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[Maria_stoff]

Hello everyone,

This is my third post about my mum who is very poorly at the minute with her menopause symptoms. Just a quick question, a private GP put my mum on antidepressants yesterday. She's never really taken any medication in her life and I was just wondering what your opinions are on them? Whether they helped you or not?

Maria x

[CLKD]

Yes yes yes.  Initially the side effects of acute nausea meant I had to try several types as I don't 'do' sick.  Eventually my GP put me on something which worked: not a cure but it enabled me to get out of bed and slowly I picked up my life.

What has been prescribed?  I now take Escitalopram 5mg night and morning, plus a Betablocka to stop anxiety surges - 40mg tablet at night.  I take them an hour before bed otherwise I get heartburn  .  I would take the 1st tablet at night so that she sleeps through any side-effects.

Let us know how she gets on.

[babyjane]

Hello, I can only speak for myself but I resisted medication for a long while but since I was given a low dose AD, the same as CLKD, and a low dose beta blocker I am seeing a little of the wood between the trees.  It didn't happen overnight, it took several weeks but it is definitely making me feel more grounded.

[dazned]

Likewise I can only say when I finally found one that suited I got on great,but they done take a couple of weeks to kick in ,no overnight fix Im afraid. Wishing her well.

[CLKD]

Is the private GP letting your Mum's GP know ……… this shouldn't have been necessary 

[Hurdity]

I have never taken anti-depressants and have fortunately never needed to - but the main thing is, if your mum's symptoms are due to hormonal reasons ie menopausal, then hormones are the best way to treat them - if there is no medical reason why she should not. You can get HRT preparations  (which many of us use) which are identical to our own hormones so they are less like medication than anti-depressants.  Some women find - especially during peri-menopause - that hormones alone don't seem to work - because of the dramatic fluctuations in hormones that occur during this time, so go onto a low dose AD hopefully only for a while. Post-menopause hormones levels stablise so it should be possible to find a dose/delivery method of HRT that keeps you stable generally (unless you have depression not caused by hormones).

NICE Guidelines now recommend not to treat menopausal women with ADs as first line of treatment but to offer HRT. Has she thought of this? Also depends on whether she is post-menopausal and how long without a bleed/how old she is. The problem that can occur is that women are given continuous combined HRT when they are post-menopausal - and these usually all contain synthetic progestogens which are taken every day and which can cause undesirable side effects. it is always better to start HRT by going on a cycle - and putting up with a bleed for a few months so that you can identify the type of progestogen that suits you, before going onto the no-bleed type.

That maybe isn't what you wanted to hear - but it is the current medical recommendation (ie taking HRT) for menopausal symptoms for women who are not contra-indicated for HRT.

I wish you well in helping your mother through this difficult time.

Hurdity x

[dazned]

Hurdity I believe that this lady has already started hrt .

[Elenor]

One of important thing to remember is that bad meno symptoms are often temporary. Bareing this in mind a short course of ADs may suit your mother, rather than HRT which needs to be taken long term.

The choice is ultimately hers, taken in conjunction with her doctor of course.

We are not medical experts on here, and can only offer advice based on personal experience.

Best of luck

[Hurdity]

Ah - dazned - I didn't know - Maria's post said that her mum hadn't taken any medication so this wasn't clear. Maria if your mum is also on HRT perhaps you can tell us a bit more, but especially where in menopause she is?

Eleanor2 - as you are a new member you probably don't realise that actually women do offer advice based on a lot more than personal experience! Although the understanding of the forum (in the rules/agreement etc) is that by default we are all non-medical professionals, no-one knows the background of the women posting on here (unless they reveal it) and there are women who are doctors, nurses, science graduates, women with research doctorates, vets and very many well-read and well-informed lay-people!  Most of us offer advice based on our own experience but many of us also offer advice based on what our doctors and gynaecologists have told us, and also what we've read from the latest scientific journals, and medical organisations eg British Menopause Society, this website, NICE etc. Unfortunately sometimes we have to correct the advice and prescriptions given to women by their GPs - when they have been given out of date advice and incorrect prescriptions. Of course any decision a woman makes should be based on a combination of her own knowledge and experience, current information and guidelines and taken with the agreement of her doctor. In many cases women have to tell the doctor what they want to do - because of ignorance. By the way I don't think I've welcomed you - I don't remember seeing your name in new members so maybe you would like to introduce yourself and tell us something about where you are in menopause - as I don't want to take over Maria's thread asking you here!

Hurdity x

[elainewin]

hi Maria i have just gone on fluoxetine a few weeks ago as the HRT i was on didnt agree with me . but im really happy to say they have been a life saver after just only 2 weeks im sleeping well my mood is so much better and ive got more energy...i still have night sweats thou , not so severe thou... I am 55 and prob been peri menopause for quite a few years ,muddling through always feeling ill
i can honestly say im feeling better than what i have in years ,Good luck to your mother but truly they dont make you like a zombie or spaced out .

[GypsyRoseLee]

I agree with you Hurdity. I am not medically qualified but I am a graduate, now working in a clinical environment and I have read an awful lot of information about HRT and hormonal depression. And I don't consider myself nearly as well informed as many on here.

Speaking as someone who was, as you know, very recently prescribed an HRT regime containing Norethisterone (for God's sake) by a supposed 'expert' GP, I am hugely grateful for the knowledge I have gained from this site and my wider reading.

I am the very last person who should take Norethisterone considering my history of progesterone intolerance. But the GP wasn't interested in my previous history of intolerance and had also mis read my medical notes in the bargin!

GPs are just that. General practitioners of medicinewith no expert knowledge of specific ailments. My lovely new GP admitted she only had 'a couple of lectures' on HRT and/or hormonal issues such as PMS and PND. She told me she was 'very much learning on the job' and asked if I was medically qualified as I was confidently talking about 3rd generation progesterones and transdermal absorption etc. All learned from reading this site.

It's also hugely informative when posters report back what they have learned from their consultant appointments. This information is pure gold and might well prove invaluable for women who, unfortunately, cannot access private specialists who know soooooo much more than any GP.

If I want some antibiotics, or have a troublesome rash then I happily see a GP. But they are woefully uninformed about menopause and hormonal issues.

[CLKD]

Also - people still confuse modern-day anti-depressants with the Valium-type drugs served up in the 1950s/60s/70s …….. which can become 'addictive'.  So you can reassure your Mum that if she finds an AD which suits and eases symptoms, that with careful weaning off under the care of a GP, she can stop them. Some don't even require weaning off