Debilitating mood changes helped by HRT

For 6 years I didn't know menopause can create mood problems. This was unfortunate because it was disabling for me, but I finally went on estrogen treatment for it and the symptoms never came back. Hooray!

During the worst times the mood problems I dealt with were:
For example, I love shopping of any kind, but every time I'd go food shopping I'd feel happy and looking forward to entering the store, but the moment I entered the store very intense feelings of dread, doom, apprehension, & depression/sadness hit me. My thoughts at that moment were always the same, "Yuk! I can't do this! I swear if I take one more step into this store I'll die. Something will happen to me but that doesn't make sense. Oh boy, I’ve got to get out of here. Now I'm feeling depressed at the thought of shopping & I dread doing it. Boy, I have to leave NOW." Then I'd walk out and as quickly as it had all started, it instantly stopped.

This was so intense and happened so much that I could no longer shop. I had to have food delivered to me for a few years! I had this same problem arise with the attempt to take baths, and as usual the moment I'd walk out of the bathroom after trying to bathe, the thoughts and feelings just vanished. I also had this with taking the bus anywhere. I had to use cabs instead.

Several times this problem arose while trying to shop for other things besides food. On these occasions I had to keep trying to shop over several weeks before I could manage to get it done (and then when I did get it done, it wasn't totally without those bad feelings and thoughts).

This happened to me from 2000 through mid 2005. Then I got my first taste of black cohosh. WOW! That stopped it all dead cold. Then I went on hormone replacement therapy because for some unknown reason the black cohosh wasn't enough anymore. Finally, because of the estrogen replacement, I never had any mood or thought issues again. FREE AT LAST!

Joanne

For more information about managing your menopause:

• Emotional Uproar, Remedies for Menopausal Symptoms
• Anxiety, Irritability & Insomnia , Remedies for Menopausal Symptoms
• Hormone Replacement and Why Would I Need it?
• Options for Managing Menopause
• Lifestyle Changes for Menopause

Updated 06/01/2007