Print

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

[jancis]

Hi ladies

It's been a while since I was on this website. I am struggling with really bad mood swings depression anxiety and joint pain. I don't think it's helped by my situation of grief. I lost my two brothers this  year and I think it's making my menopause symptoms worse. I tried taking citolopram as I used to tolerate these quite well but they gave me a nose bleed and made me feel weird so I came off them. I have tried evorel,conti patches and they made me bloated and lethargic. I have spoken to dr currie and she said femoston conti might help as I seem to be sensitive to the progesterone. Has anyone else tried femoston .Also can anyone recommend another antidepressant for the anxiety. Thanks any advice would be helpful.

[dazned]

Hello. So sorry to hear of your very sad losses this year it's not surprising that you feel so bad 

Femoston is generally better and a kinder hrt most do well with it. As for ADS it does vary from person to person,I had horrendous anxiety,palps,etc,also insomnia and I was perscribed mirtazapine and have found it to be great on both counts . I do hope you start to see an improvement once you start your Femoston and that you find some peace soon. Take care.

[CLKD]

Sorry for your losses.  So difficult to deal with!

Hopefully the medication that Dr Currie suggests will help.  Keep a mood/food diary and do let us know!

[GypsyRoseLee]

What a horrible double loss for you.

When I had PND years ago, the worst symptom was the awful anxiety. I tried Amitriptyline, which is an older generation AD to Prozac etc. But it worked very well it subduing the anxiety and it's wonderful for helping you sleep too.

[jancis]

Thank you ladies for your support. Gypsy Rosie Lee I tried amitripyline when my brothers first passed away as I was so full of anxiety but they were so strong and I couldn't function on them. Dazned do Mirtazipine give you the munchies as night as my friend was on them and she was always eating especially at night. I would do anything to take these irrational thoughts away and constantly worrying. I will try getting a prescription for femoston conti and see if they work first and try a low dose of Mirtazipine see how it goes.

[dazned]

No I've not found that I eat any more than normal on mirtazapine but the the first few days of starting it I was very very sleepy but this went away after about a week 10days. With support of a lovely lady on here who was already on them I persevered thank goodness I did. My anxiety,palps,etc disappeared almost immediately though and I had good sleep which I hadn't had for ages. Probably the 10 days of feeling zonked out allowed my body to "rest" after months of turmoil. Anyway that's my experiences how are feeling at the moment ? Any better ?

[orchid]

I'm finding Mirtrazapine is working well for me 10 days on taking 30mg. I did take 22.5mg last night to see if I felt less drowsy this morning (they come in 15mgs and you can half them) seem better. They are nothing like the SSRI's that really made me feel more anxious.

[orchid]

Bless you Jancis! What I have found has really helped me theses past few weeks also are good supplements a multivitamin, magnesium B-complex. Most of all the book Feel The Fear ANd Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers. It teaches you how to deal with anxiety and depression. Hope you feel better soon...hugs.

[CLKD]

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway - don't get me started on that one      -

Glad you have found that the Mirtrazapine is helping!

[orchid]

Thanks CLKD. We tire ourselves out don't we! I'm trying to accept how I feel when I'm anxious and it does help rather than fighting it...

[jancis]

Thanks again ladies. I have a doctors appointment on Thursday as had some blood tests done to check hormone levels and my testosterone has come back low and Vitamin D. Will taking Femoston Conti regulate my testosterone. Cannot believe how out of sorts we get going through the menopause. I long to feel normal again. I will ask for the Mirtazipine on Thursday. That's the only problem with AD's is the zonked out feeling you get. Glad you are feeling less anxious on them.  I have heard of that book Feel the Fear and do it. I shall look on Amazon and get a copy.

[Hurdity]

Hello jancis - so sorry to hear about losing your two brothers and especially in the same year, how terribly sad for you.

Re the menopause -  you haven't said how old you are and where in menopause? I presume because you have been offered continuous combined HRT you are post-menopausal? If you are sensitive to progestogens ( especially the synthetic ones) - Femoston may well help. The other thing is that many women such as myself do not feel at their best on progesterone and so opt to revert to having a cycle - this means taking oestrgoen only for most of the time, and then 12 days or so of progestogen every few weeks to induce a bleed. This is another possibility. While it is a real pain having a bleed when you're older ( several of us are over 60) this is the alternative that enables us to feel and function better than continuous progestogens!

Personally if you are able to I would try the hormonal solution for several months before considering ADs but I can understand in your personal situation why you might want to take them earlier. All I would say is that it may be more difficult to tweak the dose and type of HRT if you are taking other medication at the same time.

Hope this helps. 

Hurdity x

[dazned]

No Femoston will not address low  testosterone that's a whole different issue. Vitamin D is easy to tackle get as much Sun directly to your skin and take vit d tablets most of us are on the low side as we don't get enough sunshine and now we slap on suncreams even less gets through.
I only felt zonked for the first 10 days now I'm fine and functioning well . Hope you feel more settled soon.

[jancis]

Hi Ladies

Thank you for all your feedback and support for the HRT and los of my brothers. I havnt been on here for a while but wanted to update you on my situation with the HRT.My anxiety has lessened a little so have put the AD's on hold for now.  I went to see a consultant called Dr Savvas at the Blackheath Menopause clinic who explained that I was completely deficient in oestrogen. I have just turned 51. He prescribed me oestrogen only Evorel 50 patch with a progesterone urogestan to take 7 days out of the month.
I tried the 50 and felt a little bloated so I cut them in half to 25. No side effects as yet but feel lethargic and no motivation. I get frustrated at the lack of energy I have. Hasn't quite taken away my hot flushes yet so I may have to up the dose eventually. Will this lack of energy be relieved by the patch, once they get into my system?

[Valsmart]

Hi I'm a newby been on the progesterone only pill for 16 years haven't had a period in that time. in the last 3 months I have hardly slept very high anxiety and stress dr put me on sleeping tablet no idea if I'm peri or post I'm 47 and my life has just crashed no hot flushes just sheer anxiety I don't think my dr knows what to do with me I think I have va as well my poor husband is in a state of shock as I'm normally a very happy person I analyse everything now I know you ladies are very experienced please can you help