What the heck is this??? Help!!

Yesterday, I started diving into a depression. I left work early and knew I just had to get home. I barely pulled out of the parking lot before I burst into hysterical sobs.

About 5 weeks ago, I changed my vivelle dot to .01. About 2 weeks ago, I stopped one of my progesterone doses each day because of the incredible joint pain.

I have noticed a pattern over the last month. I have taken off every Monday or Tuesday and can barely get out of bed due to fatique, depression and an overall feeling of "blah". I usually just stay in bed most of the time. I was changing my patch on Tuesday and Friday, both days in the morning.

Is it possible that I "run out" of estrogen by Monday or Tuesday? I changed my patch last night and within a couple of hours felt a lot better. Although I was "flushing" this morning when I woke up.

From Tuesday to Friday its only three days and from Friday to Tuesday it is four. Could that make a difference? Could I be low on estrogen?

Could it be too much?? I have the too much, too little list in front of me. I am so confused. I am thinking that it may make sense to call my doctor and have her run a blood test.

Hi, Clarisse!

You may find that your patch is "leaving" you a bit early if you're slender or physically very active. For a while, I was actually changing mine every other day, and when I'm particularly active, I do have to change it early. So I had my doctor write my prescription for "every other day" -- that way I always have enough when I need it.

Also, I did start an antidepressant (Welbutrin) a few weeks ago. Although I can't say that it's given me more energy, exactly, it's helped even out the hormonal fluctuations...and amazingly enough, helped with the nerve pain from my two herniated discs in my neck. If you're so debilitated that you can't get out of bed two days a week then you need to discuss your options with the doctor.

Did you suffer from PMS before your surgery? I know that I did...and that helped me decide how I wanted to proceed with HRT when the time came. There's a book called "Know Your Menopause Type" -- and a related website -- that may help you sort this out.

Please, discuss this with your doctor, or if you can, find a doctor who specializes in menopause issues (often the local compounding pharmacy can help with this). You deserve to feel better than this...and you CAN...with the right treatment.

-- and I'll for some answers for you!

Audrey

Clarisse,
While I don't use the patch for hrt I do for chronic pain problems. The instructions call for changing every 72 hours, however I was having alot more pain in the last 24 hours. Doctor told me this wasn't unusual and wrote the script for me to change every 48 hours.

We are all different and there is not a one size fits all approach to hrt. I have seen lots of posts here from women on the patch who have had to change it earlier than the original prescribing dose. I think it's a worth a try to see if that makes a difference for you.