Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[photo_jenny]

Hi

I am still in the beginning stages of taking HRT, specifically Premarin orally and progesterone via Mirena coil (I have actually been on this regime for several years but missed the Premarin component for over a week and am starting again, but that's a whole other story). I am 4 weeks in.

I have woken up into the blackest 🫥  depression this morning. I was just wondering whether it was the timing of the Premarin. I worked out that it has been 29 hours since I took my last dose. This is because I thought I would try taking it early in the morning to see if it would give me a better morning.  It was about 2.00 a.m. yesterday. My morning actually was slightly better, however this morning is from hell.

Could this be the reason? And if so, could I have effectively 'zero-ed' the whole thing again? I am seriously hopeless and at the end of my energy. I am due to start taking the oestrogen in gel form - just waiting for my prescription to come through.

I can't believe my own stupidity. Well, actually I can which is worse.

Can anyone shed any light?

[Hurdity]

Hi photo-jenny

Sorry to hear about your mood changing for the worse.

I am interested to see you are changing to gel because Premarin is an old-fashioned type of oestrogen and made from pregnant horse urine = conjugated equine oestrogens, (which you may not have known?) and as such is a mixture of horse oestrogens - not bio-identical. Nowadays most doctors seem to prescribe estradiol and there are various dose and modes of delivery available including tablets, patches, gel or spray, and in fact I am surprised that this is still being prescribed!

We can't say whether your mood is due to the Premarin but delaying your tablet should not have such an immediate negative effect on mood, I wouldn't have thought, and certainly even if it did your modd should have improved once oestrogen was restored. How long have you had this Mirena? Could the progestogen released from it be the cause of the lower mood - progestogens can have this effect on some women?

Try not to worry and hopefully the gel will help you to feel more consistently better.

Hurdity x

[photo_jenny]

Thanks for replying

I have had the Mirena for 7 years. More accurately, I had one fitted in March 2016 and it came to light that it should have been replaced after 5 years when I changed GP practice in January this year. So basically it should have been replaced in 2021, but was in fact replaced in February (2023). I have had this one in since then. Having an extensive history of low mood, it was decided that the Mirena would be the best option - also I had a disastrous episode on a progesterone tablet in my late 30s, which was when my perimenopause symptoms started (I am 56 now and still in perimenopause). I think those tablets were called Duphaston (?). Anyway, I decided at the time that I would rather suffer the night sweats and hostile mood than feel suicidal.

I was on the patches at first (can’t remember the name), but couldn’t keep them adhered to my skin which is why I changed to the tablets. I didn’t have any problem with them and things were ok. My periods stopped around 2019, and I assumed that after 2 years period free I must be post menopausal. However, my periods started again last summer and, after various tests (ultrasound, hysteroscopy, blood tests) it was concluded that I was still perimenopausal. This was when the Mirena was removed and replaced.

A brief, but significant, period of not taking the Premarin (10 days) effectively put me back to square one. I have now been re-taking them for 4 weeks. My mood crashed, and I have been regularly seeing the GP to monitor progress. I think that the major factor in the mood crash was the fact that I had only been getting the progesterone, and the in weeks since I have been building the oestrogen back up. The reason for the switch to gel is the fact that it can be titrated better - I am on the highest Premarin dose, 2 X .625mcg.

I’m sorry for the long response, I hope it makes sense.

[CLKD]

I thought that you had threads already or am I confused?  Again 

[photo_jenny]

Yes I do already have threads.

Please try to forgive me, I posted the other day and had no response by modifying the subject, as you suggested. I just wanted to make sure that my post was seen, that’s why I started a new thread. I am not in a good place right now, I live on my own and am trying to make sense of and get through this horrible time.

Once again, I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to get it wrong again.

[CLKD]

I am sorry that you didn't get the responses that you needed, sometimes people don't have any fresh comments to make in threads often because they are also struggling.  Starting new won't necessarily garner any more advice.

If your HRT is causing black thoughts I suggest that U contact your GP Surgery this morning. Explain as you have here, how the HRT isn't helping as you would like, press the point about your lack of energy and how dark you feel in the morning.  It is known that hormonal upheaval can cause mood swings which from experience, I know are dreadful.

Some regimes take a few months to kick in, especially if HRT keeps being altered. 

[photo_jenny]

Thanks for that

I realise that it’s not personal. I spoke to my GP yesterday, and have had good support there. I also realise that HRT can take a number of weeks, and it’s still early days.

Thanks again,
Anna