[thickntired]

I was in patient at a psych ward last month and after numerous requests they chose not to check my hormone level. Jerks sent me home with ptsd meds. Finally I get a yahoo resident Dr (avoid at all costs) they argued with me and finally took the blood work and it's major depression from hormone imbalance. So, yay me! Fml. Then when I asked the Dr for topamax or metiformin for all the weight gain from AP they said no you don't have migraines or diabetes. As for the menopause we won't treat that until you have hot flashes. This resident Dr and his head Dr decided that was the best treatment. They also lied and said medicare wouldn't cover these to counter act AP.

I finally got an appt with a primary phy and I'm going to be seeing him a few times. I've gained 70lbs from antipsychotics in 2 yrs, my addiction specialist only gives me neurotin for 3 ruptured discs. Granted I can't take narcos but need celebrex tramadol or ultram PRN. I'm just so pissed that a simple blood test denied cost me 5 days inpatient. Menopause can cause suicidal depression. So wtf why not test for it in the freaking ER. The Dr I see tomorrow talked about biodinical ot biosynthetic meds. for menopause. I'm very very lucky after such medical incompetence to know my diagnosis.

Has anyone else dealt with menopause on top of mental illness? As soon as I got home with my ptsd meds I was back to crying for hours.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

I believe that I am experiencing a severe intensifying of bipolar disorder due to perimenopause. With all the discourse about how "evolved" women's medicine has become, I'm sure disappointed at how my gynecologist handled it when I told her that I would like hormone testing because I truly believe I'm experiencing a severe intensification of my mental illness due to hormonal changes. She didn't exactly deny my request to have hormone testing done, she just said she doesn't really think hormones are causing my problem. "She doesn't think..." based on what? THEN she told me that even if my hormone levels ARE causing mood probs for me there really isn't anything to do about it...maybe try natural (herbal) remedies (um, that's a potential problem if one is on psych meds)....and the full picture began to form in my mind as she was talking. The full picture being, there really aren't any good treatments for menopausal symptoms. Lots of talk, but not a lot of solutions. Hormone replacement therapy can be very risky and herbal remedies can cause a big mess of they interact with psych meds. It seems that every potential menopause treatment has some very dangerous side-effects attached.

*sigh* I don't mean to sound so negative, but I am very disappointed to learn that women of menopausal years are still being treated like our feelings and lives just don't *really* matter.

I'm perimenopausal (still!), my bipolar showed up full force when my peri symptoms began at age 43. Even though I have had my levels checked, there still really isn't anything they can do..I'm not a candidate for hrt because my mom had breast cancer at 57. I asked my pdoc one time a few years ago, which part is bp and which is peri and he just waved my lamictal rx at me and smiled. (I also fired that particular one after my hospital stay) I so know what you are going through.

I recall my grandmother saying once that she "went completely crazy" during menopause. I always wondered what she meant by that. Now I know :-/

[(JD)]

Check with an MD before taking herbs but... I could not have survived without them! Depending upon your age black or blue cohosh, epo (evening primrose oil) are a must. My MD is also homeopathic and guided me--- the herbs kept hormone s. Pretty level , removed hot flashes and helped me sleep . 💗

[TheOriginalMe]

Hi I'm perimenopausal too, last year I had some heavy bleeding problems and I agreed to have a Mirena fitted, that was my biggest mistake ever. I plummeted into a terrible depression that seems to be treatment resistant. I'd previously being doing really well (my best mood ever) on Effexor and having the Mirena just wiped that out. Eventually, I got the Mirena removed but so far my mood hasn't really responded. I won't be messing with my hormones again anytime soon.

At the moment I'm on Cymbalta which suits me as far as side-effects go but it hasn't done much for my depression.

Being female and 49 sucks.

Yeah, it sure does suck.

Black cohash and epo are supposed to be the standard menopause herbs. The trick is finding the MD who actually knows how the herbs would interact with my meds. I'm scared to death to even shake things up, for fear I'll be worse....but I might be missing the chance to feel better. Very frustrating.

[Nammu]

Psycheducation.org by Dr Phelps has a good reference and links to many more sites. I get so fed up with docs that don't link the whole body to symptoms, we are more than MI more than just hysterical females-- it's all connected.

[thickntired]

Thank you all SO much for the replies♥♥♥ unfortunately, I'm not the only female who has had subpar and downright degrading treatment. All my Dr's are male which doesn't help. I think premarin spell?? caused cancer. TW *** I also read about a horrible treatment where they slaughtered horse embryos but that may just be in Europe***
I don't see how in 2014 Dr's are just flat out stupid and send you on your way knowing you are a suicide risk. I remember reading about women in the 1950s and 60s who committed suicide from menopause. So why the lax treatment especially for those of us with pre existing MI??? I can't stand my pdoc, and I'm stuck because where I live you have to have a referral from a psych ward or medical Dr. It's a load of BS. I've never been on so many pills and they make me dumb as a box of rocks to boot.

I'll let you all know what/if I get a med so you all can try to find a script.

Love & Light

Tnt

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

This thread is so supportive, full of good info....thanks everyone. Keep us posted Tnt.

[Perna]

It is very complicated, the hormone/mental health thing not just one or the other. Have you been to a gynecologist? I would do that, they would know more than a GP (especially if you get a female doctor?).

I would not mess with too much/many different meds, especially just to work with the weight gain, they're too powerful. Any meds can help mess up your hormone levels even more and you don't need that. Stopping the AP meds should stop the weight gain and proper eating again bring down the weight gain; I have a good friend (guy :-) who was on steroids for several months so is now in the several month version of losing the weight by cutting out snacks, drinking (alcohol), etc. and is slowly but surely getting back to where he was.

I'd see a nutritionist and get into an exercise habit; the best thing for shifting hormone levels is to eat extra carefully, especially "support" foods (I eat Brazil nuts for the selenium to help my hypothyroidism, for example: Selenium: The Missing Link for Treating Hypothyroidism?).