Should Estrogen Replacement Therapy and Anti Depressants work together?

felisha · Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Posts: 1

I've been having problems with hot flashes lately and insomnia that are so bad that I had to seek help from my doc. Also, Ive been down in the dumps ever since this menopause madness started and Ive had a hard time dealing with all of this. After talking to my doc, he said he would like me to undergo estrogen replacement therapy for a short period of time and I accepted-anything that would get me some relief. Now, one of my friends started freaking out about me and this estrogen therapy and the cancer risk since she hasn't been prescribed hormonal therapy but only some mild anti-depressants. I was wondering why didn't my doc give me antidepressants as well since I do have problems with depression too and I also wanted to know if these two treatments could be used together.

jaquelyn · Newbie Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 7

The saying everyone is an individual is certainly not without a reason. Your doctor probably figured that undergoing estrogen therapy would be beneficial for you since you may not be at increased risk of breast cancer or he thought it could be beneficial in preventing other problems like osteoporosis besides helping you with hot flashes, insomnia and depression. By increasing the hormonal levels, your symptoms should improve because they all are caused by this decrease. I don't think that you should be taking both hormones and antidepressants because the hormones should address depression as well. As for your friend, she may be in different situation and facing different health risk and wasn't suitable for HRT or her doc thought that she would benefit just from antidepressants that can be used as an alternative for HRT.
I don't think you should worry since your doctor said you would be on it for a short period of time and then you'll see how things would go. If you are still uncertain, you can always ask for a second opinion.

Should Estrogen Replacement Therapy and Anti Depressants work together?

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