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[Yammy1]

4 weeks on hrt( estradot50mgs). My anxiety has gone through the roof the last few days, my heart is racing, pulse a mile a minute, finding it hard to get a breath and all I want to do is cry. Can anyone tell me if the hrt is causing this and should i stop taking it or should I ride the storm, I really am feeling horrible, pleas any advice would be great I don't want to make Christmas awful for my family and we're going on hols 2nd January help

[CLKD]

Do you have any anti-anxiety medication?

[Yammy1]

No all I have is rescue remedy, but if I tell myself it's working it will work, just not sure if it's my body reacting to hrt

[CLKD]

Maybe it's the pressure of the up-coming weekend as well as a soon-2-B holiday?  Rescue Remedy has been my go-to for years, used B4 anxiety hits helps.

Make lists of what you need for this weekend and delegate.  Make lists of what to pack for your holiday so it's out of your head and onto the page ;-).

[Annie0710]

Did you suffer anxiety before you started the patches.  Racing heart etc is a common meno symptom and it can make you feel anxious

Sometimes a quick sudden cough can kind of regulate your heartbeat

I don't know for sure but if the hrt has caused it you might've noticed it a lot sooner than a month

Sorry I'm probably no help but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon x

[Lizab]

I think that can be a sign of high estrogen, but I doubt that at 4 weeks in on that dose it would be causing it. If you're working yourself up over it, as I tend to do with any meds, it helps to know that what you're taking is lower than regular birth control doses. If the estrogen is in fact causing it, it's probably just your body adjusting to it, as it's not a high dose, and riding it out would be the way to go as it will soon settle. Also, if you're not already fully post menopause, and perhaps even if you are, you're body may still be having surges and crashes in hormone levels leading to these feelings. I think I have that problem even a year into hrt. Adding a constant supply of estrogen can lessen the extreme dips, but doesn't necessarily stop the ups and downs from your own body producing hormones.

[Yammy1]

Thank you all for advice, it's over four years since hysterectomy (still have ovaries) and I have suffered with anxiety on and off for a number of years, but it hasn't been this bad in quite a while and has cought me off guard so to speak. I think it may well be my body getting used to hrt, rescue remedy has taken the edge off, I'm determined not to let it ruin Christmas, once again thank you all so much, I don't know how I would cope without this site and all the beautiful, kind friendly ladies here. I wish you all a stress free happy Christmas and New Year.

[Annie0710]

You have a good positive attitude x

[Dana]

Were you on any estrogen prior to the estradot?  To have such a sudden onset of the anxiety makes me wonder if this dose could be too high for you. Too much estrogen is as bad as too little.

Maybe you could experiment with the patch a bit. Try cutting it in half to see if that calms you down a bit.  You can also get estradot in 25mcg and 37.5mcg if you feel you need a dose between the 25 and 50.

Unfortunately hrt is always trial and error and you may end up finding this is the right dose and your body is just adjusting to it, or you might even need a higher dose. It all takes time and it is very frustrating.  Good luck.

[Lizab]

I think it's generally advised not to tamper with the dose until you've given a chance to adjust, but Dana has a good idea. If you do believe it could be the estrogen, you could cut the patches in half for several weeks and see if it eases. Then if you're still having meno symptoms you could gradually cut less off the patch until you build to 3/4 or a full patch. Whatever you decide to do, give it some time to see what happens. If you cut it in half at one patch change, then the next use a full one, then back to cutting again, you'll never be able to tell what's going on.

[Yammy1]

Thank you all, not sure what to do as Doc not available until Wednesday at the earliest. I'm fine one minute and then Get pain in left arm or chest and I start panicking, I'm so annoyed with myself letting anxiety take over like this and it's exhausting constantly fearing I'm going to have a heart attack. Sorry for all the moaning x

[Tempest]

Yammy, if it's any help I've just been taken off this as an emergency by my hospital for exactly the same reasons. Have been on it nearly 2 months and I've had a hell of a time! I can honestly say that since I've been off it the completely crazy, barking madness has gone (we're talking wild mood swings and horrendous anxiety). I've also tried to ride out the chest pain too, but it was coming on intermittently day and night. I've been dealing with this as I say on a daily basis - GP wouldn't change it, despite my Psychiatrist contacting them before Christmas to say I was getting very much worse and he believed the Estradot was the culprit.

I'm sure there are a few folk who given my history with HRT will think it's just me, but trust me - this was a new kind of crazy that I've never experienced before and it has now resolved after removing the patch. Please see your GP ASAP - you deserve to feel well and not to suffer! Sending you biggest hugs as I know how you feel. xxxxx

[Annie0710]

Yammy, if it's any help I've just been taken off this as an emergency by my hospital for exactly the same reasons. Have been on it nearly 2 months and I've had a hell of a time! I can honestly say that since I've been off it the completely crazy, barking madness has gone (we're talking wild mood swings and horrendous anxiety). I've also tried to ride out the chest pain too, but it was coming on intermittently day and night. I've been dealing with this as I say on a daily basis - GP wouldn't change it, despite my Psychiatrist contacting them before Christmas to say I was getting very much worse and he believed the Estradot was the culprit.

I'm sure there are a few folk who given my history with HRT will think it's just me, but trust me - this was a new kind of crazy that I've never experienced before and it has now resolved after removing the patch. Please see your GP ASAP - you deserve to feel well and not to suffer! Sending you biggest hugs as I know how you feel. xxxxx

.

Oh no you poor thing Tempest !
Are you taking any oestrogen for the time being ?
I wonder whether Tibolone (not being direct oestrogen as such) is your answer ? I know we toy with this idea a lot

Hope you're okay xxxxx

[Tempest]

Dear Annie!!!

Ive been keeping a lot of this 'under my hat', so to speak as I know I've had a lot of problems with HRT and didn't want to act prematurely, but this has been the worst!😢

My Psychiatrist saw me just before Christmas and held off on the mood stabiliser as he 'just wasn't sure' that I needed it as things had been deteriorating so badly since starting the patches. I checked today over at Hystersisters (didn't want to check before as I didn't want to scare myself or put ideas in my head) but there are a LOT of posts over there about Vivelle Dot (same as Estradot) and anxiety! I didn't want to post here either given my recent problems - I've just been kind of riding it out on my own until I saw Yammy's post and it's pretty much exactly what I've been experiencing! I tried everything, including your very kind tips on making sure it was sticking properly (which it was). I remember Dancinggirl saying that she had a big surge on applying the patch, and then it dropping days 2 and 3 and this is what I experienced - but I tried giving it time to settle and it just wasn't, the 'trend' was getting worse. I don't know what it is with me and transdermals!

I'm using the gel again, and hoping the rash doesn't reappear! I'm changing GP in the New Year so have to use this as a 'stop gap' until I see Professor Lumsden on 10th January. I'm just hoping nothing major deteriorates before then!

[Annie0710]

Was your anxiety better on the oestrogel ?

I've thought long and hard about your suggestions and am thinking more and more about changing to the gel.  I'm better than I have been but still not where I want to be, not sure I'll ever get there but I will never know if I don't try

And when I think how long I've been using hrt (17 years now) I really haven't experimented that much

Keep us updated Tempest and Yammy xx