HRT and anxiety?

[oogie292 (imported)]

So my whole life I have had anxiety problems and recently I have been doing more to control it like eating healthy and running. I've been taking 200 MG of spironolactone for 2 weeks now and was doing lower doses before and I am doing about 12 mg of estradiol valerate injections every other week. At first I noticed that before my injection I get very moody but now I noticed that before my injection I am extremely anxious and after my last injectio, I felt euphoric and very happy. At first I felt it was a coincidence but now I am not sure. Could my anxiety be fueled by my need for estrogen? Is this normal? Any thoughts or advice is appreciated. I plan to contact my Dr after my next injection (next Wednesday) just to be sure this is what I am really feeling.

[Wolf-Pup (imported)]

If you are feeling that horrible the days before the next injection, maybe you could just do it every 10 or 12 days instead of 2 weeks. What you are experiencing is called the roller-coaster effect. When you inject your levels are high, and by the time you are ready for the next one your supply of hormones is so depleted you feel like shit.

I have to take testosterone injections due to being low. I was initially doing 100mg a week, but that was adjusted to 80mg. I found that doing 40mg 2x per week eliminated the roller-coaster and I feel the same every day.

Of course T and E are different and are taken differently. I don't know enough about E to say if doing 6mg per week would be better than 12 every 2 weeks, however if it is like T, you would have less of the bad days I think. I would try every 10 or 12 days first and see how you feel.

[ned123 (imported)]

It is interesting to see a post like this. I have to report some similar effects. I had fairly regular bouts of depression and fairly regular anxiety attacks. I started using the climera patch, and a couple months in I realized I was not having any depression, and virtually no anxiety attacks. It was like some strange shift in my brain.

I only did the estrogen for about 6 months, it was a test run to see what if any changes I would undergo. I have been off E for close to a year and my depression and anxiety are still way below what they once where. Makes me think that the E does some rewiring of some sort. I am planing on going back on E soon, for longer term. Great post and would like to see if anyone else has a comment on this subject.

[butcherbaby (imported)]

I never used shots but I heard that they cause spikes in levels and therefore mood swings. Maybe you want to combine them with gels, patches or low dose of pills.

[stevesd (imported)]

I am on Androgel for HRT with two pumps in the Morning and don't have the high's and low's of shots. My T levels were 80ml after I was castrated with a Burdizzo on 22 FEB 2012. I want to stay masculine to lift weights and have lean body mass. Still have not got any errections since the castration. stevesd

[patricia (imported)]

RE: HRT and anxiety?

I use Estradot 75 patches change twice a weekly and have no anxiety and very content within myself since my bilateral orthedectomy on 26th Aug. last year.

Patricia

[gandalf (imported)]

I use AndroGel also and have no problems with highs and lows. My prescribed dose is 2 pumps daily in the morning. However, I can get along on just one pump a day and still do not experience any highs or lows.

[DavidB (imported)]

Since my T levels have been at castration level even before my actual castration last week my anxiety and stress issues have almost disappeard. I am no longer the over reactive angry jerk that I used to be. So why does my family and friends think that because I am not throwing a fit and getting pissed off at my husband while we are having difficulties, and that I am trying to deal with things in as positive and constructive way, that I must be having real problems and need to spend time in deep therapy. Go figure

[nullorchis (imported)]

I use AndroGel also and have no problems with highs and lows. My prescribed dose is 2 pumps daily in the morning. However, I can get along on just one pump a day and still do not experience any highs or lows.

my prescribed dose was 4 pumps. Over time I have experimented with 6 pumps, 2 pumps, no pumps. I have found for me that 2 pumps provides balance for me and I can miss a dose now and then with no adverse impact. 6 pumps reactivated the thoughts, feelings, emotions I had prior to having my testes deactivated. I did these adjustments in HRT slowly over weeks and months. It has taken awhile to find my own correct personal balance. Just enough to feel mentally alert, physically able, but without the mental, emotional and physical complications and complexities of nature's sex drive.

I started off craving castration but learned over time what I NEEDED was to be able to regulate my T level so that it could provide me with benefits and not negatives. Until the creation of HRT this was not possible. So thanks to modern medicine, and thanks to me, for doing what I needed and is in my best interest. Maybe not your cup of tea, but it has sure worked for me.

[kyennamo (imported)]

oogie i experienced the exact same thing although my dose of estrogen was much higher. i started on 1 ml every 2 weeks but when i started experiencing the roller coaster effect my doctor suggested i inject 1 ml of estrogen every 10 days. but by the 8th day or so i started having problems just about every time. the difference was my solution of estrogen was 40 mg per ml. so i was, in essence, injecting 40 mg every 10 days. however its not the amount that matters. its the extremely short half life of estrogen. no matter how much you inject within about 8 days you will be running on empty and by 10 or 12 days you will be having some pretty serious problems (at least i did). the solution ended up being to split the dose. since my orchi i went back to 1ml every 2 weeks but instead of taking it all at once, i do .5 a week. this has completely eleminated the negaative effects i was having and i've never been happier. one thing im confused about though. 12 mg every 2 weeks seems like a rediculously low dose. the lowest dose iv ever seen for someone taking injectables is 1ml of a 20 mg per ml solution. so that would be 20 mg every 2 weeks. how did you come up with the number 12mg? because estradiol valerate is written in a mg per ml formula and the only concentrations iv seen ( thats not to say others dont exist) are 20 30 or 40 mg per ml and the most common dose, despite which concentration someone is on, is 1 ml every 2 weeks.