so last night when out with husband for a meal, he commented that I seem to have a come out of the dip I was in - he is very cautious because I have been so all over the place so this announcement was quite major news!! It was good to hear that his experience matched my feelings that I am more stable and getting on with life again, as it is so difficult not to read too much into the daily ups and downs and question whether things are better (and so easy to forget just how bad things were).
This is my 5th month taking HRT - although only the second month on the gel/ utro regime (was on oral before) and I am currently on 1.5 pumps of gel and taking prog sequentially for 12 days (200mg vaginally). Although I am pretty to sure the oestrogen is the main thing that has helped my mood (I have also established that any changes to oestrogen need to be done very slowly as too much too soon definitely causes horrible anxiety), I have also cut out coffee, meditate daily, run and do yoga regularly and recently have started wild swimming (sounds grand but I have a dip in the river once a week to invoke the cold shock response, to improve how my body copes with stress).
So I guess what I have realised is that there isn't necessarily a one size fits all solution and that it takes a combination of different approaches to find a new way of being at this time of life, that this is an ongoing work in progress (still not sure I have got the prog part right). But going through the menopause has also put me much more in touch with my body and emotions and I am putting myself first a lot more and caring about myself better and finally I actually feeling positive about the future for the first time in 2 years.
This forum has been a big part of helping me to get to this point so I want to ensure I am giving back. It can and will get better and I never thought I would be able to say that, so don't give up hope and keep talking and sharing.
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