To ask for Perimenopausal horror stories and ask if there's any respite?

[celestialbows]

We touched on this subject in the hideous wedding story thread and I think that the responses and shared experiences warrant their own thread.

I believe that I started perimenopause 5 years ago aged 35. My periods became heavy and erratic. I was ttc and the only solution GPs could offer for the erratic bleeding was to put me on the pill.
Luckily I saw an amazing locum who referred me to the fertility clinic and I now have two beautiful children.

Since having the kids my cycle has got worse, periods are either really late or bunched together. I have embarrassing flooding, crazy mood swings, inappropriate crying at work and in public places as well as 'middle aged spread' dry hair and skin (dry everywhere...) and the list goes on.
Once again the. surgery has been unsupportive, my GP says that I'm too young for menopause and I'm only presenting with PMT and it is the same for all women!

I resorted to private hormone testing which showed that my oestrogen is persistently low. The GPs won't acknowledge the tests as they are notoriously unreliable and have offered me anti Depressants and the pill to counteract the mood swings and irregular cycle.

Has anyone else tried these methods and found them helpful or do you have any experience of other things which helped you?

Please wade in with your tales and help me to see I'm not alone!

[Abra1d]

Did anyone mention memory loss?

Can't remember . . .

[BigBoobiedBertha]

Abra1d

Badvoc - thank you. It helps to know I am not loopy or heading for the divorce courts due to some deep-seated relationships flaws I am not yet acknowledging. I think I will look into getting some supplements.

My problem will be remembering to take them.

[Badvoc]

My gp was great...totally up for trying HRT and seeing what happened.
I take the meds in the morning so I don't forget.
Worth a try.

[dementedma]

Am 49 and horrified at some of these stories. I have the sweats, the permananet raised temperature, mood swings, weight gain, impatience, and short, sharp heavy periods. Please tell me its not going to go on for years.....

[intheduskwiththelightbehindher]

dementedma it might go on for a few years, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. My periods seem to have completely stopped now, the hot flushes are infrequent - couple of times a week instead of one every hour, I feel happier and my sex life is back on track. I think I got off lightly, though, reading some of the stories on here!

[celestialbows]

Hey all I have been offline for a while, great see this thread is still going. I will take time over the next few days to read everything, still not had time to work on my letter for the surgery I need to be factual concise and unemotional which is hard when I feel so buffeted by everyone and everything at the moment!



Oh and memory loss is a huge issue for me now.

[Lazysuzanne]

problem is i find it hard to get an idea of the proportion of women who have a relatively trouble free time because they tend not to have a lot to say on the subject.

Threads like this are great for providing support and sharing info but I wonder if they give a distorted idea of how problematic menopause is on average?

[Darkesteyes]

40 yr old tick
Have slight hairs on my chin now tick.
periods more painful now tick which i take ibuprofen for.
also they are closer together sometimes ...23 days.
They last the usual 5/6 days and are quite heavy but i havent experienced what you would call flooding yet.

[Darkesteyes]

Oh yes and i am trying to lose weight at the moment but bloody hell its a struggle.
The period pain i get now is even worse than it was as a teen Having to get up in the middle of the night to take ibuprofen.

[Lighthousekeeping]

Has anyone mentioned hangovers from hell yet?

[Darkesteyes]

Sorry to keep posting but does anyone else pee a lot when they are on. I have quite an active bladder anyway but pee every 10 to 20 mins when in on. I end up always looking for a toilet.

[BigBoobiedBertha]

I get that Darkeyes. Not quite as frequent as you but definitely more peeing on day 2 of the period weirdly than the rest of the cycle.

And the upset stomach on day 1 seems to have returned. Haven't had that since I was a teenager. There are lots of things I would like to have back that I haven't had since I was a teenager - a firm body, wavy hair, perfect eyesight and teeth. Having a dodgy stomach on day 1 of a period was not one of them.

[Abra1d]

I pee a lot but I think it's because of the water retention in the days leading up to the period. Magnesium seems to help a bit, and I noticed that water melon (lots of potassium?) really helped my symptoms on holiday in Greece. Few cramps and a lot of the water retention reduced.

[Lovecat]

I pee for Britain when I'm due on. In fact I always know when I'm due (luckily because my periods are so bloody random these days) because in the 3 days leading up to it I seem to lose all long-term control of my bladder... whoever posted about putting your key in your door and suddenly having to go NOW RIGHT NOW had it spot on...

Once I'm actually on, I don't have that problem. Weird.

[snowynight]

Another vote for the Mirena here - had one put in a year ago and it's brilliant. Insertion was pretty grim and I had pain for a few weeks afterwards but since then I've had no problems and my periods are now pretty non-existent.

I had a really short (21-day) cycle and work in a mixed gender, open plan office so there was no way I was going to soldier on with heavy bleeding.

Honestly there's no need to put up with it.

No solution to the hairy chin and hair loss as yet though...

[MrsAMerrick]

snowynight, the solution to the hairy chin is electroysis. Expensive and painful but oh-so-worth-it!

[wintertimeisfun]

dry eye syndrome.....bloody eyes are really dry now, another joyous symptom :)

[celestialbows]

Does anyone feel particularly fragile and vulnerable around ovulation time?

[wintertimeisfun]

dunno, just that we (women) dry out in many ways.. i recommend preservative free drops, really refreshing although the effect doesn't last for long and you need to have a good aim!!

[wintertimeisfun]

i wish i still ovulated!! i feel fragile and vulnerable all the time

[celestialbows]

Yep I guess I do feel that way most days now, it doesn't help that my boss is a cunt.

[celestialbows]

Excuse my French, I was planning to type charlatan but my finger slipped O:-)
The point being I feel very badly done by but because I want a promotion I'm too scared to make a fuss about things at work and because I feel fragile I can't challenge effectively thus increasing the impression that I'm not very capable.
Sorry, slight thread hijack!

[celestialbows]

Hi
please see my letter to the practice manager, it took me ages, i probably should have had it checked on here first but had a quiet couple of hours so wanted to crack on, it is undoubtedly long and I've left out lots of incidentals but wasnt sure how much to chop and how much to leave in:


To whom it may concern

In 2007 I started to experience menstrual irregularity. I was with a different practice (*) where one of the GPs I saw suggested Clomid to help me to ovulate and to become pregnant.

When I became pregnant in 2009 I was diagnosed with symphisis pubis disorder (now commonly known as pelvic girdle pain.)

The pain improved temporarily after I gave birth in 2010 but returned once my periods started again four months later.
My hip/back/pelvic pain increases around the time of ovulation up until after my period starts. I also experience increased anxiety and emotional disturbance around this time.
My GP has advised that my cyclical problems are the same for all women and refused to enter into discussion regarding my periods or my physical condition. He offered tests for thyroid, and possibly anemia and diabetes but wouldn?t discuss testing my reproductive hormones.
I asked for a copy of the initial test results to show a nutritional therapist but he refused stating that he doesn?t ?deal with third hand information?. These results would have saved me a considerable sum of money.
I also told him that when I have experienced anxiety in the past Beta-blockers have helped me to manage the debilitating symptoms. I also advised how I have horrible experiences of anti depressants and would prefer to try the beta-blockers first which he refused.

I saw another GP who at least agreed to refer me for a scan as ovulation is painful. The scan showed no abnormality for which I am grateful but this does not demonstrate why I have had exceptional problems with my hormones throughout my life, surely this raises the possibility of an underlying gynecological or hormonal condition.

Due to lack of progress with GPs I paid privately for hormone tests, which show that my oestrogen levels are low, the suggestion is to return to the GP with the test results and seek appropriate support..
It seems unfair that I have paid my taxes for so many years that I have to resort to private testing.
After a couple of very late periods I spoke to another GP in your practice who said that I was that I'm too young for menopause and I?m only presenting with PMT and that the tests I paid for are notoriously unreliable. He offered me ?the pill? without knowing which hormones are imbalanced or deficient. I have had very negative experiences with the pill as well which I tried to explain. I don?t want to take medication which exacerbates my symptoms

I have all the symptoms of perimenopause: hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings, my periods are heavy and erratic, menstrual flooding and am much more anxious than usual. The pain in my hips, back and pelvis is excruciating on a daily basis despite following a regime of regular medication as advised by the physiotherapist.
I am concerned that there is an increased risk of osteoporosis with ?early? menopause although research suggests that I am at a normal age to experience this.

There doesn?t appear to be a women's health specialist at the surgery; the GPs have offered me anti depressants and the pill to counteract the mood swings and irregular cycle without actually investigating the cause of the problems. 

Every time I try to assert myself with the GPs I end up in tears of frustration, which only compounds the anti depressant prescription!
I have a patients right to request a women?s? health/gynaecologist referral from my GP surgery and am concerned that this might be disregarded due to funding but you should not deny me access to appropriate specialists in the area based on my history.

There are other issues too numerous to list in this letter. As a family with young children we chose to change surgery due to the convenient location when we moved house but I am very unhappy with the overall service from your practice.

Kind regards

celestialbows

[emmelinelucas]

I just wanted to let my friends on here know that I have posted in employment issues about a problem at work since i started with the flushes (the only outward sign I have)
I cant link, im sorry
But I am so cross and yes- emotional.