I am 56 yrs old and this is my 8th year of the menopause. I still get monthly (although very , very limited) bleeds. But the main problem is the horrendous depression, mood swings and anxiety that fluctuate so high, especially a week before a a period.
However, I am taking B12 injections, NDT, Adrenal Extra (via Dr P), Q10, Vit C and D as well as Iron supplements. ( I have a history ferritin and folate defficiency).
Now this is the biggy.........I have been taking Venlafaxine (anti-depressants) for 15 yrs.....I have seen my GP regarding this issue.......He stated ( a real cop-out) that "taking anti-depressants for a long time may cause a person to become immune to them! ". So I have been given a slightly higher dose..
Going back to the menopause, I suffer so very, very much. I have been reading a lot of literature regarding Natural Progesterone. And the use of PROMETRIUM which is apparently natural as opposed to synthetic hormone.
I have to do something. I have scrolled through the internet at costings for this medicine and it quite expensive. And, apparently it does not work given in a tablet form.
Can anybody tell me If I can get this on the NHS? or have any other helpful advice please?
Regards,
Ollybear
Written by
Booblet
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I suffered depression for the first time last year, and am menopausal. When sex hormones were tested, both progesterone and oestrogen were on the floor and testosterone elevated .
Thankfully I was prescribed bioidentical HRT on the National Health, which has not only improved moods no end ...and also prevented a possible hairy beard and deep gruff voice ! ! .... ;o)))) .....
If you have had adrenal issues (common with low thyroid hormone), you will probably have other hormone imbalances. It is true many have "oestrogen dominance" but it would be prudent to ask your GP to test all sex hormones to see what requires supplementing before using Natural Progesterone.
Good morning, so sorry your suffering so much. In Dr P's book he recommends Wellspring Trading Ltd, channel Islands - there Serenity Cream - Natural Progesterone or Triple Oestrogen - Natural Oestrogen. Cost with delivery is 20pound and the tub lasts around 2 months. There website is really impressive and so is there customer service. It's worth baring in mind that they thyroid can effect the hormones but once the hormones are effected, they can then effect your Thyroid. Is your depression caused by the Thyroid, Best wishes
Thank-you for your reply. I have tried Serenity (from Well springs) and unfortunetly it didn't help at all. Depression......well, I am not sure I can pinpoint one area......but like you said regarding the relationship between the thyroid and hormones, I am pretty sure that that is one reason.....
Why do we have to suffer like this? It gets me so mad that we have Doctors in this country who are so ignorant, or to put it another way, who are so 'for' the 'wants' in this life....mainly financial....
You mention that you are receiving B12 shots - presumably because you have absorption problems. How do you get on with these? It may be that even with these (or even because of the injections) you actually need a lot more than you are getting. Are you on the 3 monthly maintenance regime they use in the UK or are you based outside the UK on some other regime? In any case how much B12 you really need is very much a matter for individuals.
Unfortunately GPs really aren't aware enough of the neuropsychological effects of B12 ... and they are also tend to be totally unaware that they need to treat symptoms not levels in blood - particularly after supplementation so if your levels are high they assume everything must be okay but there are actually a number of things that can go wrong between the blood and the cell ... and it is what is going on in your cells that counts with B12 - blood is just the transport mechanism ... correction - just part of the transprot mechanism,
My pre-menstral symptoms were horrendous until I started using really high doses of B12 - Not sure why but like the body trying to deal with all the hormone level changes really sapped by b12 - could be a vicious circle as dealing with anxiety does tend to take up a lot of B12 for some people.
I had a low level bleed that wouldn't stop last year and was given some artificial progesterone - was given a weeks worth - but it totally knocked me out and I stopped after 24 hours - had a really heavy bleed this last month - was changing pads every hour and only thing I could think of to do was resort to the progresterone again - but this time I took a half single dose but even that left me totally hormonal for a week. There is some evidence from studies that the artificial progesterone does interfere with operation of B12 so it is something I personally approach with extreme caution.
Apparently, artificial progesterone is more like testosterone biochemically - I wish I could remember what article I found that in. It had pictures of the chemical structures.
Thank-you for your reply. I have B12 injections every 8 weeks from NHS. However, I do inject myself with B12 once every week, but I feel (thanks to your advice) that I should be administrating B12 myself more.
After reading your reply (which was brill) I feel so much better. I am going to have more B12.
I do not like the idea of Progesterone (artificial).....there is so much rubbish now in NHS drugs.....And I believe it is getting worst.
I couldn't get anything except horse pee on the NHS so i had to go private to get bioidentical HRT. I was getting ready to kill myself,as I just couldn't stand it any longer, before getting the hormones. If you can aford it, I would definitely recommend biohrt. Creams didn't do anything for me (even prescription doses) - you can buy natural progesterone cream online if you just want to try it. I needed oestrogen and DHEA as well as progesterone.
than-you for your reply. So you know you sound just like me.....meaning you seem to get all the symptoms and illnesses that I get.....do you get allergies also?? The reason I am asking is that I am sure there is a correlation between allergies and PMT, Adrenal problems, Thyroid problems (under-active), low ferritin ect.....and really bad Menopause...
I too feel ready to kill myself......I cannot keep 'coping' with these horrendous symptons anymore. I agree with you totally with using biohrt...and like you my DHEA is low. As so my Cortisol.
At the moment I am trying to find a suitable (one that I can afford) company in America that will supply biohrt. I have tried the cream and it is useless.
I too agree with the relationship between horse pee and NHS!!
I'm in early onset menopause (I'm 40). Diagnosed last year with many of my hormones rock bottom with a FSH of over 100. Horrible symptoms emotionally as well as frequent hot flashes and not sleeping well. Went to a naturopath here (I'm in the states) and was prescribed bio-identical hormones. Everything has improved and I would highly recommend the bio identicals. It was the best decision I have made. My energy has also increased since starting HRT. Synthetic progesterone is really bad for you, so I would steer clear of synthetic/horse hormones.
thank-you so much for your reply, it has really helped. I fully agree with what you say, funny enough I went on an American website to purchase Bio-identical hormone product but it is the posting (to England) that is so expensive.
Do you know anywhere in USA that is quite cheap to buy this product? If so I would be so grateful if you could PM me. One way or another I will get hold of this product!
You really need a practitioner to prescribe biohrt for you individually as the amounts needed are different for everyone. I'm in the UK so no idea about USA. Why does it have to be in the USA?
If you have vaginal atrophy, a few of the online pharmacies do Vagifem, which worked well for me in the early stages - it's a one-size-fits-all bio identical pessary.
I used to have asthma, but it seems to have gone now. I had hay fever too as a child, but, although I still sneeze a lot, I don't get the stuffed-up headachey feeling any more.
Well, it is very expensive like all private medicine. It might be possible to get a US practitioner to do a telephone consultation and email blood results, but I suspect it wouldn't end up being much cheaper in the end, as the US expect you to be able to claim on health insurance. India might be a possibility.
Hi booblet, just found ur thread 6 months on and wondered how you are doing? Things u mention remind me of what I have gone through for years. Im almost 59 now ans still not through menopause fully. Docs have been useless for me and past 4 years especially have felt like the road to hell as my ft4 and ft3 are low but my tsh never reached 10 so I have been struggling with low thyroid and no medication. This has really messed up my hormones and I think its why I am still struggling at 59. I have been diagnosed privately with adenymyoisis? Not quite how it is spelt im sure? NHS not interested as they did biopsies and found nothing. Anyway to cut long story a little short. I found the whole root of my trouble to be very low vit d! Without vit d your adrenals cant produce progesterone and that causes a whole load of serious troubles. Thyroid cant work without progesterone and if u take hrt the estrogen will make ur thyroid worse. GP refused me natural progesterone said at my age i didnt need it! I get my natural progesterone gel here in uk from a company in cumbria. Im using it to help me till my vit d levels are up. You can buy premetrium very cheaply in spain. Ive never had a hot flush only symptom of menopause i have is vastly reduced bleeding. It will soon be two years since I had a bad period mine used to last a whole month and the bleeding was scary. I bleed very lightly now almost every month but I dont think I have ovulated for a few years. My private blood tests showed very low vit d, low ferritin, low b12, low folate and low ft4 and ft3 but my gp insists that there is nothing wrong with me! I am now trying hard to fix my vitamin problems as I have no antibody problems and hope if I can fix these things I will get my life back. It has been a long slog and Im so angry at so called doctors who dont do anything to help us women who are all in same boat. So check ur vit levels and get advice on here its the only thing that has kept me sane! Xx
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