Posted by katekite on May 28, 2002, at 13:28:24
Is anyone on estrogen who isn't menopausal? Or find that their estrogen/progesterone birth control pills help depression? Or tried it with bad effects?
I understand there can be negative effects of too much estrogen.
This text suggests that at least some women with depression have increased MAO levels (thus MAOIs would work as antidepressants). When they give them estrogen mood improves and MAO level returns to normal.
kate
"Women also are sensitive to other hormonal treatments. Estrogen also has been used as a treatment in refractory depression. Klaiber et al (54) used 5 to 25 mg of oral conjugated estrogen in cyclic doses to treat pre- and postmenopausal women. With estrogen, as compared with placebo, there was a significant drop in Hamilton scores, which correlated with reduction in previously elevated monoamine oxidase (MAO) levels.
A meta-analysis of 26 studies on the effect of hormone replacement therapy on depressed mood in menopausal women found that estrogen significantly reduced depression, progesterone blunted the antidepressant effect of estrogen, and that androgens increased the antidepressant effect of estrogen (143).
poster:katekite
thread:107844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020525/msgs/107844.html