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[Londongirl]

 

Sorry If I keep repeating myself.  Not a good day here at all and I can't seem to stop crying. 

This depression is getting worse and I am beginning to get so down, I am finding it hard to do things and am not with it at all. 

I am on Femoston Conti and have made an appointment to go back and see (another ) doctor at my surgery- well one I think is most helpful as most of them seem clueless when it comes to HRT  -

I suggested Utrogestran (sorry if mispelt) to one last week and his reply is that it's used in France but not much here 

I actually sat there and told him I am depressed............ I reminded him that I am feeling hi's and low's and the previous week I was there I was bawling, crying so asked him if this could be down to the HRT and if so, how long should I persist and would it ease off? 

He looked at me blankly ...............

I then referred to the rash on my face and was offered (more) steroid cream for that and almost made to feel I am exaggerating and it's down to my age now (54).  Am getting very dry skin patches on my face that come up one day then the next are fine!   

I am on Femoston Conti (am post meno - no periods now for some 4 years)

Have tried Femseven patch - no good as kept coming off/didn't stick
Kliofem - didn't seem to work for me
Angelique - got massively bloated so gave up

So I went back on Femoston Conti as it seemed to work best for me in terms of alleviating my symptoms (hot flushes/night sweats)......... but now this depression is doing my head in and am wondering what approach to take next? 

Sorry if some of you have made suggesttions to me before.  I can't seem to think straight at the moment and feel am losing the plot........

Anna

[Hurdity]

Hi Londongirl

Soirry to hear you are feeling down but it is most likely due either to insufficient oestrogen or the fact that you are on continuous progesterone in Femoston conti.

How dare your doctor say Utrogestan is not used much here. So what? would be my reply. It is available, and is the only bio-identical progesterone licensed for HRT here in UK and if you want it you should be prescribed it.

How far post-meno are you and what dose Femoston are you on?

Can you bear to go back to a cycle for a while? This way you would be able to tell if it was the progestogen causing you to feel like this. If it disagreed with you you could then try Utrogestan. Some women suffer from prog intolerance and some feel worse on the prog phase of HRT than they did during the pre-menstrual fortnight. if this is the case with you I would suggest being referred to a specialist so that you can take a shorter course of prog on a cyclical basis but would need a bit of closer monitoring of your womb lining through regular U/S scans.

OK you would have to have a bleed but that's what I do age 60 and to me it's a small sacrifice for being able to be on HRT and to enjoy the oestrogen only weeks.

If you're on the conti 1/5 (ie oestradiol 1 mg) rather than the ultra low dose - maybe you could try the Femoston 1/10 on a cycle for a while and then if the oestorgen level is still too low you could go up to 2/10.

Otherwise you could bite the bullet and go for a separate oestrogen patch and Utrogestan - presumably like you went to ask for? Estradot patches are small and don't fall off easily and are changed twice a week. That's what I use. Also there is gel if you prefer.

Hope this helps ...

Try to resist being fobbed off with ADs until you get your hormone balance right and you should feel better if you haven't been prone to depression through your life

Hurdity x

Hurdity x

[littleminnie]

Hi Anna, I started using Everol Conti patches (they stick like glue) over 2 years ago. I was about 3 years post meno.  The flushes went after about 2 weeks everything else took a lot longer (over 3 months).
Maybe these would suit you better?  Sorry you are feeling so bad.
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