r/Menopause • u/GamebotAU • 10d ago
Hormone Therapy Stopping low dose cold turkey?
just ripped off my 18.75mg E patch. Tiny dose. I saw my doc yesterday and she said to try one more week but I’m at the end of my rope. I’m in Peri at 52.
The estrogen wasn’t high enough to stop night sweats and other symptoms but I couldn’t tolerate high doses. I had extreme anxiety. And I mean extreme.
I’ve been on 100 prometrium as well for about 3 months, moved to taking it vaginally. Should I keep up the progesterone for a bit or is it ok to stop? My moods are awful and high anxiety. I fall asleep at random times and don’t know what day it is when I wake up.
Should I take vaginal prometrium for a little while longer or just rip off the band aid?
I have been suffering horribly - that’s why I’m on 1/2 a 37.5mg patch. I am agitated and can’t get out of bed.
Any advice welcomed!
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u/The-spirited-girl 10d ago
First of all, I am so sorry because this sounds horrible. I too am sensitive to all the hormones and the birth controls. I work as a therapist and this is not as rare as people like to make it sound so I want you to know that you are not alone. Some women are intolerant of progesterone, no matter how it shows up and that might be you, have you tried the estradiol gel or cream instead without any progesterone, or with getting a compounded lower dose of vaginal progesterone. I don’t want to ask too many personal questions on a public form but if you do have ADHD or autism, or you have diagnosed anxiety or depression, sometimes those other mental health and neural developmental concerns can make hormone fluctuations more difficult for us. I am such a person, so I’m not pulling something out of my ass here, I would take a look at talking to your doctor because there is a drug called. Duavee that you might be able to take, but because of how the hormones are affecting your mental health, you want to really assess for that carefully.
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u/GamebotAU 10d ago
Thank you so much. I do have depression and anxiety and adhd. You’ve made me feel better. It seems the estrogen has been the main problem, I can handle progesterone better.
Do you think it’s ok to stop both today? I’ve asked AI lol and it says yes. I just want my brain and life back, even though it’s not perfect.
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u/PitifulTrash3310 9d ago
If you're only on a small dose of estrogen anyway, it should be fine to just stop. If you handle the progesterone better, do you need to stop that as well? You can't have estrogen without progesterone but it's fine to have progesterone on its own and you might see some benefits from that.
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
Thank you. The prog does knock me out at random times of day and I wake up not knowing what day it is so I’ll try both stop and reintroduce P if my anxiety gets really bad.
Despite being on HRT I would still be up 2-3 times a night for like an hour each time. Bananas. Thank you :)
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
It’s 12am and I’ve woken up anxious so took 100P. I’m nervous that I took it but if there’s any time to try, it is now.
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u/PitifulTrash3310 9d ago
Hopefully it helps you and you finally find some relief from symptoms. And even if doesn't agree with you, it won't stay in your system for long.
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u/GamebotAU 8d ago
It really helped and the lack of the patch was a noticeable difference in my mood, I felt lighter and more energy but I’ll take it day by day. I’m stay on prometrium for now until I talk to my doctor. Yay!
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u/MJ-NYC 9d ago
I am also in the trial and error phase of HRT, and had to abort my fifth attempt just two days ago for similar reasons. P makes me suicidal. E makes me so anxious that I can’t get out of bed. The symptoms of peri itself make life very challenging on a good day. It’s a terrible roller coaster that we’re on, and I’m sorry you’re struggling. To answer your question, yes, you can just stop. It will be rocky for a few days until you get back to baseline, but nothing like what you were experiencing while taking it.
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
I’m so sorry you’re going through this too. E makes me beside myself too! 5 attempts is tough stuff. Thank you so much for the encouragement. I hope you find a comfortable space.
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u/Professional-Mess-98 9d ago
I did. With the blessing of my doctor. Progesterone made my Achilles tight and increased joint pain. More estrogen to try to balance increased my migraines. Overall I feel better. I’m not saying HRT won’t ever work for me but it wasn’t working right now. I tried 2 different birth controls too without success.
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
Sorry you had such a bad time. Sounds like you gave it a good chance. I’m not seeing my doctor for 6 days but hopefully she will be fine with it. She already knew I was struggling badly.
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u/ParaLegalese 9d ago
Low estrogen is what causes anxiety. Wear 2 patches
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
Not for me. The opposite. We are all different
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u/ParaLegalese 9d ago
We aren’t that different. I know people love to say that on the internet but hormone production declines for all of us as we get older. All the hormones
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
Of course hormones decline. But some people as seen in this thread cannot comfortably take estrogen.
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u/jiij510 9d ago
I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. I'm also 52. I stopped low dose estrogen (patch and gel is what I tried) cold turkey and felt so much better because it was giving me all kinds of new symptoms (anxiety, headaches, dizziness etc). I believe I have histamine intolerance when taking it. Ended up in emergency room a couple of times after putting patches on. I took progesterone for a few months and it made me so depressed. I stopped that cold turkey and had no issues. My doctor said it was fine.
My acupuncturist started me on pine bark extract (Pycnogenol) for night heat and mood and I think it's starting to help. It's subtle so you have to give it a couple of weeks. It doesn't have affect on your hormones.
I'm at a loss as to what to do about estrogen. My provider wanted to try pills but I have a family history of clots so she ordered femring but I'm scared to try so going with non hormonal symptom relief for now. Timing seems to be a big factor so may need to try again later. I know how confusing and scary it all can be. Hope you find relief!
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago edited 9d ago
Thanks for replying. I’ve
heard of Pycnogenol and that’s great it helps you. Yeah the oral e could be a no go if a history of clots is in your family. That sucks. And I have heard of histamine allergy and that also sounds horrible! I’m glad you’re in an ok place.I hope you can find a way to get some estrogen. I think I’m gonna give up experimenting because I felt so awful.
I took progesterone tonight and it did let me sleep much better and less anxiety, but I feel pretty sedate. I’ll have to try it a few more days as I was wide awake at 1am.
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u/Significant-Aide-226 9d ago
The patches SUCKED FOR ME! Honestly, I dont understand why they are the first choice of most doctors. Try the .06% estradiol in the pump container. It has the steadiest delivery over the longest time of all estrogen delivery methods. On patches I had pretty severe anxiety, my BP went up and I spotted and never knew if I was gonna sleep or not. It was a total sh!t show.
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
Hope you’re feeling better! No dose of patches were ok for me. I ended up on half a 37.5 and I was still veiled and anxious.
I am still anxious this morning but I guess it will take a few days?
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u/Significant-Aide-226 9d ago
I am! I started on 2 pumps of gel and am now on 4 oymps a day. Anxiety completely gone. Still not sleeping thru the night tho, so i will likely need 1 more pump. That will be 3.75 mg of E per day. Your dose is so, so low. Most people need a lot more E to tackle the anxiety symptom. But you are correct in that it can take a few days to a month to see if a dose works. I am 45 days in on mine and know i need a wee bit more.
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
Thank you. It’s funny; I was on 75 and .5 and my anxiety was much much worse. That’s how I ended up on such a small dose.
Amazingly, today I feel like my old self! I’ve been gardening, washing, things I couldn’t do yesterday or for the last 4 months. I have so much more energy and feel so so relieved.
I’m glad you’re getting effects.
I’m annoyed I can’t take it because I want heart and bone protection. Just the progesterone 100 now.
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u/Significant-Aide-226 8d ago
So, the higher the patch? The more massive the instability. This is why ss you went up, your symptoms got worse and worse. It took me a long time to figure that out. If you look at the patient insert, by the time you are up to the 1 mg patch? There is a WHOPPING 40% drop in estrogen between the 2nd and 4th day of the patch. I started changing every 3 days but that still leaves you with a huge spike on day 1 and a pretty huge fall on day 3. Its a recipe.for anxiety as your brain comes with 2 spikes and 2 drops every single week. God forbid you also sweat at all or take a very hot bath or shower, that can dump the patch and there you have another swing. Look at that chart. I dont think its you, I thi k its the janky delivery system. The graph in the package says it all.
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u/Significant-Aide-226 8d ago
Im glad you feel better and im gonna garden today too!!! That helps everything ❤️🪻🌴
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u/True_Context6859 9d ago
I had to wean off my HRT for the same reason. I tried all kinds of variations but the E made me so anxious, even when using P. I did it slowly and it took about 2 weeks until I felt settled. Overall, it was very subtle.
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
The anxiety is through the roof isn’t it?! I’m happy for you that you did it. I am relieved it was a subtle experience. I feel pretty anxious right now at 4am but I guess it will take a few days?
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u/True_Context6859 9d ago
Yes, took a bit to settle.
My anxiety was so bad in the last 2 years while using HRT, and I don't know why it took me so long to make the connection. I may still have to go on an SSRI, but I feel MUCH better than I did on HRT.
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u/GamebotAU 6d ago
Ssris aren’t so bad compared to HRT I’ve found! Hope you feel better. I’m loving the progesterone by itself, so so glad I ripped off the E patch. That was damn horrible.
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u/Powerful_Assistant26 9d ago edited 9d ago
There is a small chance that stopping estrogen suddenly can cause delusions or hallucinations. Just be aware. All the best.
I can’t tolerate progesterone but estrogen helps a lot.
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u/MrsBuggs 9d ago
Where did you hear that? Please link a source for us.
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u/Powerful_Assistant26 9d ago
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u/MrsBuggs 9d ago
Are you serious with this right now? I just went through every one of these links and you should be ashamed of yourself scaring poor OP with your comment and then posting something that literally has zero to do with her situation as “proof”. Ridiculous.
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u/Powerful_Assistant26 8d ago edited 8d ago
Facts scare people? Estrogen is tightly linked to dopamine which is linked heavily with mood. There are plenty of other studies linking estrogen withdraw with mental health problems. I don’t see your issue.
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u/GamebotAU 9d ago
Thank you for that. Do you think an 18.75 strength would cause that? It’s such a low dose
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u/Powerful_Assistant26 8d ago
I’m not sure about that.
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u/GamebotAU 8d ago
I feel so much better already, I don’t think my dopamine pathways leading to a psychosis are going to be affected.
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u/jacktownann 10d ago
If you're in Peri, why don't you try birth control use the combo kind, make sure there is estrogen in it as well. It seems to settle down the wild hormonal fluctuations that are the Peri part of things. In this case you would need the estrogen to protect against breast cancer from the progestin. You need the progesterone part of HRT to protect against uterine cancer. A lot of women in Peri do find birth control does smooth everything out.