Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Penelope on December 18, 2019, 12:11:14 AM
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Can anyone tell me that has taken HRT did your anxiety go?How long did it take?Has it ever come back?
Thanks in advance.💖
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Hi Penelope - yes the crazies have gone, and believe me I was certifiable. I had it so bad that at one point I was literally leaving the house in the middle of the night and running away and daytime was one long panic attack from when I opened my eyes to falling asleep (that was if I feel asleep - was getting about 2 or 3 hours a night!) but it took a long time, about 6 months for me before I got into any form of rhythm and they subsided completely. I do get panicky when I am under stress but it only lasts for the stressful event and is no where near the scale of a panic attack. I am 57 and been on gel and utrogestan for 15 months and testosterone for 10 months. On a scale of 1- 10 I was at a 12 now it never gets more than a 3. xx
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OMG Ladybt28 Thank you thank you so much for you're post.I would be ecstatic for this HRT to do that for me.What a wonderful outcome for you.You must love life again?💖
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It took 3 months for me. Still on HRT and it hasn't returned.
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I wouldn't go so far as to say "love life again", I don't think any of us ever go back to how we were or to that really but I do know that things are better and better than they have been for a long while. I just wrote in another post, the word "better" is really relative to how bad you have been and for how long! I have had underlying depression all my life and I still get episodes, especially now in winter, but now I know they will pass, they are more manageable in my head.
What hrt can do for any of us varies so very much and the type of hrt you are taking makes a difference. What works for one will not work for another and it can take a long time to get to the right one for you especially when you bear in mind that you should try each one for a minimum of 3 months and sometimes longer if you are getting relief of some symptoms and not others but it appears to be getting better you just need to press on to ensure you don't give up to quickly. Its a very hard thing to balance but hopefully as we go through the journey we learn stuff and learn to read our own bodies better. There is so much information and support on this forum, you just need to trust your own instincts about what is happening with you however daft it might sound on paper. It's easier to put it down here on the forum because no one judges, one or other of us have been there. Some health professionals just don't get it and slap us down when we tell them what we think. That never happens here, so keep posting and let us know how you are getting on.
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That is a really helpful and sensible reply that will give lots of comfort - thank you xxx
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Hello ladies
I've often wondered if some of our horrible symptoms have a shelf life and burn themselves out over time or have to be extinguished by HRT.
I ask this because my daily headache phase lasted six months but never recurred so when I began to experience the jittery, anxious sensations I assumed they would resolve after six months as well. Unfortunately when they continued I began to worry that they would never go so I asked for help and was prescribed HRT. I think if someone could have reassured me that this phase was almost over I would have stuck it out for a bit longer. It's a bit like the date of your last period in that you can only know it in retrospect.
I think if women could be confident that everything was self limiting we might be able to arrange our lives to accommodate the changes, just as we do when we are pregnant for example.
HRT is of course the appropriate treatment but the mantra 'this too shall pass' can help as well.
Wishing you all well.
K.
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It took 3 months for me. Still on HRT and it hasn't returned.
Wonderful thanks for replying.We all need good news stories and positive feedback.
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oh Shelia I hang off every word you wrote.Can you say how long it took for your anxiety to lift?
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Ladybt28 are you taking your utrogestan an orally or vaginally?
Anxiety was my worst menopause issue, along with panic attacks and paranoia
I've been on mirena coil and oestrogel for 4 years and my anxiety has been so much better!
Since December, when I went to have coil changed, gynae suggested I try utrogestan before I have coil changed to see how I tolerate it, I'm on a conti regime.
Just finished first pack of 30 orally, and anxiety is back, along with brain fog, low mood, and mood swings.....I tried vaginally for the last two nights and feel less foggy, but VA externally sore today.
Seeing gynae on Tuesday, I think I'll ask for another coil, I'm 55 and hope that by the time I need it changing again, there may be other options available
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I use it vaginally Ljp. I know there are issues with taking it orally as it goes through the stomach and is processed by the liver. I have no issues using vaginally except for the first couple of months when I started it caused cramps but they passed. I don't have any vaginal atrophy or issues down there. I do know there are some ladies where Utro can cause soreness or they find it difficult to use with any vaginal atrophy topical oestrogen. It's your choice depending of your circumstances.
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I use it vaginally Ljp. I know there are issues with taking it orally as it goes through the stomach and is processed by the liver. I have no issues using vaginally except for the first couple of months when I started it caused cramps but they passed. I don't have any vaginal atrophy or issues down there. I do know there are some ladies where Utro can cause soreness or they find it difficult to use with any vaginal atrophy topical oestrogen. It's your choice depending of your circumstances.
Thank you I've used it vaginally for the past 4 nights and feeling much better in my head, and VA seems no worse than usual....just wait to see if gynae is in agreement tomorrow 🤷♀️
Do you use it every day?
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No Ljp, I'm not on a continuous regime. I am 58 and by normal conventions the prescription should be continuous to balance the oestrogen and have no bleed but I found out a few years ago that I cannot take utro or any progestone continuously so I run a cycle of 12 days and have a bleed of 4 days. If I take it continuously it really really messes with my head so I don't do it! The cycle works fine for me taken vaginally although I still have "periods" so to speak due to the progesterone withdrawal after the course of 12 days but it is a small price to pay for having my head work properly!!
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I had my first panic attack and anxiety start 26 years ago the week after my last child was born.
I have had a living hell with it.I was dished out antidepressants for 26 years that did nothing I would take a clonazepam once a week to have a fabulous normal day.
60 days on HRT has now taken care of it.
I'm happy but also bloody angry that My life has been hell because of hormones that the doctors new about.
However never ever did they order the blood tests.Looking deeper into my symptoms would have showed them I had a thyroid condition.Bingo 'that's why I was so ill thyroid is responsible for hormones in balance.
Heart palpitations
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Psychotic episodes
And now reading on here a lot of women get this at menopause.
If you have had this before menopause started please take yourself to the doctor and ask for
TSH and Free T3 and free T4 and a thyroid antibodies tests.Plus vitamin D levels.
Along with many many other symptoms.You too could have been suffering as many years as I have.
I used to beat myself up because I did all the CBT courses and the good eating gave up smoking stoped coffee exercise and it never went away.ect ect......
OF COURSE it didn't it's not me it's switched on and off by my hormones!
Totally out of my control.
Thank God for HRT!!!!! 🌹
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:) :) :) I'm so glad it's helped you. Awful that you weren't diagnosed for so long though.
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Dear God Penelope - I could have written that post! Been there, done that and got all the T shirts! I was suffering and for many, many years. Try not to dwell to much on those 26 years P, just thank the lord that there was a solution and now you can have a life! In the beginning I was really mad about it all and I suppose I still am (just look at this post but I try not to dwek or let it out...cost posts like this are what happens ;)) about the wasted years for something so simple but it's not helpful. All I wish now is I could think of some kind of action plan or education or impetus to ensure that no one else EVER has to go through what I (and indeed you and plenty of others) have had to go through.
So much wasted time, destroyed jobs, marriages and lives in general - its heartbreaking if you truly analyse it.
Surely it doesn't take much for a medical mind to work out thing like....problems with bad PMT = hormones! ?. Problems with postnatal depression or postnatal psychosis = hormones! ... Psych and other problems in meno = hormones and then if you coupled the patient history of someone who came to you not knowing it was peri/meno but they talked about bad PMT and postnatal depression and then said they felt unwell and they were between 45 and 55 - I cannot for the life of me fathom how the idiots cannot make the link to HORMONES!! and do something about it. They pfaff about going well "I don't know" and then send us for endless tests (ok in your case the thyroid one was important, but there were more pieces to the jigsaw) and cbt like you say Penelope when it's as plain as the nose on your face that HORMONES might be a good thing to consider somewhere in the picture???? I'd like to be a one women evangelist to sort this once and for but I haven't a clue what could ne done about it. I thought this 30 years ago and they laughed at me...its not any better now, it still happening :'( :'(
Sorry People ... I am having a bit of a rant this evening! on my behalf and other peoples, but....well it's all just exasperating and tragic at the same time.
I am jumping for joy (as well as ranting ha ha!) on your behalf Penelope :clapping: :bouncing: and long may your "wellness" continue because I know just how you feel which is elated that FINALLY, it's better!!!
xxxx
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Thank you LadyBT
I have been in mourning over it all.And angry and happy.
The doctors know.But I'm sure they get island holidays for giving out antidepressants.I know they do in New Zealand.
I was reading an article on line saying.
ALL women presenting at a doctor with these mental health issues should be first and foremost put on Hormone replacement before any other medication.I Agree totally.
My biggest gripe is how the medical profession made me feel year in year out that I was a hypochondriac and it was all in my head.
I WAS NOT!!
I just Hope that every women on this sight reads this thread!🌹
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They just look at is like we landed from another planet. You mentioned to me that I might have had thyroid issues and I have to say I had one GP - the only one ever mind, that thought out of the box a little and he prescribed a low dose of thyroxine although my test results were normal because I talked to him about T3 tests but, what wasn't discussed was that you need to treat T3 problems with something other than thyroxine which isn't available on the NHS or something like that (it was a long time ago!) so of course it didn't work. But as I say he was the only one to take me seriously when I started a sentence with "do you think it could be... or what if"?
We are not hypochondriacs yet my medical records since the age of 13 when my periods started would suggest otherwise. xx
but I am open to suggestions about what anyone thinks would be needed to change doctors thinking? x
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This really saddens me, that so many people are either mis-diagnosed or go un-diagnosed. I truly hope that HRT works well for you Penelope, so you can get on and enjoy life.
LadyBT it is really shocking how so many doctors are unaware of the menopause and particularly the peri phase, a friend of mine has started a support group to raise awareness and has already been on local news beating the drum!! Ladies from all over being turned away from their doctors with various symptoms in their 30s and 40s that "you aren't old enough" "it can't possibly be menopause" etc, yet they are happy to dish out AD's like sweets. I got offered them myself because I cried in the doctors room telling her how miserable I was. Yes, fed up being not listened to, and I even changed GP surgery because of it.
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Hi Mogster71
Congratulations to your friend trying to make a difference in the suffering of women.
All over the world women feel they have come so far with equality in the work place and many other areas of our lives.
But health wise we are still back in the dark ages practically told to shut up and put up.
If men were to ever feel this way a pill would have been invented along time ago.
Come on WOMEN let's start standing up and speaking up!!!
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:clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
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Penelope
We?re you put on Levothyroxine?
Just wondering
SQ
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Shopping queen no I was not put on Levothyroxine and I'm glad because so many report it does not work.
I did have Synthroid about 10 years ago and that was wonderfull still it stopped working.
I am now on nothing but HRT Kliovance
I have Hashimoto's and I swing high to low constantly with my thyroid the symptoms are just awe full so I am very happy to have my hormones finally being settled.
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Penelope
That's good news! I'm
Assuming you didn't develop hypothyroidism then and you are still up and down on TSH and T4.
Glad you are getting on with the HRT! Fingers crossed 🤞 x
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Hi Penelope - I am so pleased to hear that you are happy and settled on HRT and that it is working for you to get rid of lifelong anxiety caused by hormonal problems.
Like LadyBT says - many women suffer throughout their reproductive life with pms, PND and extreme versions of this which of course are due to our reproductive hormones (but noit necessarily thyroid??)! Have you read the work of John Studd who was a pioneer in the field of reproductive depression? Some women never achieve high enough levels of oestrogen during their reproductive years, to feel well, and many women suffer from the decline in oestrogen which happens each month during the second half of the cycle just after ovulation and again just before the period.
Symptoms which begin soon after giving birth are classic low oestrogen symptoms and had you (or your docs!) known about Studd's work you could have been treated with oestrogen then - or perhaps the contraceptive pill which also replace oestrogen.
Do have a look at his work here: https://www.studd.co.uk/reproductivedepression.php There are lots of articles following the tabs on left and right. This is what women should be treated for with reproductive hormones way before hRT - if they suffer these sorts of symptoms. It has been reported several times on here.
However not sure about the widespread link with thyroid - although our endocrine hormones are of course in delicate balance and work together to achieve homeostasis - women who demonstrate symptoms of thyroid deficiency would normally be tested for this and doesn't necessarily mean they need HRT? (However I'm not an expert on thyroid function etc!). I totally agree that anyone with symptoms (of thyroid deficiency or excess) at whatever stage in their life should be tested properly - as you say - TSH, T4, T3 and if necessary antibodies - although I think Hashimoto's tends to become apparent later in life? There are quite a few women on here who have been successfully treated with thyroid hormone but have only needed HRT since menopause and I imagine this will be the case for the majority of women.
What we do need as you and LadyBT says is more enlightenment from the medical profession - both in the feild of reproductive hormones and thyroid function.
Anyway - I do hope you continue to see an improvemnt and feel well for many years to come :)
Hurdity x
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Hi Hurdity My blood tests show back 26 years ago I had postpartum thyroiditis and Hashimoto's.
My last baby was born deformed as a direct result of having Hashimoto's.
And that is when all the symptoms started for me and the doctors ignored all my test results and didn't give me the appropriate tests that would have shown this up and may have saved my child from a life of staring and bullying.
So I'm hoping it's onwards and upward now.
It is a bit late when doctors start apologising now!
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/postpartum-thyroiditis/symptoms-causes/syc-20376675
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Hi Penelope - I am so sorry to hear about your child being affected by this uncommon conditon ( I must say I hadn't heard of it). Also thanks for the link which explains the condition well. Did you say you had a course of levothyroxine at the time or did it resolve? - I read the treatment section in the link you gave which says that the condition sometimes resolves within 12-18 months but can sometimes develop into Hashimoto's (autoimmune) and needs annual monitoring and if necessarey treatment. It sounds like you possibly should have been given Levothyroxine (or this with T3) for some years, in order to be well? Now you have menopausal symptoms into the mix it must be difficult.
It is absolutely shocking that you didn't have the monitoring and treatment you should have had, once your blood tests (as well as symptoms) showed you had the condition. No wonder you are angry.
I hope you are now having regular thyroid function tests - the whole panel - and if any of these are abnormal or you have symptoms of underactive thryoid - then that you are able to take the appropriate thyroid hormone in addition to HRT.
All the best
Hurdity x
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LadyBT28
would you mind telling me your testosterone type and regime. sorry if you've answered this already! do you think testosterone made a big difference or did you feel that the oestrogel had the biggest effect? or is it difficult to pin it down!
and yes agree it's all incredibly shitty- years of it! can't wait to feel normal
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Hi Vintagefiend...I am on Tostran 2% gel the pump type. I was given it 7 months after I started my gel and utrogestan so there was plenty of time for those two to settle and do what they were going to do. I was prescribed 1 pump 3 times a week. Because of the time lapse in starting, it was obvious that the testosterone made all the difference. For me (and its not always the case) the first thing I noticed quite quickly was my brain and thoughts were sharper. Instead of feeling foggy, I could actually get hold of them and act upon them. The second thing that came was sensation in the bedroom department which had left my brain and my body completely before. The gel did nothing to help that on its own. Actually thinking about sex and seeking it came about 5 months in.
I did go through a period where I dropped my testosterone to twice a week and my gel to 3 pumps. I don't know what possessed me to do that. I think I bought into the idea...well if I'm ok surely the levels must be up by now maybe I don't need so much! Well wrong....things started to slip and I wasn't as well as I had been so I have put them both back up and now I remember what that felt like. I won't be tampering again. xx Ask away vintagefiend I am happy to answer whatever you want to know :)
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Thanks so much, Ladybt28
That is all very helpful :)
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Gosh LadyBT I think once I finally get to ten months on this stuff I will never reduce or go off them ever!
Or maybe I need to move to Sweden they believe we should stay on HRT into our 80s and I'm with them on that.
I never ever want to go back to living my life how I used to!
https://gldmd.com/blog/hormone-therapy-estrogen-for-patients-in-their-80s/
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Thanks Sheila hopefully fingers crossed I can now at least have 30 good years ahead of me.🌹