Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Londonbeans on March 13, 2017, 02:00:20 PM
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At 52 I was told that I was menopausal after a blood test when my Contraception implant had run out and needed to be replaced. Of course I just had it removed instead. Now 6 months on things are starting to get me down.
I have a stressful job and usually thrive on the challenge, but things have really been getting to me lately. I have always thought of myself as a strong individual, but the slightest bit of pressure I can't cope. I linked this to my menopausal state, and wondered if I needed some sort of hormone replacement.
I visited my doctor today and he prescribed Sertraline 50mg, I was not happy that they are anti-depressants but want my old self back and am happy to try them. I will be making changes in my job too, but this will not happen immediately and I need to be in a positive state of mind to get the best results all round.
Please advise me of if Sertraline has helped you? :-\
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If you want to try hrt, I would go back and see someone else and ask for that.
Do you have any hot flushes/night sweats?
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:welcomemm: did your GP discuss HRT options too? Did you present depressed rather than menopausal? Some ADs can ease other symptoms as well as depression so should not be dismissed out of hand. Some ladies find keeping a mood/food/symptom diary useful.
I do wish that GPs would discuss in depth the pros and cons of HRT as well as any benefits that ADs can offer!
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Hello londonbeans
You really should be offered hrt for menopausal symptoms before ADs
I use hrt and I'm also on sertraline which does help with my anxiety but hasn't helped with menopausal physical symptoms.
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hi Londonbeans- I eventually tried Setraline ( same as you, stressful job, maybe a bit older when I first went to GP ) Was told that I needed ADs. wasn't convinced so went down the herbal route for a year and after this eventually succumbed and took Setraline. I didn't get on with them at all. Constantly shaking and started having hallucinations. Not good at all so was told to come off them. Next choice was a type that could cause heart problems and failing that, good old fashioned sedation. Go back to your doc- HRT should be offered as the first line of defence in peri and menopausal women x
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Hi
I've been on sertraline for 3 years...it gave me my life back.
The side effects at the beginning were really hard but without it I wouldn't have been able to function as I had hideous anxiety and panic attacks to such an extent I thought I was dying....I'm now on hrt to help with hot flushes and night sweats
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Your story's similar to mine upsadaisy, hope your keeping well on the combination
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Hi walking the dog....I wouldn't give up my sertraline for anything....and I've told my gp that ...I cannot go back to that black hole ever again..sertraline literally has been my life saver. I think unless you've suffered from anxiety it's impossible to understand just how truly awful it is...the hrt is helping with hot flushes but I'm struggling a bit with the progesterone part so I'm looking at maybe changing ( currently on evorel sequi)
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I struggled with progesterone too , just had hysterectomy so now don't need it. The sertraline took my pms from 10 days to 1'and I have been in a much better place . Good to hear a positive story upsadaisy
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Lots of ladies have difficulty with the progesterone days >:(.
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Hi Londonbeams
I'm in the same situation. Really stressful job which has become very difficult now I'm in menopause, especially my PMS which has become very severe/unmanageable now. My GP offered Sertraline or HRT but seemed to think Sertraline would be better as PMS was the worst symptom.
I took one at night, as instructed, and woke up three hours later shivering and shaking with my teeth chattering non-stop. I then started pacing up and down my flat, muttering oh God, oh God. I think I just had a full on proper panic attack. I had to phone in sick for the following two days.
I know for some people they work well and that it's important to press regardless of the side effects, but I'm afraid I just couldn't take them. Hope they work for you but I think you'll just have to jump in and hope for the best!
I'm going back to see the doctor about HRT, though am not sure they'll do anything about the debilitating PMS I've got now I'm 50 :( ...
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This subject has been much debated on this forum if anyone cares to do a search. NICE guidelines advise GP's should be offering hrt as a first line approach for menopausal or peri menopausal symptoms. For an uneducated GP take the NICE guidelines with you to back up your argument. Hrt protects bones and heart as well as dealing with hot flushes and low mood, but how would anyone find out if it works for them if they're fobbed off with anti-depressants. Don't get me wrong I believe there is a place for anti-d's when all else fails or for people who have suffered long term anxiety and depression, but we must be clear they're not really addressing lack of oestrogen and it's debilitating effects and I worry that while they're being given out like smarties lot's of women are being failed x
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Sally - some meds cause agitation, which is what you seem to be describing. Ativan is particularly known for it ::). I remember walking for miles with my Dad as he couldn't settle to anything :-\
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If it was possible to wind the clock back, with the knowledge I now have from this forum, I think I would probably have persevered harder when I was given some HRT to try about 10 years ago. However the effects were horrible and I didn't have the support. I have a long history of anxiety and moderate depression and have been taking an AD for the last 15 months. I would probably have needed them eventually anyway but I sometimes wonder how things would have panned out if I had been supported with the HRT and the difference it could have made but I will never know.
I am glad medical attitudes to HRT have changed but I am too far down the post meno road now to go upsetting the apple cart and I am reasonably ok as I am and have great support from members of this forum (you know who you are and thank you).
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I know it really helps some people, but I had a really bad reaction after only one tablet.
Everyone is different so you won't know unless you try.
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I took Sertraline with no adverse effects many years ago when I had PND so was happy enough to try them at end of 2015 for the debilitating anxiety I had developed in peri- took one tablet and I was awake all night with waking dreams and agitation- phoned duty doctor who said stop but speak to own GP- did that and got a rollicking and told to keep on- ended up in local walk in at hospital with high BP, headache and agitation - told it was serotonin syndrome and to stop- the next morning I had to see crisis team as I had suicidal ideation- was told to take Valium to tide me over so did that for two days and once Sertraline out of system I did feel marginally better- it can be a lifesaver as my mum took it for years with no trouble but it just didn't gel with me the second time so I've managed without since. All you can do is try it and see and not be afraid to speak up if the side effects are too bad. A lot of antidepressants make you feel worse before better but I knew that what I was feeling wasn't normal and that a BP of 192/104 wasn't a good idea!
Good luck- another possible one to try is escitalopram which is supposedly easier to handle. x
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I use Escitalopram. I started on the sister drug, Citalopram, but Ecit is much gentler. You still get the 'bedding in' side effects but I only had them for 5 days. The Citalopram was upsetting me more.
I have been using it for 15 months now and we have become quite good friends :)
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Mine's a long story, but I hope it will help you.
Years ago, I took sertraline when I had PND and was fine with it, though I recall it made me slightly irritable and on edge. But that was far preferable to the dreadful anxiety and the pit of despair I had been in.
Like many PND sufferers, I suffered terribly with mood swings and anxiety again, as I entered peri menopause. It felt just like having PND again, but worse, and I didn't have a baby this time. Initially, my GP refused to believe my anxiety and depression could be peri hormonal, as I was only 43. But for the previous 2 years my PMS had got really evil, and my periods had become much lighter and shorter. So, my GP started me on sertraline, and OMG I reacted really badly to it. I didn't sleep a wink the first night I took it. I felt so trembly and agitated, and riddled with panic. I only lasted 25 days on it. I thought I was losing my mind.
Over the next 2 years I dragged myself down so many pathways in peri Hormonal Hell. I visited 2 more GPs. I tried a menopause clinic. I saw the specialist Dr Annie Evans. I tried Estradot patches, and Utrogestan. I tried 2 types of the BCP. I tried Femoston 1/10 & 2/10. But, the dreadful mood swings never stopped. I even saw the famous Prof. Studd and tried his magical estrogel + utrogestan + testim gel regime. But, I still kept finding myself back in the black pit of despair. I was alternatively terrified, or mentally exhausted. My sleep was really bad, and I would wake every morning at 4.30am filled with dread.
I ended up signed off work with anxiety/depression and under the care of the local Crisis Team, and their psychiatrist. The psychiatrist put me on Trazadone for the anxiety + a very low dose of Quetiapine to cure my awful insomnia. It didn't work. I just got worse. What followed were the worst 3 months of my life. I can't bear to remember how bad it was, and what I put my lovely DH through.
The crisis team were nice, but not much use. The psychiatrist never listened to me, and just kept upping the Trazadone and telling me to practice breathing techniques (wow, really great, thanks).
I started having constant black & bleak thoughts. In total desperation I rang Prof. Studd who told me to increase from 3 to 4 pumps of estrogel. Within 12 hours I felt an internal shift, and felt a little better. I enjoyed a couple of good weeks, then fell back into the pit. In desperation I stopped the Trazadone and went back to my GP who suggested giving sertraline another try and giving it at least 6 weeks. I cried because I remembered how awful it had made me feel 2 years previously. But I felt I had reached the end of the line, with everything else. I believe I had walked too far down the path that ultimately leads to suicide.
I took the first 50mg sertraline on June 26th last year. I was terrified. Within 8 hours my head had cleared a lot. After the 2nd tablet I felt really chilled out and sleepy. For the next 2 weeks I lay on the sofa a lot, just feeling quite dreamy. It was so wonderful. So wonderful. The tiredness was almost overwhelming, but I pushed on through it.
Over the next 2 months my GP increased me up to 100mg sertraline, which he said was the lowest therapeutic dose. My DH and family couldn't believe the change in me. I kept pinching myself, too. I was able to go back to work. I still had quite a few dark days, but the sertraline helped me through them. I was taking 5 steps forward, and 2 steps back, but every month I was improving and mentally brighter and stronger.
Since the start of the year, I have probably only had maybe 16-17 dark days? The rest of the days I feel at peace, and can smile and laugh again. I sleep well, and only wake at 4.30am to use the loo, and I go right back to sleep :)
So, sorry for the ramble, but I just wanted to show how dreadful hormones can make you feel, and that sometimes you have to kiss all the HRT & AD frogs before finally finding some sort of 'cure'. I think for some women, only the combination of HRT + an AD, and even something like Quetiapine, is necessary to wrestle your hormonal dragon into submission. I still lose some of the battles, but I do feel like I am winning the war :)
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:thankyou: + :bighug: GRL - sometimes I do wonder what keeps 'us' going when we at the bottom of that black pit :-\.
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I was put on sertraline for pnd in the 1990's I think the drs forgot and left me on it at 100mg per day.
Anyway 2009 I thought I should stop it, I took a year weaning off but within 6 months I was a complete wreck ten times worse than I was when put on it, I was climbing the walls.
It was clear I was addicted and went back on and through all the damn anxiety of starting it again which took another 6 months.
I am angry I became addicted but know I have no choice. I take 75mg now and one day will go down to 50mg when my life stabilises.
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Hi CLKD :)
I know it was my DH and my DCs who helped pull me out of the pit (though my DCs still have no idea how dreadful I felt). If I hadn't had my lovely family, I don't think I'd still be here.
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PND is such an evil illness, isn't it Sarai. I'm sorry you suffered too.
As far as I know, anti depressants aren't addictive in anyway? Yes, you need to wean off them in a controlled way, but that's the same for lots of drugs. Although I went cold turkey off Prozac once and was absolutely fine.
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Thank you for sharing your nightmare GRL and I am glad you eventually found a chink of light which has become brighter. Wishing you all the best from here forward.
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Certainly the more recent ADs aren't addictive in the same sense as Heroin however, when I was weaning off I had bounce back anxiety and physical symptoms: I had to remind myself that each drop in doseage caused the above but I didn't get any worse and that within 36 hours, those symptoms would ease - then I would get bounce back until my body had adjusted to the lower dose, it took 9 weeks. Without support during weaning I would have gone back to them ::)
{{{ GRL }}}
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Hi, I've been reading some old posts from those of you who took Sertraline for anxiety and depression during menopause and wondered what dosages everyone took? I was on Escitalopram for a year, but still waking every morning feeling very low and anxious. I've now switched to Sertraline, but having the same side effects, the most distressing one being the shaking (same as the Escitalopram). I'm hoping it will go away (been on them for less than two weeks and currently taking 37.5mg. Building myself up to 50mg!)