I think I'm dying of the peri menopause

[MorningsEleven]

I've had kids, labour, c sections - one crash- an endometrioma the size of a jaffa orange on my ovary, an operation to remove the ovary and several paper cuts 😉

I went to bed this afternoon because the cramping and the flooding and the clots and the fucking anxiety and sleepless nights have ground me down. I've got a migraine aura and I'm just so bloody angry that my fertility can't gently fade away with a whimper.

I've always been the "get your bodyform and go roller skating in white jeans" type but I can't do this. DH gave me a hot water bottle, he's on my good list

If anyone has any advice, chocolate, chips, wine, bread, cheese, weight loss tips, similar peri distress please come share.

Wash your mouth out with soap, Lou!

Nah, pregnancy would be miraculous. And unwelcome.

Just yesterday I realised they were sore- I kept think8ng there was something wrong with my bra, then I realised it was me. Sigh.

Hate to say this, but mine became completely intolerant to sugar, the bastard things. It's not uncommon. Borage oil is supposed to help, but giving up sugar has helped reduce the size of my bargearse as well.

What? Boobs with a dislike of sugar? No. How could that be?

I've found Angus Castus helpful for boob pain!

I'm on Agnus castes already. Oh well.

Mind I'm not sure how many to take- I've lost the original packaging.

You can quite often find patient leaflets for medicines etc online, though things like strength should be taken into account.

Eg www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.9039.pdf

Thank you! That'll teach me not to decant my supplements into more convenient pots...

Hi I was directed to this post by another user as I am going insane with night sweats. For about 7 days before my period, and these have been going on for about a year. Along with terrible insomnia.

My GP just prescribed me zoloft (sertraline) am in week 3 of the tablets but it has made no difference so far and to top off the sweats and i somnia I now have crazy insane vivid dreams in top.

I don't know what to do! I'll be 42 in a few weeks, my doc hasn't been great. My actual periods aren't too bad although they are starting to vary between light and heavy.

Any help for the sweats? I look like death am so tired, and feel like crying. They are awful. My bedsheets need washing every day and I am soaked half the night.

Hi Cake, pull up a pew - just stick a towel on it before you sit down so’s you don’t drip everywhere . None of us are experts here (I’ve never even had sweats thank god), but might be able to help - or at least empathise.

Are in the U.K.? The NICE guidelines for menopause are your friend. I know that in there it does say somewhere that antidepressants are not recommended for suspected peri menopause. Other than being driven potty by lack of sleep does your GP think you are depressed/anxious? Are you, say, going through a divorce or some other traumatic period that might be causing them?

Actually, if you look at 1.2.5 - the bit that says there’s no point doing FSH testing in women over 45...well if you are only 42 ask for one!

Look at 1.4...Vasomotor symptoms are hot flushes and SSRIs are ADs (like sertraline).

Hopefully this will show the relevant page www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23/chapter/Recommendations

I think that if we are not getting the correct help we need then seeing a different GP or going to a menopause clinic might help. The thing is, if sertraline is not working, your GP might want to up your dose. I’d read the link above and go back and see him armed with questions..

Why have you been prescribed Sertraline?
Has the GP considered menopause as causing the night sweats?
Will the GP do an FSH test?

HTH

Why the hell are doctors so bloody reluctant to prescribe HRT when it is becoming apparent that it has more pros than cons when risk factors are ruled out? (Like smoking, blood pressure, etc???) Drives me batshit! Can’t tell you how much better I feel now that impending doom feeling has lifted and that hemisphere of rage that had covered me like a cloche seems to be diminishing. (I am still somewhat resentful about stuff, but have come to the conclusion that it’s actually rather logical...)

The night sweats and hot flushes are crippling, especially since I've always run hot, like my dad and DS. I'd like HRT, as I've heard it can also help protect from osteoporosis, something that runs in my mum's family.

How do you know if it's peri or endo? I am early 40s with periods gone from 28 days on the dot to all over the place, flooding, clots, awful cramps, back and leg pain , bowel pain and diarrhoea, migraines, flu like symptoms and night sweats, and each cycle I bleed for 4-5 days, then it stops completely for a day then the next day floods again. That never used to happen. And I now get ovulation pain with ov being less than a week after period finishes (it used to be two weeks exactly after). All rather charming!

I forgot the fatigue, cravings and hair loss. Handfuls when I wash or brush my hair. Does anyone else get That?

Dragonlight have you been to your GP about this? Sounds like it could be 1 or more of many things....vitamin or other deficiency, endo, fibroids etc.

Hopefully you can get blood tests done, and also an ultrasound.

You should be able to get something to help with the period cramps - just can’t remember what it’s called. Or the pill or Mirena coil could help? You can also get shampoo and conditioner for hair loss, but better to deal with the cause of it.

over50 I have a GP appointment booked to get blood tests and maybe a gynae referral. I had endo years back and and am thinking it could be that raising it's ugly head again, but the hair loss doesn't fit and not sure about migraines either. I have heard from others that migraines can kick in or get worse due to peri/menopause.

I feel for you all, it really is awful to go through.

Dragon that’s good you’re on top of it. The bowel thing seems odd too, but then my “movement” there has changed too, as in not as regular as it used to be. 🙄

Hair normally gets drier and more sparse with meno, but loss like you’re getting could be something else like iron deficiency..

Yes to the fatigue, cravings and hair loss. (Although that is a little better - not completely, though) after a year on medically prescribed and supervised Keto diet for severe cycling migraines (not unrelated, I suspect) mega doses of vitamin D (7000u per day) have helped hair loss as well. My GP was a bit baffled by this as she said it shouldn’t be linked, yet can’t deny results. She ended up prescribing HRT because I have osteopenia and both parents had osteoporosis young. I have no other risk factors though- no family history of breast cancer, never smoked, rarely drink more than half a glass of wine (cheap drunk) and my blood pressure is very low)

Justilou, living in Australia, how come you needed extra vit D? Would have thought it wound be sunny enough there to get it naturally.

I started last year with vit D supplements just in winter/spring time.

I’ve heard the Keto diet is supposed to be good generally.

@over50andfab thank you for all your advice. Yeah doc thinks perimenopause symptoms, I've had the night sweats for about a year and it's always in the run up to my period and no other time. About 7 nights or so. My mum was very young and suffered badly so likely following in her footsteps.

I'm not depressed generally, happily married, etc. I was put on fluoxerune about 1.5 years ago as was having crippling mood swings around my period. It helped alot. The gp swapped me to sertraline as apparently this anti depressant has been shown to help night sweats symptoms (or so I have been told). But it isn't working at all. And I am so tired. A total zombie. I have 2 young children too.

Oh and yes am in the UK. I'll have a read of the guidelines, and ask about the fsh test so thank you for your help.

Because I gave osteopenia and coeliac disease @over50. Despite the sunshine (which you don’t venture into because it wants to kill you) my vitamin D levels are always very low. Keto diet has been good for me. Not the most exciting, but very effective!

I had peri-menopause symptoms start after an ovarian torsion that resolved itself, I eventually had the ovary removed as I had a 5 cm dermoid cyst on it.

Periods went irregular, and varied from not much to flooding right through a night pad in 20 minutes. Anxiety went through the roof, bad breast pain, hair falling out, thrush every month. GP wasn't helpful, made no suggestions as to what it could be, I had to figure it out for myself

In the end my GP agreed it was peri-menopause and I decided to try the mirena IUS, which has helped a lot.

Presumably the slight cramping I get every month or so is my ovaries trying to dredge up another egg? Although that should be at ovulation time rather than 'due' time.
I hate the 'on edge' feeling of wondering if the cramps are going to lead to anything.

A huge number of Australians are Vitamin D deficient, including me. Partly because although we get the sun exposure we don't convert it properly and partly because the 'slip slop slap' sunsmart campaign has been so successful.

I didn't risk showing an inch of skin when I was there. Big sunglasses, long sleeve tops and trousers.
My parents burned severely visiting us in Singapore, foolishly insisting they were fine in the shade under a parasol.

And yes, shovelling vitamins down your throat doesn't help if you can't metabolise (?) them. What I mean is, there is more to it than a balanced diet, despite what the docs say.