Hormones & mental health: What every woman needs to know | Live with Dr Louise Newson
Struggling with low mood, anxiety, brain fog or just feeling unlike yourself? Your hormones might be playing a bigger role than you realise.
Join Dr Louise Newson, GP and menopause specialist, for a live discussion on how hormones impact mental health and why so many women are being misdiagnosed or left unsupported.
We’ll cover:
✅ The link between oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone and your mood
✅ Why mental health symptoms are common in perimenopause and menopause
✅ What to ask your doctor (and what many don’t get told)
✅ The role of HRT in supporting mental wellbeing
This is for anyone who’s ever been told “it’s just stress” or handed an antidepressant without a full picture.
Dr Louise will also host a live Q&A as part of this session so bring your questions! Let’s open up the conversation and empower more women with real information.
Learn more about hormone health: https://www.drlouisenewson.co.uk
Subscribe for more expert content on menopause, hormones and women’s health.
30 Comments
Can you talk about how you rx testosterone to women who have also been diagnosed with female pattern baldness?do we have to choose between our testosterone and our hair?😢
Thank you for the hard work you do for us all. ❤
This is me!
SO thankful for your content!
Hello! Thank you for your very good delighting videos. I have just that kind of mental symptoms and some kind of physical as example "internal shaking". I talk to some gyn, but I still don't understand the difference between stress/ burning out and hormon problems. Hrt eller antidepressants? It is not clear. Another problem is that I'm 43 and I didn't know about premenopausal period. I thought that something would happen when I'm 55, not now. Could you discuss age ranges in your video? Is it too early or within norm?
I had a full hysterectomy at 30 without being given any hrt, having had trauma earlier in life I've been on all antidepressants you can think of! Over last ten yrs I've suffered loss of sister, husband and most recently 22 months ago my daughter. I am stuck obviously with grief but my racing mind can be that I haven't cleaned the house today. Im on oestrogel 4 x pumps daily. My blood test showed zero oestrogen zero testosterone. I've been referred to endocrinology. Would you consider my self sabotaging thoughts to be hormone related. I know its different to past depression and anxiety?
This is so incredibly frustrating!! Why on earth won’t Psychiatrists understand the role of hormones on the brain?! Imagine the cost benefits – to say nothing of the benefits to the patient – of giving/changing the hormones for a female patient. Why don’t psychiatrists accept this? In my experience, I’ve met maybe 6 consultant psychiatrists, they are cut from the same cloth….
Yes, hormones are responsible for mental health. I had a total hysterectomy (everything removed) and was only given estrogen. For a year and a half, I was truly suffering – insomnia, depression, suicidal thoughts, nothing brought me joy, I had no motivation to do anything, no zest for life… and before the surgery, I was an active woman full of life.
I went to the doctor multiple times, but he always laughed at me, saying my condition couldn’t be hormonal – after all, I had estrogen, and that should be enough.
Well, I found another doctor who added progesterone and testosterone, and I feel amazing – it made a huge difference. I now feel much more like I did before the surgery.
The only thing I miss is the ability to have strong orgasms, which I lost due to the hysterectomy.
I remember when my mental health suddenly felt different. It was 2009. Due to ignorance of HRT, even when on it, I have never felt right since. I only went back to the Dr to deal with my ineffective HRT last year, still under her as I am a poor absorber. I only discovered your content Dr Louise, last year. I wish I had known about it sooner. Still, better late than never.
I feel that it’s hard with the testosterone because there’s no even dosing. You’re just taking out a little drop every day and it’s a different amount I find I have to squeeze out the tiniest bit on top of something. That’s not my finger and then use a Q-tip to apply very much Small amount
Thank you, Louise. X
I'm autistic and have had lifelong mental health issues, eating disorders, joint hypermobility, relationship and work issues, suspected ADHD, and, at 53, I'm now transitioning into menopause.
It feels like I'm hitting a perfect storm and I don't know where to turn.
I can't be the only one. Can I? ❤️🩹
I was taking progesterone pills but they give me terrible vertigo, doc decreased to a micro dose and still same, took 3 months to get back to normal. Should I look at increasing dose?? I need something to help.
Question here- I’ve been on bioidentical her replacement therapy for three months now and I’m 39 years old. One symptom that I keep noticing happening is all just randomly. Just keep getting goosebumps. Like it’ll be warm, but I just continue to just keep getting goosebumps. Do you know which hormone that’s related to? I’m on testosterone 12 mg weekly and progesterone cycling with 100 to 200 mg 12 days out of the month. I recently started estradiol injections and I’m doing a very small dose. I am doing seven units on my insulin syringe. I think that equals like 0.07 mL twice a week. Could this possibly mean that I need to increase my estradiol? I tried to do 10 units of estradiol and I have really swollen and sore breast so I backed down the prescription. I have says that I can titrate up and I know that I will need to eventually titrate up overtime, but I’m just trying to find my sweet spot now.
Thanks Louise for the education. I feel relieved just knowing that my hormonal imbalances potentially contribute to my mental health symptoms (irritable, mood lability, poor sleep). And that they are completely normal part of being a woman. I wanna say it sucks to be a woman and have to manage all these symptoms in addition to social expectation. I hope more GPs are educated and know how to care for women's health. ❤
Thank you to everyone for watching. Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel: https://m.youtube.com/@menopause_doctor
they say womens hormones cause all there problems and yes that mite be true but as they say why dont men complain when they have problems!
exactly ! tuffen up people!!!!
Never take statins. Normal levels were always 250-350 until big pharma got involved and kept lowering levels to put people on meds that cause heart attacks, depression, dimentia, muscle aches,way too low of hormones. Our whole body needs cholesterol and hormones. Cholesterol does not cause heart attacks. No antidepressants. HRT is life saving.
❤❤
I’ve not been able to get any help with perimenopause & pmdd. I got put on just about every antidepressant antipsychotic even tried IV ketamine was still suicidal. I have never been offered any type of hormone anything. They tell me that I’m too young whenever I got my hormones tested I took it to three different doctors one lap and I got three different readings backnow I am homeless. I’m still suicidal. I lost my marriage in my family. I wish I could see you. I was also married to a diagnosed narcissist. Have you seen any women do well that have came off of psychiatric drugs or benzodiazepines on hormone replacement therapy? The doctors did not taper me off and if the psych drugs, I just abruptly stopped them.I didn’t feel joy only constant sadness
Thank you so much for the work you do
Hi Louise. Im going through perimenopause but I just want to know if having the contraceptive implant and also taking vaginal lutigest at the same time makes me have too much progesterone.
My anxiety can get really bad sometimes.
If only every doctor was like you ❤❤❤
Is there a doctor in the US that practices just like you??
I’m one of the unfortunate ones who has a paradoxical effect on progesterone. I wish I didn’t have a uterus so it wasn’t important. We use a compounded cream and just increased the dose so hopefully I won’t have shocking side effects.
Thank you. Always useful discussions
How do you know that the sprays do not absorb well? Do you test the hormone levels by taking a blood test?
No joke, it should be against the law for a boy to be raised in an all female household. Grew up with 4 females, all older, and they are crazy and psychotic. True npd, pms and possibly pmdd. No one talks to boys about dealing with it. Everything in school is about males being violent or predators, while girls are going crazy in school and being abused by females at home.
I wish this info was out there 20 years ago when I started peri menopause. It may have changed my marriage and how my life turned out.
Thank you
I am suffering like never before,I cry everyday,no motivation & feel like I will feel this way forever.I felt worse on progesterone so I don’t know where to turn 😢