Hi All,
Been on and off here a few years now as I progress through this life stage. I'll try and keep it short...
Had HRT in past first everol conti which was great from age 47 til around 49. Then decided to have a break and see what was happening naturally. i was ok for around a year then started a stressful career change and experienced terrible anxiety attacks, morning sickness and weight gain. went back to GP and went back on HRT Femsevern sequi this time. On it 2 years and periods became less and less during the last 6 months. During this time I separated and divorced and had depression so was also on Prozac for a while. I stabalised in terms of meno symptoms and depression continuing to hold down a demanding job although I'd had a fair few weeks off at my worst.
Fast forward to January 2016 and I met a new man after a few months I felt happier than I'd been in a long time and came off Prozac. I also came off HRT again to see if I was through it yet... by this time I was 52. Really bad hot flushes and night sweats started in July 2016. I started to take Vogel menopause support and within a month the flushes sweats went. Happy happy...
In January this year the terrible anxiety returned. I was struggling at work and went part time. I went to GP in June this year to see about HRT - no period for a year so she put me on femseven conti this time and said i might get a bit of spotting initially. After 3 days the stomach cramps started and after a week I was having a full on bleed - very heavy, which continued for 3 weeks! My mood was terrible and with the bleeding my partner and I decided I should take the patch off. I couldn't cope with the bleeding - we have a very active sex life and during this time we also went on holiday which made things difficult in terms of travelling and intimacy!
Since taking the patch off in the summer the flushes and really bad sweats have returned, I experience very low mood at times and anxiety attacks on and off. Sometimes I've cancelled work because I just can't face it. I struggle a lot with motivation now.
I'm in a very happy relationship, eat healthily recently losing 2 stone and we exercise at the gym and swimming. I've tried every alternative going including black cohash, sage, starflower etc. The sweats cause poor sleep, my concentration at work is affected and I get the fog. I still have plenty of patches and wondered if using a quarter might help with symptoms but I don't want to bleed!
Has anyone got any suggestions or advice at all? i just want to cry. my partner is very supportive but obviously there is little he can do... Thank you