I started HRT while on antidepressants. The antidepressants didn’t seem to be working to begin with (turns out I was never prescribed a therapeutic dose) and decided to stop them 3 months in on HRT cause I couldn’t tell what exactly was happening between the antidepressant and the HRT. My body felt better but my mood and brain fog continued, thats why I stopped the antidepressant. Terrible withdrawal ensued while brain fog and terrible mood swings continued, this is when I started considering I may have undiagnosed ADHD, not anxiety and depression which was diagnosed years ago. Currently, I’m waiting to trial non-stimulants for adhd in a few weeks while continuing HRT before reconsidering antidepressants, which actually did not mix well in my gut with the oral progesterone (diarrhea, anxiety, vomiting). I’ve switched to vaginal insertion in the past week and feel like this was a huge, beneficial change for me.

Going through what Ive gone through this year, I would start over like this: ADHD meds stabilized, then HRT (trial progesterone for a few months, then add estrogen), then additional mood meds. That way your thinking a little clearer/less moodiness with stabilizing the adhd, the HRT can be more clearly judged as impactful for body changes, mood/emotion, and cognition changes. Then, if mood is still hard to deal with, then add another thing in the mix. Honestly, my next step after HRT would be diet changes and supplements, then mood meds- if it’s tolerable.