Alternative Medication to HRT - Depression and Anxiety.

[Daphnesmate01]

Anyone take anything as an alternative to hrt for depression and anxiety and insomnia in relation to perimeno? I have beta blockers which are great, amitriptyline to sleep...now for low mood? I have tried HRT for a short while but it does not seem to agree with me (I ended up with very heavy periods) and currently having a cyst examined, though not thought to be sinister. I have never had a good reaction to any type of hormonal pill.
Anyone?

The problem is Jingling. It is not clear cut in my case whether depression is hormonal or situational in my circumstances. I suspect a bit of both. Taking oestrogen might not be the answer because I am experiencing heavy periods (less clots this month). This only started after I used hrt patches for a few weeks. I am waiting to see if my periods ease again, I don't know how long it takes for hrt to get out of my system. Therefore, I am thinking sertraline is the way to go.

If you only took hrt for a few weeks, it will be out of your system in the same amount of time, or less. It takes weeks to build up ( medical advice is trial any hrt for 12 weeks minimum to see any results) so it's likely to have gone now from your system.

I'm surprised to see they suggest CBT for low mood, I was under the impression that CBT was to help reframe our responses to things where those responses were based on past experiences and were causing issues. Anxiety, yes, low mood less so.

VanGoghs. Agree.
Plus it's not clear in my case what is causing the depression, I'm suspecting it might be situational with a bit of peri. thrown in. I am planning to do a course of cbt too - just not yet.

That's not exactly true about CBT @VanGoghsDog and @Daphnesmate01.

There is a classic CBT manual (I have it) for use yourself or by practitioners, called 'Mind over Mood' and the strapline on the cover is 'Change how you feel by Changing the way you think.'

The chapters include, anxiety, mood, depression, anger, guilt, etc.

CBT doesn't simply work with past experiences, it can work for phobias, fears , and overall moods.

The guidance for GPs is that they ought to offer CBT first, rather than drugs because drugs for mild depression hardly work any better than a placebo, in trials.

I hated CBT anyway. Felt futile and simplistic to me.

My friend has just been turned down for it by her GP on the basis her depression is not caused by historic issues.

That doesn't sound anything like CBT @VanGoghsDog. It does sound more like psychotherapy. CBT is based in the present and re-framing your mindset to overcome barriers and negative thinking.
Maybe the practitioner wasn't that good; NHS training for CBT is very short.

My CBT was an online thing. It was just really stupid and annoying. Kept telling me to drink water, eat properly and get enough sleep. It was an NHS thing called Silver Cloud.