What vitamins/supplements?

[Lovemusic82]

I am 42, peri and unable to take HRT. I’m really struggling with anxiety and mood swings, ten times worse when I get my period. GP has given me beta blockers as I don’t want to take antidepressants due to side effects.

What vitamins or natural medicines can I try?

I read that I should be taking vit B 12? And magnesium?

I take both magnesium, vitamin D, a general menopause supplement and omega 3. The magnesium has made a massive difference

I take these

https://drvegan.com/products/menofriend?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2KitBhCIARIsAPPMEhIgYzIEE1aUhjW9-QpFReDJLw2T-dIqu5jjkMeRX7JMmx3HwxjnDqIaAqqqEALw_wcB

Also I know you said you didn’t want to take antidepressants but I’ve been on citalopram for many years for anxiety and they have basically saved my life. X

@Lovemusic82 has your GP or a specialist told you that you can't take HRT?

Can they not offer you anything else apart from what you don't want?
There are some specialists who are really clued up on supplements and other treatments.

Also, young women like you are sometimes prescribed the contraceptive pill rather than HRT.

Would you be allowed to take that?

Menopace ended my anxiety. Easy to get hold of anywhere.

Magnesium at night helps you sleep.

Big high. It's weird isn't it? Suddenly being anxious.

I also cut out a meal a day, easy 500 cals to cut out.

I'm 49 now and 6 months no bleed. Itll be soon as I'm emotional and have a massive spot.

X

Hug!!

I tried HRT, I was hoping it would really help but it made me almost psychotic and extremely anxious, I tried hard to keep going with it but felt I couldn’t care for my disabled dd. I was on gel and tablets (low dose). Since coming off I am still anxious but not as bad as when I was on the HRT.

I have been in and off the pill all my life but they started to make me bleed a lot and gave me migraines. I am waiting for a hysterectomy but they want to leave my ovaries in so I can go through menopause naturally.

The PMT gets worse each month to the point I dread getting my period, I know I’m not a nice person to be around, I am horrible to people and have little control over it. The lack of sleep doesn’t help.

GP has prescribed me beta blockers for the anxiety which I started yesterday.

I have just started menopace, I read the reviews and thought it’s worth a try.

Yes, I’ve been getting more spots on my face than I ever got as a teenager. I can tell when I’m going to get a period even though they are not always regular. Sometimes they are a couple weeks apart and other times 2 months apart.

@Lovemusic82 which beta blockers did your GP prescribe please?
I'm going to request sertraline for anxiety, but a bit scared of side effects.

Thanks

This is just my opinion, but there are various regimens on HRT which I expect you were not offered.

Have you been offered the 3-month cycle, which means progesterone only every 12th weeks? This is in the NICE prescribing guidance, for women who are intolerant to progesterone.

There is a LINK to it on this page, a few threads down.

When you say low dose was that low dose of gel or Utrogestan?

Younger women often need a higher dose of estrogen.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/menopause/4788432-utrogestan-other-progestogen-the-3-month-cycle-option

Black Cohosh.
I started menopause early age 38 ( hysterectomy) had HRT for 10 years .. used Black Cohosh.
My daughter is 39 and pre( Mum n sisters had Early menopause) she feels much better on Black Cohosh.

Black cohosh is most commonly used for menopausal symptoms, including hot flushes and night sweats (together known as vasomotor symptoms), vaginal dryness, heart palpitations, tinnitus, vertigo, sleep disturbances, nervousness, irritability and anxiety.

Because you are so young @Lovemusic82 , if you have a hysterectomy, the likelihood is your symptoms will get worse, because on average the ovaries fail within 2 years. In your shoes, I'd be asking for another opinion on the idea of a hysterectomy. It will stop the bleeding but it won't make your hormonal issues any better- possibly worse.

Could your GP refer you to a menopause clinic?

The symptoms you're having are due to loss of estrogen and in theory the solution is to replace that.

Unfortunately, although there is a wide range of herbs and supplements advertised for peri/menopause, very few of them work (research has been done on this.)

Black cohosh can help hot flushes, but it needs to be used carefully as too much can cause liver disease (this is all online, by the way.)

St John's Wort can help low mood but again, you need to be careful not to mix it with other drugs.

Ideally, because you're losing estrogen at a young age, it would be better for your long term health (heart and bones) to find a type and dose of HRT that works.
Maybe pursue the long cycle option I mentioned and linked to?

Yes I was on one pump of the gel and one progesterone tablet for 15 days. I have never been able to take the mini pill, it always made me bleed continuously so I think I have a problem with progesterone. I had side effects from the gel (anxiety mainly and vivid dreams) but when I started the progesterone it was ten times worse.

I can deal with a lot of the peri symptoms but the PMT is just awful.

@Lovemusic82 It's important to know that Utrogestan is very different to the types of progestins in the Pill (all sorts of Pill.)

Utrogestan is a body-identical sort, like our own.

I can only offer my own experience which was when I started HRT many years ago (and much older than you are now) my specialist put me onto a long cycle using progestogen once every 12 weeks. This minimises the side effects.

It's unusual to have those side effects from estrogen because it's also body-identical.

Maybe talk to your GP over it and ask to be referred to a specialist if that's possible?