is this an age thing?

[battenburg100]

Hi everyone
52 last year and now going into 53 and the past year these weird things happening to me - not sure if its menopause,
So .... incredibly dry eyelids with skin scales just falling off, my eyes, that have been diagnosed as blepharitis

Also darkness around my mouth - maybe due to smoking.
Also heightened anxiety and feelings of doom.
im on the progesterone mini pill and am scared to come off it as dont know if it will affect my hormones further.
Should I just come off the pill and go on to hrt?

I’m a bit older than you and have none of those. Can’t comment about the smoking thing, as I never have, though older smokers usually do have bad skin (sorry, that sounds rude).

I'm older than you and didn't have any of that although covid did make me feel a bit doom and gloom.

I think it is hard to be sure with these things, I had some menopause symptoms, tiredness, weight gain, feeling down and I was at that age but in fact it was an underactive thyroid. Everyone, including GP, just thought "menopause" but a lovely nurse practitioner said she thought she might know what it was, did a blood test and bingo levothyroxine turned my life around.

I hope you find out what it is and get something to help.

The anxiety could well be the start of the menopause. The rest just general aging. It is worth seeing your GP. They may send you for bloods and plan out the best route. For some women it could be a coil to start off with. There are different forms of HRT and if you are still fertile then a combined response to your symptoms might be needed.

I'm not your age, but had scaley lids which I treated as bleph for months before seeing an optician who advised it was dry eye, caused by straining eyes, and not blinking enough. Got a new pair of glasses and never looked back! See your optician, and good luck with the other things.