I'm 67. I went through menopause at 50 using herbal supplements-not too many problems with hot sweats but noticed an increase in anxiety but managed a stressful job . Fast forward to now, I feel light headed and off balance nearly all the time-pollen season is worse due to histamine so I have to watch for that-I never had any allergies at all till later life-I understand oestrogen helps break down histamine.
I wondered if it was too late to start a low dose oestrogen supplement to see if that would help-just wondered if anyone out there had similar problems . I take thyroxine for underactive thyroid and have been fine on that for 10 years. Any advice greatly appreciated-open to any suggestions whether herbal or bio identical .
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celticlady
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Hi celticlady - there’s a patch called Menostar but I think it’s only available in the USA. It’s 14mcg oestrogen and is used to help prevent osteoporosis in older women without the need for progesterone/progestin. It might be a good place to start if your GP is amenable to you cutting say a 25mcg patch in half?
Thank you Jamima. I'm in UK. Also heard progesterone is the calming hormone. Could be that SSRIs could help although don't want to do this if I can avoid. Will definitely be doing a small dose of whatever as I have a very reactive system. Best wishes.
I don't believe it's ever too late to start oestrogen, although some GPs are more reluctant than others. If you have your uterus they will also probably insist on progesterone whatever the dose. I am very reactive to most medication and only need max 1/4 of an evorel patch to keep my flushes and anxiety at bay (plus other symptoms).
Fortunately my GP is ok with me playing around with the dosage, but many aren't. If you decide to give it a go, then I would taper in from a v small dose, no matter what the medic says. If you get a side effect, then stay on that dose for a few days to see if it settles and if not go back to the last dose level.
Hi, I'm mid 60's and take Kliovance which has been amazing. Saw a dramatic reduction in arthritis symptoms when I started too. Also check out vitamins as ageing does affect digestion and absorption. I take D3 which has also helped as I wanted to avoid any medication for low mood as side effects so awful.
Hello Celticlady, at 62, I suddenly developed dizziness and vertigo. All tests were fine so anxiety ended up as the diagnosis. Having been on SSRI’s before, I didn’t want to go on those again. After a lot of research I requested HRT and have just started body identical oestrogen gel and progesterone (I’m UK based). Early days so I can’t yet comment but would recommend checking out Dr Louise Newsome if you want to get familiar with the pros and cons. Good luck!
That's really interesting Phizzy. I wonder if the anxiety is worse as we age due to depletion. I didn't have it during menopause. Don't want to use SSRIs as I am intolerant of drugs and would have every side effect. Bio identical hormones sound good, carol vorderman swears by them!. Please update me on how you progress with them.
Hi Celticlady, I hope you don't mind me asking but can you tell me what herbal remedies you used please? I've recently stopped HRT because I was struggling with It, bleeding my main problem also weight gain. Been off it only a couple of weeks and already feeling better in my self, stopped bleeding and bloating has also calmed down. I'm still nervous and expecting negative things though.
Also about your dizziness. I wonder have you had your vitamin B12 leaves checked. I went through a faze myself with chronic vertigo last year, was horrible. Turned out by B12 was low. I hope you feel better soon x
Sorry to hear you're struggling with this. Going back many years to age 50 I started taking starflower oil and soy isoflavones. Helped with the sweats but to be honest I don't remember having the anxiety I have now or the light headedness-maybe the oestrogen has lowered even more. These herbal supplements-especially starflower oil -helped with PMT which was very bad for me. The plant oestrogens go some way to replacing this but I realise progesterone is the calming hormone. I react badly to even vitamin tablets so have to be really careful with meds. Re B12 I take supplements-a spray-and am about to send off for private blood test for this and ferritin/folate ;levels. Im hypothyroid so am depleted in certain things.
If I could just eradicate the lightheadedness that would solve most of my probs. Going through meno my feelings were like a flatlining-neither up nor down -and tiredness but no great anxiety as such. I read the low oestrogen can cause light headedness and lots of other things. I also have a bad time in pollen season-histamine intolerance, this causes anxiety and being short of breath.
Add into the mix a house flood last year and it's a perfect storm for all sorts of stuff-just read about PPPD and the vestibular system-balance issues-also low oestrogen connection.
Hope this gives some insight-always worth seeing a naturalist, I haven't but might consider as regular GP response is 'try SSRIs or meditation'. !!! keep me updated with how you're getting on and take care. x
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