Depression

[Applejack87]

Hi , I haven’t had a period in over a year , I’m not experiencing awful symptoms apart from joint pain & a feeling of depression , I feel so low . I’m trying to get through this without HRT is anyone else getting through it on their own ? Any advice greatly appreciated

Hello ! Big hug for you cos menopause can be awful, you are not alone ! I also had never intended using hrt and thought I could manage everything 'naturally'. I'm reasonably intelligent but genuinely thought that at some point my periods would stop and I'd get hot flushes. No clue about peri. Until that's where I found myself ! Still having periods but was absolutely floored by physical as well as emotional symptoms of anxiety. Put it down to life situation. Eventually went to GP as low mood becoming more severe and was prescribed ADs. Before I got the prescription fulfilled I did a bit more research and came across Dr Louise Newsom www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/ and I can't recommend her research / website / podcast highly enough - just so much incredibly useful information. Started HRT instead of ADs and anxiety symptoms gone after a week. My body is no longer producing as much estrogen as it used to and I need to top that up. Every cell in my body has estrogen receptors, so obviously I will experience potentially a wide variety of symptoms as my estrogen levels decrease, so I need to top them up. If I was diabetic I wouldn't hesitate to use the hormone replacement therapy which is insulin. I do believe that by replacing the estrogen which I'm lacking, I am reducing my risk of heart disease (which could otherwise be much higher if I was drinking more alcohol, exercising less and eating unhealthily because of low mood and lack of energy caused by lowered estrogen levels !) and similarly osteoporosis. Meg Matthews' website also v v useful - megsmenopause. HTH. Good Luck !

If you had a migraine headache or a terrible sore throat but you try to get through it with no help?

If you can use HRT ( and almost all women can) why not try it?
There is no point suffering possibly for 10 or 20 years feeling like you do.

What are your issues with HRT?

It protects your bones, heart and brain, and as PP says every organ in your body.

Why wait?