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[Lucoley]

Hi all

Sorry if I'm doing this wrong and I should have tagged it on to my previous posts. 

I'm severely struggling with anxiety, at it's peak when i wake up but it' lingering all day.  Started HRT in July, went up to 3 pumps of oestrogel (100mg progesterone daily as post menopausal) 2 weeks ago which made it much worse to the point it was completely intolerable.  I'm waiitng for an appointment at my local NHS menopause clinic but god knows how long that will be.  In the mean time Ive gone back down to 2 pumps with the plan to wean myself down to 1 pump over the next coming 6 weeks or so.  On the basis that this is the last point where I was anxiety free.  Now I don't know if this would have happened anyway but I need for myself to get back to basics to try and weed out what is doing this to me.  Originally that is the reason I started HRT and it was fabulous for 8 weeks, at 4 weeks post starting my GP recommended I go up to 2 pumps and now I'm questioning if that ws the right choice, have I more of an oestrogen dominance going on rather than a Progeserone intolerance for instance?

In the meantime I'm getitng little to no sleep, my morning anxiety is horrendous and the last couple of weeks has bordered on panic.  I have been going into work every day rather than doing my WFH days as I feel I'm better with the distractions that working from home does not provide.  I'm staying away from caffeine and alcohol, I'm doing all the right things but nothing is denting this awful anxiety.  I am already on Citalopram 20mg longstanding for anxiety so I do apprecitae I am more prone to these kind of things.  Has anything worked for anyone in terms of anxiety?  I'm losing my faith in HRT, losing my faith in my own ability to handle all this and I'm just not enjoying life at all right now.  I'm going away next week to Ireland and it just is causing me such dread as I won't be in my "safe" place and am worried about ruining the trip for my husband.  I get to sleep ok but am waking every 2 hours or so for quite a while which of course means I have very low resiliance the next day for anxiety and lifes' stresses.  Like a lot of woman my ages I have a lot of familial responsibilities and look after my elderly stepfather and my grandsons and it's making it near impossible at the moment. I'm just so fed up, angry, upset, disillusioned with this whole process.  I have an amazing nurse dealing with me for HRT who has been supportive but let's be honest they can only do so much.

Louise

[debbyx]

Hi


Just wanted to reply to let you know you are not alone.   I am also struggling with Anxiety and panic attacks I am post menopause but not  on HRT I have the patches here but not yet decided if that’s what I want to do. 

My anxiety is worse in the morning, some
Mornings I don’t even want to get up and face the day but just recently the anxiety stays all day and turns in to panic.  I am also loosing faith in all of this. 

I know this is no help to you but just to let you know that you are not alone but I find it helps reading other posts as it helps me a lot. Good that you are going to work as I can’t even leave the house most days and I do work from home but even struggle with that.  I hope going to ireland turns out okay.   I think we just need to take each day as it comes but it isn’t easy.   

[Lesred]

Lucoley

I couldn’t read your post without giving some solidarity even though probably not all that helpful! I also get terrible anxiety, mostly for no particular reason but it shows physically for me and then sends me into an anxiety ridden spiral. I am on the same regime as you and also was advised to try going up to 3 pumps which resolved some issues briefly but the anxiety has got bad so back down to 2 after a month and hoping to stabilise, but who knows.

You seem to be doing everything right but sometimes, especially post menopause, our bodies do not want to behave, it’s really frustrating. I also had about 3 months of feeling great just after starting hrt and it’s hard when it falls apart again.

Hopefully someone will have some ideas but you have my sympathy. Sorry not to have been more help.

X x 

Ooh debbyx you too? Sympathies!

[sheila99]

Anxiety can be caused by too much as well as too little oestrogen so I think going back down to 1 pump is a good idea. Progesterone can also cause problems for some people. Utro helps most people sleep but it has the opposite effect for me and perhaps for you too. I'd recommend changing only one thing at a time but IIWY I'd also trial a break from utro so you can see if this is causing the problems. I used long cycle sequi (6 weeks) to give me more 'good' time, for me a bleed was better than continuous utro.

[Lucoley]

Thank you ladies.

Frustrating isn't it. Ive woke up this morning with my usual rampant morning anxiety, its just so bloody horrible. Its lonely too isn't it, even if you have supportive people around you. I do appreciate all this upping and downing of oestrogen won't have helped me. And my aim is to remain on the same dose for now to stabilise, I don't think it will help the anxiety go away but its defo got worse from messing about.

Debby please try the patches, I get the fear, especially when you are struggling but its worth trying to see if it helps.

Sheila yes, very disheartening when the hrt worked so well for it to suddenly stop. I have omitted my progesterone the last 2 days, anxiety same but I did sleep last night.

It probably doesn't help that Im getting on a plane tomorrow and am terrified of flying!

Louise

[Lucoley]

Lesred

It actually helps that Im not the only one this has happened to. Sorry! Like you when I upped to 3 pumps I had a few really good days and my sleep was amazing. Followed my a crash were I was so fatigued, low mood and crying allllll the time. Then the increased anxiety started. 2 weeks in all I was on the increased dose. Whilst I appreciate there will be side effects increasing a dose, they have to be tolerable and this was ridiculous. They are still as bad but I only went back to 2 pumps on Monday. Ive had a few embarrassing moments where Ive just gone into work and cried as Ive been so anxious. With my 20 to 30 something colleagues looking at me in confusion lol. Ironically my line manager is a 30 year old man who has been INCREDIBLY understanding and supportive.

Im feeling very impatient with all this. However I was feeling this bad OFF HRT too. So what do we do!

[Lucoley]

Hi. Me with my problems again

After weeks of ever worsening anxiety and insomnia on progesterone I think I have made the decision to stop HRT. This last week I have spiralled and added intrusive thoughts into the mix. I have had to be signed off work and am just not coping at all. Im going to contact my GP tmw about propranolol to see if this helps. I cannot go on like this.

Any natural supplements anyone can recommend?

[CLKD]

Ask your GP 4 propranolol I found it helped a lot.

[Lucoley]

Thanks CKLD. That is exactly what im going to do

[CLKD]

Let us know how you get on.  My GP prescribed Valium under supervision in the 1990s, saved my Life.  Unrelated to peri ........ though in hindsight 

I've had Propranolol with success and now have an emergency pill to swallow when anxiety floors me.

[debbyx]

Hi


I am in the same position as you but not on HRT.  My anxiety and panic iwas out of control and taking over my life.  I didn’t even want to get up each day and I was struggling.   My doctor has given me Patches but I also asked for bloods to be done. They showed that I was very low in B12.  I have been on tablets for 12 days and I must say  I have noticed a difference already I feel a lot calmer and have more energy  and  each day I feel a little bit more confident.
The anxiety and panic is still there but not so bad.   

I have told the GP that I want to leave the patches for now and see how I get on once my B12 is checked again in 3 months,  I don’t think this is the miracle cure but B12  deficiency is common in menopause apparently and symptoms similar to menopause issues.

I was getting pins and needles and vision issues like I was going to fall over I felt weak all the time and then I would get anxious and then panic what was wrong with me.   Now that I know that these symptoms are part of the deficiency I have calmed down a lot.   Have you had bloods done.

As a stand by I have Valium and only take them if and when the panic gets really bad.   

[Lucoley]

Hi Debbyx

Yeah I have, it's fine.  This is not my first rodeo with anxiety and I know it's hormone related as when I first started HRT it completely disappeared.  However I am progesterone intolerant (rampant insomnia, anxiety etc) and am waitng for an NHS appt.  I think I need more oestrogen but because I'm so anxious every time I up it I can't cope with the standard mood fluctuations it causes and end up having to put it back down.  I am already on an SSRI longstanding so this has come as a bit of a shock to the system.  I'm not daft, I know I have a lot of life stressors going on and am trying to work to limit those as well. 

Got an appt with my lovely GP tomorrow and am asking for propanolol and she has also in the past mentioned increasing my anti depressant which I'm loath to do at this point.

Sucks.

Lu

[Lucoley]

Had a very frustrating phonecall with a different GP today. I have been prescribed propranolol which Im eager to give a go. She also has increased my Citalopram to 30mg and Im going to try hold off in that as long as I can. However, I was explaining to her that the HRT was fabulous at first at curing my anxiety which she ignored and was trying to talk me into having seasonal affective disorder noting I was tearful.  Any attempt by myself to explain the hormone side of things was ignored.

So Im left feeling like Im just going to have to wait till my specialist appointment to get anywhere with my HRT. Im going to trial myself off progesterone to see what difference that makes on my anxiety levels which are increasingly rising. Today has been awful.

[CLKD]

It annoys me when a different GP is assigned the consult, either by phone or F2F. Is SAD currently in the News or was she showing her ignorance and inability to listen?

How R U to take the Propranolol?  Initially I was prescribed 80mg 3 times a day for several weeks, then it was dropped to 40mg twice, then 20mg once a day.  From 2002 until March of lockdown. Recently my GP gave me 40mg 3 times a day prior to going on an important holiday which worked well and surprisingly I've felt fine since even though I don't take it [have some left over ;-) ]

Try the betablocka and see how U go. 

[debbyx]

I have never spoken to the same doctor twice and every one of them has different ideas , it is so frustrating and just makes my anxiety ten times worse.