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[flyingsquirrel]

I had an interesting conversation with a friend who is now post-menopause.  I'm almost perimenopausal?  I'm in the stage right when the hormones start swinging but are still "in range".  Anyway, she was shocked when, after telling me how she had had mood swings, I told her that I am depressed with anxious thoughts all the time and don't have "mood swings" really.

Has anyone else experienced that?  Does that mean anything regarding what's going on with my body and what it needs regarding HRT?  She suspected it did.  That maybe my estradiol was too low all the time (for my body's preferences, anyway) and not so much swinging.

A penny for your thoughts?

[PeriPagan]

Hi Flyingsquirrel heres my two penn'orth!

I've had GAD since I was a small child & have been dysthymic since teens ( I'm Autistic in an non-autistic world so the strain tends to manifest as these disorders) and am now approx. 5 years peri complete with reactive anxiety/depression so have seen both sides of the fence.

Before all hell broke loose and my peri went doolally my anxiety and depression was a stable thing. I would have flare ups but they were usually down to exhaustion. However, hormonal reactive anxiety/depression for me is a whole different ball game...

Its got a a savage edge to it and while CBT & Anti-D's can be helpful they can't ultimately stop it, you have to grit your teeth and stick your head down.... Its an absolute steaming pile of c**p! It also varies with your hormone levels so you can be calm & serene one day and be a jibbering S*******l wreck the next day.

There are studies that have shown that If you've had these disorders before menopause then you're at high risk of re-developing them when you do. So if you notice an increase in levels in conjunction with physical symptoms get your self to the GP ASAP. It saved my life, though I've just had my dose increased to the level recommended for young/peri reactives as I'm having a REALLY bad time mentally again.

As for mood swings I can go from laughing until my guts hurt to bawling & plate-chucking rage faster than a formula 1 car can get from 0-60! 

I'm sure others will be along soon, many of us on here have experience with this....too many IMHO 

[squeaker99]

Hi. Interesting thread. I have always been an anxious person and a bit of a hypochondriac but found when Peri started my anxiety ramped up to a new ' normal' baseline . In addition I found that before a period, a few days or maybe a week, my anxiety would really max out to the point I would be tearful and doomladen 24/7.  There was a definite hormonal pattern as I would get week at a time when I would feel almost my ' old' self again, but it never lasts. At this point I would end up at the GPs in a blabbering wreck. I tried HRT and some ADs but never for longer than a few weeks as I found for me my anxiety would go off the roof. An NHS meno specialist (without checking any bloods) suggested it was swinging hormone levels and maybe high estrogen causing the anxiety peaks but who knows.

I do know that CBT/exercise /Meditation etc works great when I feel OK but is almost impossible to get into when I'm in a bad anxiety patch - it is like my amygdala fear loop goes into overdrive around one anxiety or another.

I am not sure where this leaves me, I have been like this for so long - maybe 5-6 years which is when my period cycle started to change - that I can't imagine every being without daily anxiety. It is very rubbish. I would take anything not to worry as it makes life such an enjoyable struggle.

[CLKD]

I had pre-menstraul bouts of crying the night B4 a bleed began even if a period wasn't due. 

Appropriate medication can help regardless of causation.  Depression and anxiety are that: which may appear with hormonal upheaval: think Post Natal Depression: or may become worse with perimenopause. 

Do you feel depressed enough to even out your mood with suitable medication for 6-8 months?  Some find keeping a mood/food/symptom diary useful.

[flyingsquirrel]

Thanks, all!

I am at the point where I'm contemplating going on an antidepressant.  I've resisted thus far out of fear of withdrawal symptoms if I ever need to go off again for any reason, and also because I have a family member who became suicidal while on an SSRI, and then immediately felt better when he stopped.  I just feel I want to get to the root cause, you know?

But, anyway, interesting replies.  I guess everyone's hormones affect their moods differently.  Can't figure out why I would be so steadily depressed.  One would think if my hormones were fluctuating all over the place, that I would have some OK days and not be a wreck 24/7.  Oh well. Go figure.