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[Londongirl]

Hi all

OK so some of you know I have had on off problems with HRT - Am on Femoston Conti and downside is depression/mood swings/monthly bleeds. 

I can cope with the bleeds no problem but the depression and mood swings was seriously getting out of control............ so finally my doctor has referred me to a meno clinic but whilst waiting and last week I got so down I thought time to ditch the HRT completely so I stopped taking it for two days.

Now I don't know if this is all in my mind, but I seriously felt like my mood lifted, depression gone - just like that....................

Then I got a hot flush so hastily took a tablet and then thought well why not just take one every other day and not every single day as surely then it may help relieve my symptons (hot flushes, night waking to go to loo, sweating) but not give me the downside of mood swings and depression............

So far, it's kind of working but I don't know if this is wise as am having headaches now! 

Any thoughts/comments?

Thanks
Anna

P.S  Oh but my itchy face (urticaria) has come on with a vengeance!  Gosh, if not one thing then the other...............

I think though I could cope with most things but not the depression .

[Rowan]

I use my patch for one week and then have a week off, I have not notice any difference except that I don't have so much craving for sweet stuff and am not so hungry, but I only take estrogen.

Technically if you are post menopause this should not be a problem, I have read of women taking HRT pills this way when they are weaning off HRT. You do say you are on Femoston Conti I didn't think you had a bleed on this type of HRT.

Have you thought of separating the hormones and taking the estrogen patch for the first part of the month and then a kinder progesterone, as  dydrogesterone  is synthetic and could be causing you to feel down and have mood swings.

I would hang on until you until you can get to the Meno Clinic. Its a dilemma though choosing between headaches and the depression.

[skkb]

I take low dose gel 0.5g on Mon, Wed and Fri, have done this for the last four years + low dose progesterone on the same three days!

[Cassie]

I wouldn't be able to do that, sadly, when I miss a day, I get a breakthrough bleed

[Hurdity]

Hi Londongirl

Sorry to hear you are still having problems.

As silverlady says - you should not get a monthly bleed on Femoston conti and if you do, then you would be better off taking a cyclical HRT ie Femoston 1/10 or 2/10.

I also agree that as you are taking conti you are taking a synthetic progestogen - and all the time - so this could cause what are known as constant "low-grade progestogenic side effects".

I feel sure we have discussed this in the past and not sure if you have tried Utrogestan - micronised progesterone - I may well have recommended this in the past - but cyclically rather than all the time?

The fact you are getting mood swings (if these are hormonal) implies you are still peri-meno because once you are post-meno hormones remain stable.

Re taking Femoston every two days. Maybe not recommended for tablet HRT although I am sure there are some on here who do. Tablets give a daily spike of hormones so you would have two days fluctuations which you may well notice. If you want to reduce the dose you would be better off having a low dose patch on all the time which delivers a consistent dose of oestrogen.

Hope this helps

Hurdity x