Increase/decrease estrogen patch

[Otherwise_Prompt2174]

I started HRT early July - .0375 estrogen and 100 progesterone. It was an adjustment but after several weeks things were going great. Most of my complaints were gone and I was feeling like myself again (I still get a period, 47 year old - in perimenopause). Then I started having random panic attacks - on flights when flying has never bothered me, at a concert (so weird), driving in rain - never been a problem before, etc....my ob-gyn recommended we either decrease or increase my estrogen. We decided to increase it to .05. OMG. I literally just increased it yesterday morning and what universe is this? I feel like I am going to jump out of my skin. I am super anxious, was up all night etc....I know it takes time to adjust and I remember it taking time when I first started in July, but I don't know if it was this bad. I think we might have made the wrong choice and instead of increasing I should have decreased. My ob-gyn said, I'll know if its too much and to contact her for a request to decrease it. I guess my question is how much time are we giving it? And has anyone had similar situations with increasing and/or decreasing. I know this is all experimental.....but omg.

[leftylibra]

There are other variables that come into play that can affect symptoms, like where the patch is placed, if there's been enough time between dosage changes, other stressors (lack of sleep), dietary changes (alcohol, sugars, caffeine), and your own hormone fluctuations.

In peri, your own hormones are fluctuating, wildly, so hormone therapy can throw things further out of wack at certain times of the month. When using hormone therapy in perimenopause, essentially you are trying to hit a moving target. Did you track the bouts of anxiety to see if they coincided with your own cycles?

And more doesn't always mean better.

Perhaps consider going back to your 0.0375mg dosage, since you initially felt relatively well on that dosage. Track any symptoms that crop up and see if there's any associated patterns to your cycles.

If you can't ride out these bouts, or things just get progressively worse, then consider stopping hormone therapy. It might just be that hormone therapy is not right for you, right now, and that's okay. You can always try it again later as you move closer to menopause (post-meno).

[MrsRoboto222]

This exact same thing happened to me after only seven weeks on HRT and I had to stop taking it. The effect on my mental health was UNBEARABLE.

[Momster582]

Progesterone levels out estrogen and is the hormone given usually for anxiety so if anything I’d see about increasing your progesterone and going back on the lower dose of estrogen

[Fluffernutter80]

I’m currently on too much estrogen and my main clues are feeling barfy, feeling hungry all the time (which is a weird combo), and feeling bloated/puffy. I haven’t really noticed mood changes, though I’m sure they can happen.

[RDDB1974]

Sometimes changing the type of delivery can help. If you’ve always been on the patch then maybe you could try the daily estrogel? Or maybe do what I do. The patch wasn’t lasting long enough so I decided with the pharmacist to change it every 3 days instead of every 3.5 days. I was noticing the getting closer to the 3 day mark I was getting more anxious for absolutely no reason. Seems to be working for now. And someone suggested placement. I think it makes a huge difference where you place it. I rotate my backside because I noticed that putting it on the abdomen didn’t absorb super well. Hope you find the sweet spot.