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Update on is it depression or menopause

Posted , 4 users are following.

margaret71342
margaret71342

Hi everyone, just thought I should post a wee update on how I'm getting on. I started on elleste duet 1mg about 6 weeks ago. I was in a very dark place and didn't know if it was depression or menopause. I hope it gives others a bit of hope because I really do feel better. They took about a month to kick in and initially for just a few days I thought I felt a bit worse but it didn't last long thankfully. Really just a couple of really bad days I think I was maybe about a week into them. I felt that the pain in my knee subsided a bit also. I have suffered all my life with PMT and wonder if menopause is never going to be a breeze for someone who has always had that. I still have some negative thoughts and still have some days when I really can't be bothered with much but I really do feel better most of the time and life is not as scary. I still get a bit hot sometimes too but that never bothered me that much, I wasn't waking up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat although I did waken sometimes a bit sweaty. I will be going back to doctors in a month and I might ask to try the 2mg or maybe doc might suggest it. I just want to get across that I really do feel better and hope it it gives someone else hope. And also another thank you to all the kind and caring women who posted a reply to me 6 weeks ago. Xxxx

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • price6209
    price6209 margaret71342

    Posted

    Margaret, that's wonderful news! I just want to give you a heads up though. "If" you go back down again, don't give up because it takes a long time to get fully regulated on hormones (I've learned). But....the reason I may have had a bad time is due to being increased then decreased then increased then decreased dosages 6 times in 1 year 8 months. My new OBGYN ran a panel on me and found I was low in estrogen, so he has me back to the 2 mg Estradiol that I originally started with after my hysterectomy. Hang in there, it's not your mind, it's those nasty hormones trying to balance out. I'm entering my 8th month and can tell with each month I'm getting better.

     

    • margaret71342
      margaret71342 price6209

      Posted

      Hi judy lady thanks for reply. Yes I was wondering about dosages and maybe feeling bad again because I have a habit of reading everything good and bad and have seen a lot of stories where it seems to stop working the same for some women. In your opinion which I would appreciate do you think I should stick with the 1mg for a couple of months yet or longer because I feel there is maybe some more room for improvement. X
    • price6209
      price6209 margaret71342

      Posted

      Yes, give it more time. For me.... when I was on 1 mg Estradiol, I did exactly like you in the beginning and then the bottom dropped out a month or so later and went into severe anxiety attacks, thought I was losing my mind, etc. That's when I found a new OBGYN who did blood work on me and discovered I was very low in estrogen. He then upped my dosage to 1-1/2 mg Estradiol, it did the same thing, I called him, he upped it to the 2 mg Estradiol. I really think if I had stayed with the 1-1/2 mg, and give it more time, I probably could have been ok, but I'm sticking with the 2 mg now as that's what I orginally started on, back in 1998, felt wonderful until I moved down here to Texas and the first OBGYN here started changing my dosage. Two things that kept me going from two ladies (one who is entering her 10th month now and the nurse at my doctors office) 1. At the end of her 6th month on hormones - she said she started feeling a fraction better and with each month a little more and a little more better (exactly like I'm doing now at the beginning of 8 months). 2. The nurse said, "Hormones are not an overnight success, it takes a long time to be completely adjusted - inch by inch." Hope this helps you. I felt so lost with no one to talk to, but thank goodness for these two ladies to help get me through this hormone hell. You're going to have your ups and downs (for me the nerves/anxiety were miserable) but you've got to grit your teeth and get through it. When you go see your doctor, ask him to run a blood panel on your estrogen and just see what your numbers are. Many doctors won't do that, they just ask you how you feel and if you feel good - so be it. With hormones though, until you get fully adjusted, are too many good days and bad days. For me.. obviously the 1 mg wasn't strong enough and I know in time the 2 mg will be, since this was the dosage I orginally started with and felt wonderful. I'm turning 68 next month (had my full hysterectomy around 47 or 48). I've also heard good and bad things about hormones and l've decided I'm staying on them and if I get this or that then so be it - it's the quality of life. Support from my husband also helped/helping me through this.
    • margaret71342
      margaret71342 price6209

      Posted

      Yes judy it's a minefield really the hormones. I think because I do feel better I want more to feel really better but that's not maybe the way it works. So I think for the next few months at least I will stay on the 1mg unless the bottom drops way out. Caroline thanks also for saying the same. X
    • price6209
      price6209 margaret71342

      Posted

      Excellent! You've got it! I'm amazed how many of us are in this together. I love this forum to ask/answer questions.
    • caroline_19506
      caroline_19506 price6209

      Posted

      Well were all made the same it's good to talk to other women in the same boat x
  • caroline_19506
    caroline_19506 margaret71342

    Posted

    Well I would give it a bit longer I'm on a estrogel which I have been on since Feb I feel so much better although get funny dizzy spells side effect and get them more frequently lately so when I go back to doctors in April after been on 3 months I will ask if I need a higher dose or stay on the dose I'm on
  • price6209
    price6209 margaret71342

    Posted

    Margaret, that's wonderful news! Hang in there - we are all going through this journey with you, sometime in our life.
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