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[Sue174]

I'm hoping someone can help please. I've been on and off different hrt for just over 2 months and it's making me feel awful ... anxious, low mood ... so was put on antidepressants too. Got so fed up at the weekend not seeing improvement in mood so give up hrt. I feel so low and just want to cry all the time as seems ages since I've felt ok. I've nothing to be sad about. When will the hrt be out of my system?

[Joaniepat]

Hello Sue174, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you are feeling so rotten.

I think each HRT regime is supposed to be trialled for 2 or 3 months before trying another if it doesn't do the trick. ADs aren't really recommended for menopausal symptoms, but I guess it all depends on the situation, some people need both. Perhaps you could tell us where you are in your menopause journey, what you have already tried, and what symptoms you need to alleviate most. Based on that, I am sure one of the more knowledgeable ladies will be along soon with some sensible advice.

All the best for now,
JP x

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome to MM Sue174

Do tell us more about yourself.  How old are you? Are you still getting periods? What menopause symptoms are you trying to control?  Has the low mood started with menopause or did you suffer with low mood and anxiety before the menopause? What types of HRT have you tried?

HRT can help with many menopause symptoms but low mood and anxiety can be tricky to treat.  HRT will certainly take time to settle so if you haven't trialled an HRT for at least 2-3 months you can't really tell if it's working or not.

If you have only tried continuous HRTs then you may be sensitive to progesterone, so you would need to stick with a sequential HRT which gives a monthly bleed.

ADs are worth trying if HRT doesn't help the menopause symptoms but they should not be prescribed as a first line treatment. DG x

[Sue174]

Hi Dancing Girl, thanks for welcoming me. I'm 53 and have had Mirena coil for just over 5 years, dr said it should be ok for another 2 years, as I used to have heavy periods. It helped with menopause symptoms too. I started on patches but they kept coming off, can't remember which, went on to Elleste duet a month after and that's when I started with bad anxious stomach and waking early, stopped them. Went on citalopram, didn't help then Dr give me beta blockers for anxiety. Got a bit messed up so stopped betablockers and started Elleste again, felt no better so changed to Evorel Conti patches and Prozac ... been on Prozac 5 weeks and stopped patches after 3 weeks as felt awful and fed up of feeling unhappy for just over 2 months with all these meds. I wish I'd never started hrt as symptoms not that bad but my sister is on Evorel 50 and she said less than a week she had so much energy and felt much better ... I didn't. I just want to feel better as I'm withdrawing and not good.

[Joanne13H]

Hi ,
I'm new here struggling a bit and wanted a bit of advice. Started with awful menopause symptoms last year . Sweats like Mount Etna going off ! Insomnia from hell , dry eyes and horrendous anxiety . I'm generally a really confident and outgoing person .
GP is fabulous - started me on Elleste Duet and results instantaneous . Felt amazing . Progesterone element was a bit grim and I suffered with reflux but all manageable . After 12 months GP said I had to go on continuous and changed to Elleste Conti. Reflux worse so we tried patches . Wasvon Evorel for 1 month . Felt like I had permanent PMT ! Breasts like cannon balls and awful migraine . So , I ripped patch off and called GP for advice . They have suggested Femoston Conti or Kliovance/ Kliofem. I wanted a patch ideally but the one they did suggest as an alternative FemSeven is no more ☹️☹️. Any tips ? I've been without for 10 days and all the symptoms are back and I hate it . Friend suggested coil for the progesterone but I'm not sure . It's a minefield and I just want to feel the way I felt 6 months ago !

[jillydoll]

Hi Joanne 13H

I'm on femoston conti, and I've found it really good, I've had to tweek it a bit,
But now it's kicked in, I find it does help me a lot...
It has the kindest progesterone in it, I was on patches before and couldn't tolerate
them, so switched to femoston.
Try em, you can always try something else if they don't suite you.

Good luck. Xx

[Joanne13H]

Thanks so much .  I am finding this forum really helpful. Had some health scares with abnormal smears last year which has really unsettled me . All ok now but dreadful menopause symptoms were all around the same time. Since not been on HRT can really feel those awful symptoms returning. I am very lucky to have such a great GP but get the sense it can be guess work ! I was advised patches were the best way to take HRT but I honestly felt shocking ! Apart from that ripping the patches off my behind wasn't pleasant   - do they use superglue ! Will try the femoston conti xx

[Dancinggirl]

Sue174

If you have the Mirena then you don't need the combined HRT.  If the Mirena has been in place for 5 years then it does need to be changed - your GP is wrong.
I think you are getting an overload of progesterone as the Mirena may still be giving off some progesterone and then adding in the combined HRT, which also has progesterone, could mean you are getting too much and this might be effecting your mood. 
If you had a new Mirena you would simply need oestrogen as patches( Estrodot are the best) or perhaps try Oestrogel (which you apply to inner thighs each day) and I think this might be better for you - especially if you were doing OK on the Mirena before.
The Mirena with Oestrogel was my best HRT regime overall. DG x

Joanne - most conti HRT pills or patches can be tough to tolerate fro many women - it may be worth trying the Mirena will gel or patch.

[Ladybt28]

Hi Sue 174 and Joanne13H    Nice to have you onboard.  Progesterone cannot be tolerated at all by some women so they use it in a very short cycle, others can manage the usual prescribed cycle - some take it fine continuously but as dancinggirl says - you have a mirena which is dispensing continuous low dose - you don't need any extra and it will kick off all those horrible progesterone side effects.  Mirena's are good because it is so low dose and being inside you at the site of the womb you don't get the fluctuations that you get with pills going through digestion. 

I am on oestrogel and I like it because I can play around with the dose.  You can start off with 2 pumps and use anything up to 4 a day. I haven't managed to get the progesterone right but I now know what I can't do.  There are a lot of posts on here about the anxiety aspect of meno and most of us who are having troubles find it quite difficult to get under control - its perseverance really and finding out what your body can and wont tolerate and in what combo. Bit of a slog but some strike it lucky in 2/3 goes - others of us- we are still trying.

[Sue174]

Thank you so much DancingGirl and Ladybt28 for your replies, it's such a relief to have someone there to chat to about things like this as I've got myself in such a state with it all and desperate to feel better. I had a bad day yesterday so rang drs and they're getting my dr to ring me this morning so feel better talking to you so I know what I need to do to get on right track ... thank you both and I'll update you when he's called xx

[Sue174]

Well, dr rang me late this afternoon and I asked for oestrogen patches and new coil. He asked what my menopause symptoms were ... which was only very mild flushes if any and he said I shouldn't be on hrt so to be honest that's fine with me with how I've been with it. I said thought it was progesterone that caused anxiety, poor appetite, losing weight, not sleeping properly etc .. he said it sounds like depression and keep taking fluoxetine 20mg for another 2 weeks (to make 7 weeks I'll have been on them) and if no improvement he'll up dose. So just persevering.  He did say progesterone would be out of system by now so that's a relief. Thank you again for being there xxx

[Hurdity]

Hi Sue174

 

So sorry to hear about your symptoms and problems with medication and different HRTs and I agree with what the others have said - no wonder you were feeling rough with a combi HRT oin top of the Mirena.

Also the doc really should have not given you ANY of those meds ie beta-blockers, citalopram, prozac etc for anxiety and associated menopausal symptoms until you have been given the right HRT and given it a proper trial - this is shocking. He is suggesting you keep increasing the dose when oestrogen should be a great help to you and your mood.

If you are peri-menopausal then your homrones will still be up and down but as Dancinggirl says if you get a new Mirena then you can add in oestrogen only at a dose that suits you and then only after a proper trial of several months if you haven't found something that works at the right dose and you have issues in your life that warrant additional medication - then time to consider them. Sounds like you don't though - as you say if you have nothing to be sad about then it's most likely to be the hormones and it's HRT you need - the right type at the right dose.

Try to find another doctor who doesn't want to just dish out the meds for different symptoms without looking at the whole picture. I would follow Dancinggirl's suggestion - get another Mirena -and then trial either Estradot patches (they are very small and stick well) starting with 50 mcg with the option to incrrease - or estradiol gel (Oestrogel/Oestrodose) - and withdraw from all the other meds if you can!

Hang in there - it does get better - hope this helps and good luck!

Hurdity x

[Sue174]

Thank you so much for your reply Hurdity, I really appreciate all the advice. I'm just so confused with it all and really don't know what to do for the best now. After having felt awful for abt 3 months now I just want to be me again and stop thinking abt hrt and how I'm feeling all the time. I'm not sure if I'm depressed or menopausal... and not sure drs know either ... I just don't know whether to give it a couple of weeks jst carrying on Prozac to see if mood lifts and if not does that mean it is menopause and insist on new Mirena and oestrogen? Xx

[Dancinggirl]

If the low mood started when your menopause began then it is hormone related. If the low mood started when you began HRT then it is likely to be the excessive progesterone causing the problem. Either way Prozac is not the answer.
Prozac May mak some of the menopause symptoms but it won't give you all the benefits for your heart and bones and won't help to prevent urogenital atrophy.
GPs need to get more clued upnon the treatment of the menopause. Your GP shouldn't have given you combined HRT patches while you still had the Mirena. If I were you I would ask for a new Mirena and start oestrogen only patches. Do try to wean yourself off the Prozac.
DG x

[Sue174]

Hi everyone, I've been to the drs this morning and managed to talk them into giving me oestrogen only patches 😀 . I'm really hoping things improve now because I wouldn't know what to do next xx thank you to all of you ... you've been a godsend to me through this