Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: ellie73 on September 17, 2016, 09:07:57 AM
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Hi I'm new to the site and appologise if I'm posting in wrong place . I am 43 and started with insomnia depression , anxiety, palpitations and flashes back in March this year(although had been having night sweats and acne for some time which i originally put down to memory foam matress!!). Going to GP was awful experience, sleeping tablets cbt offered (I was already on AD ssri for pnd) It apparently couldn't be anything except depression as I am not 51. My mum (who went through menopause at similar age) and husband pushed GP to refer me . Reluctantly he agreed . He was absolutley dreadful (infertility was his thing) given tiblone though and omg within week thought i was dying . Stopped taking it did my own research and found a specialised hormone clinic. What a different experience, believed, bloods taken started on everol 25 (I already have a mirena). fsh normal, estrogen very low , testosterone low. So reasured peri/ovarian decline in process. Felt some improvement on everol 25 , increased to everol 50 and tostran gel x 3 pumps for low t. Returned for 3 month review and upped to everol 75 and tostran x 5 pumps. Changed to new patch on sunday by tuesday felt a little out of sorts by thursday very low mood, anxious and exhausted.Really sore breasts and headaches began on monday. Dropped tostran back to 3 pumps this last week but still low mood with exhaustion much worse in the morning getting bit better throughout the day. Anyone had similar experience or advice to give me would be really appreciated. Was I being greedy, was ok on the 50's just thought I could be better.
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Hi and welcome to MM ellie73
The peri meno stage is very tricky because your own hormones will be fluctuating. I had a premature meno and found it very difficult to find the right balance for some time. In my personal experience, too much oestrogen actually made things worse - so if you felt mostly OK on the 50 mg it may have been better to stick with this. I have no experience with testosterone so can't advice about that. I am prone to spots and when I tried Tibolone got awful acne.
What have I realised, from reading many posts on MM, is that women who chop and change their regime, especially in the peri stage, often seem to get more side effects. Any combination or dose needs time to settle and I believe sometimes less is more.
Anxiety and low mood are very difficult to treat and I am personally not convinced that higher doses of oestrogen will actually improve these things.
Maybe review the SRRI - if you are still taking this - perhaps try something different ? You seem to be getting some good treatment generally which is good but until you are post meno getting things settled could be tricky.
BTW - you are not greedy - you simply want to get your life back on track.
We are here to support you so keep posting. DG x
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Hi DG thankyou so much for your speedy response. I still have 1 x 50 patch left over which i think i am going to use and get some more sent out from clinic. If it is too high do excess symptoms (if thats what they are) go quite quickly?
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Hi Ellie73 & :welcomemm:
It seems you have tried several combinations since your problems started. I know from my own experience that HRT can take several months to settle down before you get the full benefit from it.
If possible try & "ride out" the first few weeks of any new medication etc for menopause, & hopefully things will settle down a bit.
I do think evoral 50 is worth giving another go - but remember HRT may not eliminate all symptoms of the menopause.
Good Luck ellie & please let us know how you get on.
Cazikins x
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Wise words Cazikins.
ellie73 - it dose take time and patience I'm afraid. do give the 50mg more time - at least 3-6 months. IF the increase in dose has made things slightly worse then dropping back to 50 will hopefully settle quite quickly.
As Cazikins has said, you really can't expect HRT to fix everything - in my experience it is a range of measures that gets us through this tough time. Keep us posted. DG x
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I'd go back to 50 too, usually best to start low and increase gradually if need be. I'm on estradot patches and if I feel they're not enough or too much I snip them (literally cut them) and adjust that way
Oh, I'm so envious you've been tested for testosterone and being treated (I'm hitting my head against a brick wall with surgery) again start low on that and increase (slowly) as needed
Good luck
Annie X
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Hi thanks for all your advice. You have given me the oomph i needed . Have showered and changed my patch back to 50 so fingers crossed. I contacted the clinic (open on a Saturday thank goodness) the lady in pharmacy says this can happen, are sending me more 50's. Hopefully that wanting to feel that bit better will come given time on the lower dose. I feel the testosterone was really helping, until this dose of estrogen increase which seems to have robbed me of my libido again. This whole process is so tough knowing whats the right or wrong thing to do, and i know i am only at the start of it. Just want to be me again. Thanks again for all advice..
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Hi Ellie and welcome
Your story is depressingly familiar to many of us on here. Two female GPs told me I couldn't be peri because I was only 43 when I started with unexplained insomnia, anxiety and mood swings.
Even when I told them that several close female relatives had finished with periods by the time they were only 40.
Like you, I also had PND, and through my research discovered that this is very likely to make you suffer with anxiety/depression when you become peri menopausal. It's basically because you are too sensitive to hormonal changes, and cannot tolerate progesterone.
I have been treated by Annie Evans and Prof Studd, and am now on 4 pumps of oestrogel + separate Utrogestan + testim gel. My testosterone level was only 0.7 which I understand is very low?
I have also started taking Sertraline which is an AD which I have found very helpful. A lot of women who suffer with hormonal anxiety and low mood during peri Menopause need to combine HRT with an AD to really feel better.