To ask how perimenopause makes you feel

[Letshaveablackcelebration]

I feel really flat with it. It’s worse some months but it makes me feel really not myself. Like empty and low - it’s really horrible. I have had one go at HRT but it made me feel rubbish in a different way - headachy and a bit drugged. I maybe need to try something else as that was the gel and my friend said she got on better with the patches.

But this weird sad empty flat feeling is just so horrible! I have other physical symptoms too but it’s the emotional stuff that makes me feel worse at the moment.

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz

userxx

Jesus, if men had half of these symptoms there would be a cure!

Ain't that the truth

Yup. Instead they call us Karen.

@MangoSeason

I have an appointment to see my GP about peri menopause in two weeks.

Symptoms are feeling incredibly irritable and anxious from around day 5 to day 12 of my cycle. This is fairly new and most of what I find online talks about premenstrual syndrome, not the time leading up to ovulation. I also have two days of feeling cranky before my period. That’s well over a third of my cycle feeling bad.

I have also broken out in cystic acne along one side of my face and jaw.

I hate feeling this way. What can I expect from my GP? Is there a test or something? Is there stuff they can do for perimenopause? I have no idea what to expect. I am worried she will throw antidepressants at me. I’m not depressed. It is totally hormonal.

Oh gosh this is me.

I mean the joint pain is WILD. Just hideous but the anxiety is off the scale. I am awaiting a review. I need to get a coil switched out as my periods have not stopped but one ovary is a withered raisin and the other was almost as bad.

I fee absolutely unhinged some days. It’s awful.

Wow op you are describing how I feel and now I wonder if I am perimenopausal.
I feel hollow a lot of the time and lacking in motivation. I work full time and feel I have to put on an act at work and come home and do nothing.

Has anyone used the home test kits to check hormone levels or are these a waste of time?

www.balance-menopause.com/

Really useful website above. I think it has an app where you can monitor symptoms, which is useful when discussing GP.

I'd also recommend (for those that can afford) researching private menopause clinics for specialist treatment. The NHS has some but these are few and far between.

All the GPs I have spoken to at my surgery insist that I am not in peri as I still have regular periods and no regular hot sweats so have never been offered HRT just constantly offered antidepressants (I have a drawer full of Citalopram, Sertraline, Duloxetine and nortriptyline).
I am 49 next month and have been feeling shit since around the age of 45 and it’s getting progressively worse.
I have awful heavy periods with clots
Am very anaemic due to periods (ferritin is just 3). I had to have an iron infusion last week as the anaemia makes my feel like crap. Due to have an ablation but can’t have it until the iron levels rise.
Daily, overwhelming anxiety which is taking over my life right now. I feel fearful and fret over just about everything.
Awful, consuming daily digestive issues. I feel so nauseous, full, gurgling guts, feel like I need the loo often, acid, burping, bloated, so gassy un and down - basically a completely unsettled gut which won’t calm down.
Restless, broken nights and hot sweats before period
Terrible PMS which I never used to have
Absolutely no libido
Itchy and dry skin
Achy joints
Aura migraines during periods
And all of this has left me so depressed I don’t want to leave the house.
But hey! According to the GPs I am ‘just not quite there yet’ so what is this mental and physical hell which has taken over my life?

@Fairytoast

All the GPs I have spoken to at my surgery insist that I am not in peri as I still have regular periods and no regular hot sweats so have never been offered HRT just constantly offered antidepressants (I have a drawer full of Citalopram, Sertraline, Duloxetine and nortriptyline). I am 49 next month and have been feeling shit since around the age of 45 and it’s getting progressively worse. I have awful heavy periods with clots Am very anaemic due to periods (ferritin is just 3). I had to have an iron infusion last week as the anaemia makes my feel like crap. Due to have an ablation but can’t have it until the iron levels rise. Daily, overwhelming anxiety which is taking over my life right now. I feel fearful and fret over just about everything. Awful, consuming daily digestive issues. I feel so nauseous, full, gurgling guts, feel like I need the loo often, acid, burping, bloated, so gassy un and down - basically a completely unsettled gut which won’t calm down. Restless, broken nights and hot sweats before period Terrible PMS which I never used to have Absolutely no libido Itchy and dry skin Achy joints Aura migraines during periods And all of this has left me so depressed I don’t want to leave the house. But hey! According to the GPs I am ‘just not quite there yet’ so what is this mental and physical hell which has taken over my life?

I'm having identical symptoms! . I feel knackered all the time & don't even bother taking citalopram these days as it does nothing .

lordaw It’s so draining isn’t it. I will be so annoyed if most of my issues are down to peri and my gp is simply dismissing them. Something which can be rectified with HRT.

@Fairytoast, the amount of women fobbed off with antidepressants instead of being treated with HRT is staggering. It's a well known phenomenon.

I never had perimenopausal symptoms. Nothing really changed until I was about a year post menopause. Now the worst symptoms are hot flushes, night sweats , anxiety and a feeling over dread over everything.

I feel flat. Occasional anxiety. Weight gain. No libido.
But it’s not enough to go on HRT for me, I think if I was flushing I would.

@ShouldIbeEmbarrassed I have a condition called lichen sclerosis. Ask your GP/nurse to take a look or refer you to gynae/derms. After years of the most painful itching and soreness which often brought me to tears I finally plucked up the courage to ask my practice nurse about it at a routine blood pressure check. I've also developed psoriasis all over which is another auto-immune condition. Derms confirmed the lichen sclerosis but still waiting for a gynae appointment. They gave me dermovate and the difference it has made is unbelievable. I now spend around 30 minutes a day slathering on different creams and emollients but it's worth it.

I've been, I think, perimenopausal for quite a few years. I can't be bothered with things and people and could kill DH and the kids for around 3 weeks every cycle. Brain fog and forgetfulness. For the last five years or so my periods have been heavy and incredibly painful, wiping me out for the best part of a week. I started taking menopace supplements a couple of months ago and I've gone from being in pain for 3-4 days to just the first full day. I've also gone from a 35 day cycle (with the occasional missed period altogether) to closer to the normal 28 days. Blood tests by the GP last year showed normal hormone levels but going to ring the GP this week and discuss treatment.

I started my periods when I was ten - over 40 years of this shit

Also anxiety, palpitations and weight gain

Thanks Babayagadreamhome I ask about it, I think the reason it's got so bad is cos I was being treated for thrush for quite a while but swabs came back as normal on that.

@ShouldIbeEmbarrassed I had a couple of thrush treatments to start with, which obviously didn't work. It's a completely different feeling to thrush for me though. I only ever had thrush when I'd taken antibiotics in the past (haven't needed to take any for many years now).

There's a Facebook group that I discovered through another group to do with my occupation and peri/menopause (too outing to say what). I've found it very helpful but equally worrying at the same time. I joined the LS group before diagnosis.
www.facebook.com/groups/221930761513570/members

@Dembones292

I've no idea if I'm peri menopausal but I've developed the most horrendous anxiety over the last year. Feeling very flat, no joy, don't look forward to anything. Can I ask how old you all are please? I'm only 41.

I've been the same since I was 38. I'm 41 in the summer and was diagnosed finally in September.

CassieJumped how were you diagnosed? I've had a blood test today to check my hormone levels.

I was feeling exactly like that, I decided to go on HRT, I'm not 100 % but I definitely do feel better

Sadly it depends on the GP

Mine was happy to go on my symptoms and very much believes women shouldn’t need to suffer and better to manage symptoms than wait until you are really struggling

Until recently peri menopause wasn’t discussed so openly and I had no idea until a friend told me that you can still have regular periods. I just put the symptoms to being run down

We really do need more education about the menopause (for professionals too) and not in hushed tones like it’s something to be ashamed of

A message of hope from the other side. After years of night sweats, brain fog and generally feeling shit, helped enormously by HRT, it’s bloody joyous when it’s over. All symptoms gone, energy levels back up and greatly improved mood. Hang on in there.

@Dembones292

CassieJumped how were you diagnosed? I've had a blood test today to check my hormone levels.

I had a set of bloods done that showed high fsh levels. However blood tests aren't always a good way to diagnose it because hormone levels fluctuate. If yours come back as 'normal' ask them to test you again. I can't remember when the second set should be but check the NICE guidelines

I had a blood test last week to check for hormone levels. It is to be repeated after 6 weeks.
My main symptom that I went to gp with was a horrible constant build ups of pressure in my head. It felt like someone was pumping up my head, the pressure went into my chest and then released. It’s almost gone away now but GP thinks it’s hormone related. Said we will talk about HRT after blood results.
Periods regular but getting heavier and more painful.
Terrible anxiety, finding it hard to fall asleep, waking up with panic attacks, breathlessness, bowel issues, headaches, lack of energy, no libido, brain fog and forgetfulness.
I’m turning 44, first period at almost 17 but gp said sometimes late menstruation can have early menopause. Thank god my gp is great.

Peri-menopause hit me hard last year. There is some suggestion that covid vaccination might impact women's cycles, but I'm the right age so it could just be my time. Patches have helped with some symptoms. I was getting panic attacks instead of hot flushes. But they haven't resolved the aches, the dragging exhaustion, the loss of joy. Some of that could also be the pandemic of course...

Rage. Followed by flatness. And repeat.