip in my two-day, unnatural 'high'! Honestly, for 2 days I've been in a really, really good mood. But even to me

it felt odd: talking excessively (well just a little more than normal then!!), laughing loads and loud. Felt a little excited, like a bit of

palpitations. But it's so different from me jolly ol' 'jolly' self. Was

thinking "This must be how someone suffering with Bipolar must feel".

No doubt its a sign of something cra**y on the horizon. Just as

long as its not another bloody Period!! Cannot wait to get

irregular/miss one!!

Raelene, you have a good day and keep remembering there is something out here right for you - just got to get it in the right combo!

S x :-)

Just re-read this! Christ, I now know a good night's kip don't do me any favours ha, ha!

And I must stop sending posts from this bloody tablet - words/sentences are all over the place!!

Good morning shaznay. I do enjoy your posts. You do make me laugh especially as I'm well retired from the NHS (and well out of it by all accounts). Have you ever thought of standing for parliament?  Please come and by our MP. Then again you talk a lot of sense so you probably wouldn't meet the criteria lol

Ha, Ha!! I think I'd be turfed out of PM's Question Time more than was good for me.

Oh well, there'd always be the HOC Bar, which seems as good a place as any for a debate and occasional punch up!

Politics: felt a long time that was a game for ugly, embittered people who craved power. Or am I confusing that with Local Planning Officers?!!:-)

Seriously, I've used the NHS for one birth, 3 minor ops and some birth control & antibiotics in all my 54yrs. Gutted that when I now might need it, its in such a state

And matron, I think you're well out of it now - it would have broke your heart to work in that regime now

Hi Dawn,

i am am using the Oestrogel and Utrogestan which I believe after all my research is the kindest of HRT. It is really flexible as can be tweaked to suit your own symptoms. Mine symptoms are primarily anxiety and my doctor did say to me that low oestrogen can cause anxiety and I always thought it was my progesterone that I was really low in. May be both now.

I use 2 a bit pumps of the Oestrogel (1) in the morning with one 100mg of Utrogestan and repeat again at bedtime. I am feeling loads better, have read really good reviews on it so be worth a chat with your doctor to see if you can get that prescribed. My old cycle was 25 days and can start the feeling of my brewing as early as day 10-12 so I can start using the progesterone part then (they do say from day 15-26 ) so I just use my from day 12 - 26 and then it should give you a bleed on day 28. 

Not sure how old you are but I have read it is safer to start using HRT even when you are in your 40 - 50 and even before 60. Check out Dr Annie Evans as there are great info on there about HRT. I have booked to see her in a few weeks to get some more guidance. 

Sadly it it is up to us to do our own research but at least you can go into the doctors and push for more. We know are own bodies and when things start to trouble us we know it can take over our lives. 

Life is to short to struggle and you have to make each day a new beginning. You have found the best forum with lots of lovely ladies who are happy to share their own journey's and experience and between us all I am sure you will find some real comfort.

Take care my lovely and be kind to yourself!

Joy xx

Thank you for the info and kind words. I really appreciate it. I will look into the things you have suggested. :O)

Hi Dawn,

When I headed to my GP two weeks ago she told me I was low in progesterone compared to estrogen.  She believes that  because my periods have spaced out to every 2-3 months I'm not making enough progesterone to balance the estrogen and thats why my symptoms are so strong and hanging around at the moment.

She prescribed 200mg capsules of progesteron (equivalent to 20mg of cream)  to take at night to get my sleep back into a normal pattern.   I haven't noticed a great change. I head back this week and she is increasing it.  I'm going to ask for 100mg of progesterone cream. I have been reading great results with the cream especially in the perimenopausal years.  Apparently you have to take a loading dose first to get it into your system and then cut back after a couple of months to a therapeutic dose of 20 - 25 mg a day.

I came across a blog on the net about a lady who was originally diagnosed with bipolar but she actually had an hormonal imbalane. She used the natural progesterone cream and nursed herself back to health.  Her blog is Doris King - natural progesterone for hormonal imbalance.  It's a really good read.  You can even email her and she replies with great information with regards to questions and concerns.  I really suggest you have a read of the blog.

I'm going to give the progesterone cream a red hot go and see if I can get my hormones back in balance.  It's the only treatment at the moment that make sense to me.

I'm so glad you had imrovement on 10mg, maybe thats a sign to move on with it. There is nothing better than a goods nights sleep. Last night I was counting the hours down everytime I looked at the clock!!!  I cant wait to get into bed tonight.

Keep in contact and let me know how you go when you increase the dose.

Take care and may you have more magical days ahead.

Raelene xxxxx 

 

Hi Raelene,

That's really interesting info because when all of this started about two years ago I was hit really badly with the doom and gloom and anxiety which it completely freaked me out as it came from no where. At that time it was the first time I had ever missed a period but funny thing was that wasn't when I was effected but two weeks prior to the brewing of the next one which inthought indicated that I was low in progesterone. 

I used the progesterone cream for about three months and to be honest I felt the best I had in a long while but then I started back up with the anxiety again.

I am seeing a dr Annie Evans in a couple of weeks who is a specialist in hormones so I am hoping to find my solution aswell.

As I mentioned to Dawn that I have been prescribed the Oestrogel and Utrogestan which are similar to what you have mentioned. This is the first week of using these a long side the Oestrogel so I am hoping things will soon settle down very soon as I am fed up with not feeling myself anymore. 

Hope you you soon feel more balance very soon! 

Joy

xxx

Hi Dawn.

I have been perimenopausal for 18 months now and was suffering from awful anxiety and felt low and tearful (first time ever in my life). You are right that our hormones are all over the place at this time. I really had no idea that symptoms could be this bad.

I was offered HRT or an anti depressent. I took the CIT and have never looked back. It has got me back totally to who I was. I have been on it a year, had a trial of reducing but now staying on for as long as i need to.  Maybe it isnt always the answer to get ADs but i think trying to balance hormones is quite difficult?  I have been told that CIT is the best AD in this instance.

It certainly is for me.

Good luck  

Hi Dawn

Are you still on DIM and prog cream? How has it been working?

Thanks

CC

hi! i was searching for anxiety relief with HRT

i cant take antidepressants, i am very sensitive to meds, but i get these episodes like i am going crazy. it last about an hr, its horrible and i end up in tears. fearful im losing my mind. then it goes away. happens late afternoon

did HRT help your anxiety? i cant live like this. i have 3 kids i need to take care of, my husband doesnt understand and i feel on the verdge of leaving me i have had a bad year of health anxiety. i have always had it but this yr has beem thru the roof. pls tell me hrt can help

Hi Kim,

Sorry to hear you are struggling. I'm not sure if HRT helps with anxiety but I know from experience how important it is to find the right HRT for you. I honestly didn't know how much hormones actually effected day to day life.

If you are trying HRT be patient if the first one isn't a high enough dose or isn't quite right, a bit of trial and error worked for me.

Take the 5-HTP for the anxiety and sucidal thoughts, its your sertoini level off which happens to some of us during this nightmare.

Hi, my antidepressant stopped working overnight and the next morning I was in a major anxiety attack. I can't get off the Paxil I'm on because the withdrawals are so bad.  My periods go about 3 months apart and maybe spotting one month.  I can't take 5HTP because I'm on Paxil. I'm also on a benzodiazepine. My anxiety is horrible in the morning until about late afternoon. I'm also nauseous everyday, especially in the morning