Good post Greenfields. As you say it takes a multi approach to really get on top of this issue but the light at the end of the tunnel is it can be done. Interesting about your Dr' s view on evorel and utrogestan being a bit out of date I wonder whether that's the case x
Yeah I wondered about that too Peri as, as far as I know, this prescription seems to be commonly used in the UK judging from what I read on the board! As well, you can get similar patches to evorel here in Canada - they are called estradot.
I ran into problems when I moved from UK to Canada because my natural cycle got slightly out of synch with the medication cycle - so I started to have break through bleeding which I hadn't had in a long time (I didn't bleed on the medications I was on even though I used to take a break of so many days with the utrogestan). I sought the advice of a nurse practitioner when this flared up and was told (incorrectly) that it was probably due to the move and I should just continue my regime and it would all settle down.
What I should have done when it flared up was to count the days I was bleeding and take a utrogestan after so many days of bleeding - to get my cycle and the medication back in synch. I didn't do this and had several more bleeds, one of which was particularly painful and nasty. At that time, I also noticed I was getting symptoms of depression again - just feeling generally "not well" in myself (not myself) and feeling overwhelmed in terms of the things I had to do in my daily life.
I struggled on for a bit and then saw an acupuncturist I had seen before who is really good - she supports clients with hormonal issues but also is not dogmatic and will flag things up that people need to see a Dr about. She helped me get to see a hospital Dr (quite a feat here as the waiting lists are long) - I got to see one in September (last year) and was so glad as the issue had gone on for 5 months by that time.
The hospital Dr was the one who changed the script and got me on estrogel. Initially I was put on 1 pump a day (the recommended is 2 pumps daily). I think she was trying to get me on the lowest effective dose possible. Unfortunately I found that low dose wasn't enough to sort out my symptoms - I was waking up regularly at 4am/5am no matter how late I went to bed. I had just started my Masters course at this point and I needed my sleep - by the end of a month, I was on my knees! So I rang up and asked to increase the dose to 2 pumps - and then I was fine.
Recently my sleep has been disrupted again but I suspect it's related to the stress of uncertainty in terms of what comes next in my life for me - the one thing I have become very aware of with menopause is that any stress related issues can have an impact on an individual's menopausal symptoms - it's almost like the body has a heightened sensitivity - least this is my experience personally - everyone has their own experiences. But I do recall reading an Australian paper about menopausal women and stress levels and being struck by how the author made the point that women at midlife are having more demands made on them - often caregiving for seniors while at the same time their children come back to live with them and they may also be trying to hold down a f/t job as well. And then there is the impact of divorce and changes in financial status ... it all adds up with stress levels.
I think, for me, that's why it's helpful to get some emotional support as well as addressing the physical symptoms. Menopause is a biopsychosocial phenomenon!
There is a biological transition/biological changes that the body is adjusting to, but there are also psychological factors as well - it can be a time of stocktaking in one's life and a time when people become aware of unresolved emotional issues that may need to be addressed. And then there is also the fact that menopause signals the end of one's ability to have children - and then what's next in one's life? So lots of psychological/emotional stuff comes with it.
And then the social environment we live in also impacts these factors - for example, someone transitioning through menopause while trying to adjust to the impact of a divorce and starting over their work career and maybe doesn't have many emotional supports in their life will have a different experience of menopause from someone who's had a stable marriage, feels financially secure, has no history of trauma or anxiety/depression in their life experience ... there are a lot of factors that can impact someone's ability to transition through menopause relatively easily versus the kind of experiences people share on this board.
And hormones (the biological piece) have a big impact too on physical and emotional functioning ... I always remember an 80 year old friend telling me that she would find herself crying in menopause for no reason - she had a stable marriage, financially secure etc but would wake up sometimes and just feel awful. She coped by meeting regularly with a friend who was also having a tough menopause for a cup of tea and a talk. The social support she got from that helped tremendously.
So everyone is different. I think the thing that got me was the complete lack of knowledge I had around menopause - if someone had screened me prior to my symptoms intensifying (before my system crashed a bit!) the risk factors I had could have been flagged up and things could have been put in place to help me. i read about a study in Australia that did that. It's really needed - I was woefully ignorant about the potential impact of menopause!
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Topic: Advice from anyone on best HRT to help Anxiety and depression (Read 18814 times)