Apparently I am not perimenopausal so why do i feel like this?

[malificent7]

Achy joints, brain fog, grumpy.I'm 44.

Apparently my blood test results are normal and I'm not perimenopausal so why do I feel it?

Blood tests aren’t the best way to check for hormonal issues as they fluctuate so much. You may well be peri after all. Or you could have a vitamin deficiency, thyroid issue or any other number of complaints which the NHS won’t take very seriously. I’m sorry you’re feeling crap and not being heard. Is there any way you could pay for some private tests and an appointment with a meno doctor?

I'm following as I have a similar experience. Lots of the symptoms but normals bloods. I have felt a bit better since seeing a doctor but have experienced symptoms for 2 years.

have you reviewed your own blood tests to see that they are actually OK?

Blood tests aren't used to diagnose Peri-menopause, for starters. You need a new doctor, preferably a Peri/menopause clinic.

Blood work is not used to diagnose/treat peri. Get a new doctor.

Blood results don’t tell you anything. By definition if you are peri they will be up one week and down the next. I don’t know why GPS still do this. At your age you have the symptoms you are probably peri. Do a bit of research and go back and see a different GP.

Our surgery doesn’t bother with blood tests for peri, because you’d have to do them daily to get any sense of what’s going on. If you have the symptoms and are in the right age range, they go straight to treatment. They’re great with peri issues. Can you try for a second opinion?

You are 44 so you almost certainly are in perimenopause. Blood tests will only tell you what's going on the day you have them done, so they are pointless for diagnosing perimenopause. Doctors should be going on symptoms alone, and how you are feeling.

Like others have said, see another GP (ask if any at your surgery have a special interest in menopause) or see a specialist clinic.

Do your research into HRT, decide if it's something you'd like to try, then ask for it directly if you do.

Definitely push for a second opinion. As others have said, best practice is to diagnose according to symptoms not an unreliable blood test. Don’t be fobbed off. I had the same experience throughout my 40’s & finally started HRT a year ago via a private clinic (Newson) because my GP insisted on relying on blood tests. Within weeks I felt like a different woman. No aches & pains, night sweats gone, and best of all the awful anxiety that had left me almost housebound at times completely disappeared.

Same here…. My GP said I was too young (45) to be Peri and have I considered anti depressants.

Im not depressed!

I also had normal blood tests. I think I will go back in a few months and really exaggerate my symptoms.

why do GP’s not trust us to know our own bodies?

My Dr said blood tests are unreliable until you are at or beyond menopause. So you could well be in perimenopause.

Wtf. Everyone surely now knows that blood tests are not a reliable indicator for menopause due to unpredictable fluctuations in hormone levels. Get a different doctor. It’s bound to be peri-meno.

DF is going through this argument now. She’s made it clear that if HRT doesn’t help, she’ll try ADs, but she wants her HRT now, thank you very much. Her nurse practitioner appears not to be used to women who know their own mind, and DF now has to wait again for an appt with a GP to discuss.

I didn't. But more worryingly, nor did my GP

I'll be booking an appointment to see them and push for HRT. I'm 50 FFS!

Perimenopause does not require blood work, lab testing, or imaging to "prove" - it is common in women of 40 and over, and is distinguished by symptoms, not blood tests of hormones which fluctuate in any given day.

Basics:

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/perimenopause/symptoms-causes/syc-20354666

www.jeanhailes.org.au/resources/perimenopause-fact-sheet

www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/symptoms/

Yeh my dr wouldn't do them either as unreliable I bought a test off amazon and was def in peri. But they aren't reliable either. You know your own body. There's a page online Google the 66 symptoms of menopause. Bet you find loads of how you're feeling on there if it is that. I went to GPS once a year for 3 years before my periods stopped at 45. Thought I was going mad. Only helpful gp was a woman also going through change herself. We looked as pissed off as each other hahah

It's bloody awful the way women are treated with regards to " womens' problems."

What is this test on Amazon?

Blood tests don't mean anything for peri. You're being fobbed off I'm afraid.

Have you had your prolactin levels checked? I thought I was peri menopausal for years due to my symptoms but it turned out I had a small prolactinoma which was throwing all my other hormones out. Worth asking GP to check your levels if they haven't already.

If you’ve got the symptoms, and you’re in the right age bracket, then you are peri menopausal. Then Google the NICE guidelines and the peri symptom checklist.

Depressingly my GP is a woman!

So is mine OP! She couldn’t have been more unhelpful.