Has anyone found an effective way to manage the anxiety/emotional issues?

[LoveBeingAMum555]

I have been on Oestrogel for two weeks after being switched from Estraderm which was useless. Estradot really helped my menopause symptoms but is not available.

My biggest issue is the anxiety which has dented my confidence and is making everyday life tough. Has anyone found a way to make this more bearable? Once the anxiety hits it just spirals, and I worry that this is never going to get better.

Advice and recommendations welcome. I already exercise regularly, try to eat well and make time for myself.

Try CBT. There are some excellent books and advice online.

Yes, Dr Claire Weekes, the audiobooks are the best.

I agree with PP that CBT might help. You will gain insight into your thinking. Combined with meditation (just a few minutes of guided meditation a day makes a difference) it would be even better. You gain space around your thoughts.

I was going to say exercise but you say you do that already. I find running helps me a lot with it. Have you tried meditation? Thats another thing that helps me although it took some practice.

How much oestrogel are you using? I don’t know much about it but I remember a thread on here where women were saying they found that they needed to increase the number of pumps before it helped. Hopefully someone will come along and know more about that, but do speak to your GP.

I hope you find something that helps as it’s awful. 💐

Sertraline.

It might help to hear that it needs time to settle down. Oestrogen isn’t like an antibiotic with a predictable effect and it can take a good few weeks for the brain to stop panicking about the supply issues and firing off the mad hormones that cause all the chaos.

It’s a bloody nuisance when something that’s working for you goes short because the transition to a new form can set you back.

In the meantime, remember that your brain will always try and helpfully come up with a good story to explain your anxiety but most of the time the anxiety is physiological rather than psychological. So ignore the explanation and send some physiological disruption signals - like long, slow exhales. You can’t run from a tiger and exhale slowly.

I also had to switch from estradot to Oestrogel. The doctor suggested two pumps (which on paper was half my estradot 100 dose). I tried two pumps for a couple of weeks but symptoms including palpitations and anxiety returned almost immediately. I went to 4 pumps and it’s been fine (almost instantly). So maybe you need to tweak your Oestrogel dose if you’re not getting enough estrogen.

Duloxetine

@BoredZelda @Octavia64
SSRIs are no longer prescribed for mental health associated with menopause unless they existed prior to menopause. This is in the NICE guidance (available online.)

The medical advice is to offer HRT and adjust the HRT to optimise it.

Briefly (you can read the NICE guide if you search for it)
a) giving any new dose 3 months and b) considering increasing the dose of estrogen if it's not working.

3 months is a long time, but 2 weeks isn't enough to see if it's working or not.
Maybe reassess after 6 weeks @LoveBeingAMum555 ?

Thanks all, really helpful. I definitely need to give it a bit longer, I remember that when I first went on HRT it took about a month before I felt better and my GP says to wait 4 weeks before I increase my dose. I just have a lot going on at work at the moment and could use some coping strategies.

CBT/meditation is worth a try and I will look into Claire Weekes, thank you.