Hello everyone
I'm so pleased I found this forum and it's been great to read through some of the posts. It certainly helps to feel that you're not alone.
I'm 48 and started HRT last October. I think I had been suffering with peri-menopausal symptoms for a year or so before the penny dropped. I am an avid reader and had been reading about the menopause for a couple of years, but it still took me a while to realise what was happening. One of the worst symptoms for me is my low mood/depression. For months, I just felt so low, no joy in my life at all and felt that they was a grey shadow following me all of the time. I would spend the day at work trying not to cry and would then be so exhausted when I got home, I just wanted to sleep. When I first went to the doctors they said it was depression and wanted to put me on anti-depressants, but I knew that wasn’t why I was feeling like that, but they dismissed the idea that it was the menopause. I went back a couple of months later after a period of extreme sadness and basically demanded to be put on HRT, which they did! (I think I just scared the Dr with my knowledge, that she just wanted me out of the door. I seriously felt that I knew more about it than she did!)
Within a couple of weeks of starting HRT I felt absolutely great. My mood was so much better, I was smiling and laughing again and felt joy for the first time in a long time and thought that was me set now. But the low mood has returned over the last couple of months. The same feeling of no joy and a shadow of sadness following me. I even had to take the day off on Monday, as I just could not work; I just wanted to cry all day.
I take two pumps of Estrogel in the morning, but had increased this to three over the last couple of weeks to see if that would make me feel any better, but it hasn’t. Should I continue with this? Or increase even more? Stupid question but what is the “normal” amount of pumps people take (I know, there is no “normal”, but it would be good to hear how many pumps people take).
I eat healthy, don’t really drink at all, sleep really well and try to look after myself as best I can. I have just started taking A.Vogel Menopause Support, hoping that that will help as well.
Any advice, tips and reassurances that I’m not going mad would help. Thank you!