[zijax]

Anyone tried hrt, the patches or the pellets? Wonder how extra testosterone and estrogen effect a bipolar person? I'd like to try it for help with depression, muscle tone, weight loss, libido, mood stability, energy, bone density and no more hot flashes but some reports say it causes weight gain and anxiety. Anyone on here tried it for peri- and menopausal or post-menopausal symptoms? Women and men are using the pellets.

[Rjaye]

Pellets? You mean pills?

Nope, there's pellet treatment too Hormone Pellet Therapy for Women - BioTE Medical. Never used HRT, I stuck to using black kohosh.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I would approach it with caution. I had early onset menopause and to control some issues I was having I had a Mirena placed. I had been sensitive to hormones in the pill but the Mirena is a teeny amount of hormone. I wound up suicidal for 9 months until we decided to pull it and see if it helped. When it did everyone was shocked but my gyn and pdoc found 2 more cases of the same issue in bipolar women in the next months. So now the big hospital I go to uses Mirenas very carefully with bipolar women.

I wound up with a hysterectomy and normally would have had my ovaries taken too as I had a great deal of pain believed to be from them (turned out to be something else that was removed). My gyn said there was no way that she would ever put me on hormone replacement and so I kept the ovaries and have gone through the rest of menopause without hormones.

I don't seem to have any more hormonal symptoms now and so I've made it without hormone replacement. For me it was the only choice. I'd be very cautious about hormones just because they can affect mood and disrupt stability.

[Rjaye]

I looked up that pellet. Why use that when it's the same as regular HRT? And HRT is covered by insurance?

I agree with Rainbow. HRT has side effects. I ended up with high blood pressure, anxiety, and I bloated terribly. Doc thought I truly had high blood pressure, until I realized that the HRT coincided with my sudden rise in bp. As soon as I went off of HRT, my blood pressure dropped to low normal, the anxiety stopped, and the water weight came off.

But that's me. You may benefit, but go in knowing what the side effects will be so you can track your symptoms.

[Unrigged64072835]

I was on HRT patches for a short while after my total hysterectomy. They didn't do much and the patches didn't stick, so I stopped using them. I've only have had a few hot flashes since then.

[vjdragonfly]

I had a complete hysterectomy and was on hormones on and off over the years. The last time I was put back on them was a recommendation from my pdoc. I took them for a while but they did not seem to have any effect at all so i quit taking them. I worry about the fact that estrogen can cause cancer.