Post menopausal emotional mess

[Louless9]

My periods stopped when I was 48 and I started HRT due to severe hot flushes. I am 58 now and live in the UK and am currently on Evorel Patches.

I have moderate depression and have just started therapy. I have been on Paroxetine for this for many years. My therapist suggested I see a menopause specialist to see if my HRT is still appropriate for me or if I need to change as she thought my emotional mood swings sounded hormonal.

I have been tracking my feelings and have notice I am always extremely tearful a few days before I get ill with a cold or tonsillitis.

I am always very tearful first thing in the morning and feel I can’t cope with the day, my thoughts get out of control and I feel very vulnerable and impulsive. Luckily I manage to calm down and do a short meditation before I go to work. Usually by the end of the day I feel normal again and totally different person!

Anyway, back to HRT. A private specialist is costly and I am wondering what they would do differently to my nhs GP. Has anyone else experienced a change in moods when they change their HRT? Was it for the better?

Thanks for reading.

L

[wobblybee Administrator]

🤔I was going to suggest looking online at Dr Louise Newson…

But when I looked for a link to her I saw this. Have a good scroll down the link I’ve given…overall it has interesting information re HRT.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8...

[Belle76 in reply to wobblybee]

Unfortunately this was a very one sided programme. It only gives a voice to the people that are trying to stop her from doing her job. To make money from desperate women who don’t have the care they need.

[wobblybee Administrator in reply to Belle76]

🙂My point was..

HRT has been shown to be safe and effective but the safety of prescribing higher doses has not been established in clinical trials.

[Brambledoggy]

What kind of Evorol patches? I’ve a dreadful history of hormonal imbalances and chronic endometriosis. After a long time trying to balance them I am on 50mg of Oestrodot patches (changed twice a week) and 100mg of Utrogestan nightly. Are your patches combined? It’s important to have both Oestrogen AND Progesterone if you still have a womb. Especially with a history of endometriosis. This combination has helped me suffer menopause much much less. Most of my symptoms have gone. Getting the hormones balanced correctly is so individual. When they are out of whack all hell can break loose.

[Suebedoo]

I would suggest contacting your GP first and asked to be referred to a menopause clinic/specialist and then failing that contact Louise Newson. You can also see someone privately for one appointment and they will send a letter to your GP. Louise Newson has a podcast which is very informative as well. I was allergic to HRT - severe headaches and felt like death so I have struggled through without it. I am now 60 and still get symptoms.