Firstly - I think at your age it is wise to have some oestrogen to protect your bones and heart - this oestrogen may also prevent urogenital atrophy taking hold and causing problems. It is quite normal to get some reaction when first starting any hormone treatment, especially when you are starting from a very low baseline. One specialist gynaecologist I saw described it as “ the body waking up†- so essentially it can take time for the body to adjust and settle. I do wonder whether your reaction when starting oestrogen (especially as it is such low dose) is less to do with the actual oestrogen and more to do with you being really reluctant to use it: you see there is still a very strong pressure on we women that we should simply cope with menopause symptoms and there is also the fear factor due to all the negative press. Antidepressants can also bring nasty side effects and can also bring horrible withdrawal symptoms when trying to come off them but GPs are very happy to dish these out like sweets but are then super cautious over HRT.
Are you just on oestrogen? Have you had a hysterectomy? If you are using progesterone, what one are you using? If you are using a very small amount of oestrogen I doubt you can really blame your mood on the oestrogen. If you had started on 2 pumps per day then I might be more inclined to think that you are reacting badly.
I am now 63, my menopause started in my mid 30s so I used HRT for nearly 25 years and I thank God I used it - my bones are not too bad and I now realise it helped to me to cope really well. I came off HRT 3 years ago now and still have hot flushes, night sweats, very poor sleep, awful headaches and low energy. I was once a high energy, competent women and I coped with stress really well - now I just crave a quiet life. I walk a lot, go to Pilates classes(practise this everyday). I do Mindfulness (really good thing to do). I teach community dance classes and I've started learning bridge to try to keep my brain working. I put a great deal into to keeping myself well and content but I still burst into tears at the drop of a hat, I am tetchy and difficult for my poor husband and I often feel a shadow of my former self. Having said all this I think I'm doing quite well really.
I personally don't think you come out the other side of the menopause - I think one just has to find a new way of living life. It's hard work keeping things together but if I were you I'd try some Mindfulness, keep busy, watch funny programmes and films, read funny books, learn something new - so do anything that lifts your mood. Give it a few weeks with the HRT to see how it settles - oestrogen is generally the ‘feel good' hormone but your body will take time to settle. Keep us posted. DG x
Author
Topic: Horribly depressed on HRT (just oestrogen at this point) (Read 2068 times)