Hello fellow crazy people (bit of an assumption there). I'm 48, English teacher, 3 grown up kids, happily married now to husband number two, was with number one for 21 years, last 5 were hellish and we split when I was 43. Live in Newark, runner and yogi. Getting mid-life belly, don't care about that, generally contented with my life and very grateful for health and situation.
So I'm here because of the ups and downs of menopause. Seems fairly taboo at work still. Most friends are younger than me or much older and have forgotten it seems. My mum's was awful. Mine isn't as bad as hers. She wanted to drive off a road and kill herself, and had a bit of a breakdown over that. HRT helped her a lot. So when I started to get severe mood swings, unpredictable periods, really sore boobs, warm flushes (never really hot), and a lot of anxiety and irritability, I went straight off the the GP and got Elleste duet 1mg. It worked so well. Period trouble stopped, boobs went back to normal, sex got easier again (no lube needed), mood stabilised and I thought it was all sorted.
But then Elleste had these manufacturing issues and is no longer available, so the doctor prescribed Femoston 1/10, saying it was the closest thing. I took one pack, so far so good. Had a little three day withdrawal bleed, but halfway through the next pack, towards the end of the Estradiol only pills, I had a massive, massive period, with PMT, full on bleed, lasted several days. It was a totally normal period, not a breakthrough. Because I'd had a big period, I decided to continue onto the next pack and I skipped the progestogone part, so now have had two weeks again on the Estradiol only and am almost back onto the progestogone section.
But since that time, my mood swings have gone off the scale. My husband and I had such a massive row in the car, over directions, that I ended up getting out of the car just to get away from him. The anxiety was so bad I had a panic attack by the side of the road, because he raised his voice at me. Some kind Tesco delivery driver came to help me and I couldn't explain what was wrong, so he called the police! By the time my calmer husband returned to find me and have a cuddle and apology etc., the bloody police were there. It all got resolved quite quickly but it was such a stupid drama kicked off by me yelling over directions.
Since then, I've descended into symptoms of depression. Crying every day, unable to cope with my husband being away on business. Anxious over everything. Feeling dizzy, fuzzy-headed, brain fog, hot and exhausted. I had a telephone appointment with the practice nurse, who has now prescribed a third HRT but I can't remember what it's called.
Anyway, my question is this. Can Femoston actually CAUSE depression? I haven't had actual depression since my divorce. Nothing in my life has triggered this. My life is really nice! I don't want to take another tablet if it's making me feel like this. But I'm halfway through a packet and if I stop I don't know when to start the third one, or even if I want to risk it.
Any thoughts or shares would be very much appreciated.
I have totally shared everything here - that police incident is something I haven't told anyone!
Hope to get some good sense here.
