I am 49 and for the last 6 (ish) years I have been suffering from a myriad of horrible health issues which are slowly driving me to insanity (NOT joking!).
I keep putting it down to Perimenopause but looking on a recent thread where a lot of women were saying they sailed through menopause I am wondering if a huge proportion of my issues are actually down to stress?
My symptoms are quite a lot but varied.
I have had IBS for the last 25 years which was always up and down but mainly quite predictable however, the last 6 years my issues have become daily and very unpredictable. I suffer from nausea, acid, gurgling, bloating, excessive gas, diarrhoea etc, it’s ongoing and despite endless and very invasive tests nothing has been found and just put down to a worsening of my IBS. I have tried everything to help my gut issues, everything recommended but atm, nothing helps. These issues are completely controlling my life
I also have very, very, very excessive anxiety, It’s just awful first thing in the morning and also completely controls my life right now, I feel so wound up, so very on edge. I cry most days and to say I am depressed is an understatement. I really have zero joy in my life and feel it’s over. I try many things to control this to no avail
I have no libido at all and quite dry and uncomfortable down there
I am constantly angry and have a very volatile personality these days, I fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. DH and I argue a lot these days because of this.
I am completely exhausted all the time and could sleep all day, infact as soon as I wake, I want the day to be over so I can crawl back to bed
I had put a lot of my issues down to low iron stores. Up until early this year I had years of excessively heavy periods due to recurring uterine polyps. This gave me ferritin levels of 3. I was on my knees and despite my GP ignoring this, I begged for an iron infusion. I had this in February and even though my levels are now high I still feel exhausted every day.
I also had a uterine ablation in April and now my horror periods are only two days and light, so that’s something but still I feel like I’m wading through treacle every day.
I am starting to get sweats (night and day) but this only seems to be a week before my period.
I do have sleepless nights but it’s often my gut issues which are waking me.
I have very annoying tinnitus but this may have nothing to do with anything!
So, I have all of these issues BUT I have to admit that I have been under a lot of stress over these last few years and wonder if I have actually been in denial about this and just tried to plough through my life as I believe that we all have stresses, that’s just life but maybe I’ve reached a tipping point with mine?
Over these 6 odd years I had to deal with ds and his secondary school anxiety and refusal (6 years, almost every morning he would cry and refuse to go to school, he said he wanted to end his life and the school did nothing at all to help and just kept threatening me with fines. (It was a really stressful time, I felt very alone during those days, no mother wants to see their child struggling so much). My MIL passing away 2 years ago from cancer (heartbreaking watching her dying, she was my second mum), my own DM being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s (I help my parents every day as my dad doesn’t cope with mum), my 14 year old dd struggling in lessons at school and waiting for an ADHD assessment, my ddog (who had been my shadow and bestest buddy for 10 years) passing away 2 months ago and now my dh may lose his job this week after being in the same job 34 years!
Despite many doctors appointments, my GP has never mentioned peri and when I bring up the subject she always says we can talk about it at a later date but she always wants me to try antidepressants. I have tried them however, they upset my already buggered up digestive system so I end up worse than before.
I am in such a spin with everything and there is so much about peri and the menopause these days that I’m just not sure if this is actually peri or if it’s just a giant huge shit heap of stress causing my issues?