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[Kits]

Hi All
Just wondering if anyone has experience of this and how it worked out for you...

I recently started HRT, I am 43 and the doctor was reluctant but I felt my cyclical anxiety and uncontrollable rage were the result of peri.  I have been on SSRIs in the past for anxiety but had successfully weaned myself off with a lot of lifestyle changes and natural remedies. However over the past 2 years it was creeping back but only around my cycle and was becoming increasingly unmanageable. That teamed with anger/rage and generally awful PMT that would last for 2 weeks I thought HRT may help.  

I am 1.5 months in on treatment. Initially the first 2 weeks of using the Estro gel (1 pump) were life changing, I felt amazing. Like a light switch came on.  Then came the 2 weeks of using Utrogestan (vaginally as I read it was good for side effects) and I still felt ok although rather teary. but not anxious or angry. Finished the 2 weeks of Utro and now just using the gel again (currently on day 9 of cycle) but now my anxiety and low mood is back with a vengeance and has been since maybe day 2/3 of my cycle. I usually feel ok at this point in my cycle.  Its especially worse when I wake up in the morning. 

So my question is, is this a settling in period? I worry HRT is maybe not what I need and its going to make me worse. I am very reluctant to go back on to SSRIs although they were life saving for me in the past, the side effects sucked.  I have never really used hormonal birth control (not since my teens/early 20s) as it made me feel so bad so maybe i am sensitive to hormones. So confused on what to do and my GP is not very helpful. 
Anyone had a similar experience? Did you stick with the HRT and it eventually righted itself?

Thank you

[CLKD]

It's early days for an HRT regime.  R the symptoms tolerable if they are cyclical?

The Pill has changed a lot since the 1970s/80s - HRT is totally different though birth control can be prescribed to help some ladies.

It mayB that you need to add an extra pump occasionally in the week.  I am sure that some1 will B along with proper advice.  Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use too.

 

[Furyan]

Sorry you’re going through these moods, this past year I’ve really appreciated how strongly these hormones can affect our emotional states, as I was never like this as a cycling woman. I discovered it’s the balance between the two hormones that is key in helping my moods e.g. recently increased my patch and had increased anxiety and felt really sad and tearful. No one could ever understand unless they've experienced it, it comes out of nowhere with no rhyme nor reason for it! Over the days, I increased my progesterone which helped massively, so I suspect that the oestrogen needs to be balanced out with the right amount. I’m still balancing over the next few weeks as I want to decrease the oestrogen slightly (too many potential issues with thyroid and cortisol, which I don’t need!).

I’d suggest that, under supervision, you wait a couple weeks to allow things to settle a bit as your body needs a chance to adjust after a change of powerful hormones.  If you change something too soon, your body might not know what to do and produce symptoms of more imbalance if that makes sense.

[Emmia49]

Hi Kits!

My experience is similar to yours.

I am 49 years old and peri with periods every 23 days which are very light.

In April this year, my symptoms got so bad that I could barely function. I suffered from severe insomnia, as I had night sweats all night from 2 am, unbearable tinnitus, brain fog and then severe anxiety.

I have a very healthy lifestyle, I do a lot of sports, I have no problems with my weight. I have a beautiful family and friends, and I love my job.
 I tried all the herbal remedies to relieve the symptoms, but nothing helped.

Then depression appeared and when I couldn't take it anymore, I went to the gynecologist and started HRT: 1 spary Lanzetto and utrogestarn 200mg vaginally for 12-14 days.

Like you, I felt a lot better at first, then when I repeated the cycle, everything went downhill.
Anxiety and depression only deepened so that I thought I was really going to die. On the advice of the gynecologist, I increased Lanzetto to 2 and then to 3 sprays and I persisted for almost 2 months and it didn't work for me. I was more and more depressed. Only my night swats were gone.

 I too have been on SSRIs in the past which helped with covid-induced insomnia and I successfully weaned myself off, which was quite a difficult process.
So it was very, very difficult for me to make a decision and I took AD again, this time mirtazapine, which helps me a lot.

No more depression and anxiety, I sleep through the night and no more night sweats at all.

When menstruation comes, of course everything goes downhill, I'm crying for a few days and I don't function, but it's much better than before.

My decision was to try without hormones as my body is too sensitive.

I hope that AD will help me cross the bridge to menopause when things settle down and then it gets better...I hope...

I want to share my experience so you can see that you are not alone.

My advice is just to listen to your body. if something doesn't suit you and you're really struggling, then you have to move on and look for some other solution.

I wish you all the best on your journey! Big hug!!!

[joziel]

Kits, it's very common to need to increase HRT after you start it. At first the symptoms go because the body realises it's got estrogen - but then there isn't enough for all the processes that have been shut down, to get started up again, and you need more. That, or your ovaries start to make less and so you need more from HRT.

1 pump of Oestrogel is incredibly incredibly low, as a dose. 2 pumps is the most common starting dose but typically most women in peri need 3 or 4. And then there are people like me, on 12 pumps plus 100-200mcg patches because we don't absorb well.

Which is all to say - you very likely need an estrogen increase. You can get up to 4 pumps of gel via your GP so they should be fine with that.

I started HRT at 42 by the way, and I most definitely needed it. I am 46 now and it has taken all this time to experiment and adjust and figure out how to optimise it because I don't absorb it very well, but that wasn't apparent at first....

[AnonoMiss]

Hi All
Just wondering if anyone has experience of this and how it worked out for you...

I recently started HRT, I am 43 and the doctor was reluctant but I felt my cyclical anxiety and uncontrollable rage were the result of peri.  I have been on SSRIs in the past for anxiety but had successfully weaned myself off with a lot of lifestyle changes and natural remedies. However over the past 2 years it was creeping back but only around my cycle and was becoming increasingly unmanageable. That teamed with anger/rage and generally awful PMT that would last for 2 weeks I thought HRT may help. 

I am 1.5 months in on treatment. Initially the first 2 weeks of using the Estro gel (1 pump) were life changing, I felt amazing. Like a light switch came on.  Then came the 2 weeks of using Utrogestan (vaginally as I read it was good for side effects) and I still felt ok although rather teary. but not anxious or angry. Finished the 2 weeks of Utro and now just using the gel again (currently on day 9 of cycle) but now my anxiety and low mood is back with a vengeance and has been since maybe day 2/3 of my cycle. I usually feel ok at this point in my cycle.  Its especially worse when I wake up in the morning.

So my question is, is this a settling in period? I worry HRT is maybe not what I need and its going to make me worse. I am very reluctant to go back on to SSRIs although they were life saving for me in the past, the side effects sucked.  I have never really used hormonal birth control (not since my teens/early 20s) as it made me feel so bad so maybe i am sensitive to hormones. So confused on what to do and my GP is not very helpful.
Anyone had a similar experience? Did you stick with the HRT and it eventually righted itself?

Thank you

Some women get a bad progesterone withdrawal due to the increase in Gaba when on it then reduction after stopping

The Progesterone Withdrawal FB group might be of interest

[bombsh3ll]

I am 44 and take COCP Zoely continuously which has been a godsend - no hormonal fluctuations and no bleeding, just a stable daily dose of 17 beta estradiol like our body produces and a really kind progestin.

The pills you used in your 20's are not the only option now, so I just wanted to say that it might be worth another look.

Cyclical HRT often doesn't help people with hormone related mood issues and the seesawing progesterone can exacerbate them-  like riding a rollercoaster compared to the monorail of the pill.