Anyone had success with HRT for perimenopausal depression?

[brownstag]

I'm 44 and waiting for an appointment with Professor John Studd in June. I suffered severe postnatal illness 6 years ago with insomnia, anxiety and depression and now that I'm in perimenopause these symptoms have returned. At the time of my original illness, I was (eventually) diagnosed as having a mixed episode of bipolar disorder, and was treated with high-dose antipsychotics, which I continued to take at a low dose until recently, when I gave them up. That was when the symptoms returned. I never believed I was bipolar, but happy to take any medication that I thought would help.
I have now been on HRT from my GP for ten days or so (3 measures of Oestrogel daily, Utrogestan days 15-26)), but I don't know whether this is what Dr Studd would recommend.
Anyone had a similar experience?

Yes that his regime and I am on it. It is fabulous. Stick with it . It may be 3 months before you an improvement.

Also you may need to increase the Oestrogel to 4 pumps a day like I did.

Thanks very much for your reply Fairbalance. I did wonder if I needed more oestrogen. What were your symptoms and did you have any 'conventional' treatment before you saw him?
I've read on his website that he thinks many women are progesterone intolerant. I don't think that's the case for me as I've never had PMT and I was fine when I've used cyclogest while trying to conceive in the past. It's just low oestrogen that my brain doesn't seem to like!
I used to take DHEA too when trying to conceive and that increases oestrogen and testosterone. I felt like superwoman when I took it and I'm wondering whether to restart it again or whether that will confuse matters while on HRT.

Prof Studd is a bit of a one trick pony in some senses.
He does a lot of good, but I see someone who is equally as good (Harley St) but has a much more holistic approach - not just HRT.
I am on the same HRT as you but reduced Utrogestan- long cycle of 7-8 weeks. But I am not depressed and this is purely for meno symptoms.

I did not see Prof Studd but my GP started me on his regime. I absolutely love it. I am progesterone intolerant so Ultrogestan is excellent for me plus it is suppose to be the safest progesterone. So on that basis alone I would not take anything else. My advice is stick with it for a good 3-6 months. Everyone usually says 3 but I would give it 6 months and if necessary increase the Oestrogel. It takes a while to start working in my experience. I feel fabulous on it.

Thanks Pinkfrocks and Fairbalance. What I'd give to feel 'normal', let alone fabulous.
I've been vegan for 25 years and the Utrogestan comes in gelatine capsules, so I was hoping I'd be able to use Cyclogest instead. I haven't got to that point in my cycle yet. (I daren't even think about where the oestrogen in Oestrogel comes from ...)

You can use Utrogestan vaginally- in the same way you did with cyclogest.

The oestrogen in bio identical HRT ( such as gel) is made from plants. Not mares urine.

Oh good, thanks. That makes me feel better. About the mare's urine.
Do you mean the actual self-same capsules can be used vaginally? Or a different form of Utrogestan?

Exactly the same capsule. It's not actually licensed in the UK for vaginal use as HRT ( though a consultant can ok this) but some women just use it that way in any case ( and don't tell anyone!)

Thanks pinkfrocks. It's day 15 today so time to start.

You will find out a lot more about Utrogestan on the Menopause Matters forum. There are many women there using Utrogestan vaginally - search for the topic on the forum.
Some are doing so with their dr's knowledge, others are doing it anyway. In some countries - eg France- vaginal use is more normal. And before anyone says I am encouraging you - or anyone- to use a product in a way that it's not intended for, what I am doing is saying what many women already DO. I am not promoting this or 'advising' you to do it. I was told by a consultant that I could use it either way. Many GPs are not au fait with this method, so it's up to you to decide what you want to do.

I'll try both, I think. I see Professor Studd in June so I can ask him what he thinks. I'd prefer Cyclogest as it's in vegetable fat but can't find any evidence of it being used as HRT. That comes in 400mg suppositories, which presumably means it's not that well-absorbed. From experience most of it 'falls out' anyway!

Mmm, I've finished the progesterone part of HRT now and back to just oestrogen. I found I slept brilliantly on the progesterone and worse now.
I have a couple of questions:
a) My bleed actually started while I was taking taking progesterone rather than after - is that normal or do you think my oestrogen is too high?
b) can you take the progesterone continuously or almost so? I felt better on it.

Hi All...

Any experience symptoms getting worse on the Studd regime ? I am currently on 2 pumps Estrogel and 5 mg testim gel... no progesterone as i have no uterus due to an hysterectomy.
Been on the regime... but getting worse at the moment ... have bad bouts of mood swing and depression, let alone the flushes , dizzy head, fog etc

Anyone else who had an experience where it go worse or do i need to hang in for the 3 months ?

Y x

Hi Yvetter65 - have your symptoms improved now? interested to know, as I feel worse on this regime than previously and wondered if you stayed on it for 3 months etc, to see if it improved...would be interested to hear your news.

@pinkfrocks may I ask who you see in Harley Street?