Bone crushing tiredness. Is this peri?

[bushproblems]

The last few weeks I feel like I could fall asleep stood up. I have a good 8/9 hours sleep a night but it gets to lunch time and I feel like I’ve not slept at all.

Im 38 and still have very regular periods but the PMS has been horrible before my last few periods, particularly rage and crying. I can’t remember how to do my job, I feel like I can’t be arsed with anything at all and procrastination is off the scale.

I take an SSRI for OCD and panic attacks but never really struggled with depression, and would have thought that my meds would have kept any low mood at bay, if that was to creep in.

Is there a blood test to confirm peri?

From what I’ve read there isn’t a definitive test to confirm if you’re in peri menopause as hormone levels are different person to person so without knowing what your hormone levels were before symptoms started it’s difficult to know if they’ve changed significantly. Some doctors will test though to see if hormones are particularly low.

For significant fatigue/tiredness iron and B12 levels are normally worth checking but your symptoms sound very much like what I’ve been experiencing for the past 18 months or so. It was only when I started experiencing night sweats at the start of the year that I went to the doctor. Only took 2 weeks on HRT and I honestly feel like a new woman! Energy levels back, I can focus on my work and no longer procrastinate over everything (I feel like I was possibly getting close to getting ‘found out’ at work for how low my productivity had got - I’ve spent the past month catching up!) So most definitely worth a trip to the doctor to discuss options.

I’m dangerously close to being found out at work too! Maybe I’ll start on some supplements and if there’s no improvement, a trip to the GP. How old are you?

I felt like this last summer, I'm 40, my iron, folate and b12 were all really low

Go to the GP and tell them your symptoms. I was feeling like this and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (Hashimito’s), which came up on a blood test.

I’m 47 so quite a bit older than you but I have friends that went on HRT around 40 - can vary from person to person.

supplements could be an idea but if you’re exceptionally low on things like B12 you often need a course of injections to get back on an even keel so a visit to the GP and request for a blood test is a good idea.

I felt like this at the same age. Literally so tired, I could barely walk up the stairs. I currently have cancer and am going through cancer treatment and it’s the only other time in my life I’ve ever had fatigue like that. It was vitamin D deficiency. Get all your vitamins checked. If it is vitamin D, you need to take proper loading doses (google it), not just one tablet a day from Boots. I felt fine in about 4 weeks of high potency vitamin D, so it was a cheap and easy fix. I’m now 44, no perimenopause symptoms beyond very irregular periods, but would feel great if not for the cancer.

Good advice, a blood test looks like it’s the best course of action. Definitely head do the GP and ask for this OP.

Don’t start on supplements straight away. Speak to your GP first and hopefully get blood tests done - you don’t want random supplements skewing your results.

Thanks everyone. I’ll try and get an appointment in the next couple of weeks. Strangely, I’ve been fine for the last couple of days? I’m coming up to ovulation though so maybe I’m having a surge of some good hormones.