Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Yammy1 on December 23, 2016, 06:43:54 PM
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4 weeks on hrt( estradot50mgs). My anxiety has gone through the roof the last few days, my heart is racing, pulse a mile a minute, finding it hard to get a breath and all I want to do is cry. Can anyone tell me if the hrt is causing this and should i stop taking it or should I ride the storm, I really am feeling horrible, pleas any advice would be great I don't want to make Christmas awful for my family and we're going on hols 2nd January help
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Do you have any anti-anxiety medication?
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No all I have is rescue remedy, but if I tell myself it's working it will work, just not sure if it's my body reacting to hrt
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Maybe it's the pressure of the up-coming weekend as well as a soon-2-B holiday? Rescue Remedy has been my go-to for years, used B4 anxiety hits helps.
Make lists of what you need for this weekend and delegate. Make lists of what to pack for your holiday so it's out of your head and onto the page ;-).
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Did you suffer anxiety before you started the patches. Racing heart etc is a common meno symptom and it can make you feel anxious
Sometimes a quick sudden cough can kind of regulate your heartbeat
I don't know for sure but if the hrt has caused it you might've noticed it a lot sooner than a month
Sorry I'm probably no help but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon x
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I think that can be a sign of high estrogen, but I doubt that at 4 weeks in on that dose it would be causing it. If you're working yourself up over it, as I tend to do with any meds, it helps to know that what you're taking is lower than regular birth control doses. If the estrogen is in fact causing it, it's probably just your body adjusting to it, as it's not a high dose, and riding it out would be the way to go as it will soon settle. Also, if you're not already fully post menopause, and perhaps even if you are, you're body may still be having surges and crashes in hormone levels leading to these feelings. I think I have that problem even a year into hrt. Adding a constant supply of estrogen can lessen the extreme dips, but doesn't necessarily stop the ups and downs from your own body producing hormones.
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Thank you all for advice, it's over four years since hysterectomy (still have ovaries) and I have suffered with anxiety on and off for a number of years, but it hasn't been this bad in quite a while and has cought me off guard so to speak. I think it may well be my body getting used to hrt, rescue remedy has taken the edge off, I'm determined not to let it ruin Christmas, once again thank you all so much, I don't know how I would cope without this site and all the beautiful, kind friendly ladies here. I wish you all a stress free happy Christmas and New Year.
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You have a good positive attitude x
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Were you on any estrogen prior to the estradot? To have such a sudden onset of the anxiety makes me wonder if this dose could be too high for you. Too much estrogen is as bad as too little.
Maybe you could experiment with the patch a bit. Try cutting it in half to see if that calms you down a bit. You can also get estradot in 25mcg and 37.5mcg if you feel you need a dose between the 25 and 50.
Unfortunately hrt is always trial and error and you may end up finding this is the right dose and your body is just adjusting to it, or you might even need a higher dose. It all takes time and it is very frustrating. Good luck.
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I think it's generally advised not to tamper with the dose until you've given a chance to adjust, but Dana has a good idea. If you do believe it could be the estrogen, you could cut the patches in half for several weeks and see if it eases. Then if you're still having meno symptoms you could gradually cut less off the patch until you build to 3/4 or a full patch. Whatever you decide to do, give it some time to see what happens. If you cut it in half at one patch change, then the next use a full one, then back to cutting again, you'll never be able to tell what's going on.
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Thank you all, not sure what to do as Doc not available until Wednesday at the earliest. I'm fine one minute and then Get pain in left arm or chest and I start panicking, I'm so annoyed with myself letting anxiety take over like this and it's exhausting constantly fearing I'm going to have a heart attack. Sorry for all the moaning x
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Yammy, if it's any help I've just been taken off this as an emergency by my hospital for exactly the same reasons. Have been on it nearly 2 months and I've had a hell of a time! I can honestly say that since I've been off it the completely crazy, barking madness has gone (we're talking wild mood swings and horrendous anxiety). I've also tried to ride out the chest pain too, but it was coming on intermittently day and night. I've been dealing with this as I say on a daily basis - GP wouldn't change it, despite my Psychiatrist contacting them before Christmas to say I was getting very much worse and he believed the Estradot was the culprit.
I'm sure there are a few folk who given my history with HRT will think it's just me, but trust me - this was a new kind of crazy that I've never experienced before and it has now resolved after removing the patch. Please see your GP ASAP - you deserve to feel well and not to suffer! Sending you biggest hugs as I know how you feel. xxxxx
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Yammy, if it's any help I've just been taken off this as an emergency by my hospital for exactly the same reasons. Have been on it nearly 2 months and I've had a hell of a time! I can honestly say that since I've been off it the completely crazy, barking madness has gone (we're talking wild mood swings and horrendous anxiety). I've also tried to ride out the chest pain too, but it was coming on intermittently day and night. I've been dealing with this as I say on a daily basis - GP wouldn't change it, despite my Psychiatrist contacting them before Christmas to say I was getting very much worse and he believed the Estradot was the culprit.
I'm sure there are a few folk who given my history with HRT will think it's just me, but trust me - this was a new kind of crazy that I've never experienced before and it has now resolved after removing the patch. Please see your GP ASAP - you deserve to feel well and not to suffer! Sending you biggest hugs as I know how you feel. xxxxx
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Oh no you poor thing Tempest !
Are you taking any oestrogen for the time being ?
I wonder whether Tibolone (not being direct oestrogen as such) is your answer ? I know we toy with this idea a lot
Hope you're okay xxxxx
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Dear Annie!!!
Ive been keeping a lot of this 'under my hat', so to speak as I know I've had a lot of problems with HRT and didn't want to act prematurely, but this has been the worst!😢
My Psychiatrist saw me just before Christmas and held off on the mood stabiliser as he 'just wasn't sure' that I needed it as things had been deteriorating so badly since starting the patches. I checked today over at Hystersisters (didn't want to check before as I didn't want to scare myself or put ideas in my head) but there are a LOT of posts over there about Vivelle Dot (same as Estradot) and anxiety! I didn't want to post here either given my recent problems - I've just been kind of riding it out on my own until I saw Yammy's post and it's pretty much exactly what I've been experiencing! I tried everything, including your very kind tips on making sure it was sticking properly (which it was). I remember Dancinggirl saying that she had a big surge on applying the patch, and then it dropping days 2 and 3 and this is what I experienced - but I tried giving it time to settle and it just wasn't, the 'trend' was getting worse. I don't know what it is with me and transdermals! :o
I'm using the gel again, and hoping the rash doesn't reappear! I'm changing GP in the New Year so have to use this as a 'stop gap' until I see Professor Lumsden on 10th January. I'm just hoping nothing major deteriorates before then!
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Was your anxiety better on the oestrogel ?
I've thought long and hard about your suggestions and am thinking more and more about changing to the gel. I'm better than I have been but still not where I want to be, not sure I'll ever get there but I will never know if I don't try
And when I think how long I've been using hrt (17 years now) I really haven't experimented that much
Keep us updated Tempest and Yammy xx
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Yammy it could just be something as simple as the estradot doesn't suit you, I had a reaction to it when I tried it and switched to evorel which I'm fine on. As someone has already suggested did you suffer from anxiety before as that may impact? Otherwise I know it's trial and error but here may be another type of hrt you do better on, don't give up x
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Annie, yes it was better! I've had some rough times with the Estrogel previously, but that was just me being 'hrt naïve' in the beginning about how long it would take me to adjust after having no hormones for so long after my surgery. I've sensibly (for me) been journalling things lately so now I have a good idea of how it works. I was doing ok after a while on the Estrogel before that damned rash appeared!
I think you may very well like the gel - it's very flexible and I know you have quite a demanding job at times so if you're running low, you can adjust a tad up or down to suit if your symptoms are running amock. :) I was reading just the other day that Carol Vordeman uses this after suffering serious depression due to her menopause - she raves about it! I find I get better stability if I split my dose, but many ladies over at Hystersisters say that after a good while when your levels are up and stabilised on creams/gels that you can then go to once a day application with no problems.
And DO get your GP to check your levels - I'm thinking the patch may not have been giving you all that you need all this time. You may be surprised! I know Dancinggirl said she managed to get a level of 600 from using 2 pumps of the gel - that's quite something!
Hugs! xxxxx
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I'm going to try it
I haven't had my levels tested since coming off elleste solo pill, where they were always high
Do you know what the equivalent doses are ? I'm currently on 75mcg estradot and I wouldn't know what that is in pumps. It might work better for me splitting the doses
Praying you get no rash Tempest and you settle until you see Prof Lumsden xxx
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Good for you, Annie! ;) 2 pumps roughly equates to a 50 mcg patch, 3 to a 75, allowing for an invidual's absorption of course. You can either apply on inner thighs (as I do) or outer arms and shoulders. This is what's recommended in the pack insert, but I know some ladies here do something slightly different. I spoke to Dr Annie Evans on Facebook at one time and she usually recommends arms as she believes absorbtion is better there. And of course you'll be wanting to fit in your Tostrim somewhere. ;)
And you're such a sweetheart - thank you for the good luck wishes! :) xxxx
Oh, and P.S. - I DEFINITELY noticed that sleep and skin improvement overall is better with the gel. (Apart from my rash, of course ;))!
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I've just googled Carol Vorderman and what she's using after your post Tempest, she's using estrogel and testosterone gel. She probably went private (and who can blame her) and got the most up-to-date treatment on offer x
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Most probably, Peri! I wonder if she's another Prof. S lady? No wonder he's so busy these days!😉😊😊
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So there you go then, Annie - that'll be you part of the 'A' list! Lol!!!!😉😊😊😊
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Ooh er if it's good enough for Carol Vorderman
Just think, I might even get a butt like her
Just normality will do me (and all of us)
Xx
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Ha ha!!! Yes, normality would be BRILLIANT, wouldn't it?!? I'll settle for that.....xxx
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Thank you Tempest, reassuring to know it's not just me. I took patch off on Christmas Day and though I'm not 'better' my anxiety has gone down enough for me to feel like I can cope. My dad was rushed to hospital on Christmas Day with pneumonia so needless to say it was a stressful time, but surprisingly I coped and didn't freak out. He seems to be responding to antibiotics so fingers crossed. I am going on holiday next Monday to lanzarote for a week so I am going to stay hrt free until I come home and see how I go. My dear hubby is really supportive so I am just hoping I cope on holidays, I have a few Xanax on stand by just in case. I will definitely talk to doc about it because I am not willing to go back on estradot patch. Hope you all have a lovely happy stress free new year
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Yammy, I'm so very sorry to hear about your dear Dad! I hope he makes a speedy and full recovery. And I'm certainly glad that you're feeling better after removing the patch - me too! Whew! It was horrid to say the least.
Im so glad too that you have a lovely supportive Hubby (I keep a few rescue diazepam handy too, just for emergencies). I hope you have a lovely holiday - wishing you all the best for the New Year too!
Hugs,
Tempest xxxx
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Aw Yammy best wishes from too for your dear Dad, hope the meds work and he's back to good health in no time
I envy you going to Lanzarote, we went in October for my 50th and had a great time.
X
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Thank you Tempest and Annie, just being on this site and talking to others who know exactly how you feel really helps, it's mind boggling how severe hormone fluctuations can be and how they can take over your life, my dad is a little better today tg, hopefully he will continue to improve. God bless and once again wishing you a very happy peaceful new year x
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Hi Yammy1
First of all sorry to hear about your Dad and hope he recovers well.
As for the HRT - it is very unlikely to be the Estradot causing anxiety - after all it is just a dose of estradiol slowly going into your bloodstream. - the same estrogen as the gel - but in a slightly different medium. Also you've been on it 4 weeks so it is not going to suddenly make you feel like that.
From what you say - if you were peri-menopausal when you had your hysterectomy and kept your ovaries - then you may well still be peri-menopausal and therefore your own cycle is kicking in and causing the hormonal fluctuations (as with many women during the menopausal transition) - and this is what you are experiencing and reacting to, as well of course, Christmas, upcoming holiday, family stresses etc. Without the regular bleed it is difficult to attribute your feelings to one particular point in your cycle - but personally I would not stop the HRT - depending on why you were given it and where in peri-menopause you were when you started. Of course, the aim is to feel better overall on HRt than off it , but a few days blip here and there are only to be expected - do keep a diary of your moods etc and see if a trend emerges and whether it depends on external events?
I would put that patch back on - well at least half a patch to start with. You don't want to experience a resurgence of symptoms on holiday, nor to have to go through a period of adjustment while your body gets used to it again. I've just looked up what Xanax is - and I would say better the HRT than those!!!
Hope you are feeling better yourself :)
Hurdity x
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thank you Hurdity, but I am already starting to feel better(less anxious) since I took patch off on Christmas day, so I really feel it was causing my anxiety as the last time I tried these patches the same thing happened. who knows maybe they are not the type for me. I will check in with doc when I return from holidays, as for the Xanex i know exactly what they are and only on very rare occasions have I had to take half one just to take the edge off, My doc always gives me two when i'm going on holiday. I really do appreciate your advice though and will bring patches away with me, I think i need to have my bloods checked again and see exactly where i am in this fatastic menopause, I have two sisters who sailed through meno no symptoms at all, ah well just have to ride the storm and hopefully come out the other side sooner rather than later, just back from visiting dad and he looks a lot better so thats something positive xxx