Weird peri symptoms I never expected...

[ToxicChristmas]

Peri has hit me like a tonnes of bricks and I feel a bit like I've lost control of my body! Bizarre periods I expected. Vaginal atrophy I knew about. The joint pain I wasn't expecting at all -my fingers are so, so stiff. Did you have anything that shocked you? I think I was naive in thinking I'd have an easy go of it as I've been so fit and healthy but fucking hell 😩
I'm not alone am I?

Not alone!
My mouth is constantly dry and hair slowly getting weaker. List is endless.

Another weird one - sensitive teeth 🤷🏼‍♀️

The anxiety, it made me so fucking paranoid I ended up at the emergency vet one bank holiday last year. The cat did have something wrong (they suspected pneumonia) but I completely lost the plot and thought she was dying. Needless to say she's currently lying by the patio doors without a care in the world.

It's still there but I can control it better, I go for a walk or bike ride and just clear my head.

Itchy skin to the point I was scratching myself raw, increasing my oestrogen dose reduced it considerably

Reflux, anxiety, not being able to sleep. Ugh

It just skin. Itchy ears. Totally intolerant of other people.

It's a basket of joys.

Itchy skim, can't edit on the app.

I've just been diagnosed with burning mouth syndrome. Lovely. Imagine that feeling when you've scalded your tongue on boiling hot tea and having it 24/7. Also a metallic taste in my mouth. It's horrible.

I can't even take HRT due to past breast cancer.

Oh god that sounds horrendous. I'm so sorry. Such a joy this peri shit! I actually read so much about it and it was still a real shock to the system.

My eyes are terribly dry. I live by polytears. Yes, yes to joint pain but that’s reduced a lot now. My hot flushes are a food intolerance so easy to not have but I am almost on the other side of them now.

A few of these are really striking a chord with me. The funny taste in the mouth, the itchy skin, the ears. While it's nice to know I'm not alone I'm sorry for all of you in the same boat. Have we really got years of this?!!!

I buy decent bovine collagen powder. You don't think it's doing much for the joints and itchy skin because you feel more normal like you used to, until you run out of the stuff.

I'll look this up, thank you!

Mine started around when I hit 45 and 6 years on its worse than ever. I feel that I’m am slowly losing my mind and my physical health. I’ve been experiencing:

anxiety so bad that I’m literally going do-lally and hysterical
cry at the drop of a hat
smell cigarettes at random times of the month
My 26 year IBS journey has gone into overdrive and I have a daily upset tummy, almost constant nausea and horrible reflux. Feel I can’t eat anything without triggering it
Have days when I feel as though I’ve been hit by a truck, literally every muscle and joint hurts, yet the next day I’m fine

I could go on and on but needless to say I’m despising this time if my life. Never realised my 50’s would be and feel
so shit.

The fucking stink that’s coming off me!

my nightsweats had been horrendous which was bad enough but the smell on my nightclothes and bedding was awful to the point some of my night clothes that I have owned and have washed fine for many years had to be thrown out because even washing them couldn’t get the smell out!

This wasn’t even something I had to consider during puberty so I definitely wasn’t expecting it but it was one of the reasons I harassed the gp because I just knew something wasn’t ok I then got diagnosed with early menopause.

hrt has helped settle it mostly down though. Not completely but I’m no longer embarrassed to share a bed now 😳

That's so sad! I'm so sorry. Has your GP offered any advice or help?

Awful reflux, to the point of choking and getting laryngospasms.
Dry itchy skin
Dry eyes
Everything else I knew about, including the delightful weight gain and awful moods/ complete lack of motivation. And I'm on HRT, I dread to think how it would be without.

Weird smells that didn't exist was a strange one...

I forgot, my latest is earworms once I’m in bed of an evening. Nothing decent - usually it’s random 1970’s disco shit that was crap then and hasn’t improved with age.

Do you know what, I've been so paranoid lately about smells that nobody else seems to be able to smell....🙄 explains a lot!

My 20 year old niece gets this just around her period. It's definitely hormonal.

My immune system seems to have tanked since peri. Never had a day off sick in 20 years, now it seems every couple of months I go down with something.

A period that lasted 18 months (causing severe anemia, needing an iron infusion & which contributed significantly to the end of my 20 year long relationship..), which then stopped for 10 days and was swiftly followed by a period that lasted 3.5 months which stopped nearly two weeks ago now. Who knows what’s next in my ‘cycle’ 🙄

That along with anxiety (having never suffered from anxiety before), thinning hair, insomnia, brain fog, exhaustion, an explosive short fuse and a complete inability to recall why I entered a room is just fucking tedious to say the least!

😱 absolutely awful! I'm so sorry!!!

My hair is falling out.

Thanks - it is quite remarkably soul destroying & exhausting! Still, at least people are finally talking about menopause & I know I’m not alone. I’ve been able to be far more open about things with friends/family and my employer than I imagine any generation before which I’m thankful for as I’m not sure I could find the strength or energy to pretend everything was ok. I can’t wait for this to be over so I can start living again - no idea how long it’ll take but at some point presumably I’ll stop bleeding & someday start to feel normal again 🤷🏼‍♀️..

Back to your original post though OP, not sure if you’ve mentioned whether you’ve started HRT but for me the symptoms it has helped are joint pain and hot flushes (neither really happening any more and both were pretty bad). Vaginal atrophy isn’t a thing I have yet - but given that area is a no go zone it’s neither here nor there really.. my body is probably saving that for after the endless bleeding just incase I dare to think about letting anyone near it again.. ;)