I was prescribed HRT and it was horrendous. I had excruciating headaches that were actually quite frightening. I’ve never had headaches nearly as bad as this. It also made me ridiculously hormonal. I was crying every 5 minutes, had literally no patience and howled when I dropped a glass and it broke. I had what felt like really bad period pains and was all over the place. It was so horrendous, I stopped taking them and went cold turkey. I felt like I was being poisoned. I was so low.
At this point I should mention that I have rapid cycling bipolar II. I know about feeling low, I know about feeling suicidal. It took me to a very bad place. It was only my knowledge and self awareness of my mental health that got me through. I realised what was happening and had to keep telling myself this was about the meds and i would be ok.
There’s so much on tv, in magazines and on tv about HRT and how it’s amazing and the cure to all menopausal symptoms. I believed all the claims made and how life changing it would be. I almost felt obliged to take it. When it made me feel ill, I felt that I had failed. Why would it be so great for everyone but me?
It seemed to be ages until I got it out of my system, and obviously I still had all the menopausal symptoms. This was a few months ago and I should have spoken to my GP about it. But I had pushed for it and was embarrassed by failing and scared to try something else, in case I had similar problems. It’s also a nightmare trying to get an appointment, so I just plod on.
Apologies for rambling, but I can understand how overwhelmed she felt. When our head turns against us, it’s devastating. No-one on earth can hurt us more than ourselves.