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[Poppyflower]

Just wanted to share something interesting I was reading about and it is called discontinuation syndrome which is a well known thing in psychiatry field. As I was reading up on this immediately I was surprised at how the symptoms of this accepted condition are so very similar to symptoms of low estrogen, Due to I think how antidepressants affect serotonin as does estrogen. It is frustrating to me that the link is so clear and yet the doctors automatically think mental illness instead of menopause. Also what about all the weird feelings accepted to be caused by this discontinuation syndrome including all the tingling , brain zaps and flulike symptoms? It seems to me that our decreased estrogen is similar to this discontinuation syndrome, yet with estrogen discontinuation there are fluctuations. The treatment for discontinuation syndrome is to start back on the stopped antidepressants therefore it makes complete sense to replace estrogen. I M so tired of all of this.....wish all mds could just get on board!! Sorry for the ramble but it seems to me it's all spelled out in black and white!

http://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-discontinuation-syndrome/

[CLKD]

Never heard of it and I've been in mental health care for years.  Will read the link (if I remember  ).  I do have electric 'zaps' due to the medication I swallow ……...

[Poppyflower]

Sorry......rereading my post and it is quite a mess....was having a bad fluctuation day!

Basically discontinuation syndrome is a fancy name for when someone who is taking anti depressants and stops them suddenly and experiences various symptoms which are all similar to or the same as when we have low estrogen!!

[CLKD]

Does this depend on the particular AD …….. i.e. the one prescribed to help ease hot flushes?  (I may get round to reading the Link eventually )

[Mary G]

There is a theory that low serotonin levels caused by lack of oestrogen cause migraines.  Low serotonin levels cause all sorts of problems like depression for example and I know from personal experience that I feel much better when taking fairly high levels of oestrogen.  If I let my oestrogen levels fall too low, I get silent migraines (migraine aura without headache) but this only happens when I take synthetic progestins which suppress the oestrogen levels.  It would not surprise me to find out that low serotonin causes any number of issues, it seems to be an important chemical in the brain.  A well known medic who I will not name thinks that too many women are prescribed ADs when they should be on HRT.

[CLKD]

I read that report too.  However, those of us who need ADs don't want GPs to stop prescribing them because they have read the report ……..