Thank you, Mary. I am meeting for a follow up appointment with the clinic tomorrow before I start my prescription because I have so many questions and do not want my mood to get worse. Originally, she advised trying Utrogestan 100 vaginally for at least 7 days a month if I wanted to stick to traditional NHS meds. I made it to 4 days and had to stop. Felt so low it was scary.
I’ve been on Oestrogel for 2 1/2 weeks now 1 pump.
My new prescription is
Estradiol 0.25mg/ Progesterone 25mg per 0.3mL dose cream in HH base x 50mL 1 pump twice a day
Testosterone 0.5mg per 0.3mL dose cream in HH base x 30mL 1 pump a day
I don’t know the equivalence of the Estradiol amount to the 1 pump Oestrogen. I would like to keep it the same amount for now. I probably should have asked for progesterone only cream but my mind is not good right now.
Also, I don’t want to add Testosterone right away because I am soooo sensitive to everything. Plus, my understanding is that you only add testosterone after you have the correct dose of estrogen.
If this works…oh how I need it to work…I am ok with having regular scans to check my uterus.
I am also due to meet with my GP Monday about my low mood. I’m on a new antidepressant, vortioxetine, prescribed by a psychiatrist since May. Originally seemed ok but I’m so much worse now. Hard to separate hormones from my clinical depression which I’ve had for 20 years. But I think I want to go back to sertraline. I was good on that for years but I was also on bupropion at the same time. In 2020, it became unavailable in the UK (I’m American, moved here 5 years ago). I’m actually willing to get it filled in the US when I visit my family. Nothing is easy these days! But even so, when I was on sertraline on its own, I seemed better. Now I can barely function. Anxiety and depression at it’s worst. Again, not sure what is caused by hormones and what is caused by the antidepressant.
I have tried with him and others at the practice to find other forms of progesterone that I can tolerate. Their only suggestion is Mirena. Mirena terrifies me. If it made my mood lower, I could not cope. I’m barely hanging on now.