HRT and anxiety

[Umbongo1]

Has anyone found that HRT helps their anxiety?

I've been prescribed it by menopause doctor and I'm already on AD's but getting excruciating anxiety (like I can't eat or thing straight). It comes out of nowhere.

I've had the HRT sitting here for months now but I'm too scared to try it - I guess in case it doesn't work and I'm left just being a mental wreck.

My periods have now become regular again (albeit usually 7-8 days long) having been every 2-3 weeks for a while. I'm 45.

Help?

[quote Cosmos45]@MexicanBlanketMoment - went privately. It is so easy to arrange a consultation with a private menopause specialist. I was getting my HRT through the GP but I wanted to make sure I was getting the best for me. If you google Dr Louise Newson she is a hormone expert and there are plenty of clinicians practicing. I make an appointment with clinic local to me. This was in lockdown and they did a zoom consult and then sent me 6mths worth of prescriptions. If you make a booking now this could be sorted in a matter of weeks. The initial consultation was £250 from memory then I paid for the prescription on top. Again from memory that was £106 for 6 mths worth. Follow up appts are £85.[/quote]
That's great to know thank you so much!

@MexicanBlanketMoment roughly where about are you located?

Did you also find that you felt ok mentally when pregnant? I got pregnant at 42 and felt awesome mentally, then suffered awful PND.

Dr John Studd has written about this exact thing! From memory - but we already know mine is crap 😂 - it’s a progesterone intolerance.

Dr John Studd has written about this exact thing! From memory - but we already know mine is crap 😂 - it’s a progesterone intolerance.

Interesting! I was given progesterone pessaries for the first 4 month of my last pregnancy with dc2 as I had 2 MC before that (between dc1 and dc2). I've never heard of progesterone intolerance and will look it up.

Roughly where about are you located? I'm in London, so could easily get to Harley street.

@MexicanBlanketMoment - excellent. I hope you manage to book an appointment and get it sorted soon. Good luck

I've used 1 pump a day but no change other than a headache and possibly even more panicky!

One pump isn't very much. I think the usual starting dose is two pumps.

What we’re you told to use @Umbongo1? Did your GP give you any instructions? I agree 1 pump isn’t very much, I can’t think who I was listening to on a podcast but they were using 5 pumps, I’m not advocating you do that obviously, but it gives you an idea of dosage proportions.

Yes I was told to start with 2 but worried in case of side effects ....

If you're going to do you need to do it properly. Two doses to start with.

@oneglassandpuzzled

I know you're right, I'm such a wimp 🙄🙄

To put your mind at rest a little, my Doctor did say that it takes 12 hours for estrogen to leave your system after a missed dose, so if you don’t get on with it, within a day of no gel, it will be gone.

@Rina66 thank you, you're very kind.

I can't carry on the way I am, and AD's don't seem to work for me so I've got to give this a go.

@Umbongo1 AD’s won’t work for you if you’re not clinically depressed. Please give the estrogen a good trial, 2 months at least, your own hormones are fluctuating in peri menopause, so even with the estrogen you’ll have good days and bad days, but hopefully the good will far outweigh the bad. So many of us are going through/have been through exactly what you’re feeling, there really is hope, don’t give up, if this doesn’t work, there are other doses, brands and delivery systems to try.

Wow everyone on here seems to have had super quick results.

I'm on day 2 of 2 pumps (plus 2 days of 1 pump) and I'm as anxious and panicked as ever.

I'm so frustrated.

I think it took me a good three weeks to really start feeling better. Sleep improved within a few nights and most of the night sweats. But the mood took a bit longer. I did have to boost up to three pumps later on because the night sweats started threatening me again.

I just can't believe how lousy this is making me feel.

Can this really just be hormones?

Stick with it @Umbongo1!
I’m wondering whether your estrogen levels are totally rock bottom, you said you’d had the gel for some time and was afraid to use it, so you’ve been feeling like this for a while.
Everyone is different, so don’t give up, it may be taking longer to absorb in to your blood stream too. Keep a daily record of your other symptoms too, you may see some improvement in those which will give you hope.

@Rina66

Thank you for responding.

I've been getting anxiety for about 5 years, it came out of the blue when I was about 40. Gp only ever prescribed antidepressants it has never been considered that there may be a hormonal element until i spoke to the menopause specialist in January.

I've had times when I've been absolutely fine but I've also been on and off the combined pill.

I guess I'm just terrified that this is life for me from now on.

I'm sleeping ok but waking up exhausted and I've been getting night sweats too (though theee I understand can also be a side effect of the antidepressants).

So fed up! Sorry for the rant.

@Rina66

I'm still getting periods so presume I must still have some estrogen going around, although periods have definitely changed in the last 12 months.

@Umbongo1 your estrogen levels will be fluctuating if you’re still having periods which will explain your symptoms being inconsistent. Do you feel worse? I know exactly how you feel, it’s just horrible, you want the old happy you back, it’s like an invasion of the body snatchers. Did you watch the Dr Louise Newsom you tube video? It’s an hour long but so informative, it’s well worth investing the time.

I am 4 weeks in with my HRT and definitely feel that my anxiety is easing. Like lots of other posters I had never had anxiety before so it has been really hard to deal with and I spent a few years wondering what was going on in my head!

I have health anxiety mainly so every ache or twinge I get i am convinced it is terminal and spend hours googling symptoms or ruminating on how I feel but in the last week or so I haven’t been doing that anyway near as much as I was.

I am on 1 pump of gel and utrogestan tablets on days 1-12 of every month. I was also really worried about side effects so the meds sat on my shelf for 2 months before I started.

Thanks @HelloDaisy

Did it take a while to work on your anxiety?

I'm a week in on 2 pumps and no change whatsoever.

I think it was at least a fortnight before I noticed any improvement at all. Then I started the utrogestan and had side effects which worried me but they settled in a couple of days.

It has been in the last few days that I’ve really started to notice that I feel better and that’s 4 weeks in. Trouble is we need to give it time to work and that’s hard to do when you are anxious!

You're so right, it's awful feeling this horrid and we're all desperate to feel normal again.

I'm not looking forward to the utragestin but as it seems it's that which most people have a problem with.