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[Panda2325]

Hi all,

I'm new to this and hope you can help. I think I am possibly at some stage of perimenopause. I still have periods but they aren't as predictable as they have been. Also have had some dizziness and ringing in my ears. I've been very anxious and depressed for a while now, it's really come to a head in the last couple of months. My GP has prescribed Citalopram which I used years ago to treat depression - I've been on it a week now and it hasn't helped yet. I mentioned getting a blood test for my hormone levels but she was quite dismissive about this. Should I be asking to be prescribed HRT?

[Flossieteacake]

Hello Panda and welcome to the forum. I think you know your body best and if you think this may be peri then I would say it is worth trying HRT. Erratic periods and low mood can be symptoms of peri.

Just to say, it usually takes longer then one week for an antidepressant to work. Hopefully that in combination with HRT will help your low mood.

[CLKD]

Continue with the AD.  Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use.

Your GP is dismissive.  She should be up2date with peri after all the media programmes.  As oestrogen levels drop, the body may become dry: inside and out - skin, scalp, deep in the ears, nose, vagina ...... as well as muscles may become lax = aches and pains.  It's The Change - does what it says on the tin, sometimes with horns   

Ask away.     Hormone blood tests are reliably un-reliable!

[Hurdity]

Hi Panda

 

Depending on your periods you may well be per-menopausal. If your cycle length is changing each month and varies by more than a week then officially you are (!) - that is the medical definition, combined with symptoms. Typical symptoms would be flushes and sweats though sometimes these don't appear immediately.

Anti-depressants should NOT be prescribed as the first line of treatment for menopausal symptoms so not sure if your doc knew of your changing cycle or even asked? Mood changes may well appear before flushes etc, especially if these are cyclical? Great advice from CLKD to keep a diary so you can see if there is any pattern?

Blood tests are not needed to diagnose menopause unless you are under 40 and sometime betwee 40 and 45, and you're having irregular periods. This could be an indication to start HRT due to early or premature menopause.

If you feel HRT would be beneficial then you should ask for it, but depends on some of the factors I mentioned. Also depending on your age then the contraceptive pill QLAIRA is designed for peri-menopause because it contains estradiol (bio-identical oestrogen) the same as in HRT, but suppresses the cycle - not sure of its effect on mood but it will certainly even out fluctuations from your natural cycle, and mitigate any associated mood changes. There are also some gentle HRT low dose pills like Femoston which some women find helpful in perimenopause.

Hurdity x

[Panda2325]

Thank you all for your replies and kind welcomes to the forum.
I'm 48 so technically they don't need to take a blood test. I described cycles, symptoms etc but I just think she wasn't really listening to what I was saying. I haven't flushes yet but have woken up a few times absolutely drenched in sweat.
I'll stick with the ADs for now although I don't want them to be a long term solution.
I've booked an appointment next week with a GP in a private clinic who I saw before and am hoping she will take me more seriously.
How is something that happens to us all made so difficult???!!!

[CLKD]

Out of sight out of mind, years ago women would be 'put away' or feel housebound due to symptoms 

But we are beginning to know better !

Let us know how y ou get on.

[Panda2325]

So I have been to see the GP in the private clinic and got a prescription for Evorel Sequi patches. I've only started using them 3 days ago so haven't noticed any changes just yet but fingers crossed. Now just fighting with them to get my notes forwarded to my own GP so I can get them to prescribe it - why is everything such a hassle! Will stay with the ADs for now just to let things settle down. I'm away on holiday with my husband next week so really want to be a bit more like my normal self for that.

[CLKD]

Enjoy your holiday - we have a thread about that too ;-)

Surely a letter to your GP from the private clinic should be enough to keep notes up2date?  Why is it so hard!

[Flossieteacake]

I hope you have a lovely holiday.

Urgh, that is frustrating!

[CLKD]

I have no problems taking my anti-depressant medication for ever as it enables me.  I never want to feel as frightened as I did in the 1990s  .  If U were a diabetic or on heart drugs? ;-)

[Penguin]

I started hrt a number of months after I started citalopram and it wasn't until then that I saw a real improvement. One week is definitely not long enough for citalopram to work, needs a good six weeks to take full effect. Now you've added the hrt in, hopefully you are on a countdown to feeling somewhere better, but don't be surprised if you feel a bit worse with anxiety at first with the citalopram, this will pass. However I agree with others who've said the GP should have given you hrt first and then added an anti depressant in after a period of time if the hrt wasn't sufficient on its own. I did the other way round due to fear of hrt but got there in the end!

[CLKD]

It depends on how debilitating the Anxiety might be.  4 me I couldn't function ......... and the depression kept me in bed for hours.

[Panda2325]

Thanks ladies! I think the anxiety has been the worst thing so far about all this, it can really take over your life! (Fighting with GP surgeries doesn't help). I know what depression is like too, just dragging yourself out of bed and into the shower seems impossible sometimes. I'm on the citalopram 3 weeks now so hoping that along with the HRT I'll see a difference soon. Men have it so easy...

[CLKD]

Hopefully the citalopram will kick in sooner rather than later, U will be able to see the wood for the trees [what ever that means  ].   In the meantime, don't take on too many commitments at once! 

[Panda2325]

Thanks! I look forward to seeing the wood! I'd just really like to not feel like rubbish for at least a day. Quick question to you all - did anyone get headaches when they started on the patches?