BigBreesy: New-dealing with a cross taper AND perimenopause

[BigBreesy]

Been in peri for a few years but did pretty well until this year.  I'd been on Effexor XR since 1999.  This year, an abusive marriage and divorce and working two jobs brought it alllllllllllllllll out and my Psych (whom I've had since 2012) decided my Effexor was no longer working.  Unsure if this was accurate or my hormones or stress going haywire.  I'm still having regular periods.

 

She cross tapered me to Cymbalta, but this didn't have the desired effect. Meanwhile I had another practictioner throwing progesterone and testosterone at me.  I couldn't tell which way was up.  I wasted so much money on different providers, trying so hard to be heard about perimenopause and begging for a trial of low dose estrogen

In Sept I finally cross tapered off Effexor, then started the cross taper on to Zoloft.

3 weeks ago was my 150 mg increase on zoloft, and the beginning of tapering off Cymbalta, 90 mg to 60 mg.

THis week 11/6 I will be off Cymbalta and only on Zoloft 150 mg.

 

On the 16th I will start lowest dose estrogen patch FINALLY, about 2 weeks after my last Cymbalta dose.  2 weeks later, trial testosterone.  In the meantime I'm having jitters, feeling emotional, stressed, anxious.  It could be related to the cross taper of Cymbalta or it could be my hormones flippin around.  WD and hormones are a hell I never thought I'd deal with.

[LotusRising]

Hi @BigBreesy

 

Welcome to SA,

 

Could you please help us out by creating a drug signature. You can find instructions on how to do it here How to Create a Signature.

 

It sounds like you're making a lot of changes right now, which is something we generally advise against. It would be difficult to know what is causing what if you're crosst-apering and then adding hormones shortly thereafter. Have you considered stabilizing on zoloft first, prior to starting hormone therapy? We recommend to Keep it simple, slow and stable.

 

You noted you're still having regular periods - what other symptoms are you currently experiencing that you think might be related to perimenopause? Have you ever had your hormone levels tested?

 

Again, welcome to SA. Glad you've found us. 

 

Once you've added a signature, we can provide you with more accurate information.

 

LotusRising

 

 

[BigBreesy]

My post stated I won’t be starting estrogen  until after the Cymbalta is out for a couple weeks. Already been on progesterone for months.  Unfortunately earlier this year I did have too much going on, my psych wanted to move around my meds just as I started progesterone therapy.  It was her idea to take me off Effexor, stating it wasn’t working anymore even though I’d been on it since 1999 with few issues. 
 

she cross tapered me to Cymbalta and that wasn’t cutting it.  So, now cross taper to Zoloft.  I’ve only been on the Cymbalta several months vs the years with Effexor. 
 

The progesterone therapy has been consistent and re-evaluated by my general practitioner.  That’s been the same 

labs aren’t useful in perimenopause due to the hormones fluctuations daily.  I have them yes, I have had them monthly July-October but they only give a picture of what’s going on that day, and the next day things can change.  They show I’m in early peri but that’s about it, and I’ve always been sensitive to hormonal fluctuations 
 

i have many of the other symptoms of peri, which isn’t unusual even with regular cycles.  Brain fog, anxiety, sadness, night sweats, irritability, jitters, infertility (I’m in my mid 40s), all of which come and go depending on the time of month (except the infertility) This was going on before any med changes unfortunately

 

my psych and my GP are fully in the loop with everything, my psych said she was glad I was going to try the estrogen patch (lowest dose like I said)

 

I have  never been on an SSRI before though, always an SNRI.  

[LotusRising]

35 minutes ago, BigBreesy said:

My post stated I won’t be starting estrogen  until after the Cymbalta is out for a couple weeks.

Yes, thank you, I read your post. 2 weeks is not a lot of time to stabilize is what I meant. We typically advise holding for at least month, or waiting for symptoms to settle. It might be easier to tease out what is happening if you have more of a baseline. 

 

And thank you for creating your signature. It would be helpful if you could indicate when you started progesterone, and add any supplements you might be taking. 

 

38 minutes ago, BigBreesy said:

labs aren’t useful in perimenopause due to the hormones fluctuations daily.  I have them yes, 🙌 be had them monthly July-October but they only give a picture of what’s going on that day, and the next day things can change.

Yes, they do fluctuate for sure! The reason I asked about testing is because some practitioners will use these labs to get a picture of what's happening - a day 21 progesterone was helpful for me. It sounds like you've had some testing though  It's definitely challenging to feel heard while dealing with so many peri symptoms. I get that.

 

13 hours ago, BigBreesy said:

my Psych (whom I've had since 2012) decided my Effexor was no longer working.  Unsure if this was accurate or my hormones or stress going haywire.

This does happen, but as you mentioned, it could be hormones and stress too. See this link below:

 

 

Are you looking for information about tapering? This is what we have on zoloft:

 

Please let us know if you have any questions.

[BigBreesy]

I don’t know where I’d add progesterone, it’s so hard to find room but I’ll try. I have had several done on days 21 and such….apparently I’m in the early part of it.

 

I was told Cymbalta would be likely out of my system by near end of this month…but I don’t know. Psych is all for me trying it and said it sounded reasonable and I’ve had her since 2012 and she’s been the best I’ve had.  My guess is I’ll see how it is in a few weeks.
 

I did put in another call to psych to get an idea of how long it could go, how long to expect any effects….but my anxious brain fears it could be longer.