Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Menopause

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

HRT and Antidepressants?

15 replies

amosandco · 09/04/2023 11:55

I've got an appointment re. possible HRT in the next couple of weeks. I am perimenopausal and likely entering menopause soon. Underlying anxiety condition anyway and now things feel 10 times worse - low mood/anxiety/poor sleep as well as a few physical symptoms.

I feel in such a mess - I've been trying to work on my anxiety issues via therapy which are complex and now it feels that hormonal issues have made everything feel worse. I have also taken HRT (patches) for a brief time in the past which seemed to cause more issues too like persistent bleeding.

I spoke to GP recently who prescribed escitalopram for low mood. I tried to go on these and had severe anxiety (apparently likely in the early days of taking them). Struggled to eat etc. Stopped but have been advised to re-take.

Not sure where to go from here in terms of starting anti-d and HRT at a similar time. My thoughts are to try HRT first and then the antidepressant medication thereafter as I am concerned about determining which side effects belong to which medication. Anyone taking both? How did you go about taking them - one at a time?

OP posts:
JinglingSpringbells · 09/04/2023 12:49

NICE guidance is HRT first for low mood and anxiety. Not ADs.
Give it 3 months and try different types or doses if it isn't working.
You might get on better with other sorts than patches if they gave you erratic bleeds. If you still have periods, (which you do) you should be on a sequential (cycle) of HRT not continuous which does give bleeding off and on for 6 months.

OhVicIveFallen · 09/04/2023 12:54

I've been on hrt patches (100mg estrogen) and utrogestan for over 2 years now. My depression and anxiety and inability to sleep has been getting worse for the last few months so I'm going to ask my gp for anti depressants/anti anxiety medication next week.

I don't think I can safely up the amount of estrogen anymore and tbh I don't want to. I do think that hrt helps up to a point but I also have to admit that I might need extra help.

Tidsleytiddy · 11/04/2023 11:52

I take 20mg citalopram a day for anxiety and low mood. They do make you feel worse at first but if you can push through that then they really can transform layout life. I don’t snap at trivial stuff anymore and am far calmer x

vivainsomnia · 11/04/2023 16:24

I spoke to GP recently who prescribed escitalopram for low mood. I tried to go on these and had severe anxiety (apparently likely in the early days of taking them)
The exact same thing happened to me with escitalopram. The anxiety/panic attacks were too intolerable and I stopped after a few days.

I tried 5 different regimes of HRT and none helped, they actually made me feel worse. In the end, after 5 years, I tried a different antidepressant that I was in for a short time 25 years earlier.

The first few weeks were hard, but the side effects were more tolerable. I started to feel the first benefits after 6 weeks, and it then gradually got better although I had to increase the dose at what point. I was back to my normal self after 6 months.

I hadn't realised how anxiety ruled my life until then, how I had become a shell of who I used to be. I've been in it over a year and it changed my life. My only regret was to listen to everyone telling me to keep giving HRT a go and avoid antidepressants. I wanted 4 years of my life and was lucky not to end up jobless after a very well paid job because of the menopause.

Original poster
amosandco · 11/04/2023 21:41

vivainsomnia Which antidepressants did you take in the end? I'm glad they worked for you.

OP posts:
Purplecatshopaholic · 11/04/2023 21:44

I am on Sertraline for anxiety, and HRT. Developed anxiety due to meno so took the Sertraline first, started on HRT a couple of years later. Still on both - much better.

Original poster
amosandco · 11/04/2023 21:53

purplecats Did taking both anti-d's and HRT help you? I guess what I'm asking is that you felt you needed both and that later, taking HRT made a difference again on top of the anti-d's. I did try setraline in the past but they made me feel nauseous.

OP posts:
WeekendInTheBoondocks · 11/04/2023 22:04

I’m on sertraline and HRT. HRT isn’t enough for my anxiety, doesn’t touch the sides but I take HRT to help me sleep / hot flushes but also to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease. No issues at all. sertraline keeps me on the straight and narrow and quietens the dark thoughts…

WeekendInTheBoondocks · 11/04/2023 22:07

I feel dreadful if I take the full dose of sertraline at first. I take it in very tiny increments and build up. So if the GP prescribes the starter dose of 50ml, just take c 12.5ml for a few days and work up slowly. I’m on 75mls now. I do the same when coming off them (I came off a while back to have IVF treatment and went back on when my baby was born).

Twoshoesnewshoes · 11/04/2023 22:12

I have been on citalopram for about 18 months for anxiety, I requested escitalopram first as I read it had less side effects.
it was horrendous, felt like a four day long panic attack.
I then tried citalopram, great, sorts 75% of my anxiety and no side effects.
im trying the HRT for tiredness, not noticing much difference and I think it’s upped my anxiety too, so I might come off it soon.

Purplecatshopaholic · 11/04/2023 22:56

@amosandco taking both defo helps me. HRT doesn’t help the anxiety and Sertraline has made a huge difference. HRT is starting to help the more physical symptoms so the two together are really helping me.

crystalize · 11/04/2023 23:14

I started Fluoxetine a few years ago which was fantastic. After a year or so started hrt oestrogel and utrogestan, then added testogel 6 months later. I reduced fluoxetine to every other day then stopped once starting Testogel with no side effects whatsoever. It seemed the hrt was def improving my health.

Now almost a year off fluoxetine, looking back I def felt much better whilst taking it together with the hrt. Not only did it stop the negative thinking/dark thoughts but it also helped with the aches and pains.

Think I'm going to ask GP for low dose Fluoxetine again.

vivainsomnia · 12/04/2023 10:14

Which antidepressants did you take in the end? I'm glad they worked for you
Fluoxetine for me too!

JinglingSpringbells · 12/04/2023 11:06

I appreciate that some women need both BUT there is a strong drive at the moment to reduce the use of ADs across all the population. NICE guidance is that to use them there has to be a firm diagnosis of depression.

The advice now is to offer CBT and talking therapy for anxiety and for women who only start low mood and anxiety as a result of low estrogen, the advice is very much get the HRT dose correct.

The mental health charity MIND has produced evidence that exercise helps low mood and low-moderate depression as much as ADs.

There is also a placebo effect of around 40%, (where people respond even if taking dummy pills.)

It's going to get increasingly harder to ask for ADs and be prescribed them, so it's worth trying lifestyle changes and other types of treatment if you have low mood. https://futurecarecapital.org.uk/latest/reducing-antidepressants-through-social-prescribing/#:~:text=NHS%20plans%20to%20reduce%20antidepressant%20use%20through%20social%20prescribing,-The%20NHS%2

New posts on this thread. Refresh page