Hi Melissa
I really feel for you- like you I was recently offered antidepressant's recently by my GP, and told I needed to be weaned off HRT although I was prescribed Femoston1/10 (which in retrospect did only work when I was premenopausal for about 6 months) about 5 years ago. I'm only 55!
Personally I am not a fan of antidepressants (although I realise they may be effective for some women) as for me, all they do is flatten my emotional symptoms even more for me and I felt like a walking zombie, albeit an anxious one nevertheless.
I 'knew' my problems were hormonal in origin and I was proved right. .
I had lots of psychological symptoms which I realised where due to being given the wrong sort of HRT, in the wrong amount and the wrong dosage. Although I was on Femoston 1/10, my oestrogen levels were just 72! Double figures and lower than most men's levels. No wonder I felt so awful.
Long story short, I realised my GP did not have the knowledge or the interest to help me, I knew very little about HRT, came on this forum, did lots of research on the subject and decided to see Prof. John Studd privately.
I know many posters on MM also have seen him and/or had his HRT regime prescribed by other medics. I was prescribed a similar regime to many of the MM posters who advocate his treatment.
Mary G here on MM was really informative for me about the treatment regime he advocates and is an amazing source of HRT knowledge! She knew more than my 12 year old GP. Maybe read her posts? I found her information so incredibly helpful
Transdermal oestrogen (i.e. gel or patches) are far safer and more effective than tablets and seem to be the preferred option of treatment.
I use 3 pumps of Oestrogel gel daily, a tiny small bead of Testim (testosterone) gel daily, (the latter two continuously) and Utrogestan at 100 mg (vaginally) for just seven days each month to get a withdrawal bleed that's needed. Far shorter use of Utrogestan than the NHS recommends but I still get the necessary monthly withdrawal bled and without the horrible side effects I know I would get at the NHS recommended dose (which is 200m daily, twice as much dosage, for 12, not seven days).
Testim and Oestrogel gels work to improve mood, energy and libido.
I can honestly say I feel better after being on this regime for nearly 4 months than I have done for years and my anxiety, depression/ low mood, lack of motivation for most things, lack of libido, VA, etc., have gone. It really has changed my life and I would never consider tablet forms of HRT again. .
I know the "one size fits all" guidelines as prescribed by the NHS doesn't always work or is ineffective for many women with hormone issues and in my opinion is driven often by financial considerations rather than clinical needs.
I'd suggest reading other posts on here, and online, getting as much information as possible about current valid treatment options.
Even if you don't want to see Studd or don't want to go privately to someone else, I'd suggest looking at his web site for information on HRT (it's really helpful), reading other MM posts about Utrogestan and Oestrogel (think there is a thread on "All Things Menopausal"). Also, Studd's regime IS prescribed on the NHS (I get all of mine prescribed by my GP after I saw him and he wrote a letter to my GP requesting that).
At least that way you can go armed with up to date information to take with to your GP, to request what might be a more effective treatment regime that what you are currently getting.
Also request blood tests of your oestrogen, testosterone, progesterone, FSH levels etc. At least that way you can get an indication of what sort of hormone levels you are currently at.
At the very least, do think twice about requesting HRT tablets. The clinical evidence clearly indicates that they are not as effective or as safe as transdermal gels or patches but HRT tablets seem to be a cheaper 'go to' outdated option for many GP's and with more side effects for many women.
Hope that helps and good luck!
Let us know how you get on?
