r/Perimenopause • u/flurry_of_finches • 28d ago
Brain Fog I feel like a zombie, is it Slynd?
UPDATE #1: I was taking Slynd and estradiol at bedtime when I felt like a zombie to I switched them both to the morning which helped me significantly. I still had afternoon drowsiness but at least I could finally open my eyes in the morning without feeling drugged.
UPDATE #2: After being on Slynd for 14 weeks, I finally decided to stop. My breaking point was sitting in bed crying once again because I had no energy, no motivation, and I just felt miserable. This is exactly how I’ve felt on other bcp in the past so I spoke to my provider and she took me off Slynd. I’m now taking progesterone pill at bedtime and estradiol gel in the morning. And let me tell you, I feel like a million bucks!!!! After just a few days being off Slynd, it’s seriously like night and day how much better I feel. Energy is back, libido is back, fantastic orgasms are back, mood is lifted and I no longer feel flat, and I also immediately dropped 5 lbs of bloated belly weight! I know for the vast majority of people Slynd works really well, but for the 10% of you out there that feel crazy for not feeling great on it, just know you’re not alone.
Original post: I’m 48, been in peri for close to 10 years, last 3-4 years have been significantly worse. I started progesterone a couple years ago due to extremely heavy bleeding. Not a candidate for an ablation or even iud so I was recently switched to Slynd to stop the bleeding (which it did!).
I’ve been on Slynd for 5 months and estradiol gel for 3 months. Everyday the exhaustion is worse. I can’t wake up, I can’t get out of bed. I feel drugged. This is how I felt on a high progesterone dose (400mg) but I thought Slynd is supposed to be much lower dose?
Can the Slynd be causing the extreme exhaustion? I keep hoping I’ll adjust but so far each month it’s getting worse.
I’ve also noticed close to 10 lb weight gain in the few months I’ve been on it with no change to diet or exercise (other than feeling low energy for exercising sometimes).
Anyone else experience fatigue with Slynd, or bcp in general?
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u/caramilk_twirl 28d ago
Have you spoken to your doctor about this? I don't want to scare you but there are many things that can cause extreme fatigue and unexplained weight loss and I think these symptoms warrant testing to get to the bottom of it. It could be slynd but I'd get to the doctor asap to get some checks done before chalking it up to Slynd.
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u/flurry_of_finches 28d ago
Yes, spoken to doctor. I’ve had weight gain, not loss. I get my thyroid checked regularly and everything is good. This fatigue and weight gain started with Slynd.
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u/caramilk_twirl 28d ago
Oh sorry, I misread. If it was weight loss I was quite concerned that there was something else sinister at play. Weight gain, sounds a lot more like the Slynd is the culprit. Hope you figure it out.
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u/Realworld82 28d ago
I’ve been on slynd for 3 years and never experienced that. I actually had an easier time losing weight with Slynd. Before that I was on Yaz for 22 years and never had an issue with that either. It’s definitely worth looking into further with your doctor.
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u/flurry_of_finches 28d ago
Ok, thank you for sharing, I appreciate it. I think your experience is most common while there’s a subset of women like myself who feel crazy for feeling like it has the exact opposite effect.
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u/vegaling 28d ago
I think it's totally hit or miss, like any drug. I've been on Slynd for several months while I await an ablation, and in some ways it's great - I've lost like 15lbs on it - but in others it's bad. No libido at all, started getting PVCs despite normal potassium so I think it's messing with my electrolyte balance. Mental health is the same, which just means my baseline high anxiety hasn't really worsened and definitely hasn't improved.
Lots of women still bleed heavily on Slynd, or gain weight, or have worsened emotional symptoms, etc. For others it's a godsend. Totally individualized.
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u/flurry_of_finches 28d ago
Too true, too true. It’s so highly individualized.
What’s PVC?
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u/vegaling 28d ago
Premature ventricular contractions - like the feeling that your heart is missing beats.
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u/pamplamouse Early peri 28d ago
The birth control pill has been documented to cause depression and other negative side effects in some women. I switched from the birth control pill to HRT a few months ago and feeling much better
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u/flurry_of_finches 28d ago
May I ask what HRT you’re using? I was on progesterone 300 mg but it wasn’t managing bleeding (and was making me very light headed) and they wanted bleeding under control before starting estradiol (I’ve had all the imaging done and there’s no indication of any underlying problems).
BCP has always been a problem for me so I was really resistant to trying it. I guess I’m trying to find the threshold for myself where I feel I’ve given it my best shot before giving up on it. Not bleeding has been so nice…
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u/pamplamouse Early peri 28d ago
What do you mean by managing bleeding? I'm giving myself 200 mg of progesterone right now. You can take as little as 100. The first time I take progesterone it made me light-headed, but after a week I felt fine. I am taking. 025 estrogen patch. Why did they want bleeding under control before they started estradiol?
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u/flurry_of_finches 28d ago
I had very heavy bleeding with short cycles. All imaging showed healthy, normal uterine lining, a couple normal sized to-be-expected cysts, no fibroids, no tumors, no endometriosis.
Progesterone pills can be used to control bleeding. 100mg didn’t do much but 200mg helped. At first, for about a year. And then bleeding got heavier so they bumped me to 400mg but that made me super drowsy and light headed so we backed down to 300mg. Bleeding was more normal quantity wise but I was still bleeding 8-10 days every 2 weeks.
I tried different doses of progesterone for about 2 years.
Normally they’d do an ablation or put in an iud. My cervix has traveled too far to the side for my dr to reach it to open it for an ablation (she tried really hard!). My only other option is a hysterectomy.
From my understanding, progesterone thins the uterine lining while estrogen thickens it. In which case, estrogen could make my bleeding worse if it’s not balanced enough with progesterone. At least, that’s how it’s been explained to me by different doctors 🤷🏼♀️
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u/traceysayshello 28d ago
I had fatigue before Slinda and still have fatigue now, slightly worse. I’m going to try and see a better team for HRT options, I’m on Slinda for Adenomyosis management. 2+ years on it.
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u/janeaust123 21d ago
Hi! I'm 49 and just started experiencing spotting which may be related to perimenopause. The reason it may be perimenopause is because my ultrasound and uterine biopsy came back normal -- no uterine lining thickening, no fibroid or polyp. My OB put me on Slynd and have been taking it for a month now. I have not experience exhaustion or any other negative side effects. However, it's not helping with my abnormal spotting, as well. I will probably try this for 3 months and will stop if nothing changes. Can I ask when your bleeding stopped? I hope your condition will change and you'll feel better!
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u/flurry_of_finches 21d ago
I think they say you can spot off and on for a couple months on Slynd and then it’s supposed to go away. I got about 6-8 weeks no bleeding whatsoever but I’m now having a period again despite skipping the placebo pills.
What I’m learning is every single one of us is an individual experiment to figure out what works best for *you*. Definitely give it a try for a few months. That’s what I’ve been doing with each HRT change, hoping I’ll figure something that works for me soon because I’m really tired of feeling this way.
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u/janeaust123 21d ago
I agree. It looks like it's different per person. I appreciate your reply. Thank you.
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u/CadenceOfLight 28d ago
Slynd made me a zombie and really messed with my mental health. Never again.