Desperate

[Juliet1974]

I am 49 and I have suspected I was perimenopausal for a number of years. My periods have now stopped.

I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the physical and emotional symptoms.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to take HRT as it interacts with a medication I am on to treat a long term health condition. Stopping that medication isn’t really an option.

I mostly struggle with fatigue, mood swings, and feeling overwhelming at times, and without the option of HRT, I feel somewhat powerless.

It’s hard to put into words how isolating this experience can feel. I have some good days but others days I can’t stop crying.

I almost feel suicidal at times

I also feel frustrated with myself that my symptoms, especially my mental health symptoms, feel so extreme when other woman seem to just get on with it.

Just wanted to let you know I hear you. I can't take HRT either. I think a lot of other women might be good at hiding how they feel. My doctor said acupuncture can be quite good for menopausal symptoms. I'm trying some mild supplements.

Are you taking magnesium and vitamin B12 supplements?

Can I ask you what supplements you are trying?

I’ve just started B12 but will try magnesium as well if that might help.

Supplements and herbal remedies have helped me but I think it's very much trial and error to see if it works for you.

Oh God yes I feel your pain. I was horrible through the menopause and wanted to die.
I am 62 now and completely back to normal. It didn't last long. Anti depressants worked very well for me. They dull the mental pain. I tried a few and finally settled down on escitalopram.
You will be OK. This is just a temporary glitch.

Thank you. I’m glad you’re feeling more like yourself. It’s reassuring to hear.

OP when you say your long term medication 'interacts' with HRT, what exactly is the interaction? Rarely do drugs interact so severely that they are completely contraindicated. We perhaps just need to increase/decrease doses of some meds or monitor bloods etc.
I would try and find out the interaction and just make sure you definitely can't have HRT in case you're missing out unnecessarily.
Also oestrogen and progesterone are present in your body anyway so you'd just be replacing what you are deficient in with HRT so makes me suspect an interaction with other meds wouldn't be a big problem.
I'm a hospital pharmacist so need to interpret interactions daily in my job.

How awful

How good is your overall health?

Lots of exercise , no sugar or alcohol , lots of fibre

Might help a little and things might settle down soon

Sure. B vitamins are really helpful for energy. I'm trying saffron for calming effects right now. Magnesium at night. I also take cranberry and a probiotic. Good exercise and making sure I do things I enjoy. I'd be careful trying things since you're on other medications though.

Edited to add, since you said you're on meds for bipolar, I'd avoid the saffron unless a doctor gives you the okay!

I am on Lamotrigine. It’s prescribed to me as a mood stabiliser as I have bipolar disorder. My bipolar has been well controlled for years but when I was first diagnosed it took a long time to find the right combination of medications for me to become well. I can’t risk becoming unwell again.
I have been told by my doctor that oestrogen significantly reduces levels of lamotrigine and as I’m already on a high dose there isn’t much wiggle room.

I'm also bipolar and have clinical depression, so I'm on antidepressants and antipsychotics. I have progesterone only HRT via a Mirena coil. It changed everything for the better, as I suffered terribly through menopause. I'm almost 100% back to normal after having the Mirena for about 4 years.

That’s really reassuring to hear. My GP didn’t tell me that progesterone only was an option. I’ll definitely ask her about that.

It's a shame as the information on oestrogen affecting lamotrigine's efficacy is taken from studies on the contraceptive pill and not HRT. In addition the studies looked at lamotrigine use as an anti epileptic medicine and not a mood stabiliser.
The studies are all tiny (max 20 women in each study) and the hormones studied are ethinylestradiol and levonorgesterol which is different to those in HRT. Also the hormone doses in the contraceptive pill are much higher than HRT.
It's unfortunate that the same advice has been applied to the hormones in HRT while no studies have been carried out with HRT hormones and lamotrigine.
I think if you're feeling suicidal during the menopause I would ask for a referral to a menopause specialist who could review this further for you.

So typical isn't it. You bet that if this was an issue affecting men, every pharmaceutical company would have an entire r&d department dedicated to a treatment.