Links between female hormones and depression/anxiety and best treatment?

[Oldmum]

I'll try to cut a long story short. Basically I've been having issues with my menstrual cycle, with bleeding most days of a month. While bleeding is happening I am very irritable, yelling, even swearing at kids and husband. I don't seem to have any control. I'm exhausted, sleeping during the day and unable to cope with basic things like cooking and cleaning. My attention and memory are so bad. I'm very sensitive and can't handle criticisms. I also can't handle sensory things very well like noises & movements around me (hard with a 2 and 5 year old!). My mood has been so low and I feel out of control and can't see a way to help myself. My husband is having to take time off constantly to help out as he's working from home during covid and it's really affecting him as well. When bleeding has stopped I notice a marked improvement. I am much more calm and much more tolerant. Still depressed and anxious, but much less so and even happy.
I'm really unhappy with my current psychiatrist and my mood goes down every time I talk to her. She's treating me with an SNRI and CBT. I really don't think these work for me as I only seem to be getting worse. I tried to explain this and ask if she thought my hormones could be playing a role. She said maybe but didnt elaborate. She's only obsessed with the damage I'm likely doing to my kids (100% agree with that), but did not offer any new solutions. She suggested upping my dose of SNRI, which I don't want to do, if anything I'd like to stop them and try something else.

I have plans to stay in a private mental health unit in the new year and will hopefully get assigned a new psychiatrist as I don't feel like my current one is helping.

My question is, does anyone have similar experiences with menstrual cycle/female hormones drastically exacerbating depression and anxiety symptoms and if so have you found a good treatment that works? Also, how did you convince your doctors to take this seriously?

To note, I'm currently awaiting a d&c procedure and biopsy to check for endometrial hyperplasia and I'm having a Mirena fitted. I'm very anxious about the Mirena as I've read some horror stories about it making mood worse... that's a whole other story though! Also I'm 43 and potentially the menstrual issues I'm having are the beginning of perimenopause.

Thanks for reading. This is my first post so I apologise if I've not framed it correctly or misread the rules.

[quirkywords]

O)ldmum

welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your story.

It must be difficult to be in so much pain but not feeling people understand. Of course you are aware of how your health affect your children, you need support not made to feel bad about that,

I did find I was very depressed just before my irregular cycles , this was many years ago now. As I had been diagnosed as bipolar the doctors concentrated on that and not on my cycle.

When I was in a menopause I found I was very tired and moody but again it was put down to my diagnosis.

I wonder if there is a womans health centre near you or yould contact one on line as I think getting up to date from specialists in womens health may help.

As well as coping with your cycles you have a 2 and a 5 year old so that would put pressure on your health.

Please dont apologise and I am sorry I dont have more recent information.

You are not alone and by writing your post you will have helped others who are suffering in a similar way.

I hope by answering your post I will bump it up the list of threads so more people can see it.

[Oldmum]

Quirkywords I wanted to say thank you for replying and know that I read your response and really appreciated it. I just was not in the right headspace to reply back to you straight away, so I apologise for that.
Thank you for your suggestion of a women's clinic, I think that is a great place to start as I feel like regular doctors don't really take me seriously. I'm also about to see a new psychiatrist and so have my fingers crossed I might get a bit further with him.
If I find out anything useful, I'll try to update in case it helps anyone else in the same situation.
Thanks again

[monkey_magic]

Hi Oldmum,

Even though you are still relatively young.

I have menstrual problems as well and it's driving me up the wall.

It happened after I reduced meds and my menstrual cycle was really heavy for a month to non existent for 6 mnths to an on and off again medium to very light flow for about 5 mnths now.

I don't feel like my normal self either.

The best advice I can give is to see a doctor that will send you to a specialist.

A psychiatrist will want to diagnose you with something and give you drugs.

To me, your problem sounds like it could be tackled in a more natural way.

I'm no expert but the doc put me on birth control, I was worse and it didn't control my period either. It made my moods worse. Then a psychiatrist will probably say it's bipolar when in reality it is something physical.

Research as much as you can and even look into natural remedies for perimenopause. Take the pressure off because it's not your fault this is happening it's purely physiological.

Take time to care about yourself and do things that make you happy and that relax you.

I feel like I just have to go through this crappy time but I have changed my dietary habits which is a start.

Good luck.

[Lillylane]

Oldmum,

I can only imagine how difficult and exhausting this must be when you already have the busy workload having a 2 and 5 year old.

I’m a similar age and I’ve had very heavy periods following the birth of my twins (now 5 years old). I’ve found my energy levels and resilience very much drop with my period. And with that, I experience my lowest moods, irritability and over sensitivity to light and noise.

I’ve also had iron deficiency (post birth). Just wondering if that’s something to look into as well? After an iron infusion my energy levels picked up markedly.

I hear you. It’s upsetting and frustrating when issues around women’s cycles are overlooked or ignored.

It took a long time, and 3 different GPs, to have my excessive pain taken seriously. It was only when I had trouble conceiving and was referred to a gynaecologist that it was investigated.

It’s worth looking for someone that really listens and is informed in women’s health.

My fingers are crossed for you.

lillylane.

[Forgive me]

How are you going now?

I have similar issues when my hormone levels drop. I find that EFT (a tapping exercise) and Fusion women's balance (a herbal product) work for me. Both were recommended by my GP.