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[CLKD]

    aspie65. 

[DaisyB]

I was on cipralex (escitalopram) and I had to up and up this dosage to cope as my menopause progressed.  To this I added HRT but still the anxiety would overwhelm me.  In the end I got prescribed pregabalin and am doing so much better.  Pregabalin is great for anxiety and helps you sleep which is first to go when my anxiety levels rocket.  I've had no real side effects and have even lowered my HRT with no increase in my anxiety. 

Thank you xx

[Hurdity]

Hi, thank you so much for your replies.
I have suffered with depression/anxiety before so this is what it felt like a year ago when the symptoms came as my periods were changing a little but not as bad as they are now.
I'm 46 but feel & look older, well I have this past year.
I do have hot flushes mainly at night time. Last week my husband & I went to NY & I felt great then Monday I started feeling symptoms coming on & yesterday I came on my period & anxiety etc set in. My last period was 2 wks ago. I'm waiting to go back for another US scan as I have a cyst & fibroids on my ovaries.
Nobody has ever mentioned HRT - I work at a GP surgery but to be honest I only thought women went on it after periods had stopped or after hysterectomy.xxx

As DaisyB also said - you may well benefit from starting HRT especially if you have started missing periods and your hormone levels will be fluctuating dramatically. Did your depression only start when your periods started changing? My previous post gives the current protocols and it is far better to generally to start HRT in peri-menopause - which is when it should be prescribed if symptoms are being experienced.

As an alternative - if you have taken the CCP in the past there are a couple of newer ones which contain the same oestrogen as in HRT and many gynaes now prescribe these for women under 50 in your position - to control the cycle and help with mood swings. The two types are QLAIRA  and ZOELY.

If you are already taking anti-depressants (for non-hormonal reasons) but start to experience menopausal symptoms it is better to take and stay with HRT, rather than reduce it (HRT) and increase your AD dose - and ideally as the HRT kicks in to reduce the AD dose (if it was taken for menopause or increased for this reason).

If you have fibroids in your uterus then this could affect the type of HRT you take and depending how large they are and also depending on whether you need treatment for your ovarian cyst.

Hurdity x

[Diana]

Hi.Just a thought...Have you had your testosterone levels checked?

I had an early meno at 38 and am now 61.
I have tried every HRT prep over the years.I am progesterone intolerant but can cope very well with Utrogestan.
About 2 years ago I started getting anxiety symptoms.I ended up not wanting to drive as I was convinced doom and gloom was around the next bend.I worried and fretted about everything!The hotflushes returned and also sleep was a problem due to covers on then  off...I tweaked my estrogen doses but made no difference..I had all sorts of tests including thyroid but all was normal.I went onto this forum again and read about testosterone levels,which I have never had checked.The result was 1  which is the low end of normal.My Doctor prescribed a trial of Testogel..BINGO !!!!
Just a couple of days later I was and still am sleeping all night.I have no anxieties anymore and I drive quite happily again.There are so many positives ,I cannot believe a pea sized blob of Testosterone can make such a difference.My Doc is surprised as well and is going to take it up with the other Doc's in her circle.
Just thought it might be worth having a bloodtest .

[CLKD]

It is known that Anti-depressant and Anti-anxiety medications help with those illnesses - they are specifically for those conditions regardless of causation.  HRT ? .......... is hormone replacement therapy.  As a sufferer of both the above, I KNOW that they work for the ABOVE.  I would never have trusted HRT to work to ease depression or anxiety ........ I still can't get my head round that people who haven't suffered from the above keep suggesting that HRT should be the 1st line of treatment at peri - after all, it is obvious on here that ladies sometimes have to try several methods of HRT but are left feeling suicidal or ill .........

[racjen]

I take your point CKLD, particularly as I'm in exactly that position myself, but not everyone gets on with ADs - for some they cause horrendous side-effects and for others they simply don't work. I think the whole thing is way more complicated than there being one appropriate mode of treatment, and I have to say I've changed my opinion a bit in the months I've been suffering from hormone-related depression and anxiety. I do think hormones are at the root and I do think I'll eventually find a hormonal solution, but in the meantime I've had to accept that ADs may give me temporary respite from these horrible symptoms. However, I've had a lot of trouble with ADs in the past, SSRIs most definitely don't agree with me. I'm now reluctantly trying a low dose of amitryptiline, which so far is making me more depressed than I was before and not doing a huge amount for the anxiety. Hanging on in there as I know it can take a while (been nearly 2 weeks now). Really I just wanted to make the point that ADs may've worked well for you, but that isn't always the case, sometimes thay create more problems than they solve, and also many GPs use them as the end solution rather than investigating the causes further.

[racjen]

Also I should've mentioned that, for me, increasing my estrogen levels has generally had the effect of alleviating my depression, the problems have come with progesterone and testosterone. Had I not been on the ball my GP would've prescribed ADs rather than HRT right at the beginning and I'd never have tried estrogen. There are lots of stories on here of women getting relief from major mood disorders through HRT.

[CLKD]

Also many ladies have bad experiences with progesterone.  It's really hard work finding a treatment which even begins to work.

I had several bad effects with ADs early on (1990s) but we kept trying. It's not a cure but it enables me.  Now I know when my brain needs support ........ and the emergency pill helps when anxiety strikes.  Maybe the hormones are causing you more depression rather than the amitryptiline not helping?  I was given that when I had trigenimal neuralgia and it did nowt 

[racjen]

Seems a pretty big coincidence - as soon as I start taking or increasing the amitryptiline I start feeling depressed, whereas before my mood was gradually improving on estrogen. I don't think it can be a case of my own hormones still fluctuating as my ovaries were completely clobbered by chemotherapy lasy year, and I'm not taking progesterone at the moment so it can't be that. ADs always have this effect on me - I feel much worse before I feel better.