Re: Ugh what the fuck is wrong with me?

[HormonalAF]

Hello, I am speaking with my GP today about the results of my most recent blood tests and I'm not sure what I'm asking her for.

For background info I've suffered (manageable) panic attacks and anxiety all my life which became (absolutely unmanagable) panic disorder/agoraphobia after the birth of DD 7 years ago. Take Sertraline 125mg daily but it no longer benefits me.

Recently I have been feeling terrible - fatigue, hair loss, dry, scaly skin, brain fog - tested ferritin levels which were low, so put on iron tablets for 3 months. Levels increasing.

Anxiety has tripled recently, along with the following:

Clumsiness
Persistent physical and mental fatigue
Poor bladder control and frequent urination
Joints (knees, fingers) feel achey - I try to practise yoga but the bending is painful and 'dry' feeling in my joints
Increase in chin hairs (WTF)
Dizziness, heart palpatations
Poor skin brittle fingernails
Itchy, crawly skin with a strange electric shock sensation like insects crawling around under the skin
Dreadful short-term memory
Sore breasts

Had hormone tests - FSH was 11.8 so in 'normal' range - the upper marker is 12.5. But it's obvs too high for me and hecking fuck my anxiety attacks are debilitating at the moment.

The GP tells me it is my anxiety but I'm sure it's hormone related - poss an imbalance? They want to change my anxiety meds from one type of SSRI to another but really I don't think that's the answer. Should I ask for HRT? Don't want to go onto the pill as it turns me into a horrible monster :(

Also EXTREMELY teary but unfortunately the Sertraline prevents me from actually crying so have an emotional blockage atm

Hi yes also meant to say I am 40 so poss perimenopausal IDK

I have all of your symptoms apart from the anxiety and panic attacks. Although, the itchy, crawly skin is only in my elbows. Feels like a moving, twitching nerve.

I just put it down to my age (41), and the relentless of working full-time plus bringing up kids.

I recently had a mammogram because of the pain in my breasts. Consultant said it was age.

HRT!!! Many of your symptoms are what I was going through a couple of years ago, even down to that horrible skin crawling sensation. I thought I was losing my mind and got to the point where my PMT was so extreme I was worried I would do something stupid. HRT has changed my life. It took a few goes to find the right one for me, but I can honestly say that I feel steadier and more emotionally stable now then I ever have. Much of what you list smacks of hormones to me; my FSH was normal too, but I insisted the GP prescribe HRT and the difference it has made to me has been incredible.

Thanks for your replies, both - honest to God my PMT is so unstable and I'm constantly on edge with it at least 2 weeks a month (pre and post period).

It's the skin thing that's so horrible - like restless leg syndrome but all over. Worse when I'm tired. I'm going to speak about HRT when she calls - I just want them to treat the symptoms rather than the test result iyswim? Also hoping to come off Sertraline in 2018 so want to be as stable as I can be with iron/hormones/etc

I was 2 weeks crazy each month too. That skin crawling is weird and very unpleasant - its called formication and is a rare-ish but known symptom of menopause.

Lots of GPs palm women off with anti-depressants when the issue is a hormonal one. I'd insist with your GP that you are prescribed HRT and give it a good few months and see how you feel then.

I have all of these symptoms OP.

HRT has resolved the following:
nxiety has tripled recently, along with the following:

Clumsiness - absolute nightmare. Cannot walk through a door without bashing my hips on the door frame, drop things that I'm already holding - has not improved
Persistent physical and mental fatigue - yes, total, has not improved
Poor bladder control and frequent urination - not too bad pre or post HRT
Joints (knees, fingers) feel achey - I try to practise yoga but the bending is painful and 'dry' feeling in my joints - sometimes but nothing consistent or especially an issue in this area
Increase in chin hairs (WTF) - unresolved, white, like high tensile steel, total nightmare
Dizziness, heart palpatations - no haven't had this
Poor skin brittle fingernails - yes, not improved
Itchy, crawly skin with a strange electric shock sensation like insects crawling around under the skin - yes, has improved
Dreadful short-term memory - YES! absolutely appalling - can be half way through a sentence and not know what I was ultimately wanting to say, cannot remember names of people. This has NOT improved
Sore breasts - yes, um, variable. I'm on HRT patches and have an Implanon contraceptive so there's the odd period then might go 8 months without any.

Ain't life fun?!!

Ha! I originally wrote Short Term Memory twice and had to delete one because I'd forgotten I'd written it. I've always been quite mentally agile but recently it's like treacle. Slow, muddy and all my conversations are peppered with 'uh, what was I saying?'

God, it's the anxiety though - that's what I need most help with. I've tried so many things, but recently I've diarised the days when it's better/worse and you can see my monthly cycle through my shittiest days.

It's a magical time

Sorry to hear all this Hormonal. Have you had your thyroid checked? I have an underactive thyroid and many of the symptoms you describe (in fact the majority) I also had until it was corrected. I have also been very low in iron in the past (still have to watch it) and lots of those symptoms, particularly anxiety and palpitations were definitely related to that. It can take a good few months to feel better when correcting low iron so you may not be feeling the effects just yet, even if levels are rising. I was also told a while back that thyroid problems can affect iron, so you can get a frustrating combo of two things going on, perhaps making diagnosing the thyroid problem trickier than it should be. Sorry to make this all about me but hopefully you might find this useful... It was only when I paid to see a private endocrinologist for fertility issues that I was finally put on the correct dose of levothyroxine, along with Vitamin D. A fantastic acupuncturist I saw at one time too told me that often the first signs of dipping iron can be palpitations and worsening sleep - this fits me exactly, and then I get anxiety following a week or so of that. Finally, I can definitely day with the benefit of hindsight that my PMT and general mood was definitely worsened considerably by low iron / low thyroid or both. I'm now on much more on an even keel. I suppose that if you add in hormonal shifts associated with peri menopause then it would all be an awful lot worse. Oh, and with test results make sure you ask for a print out because the ranges they use which are considered normal aren't everyone's 'normal', and it might take a switched on GP to be confident enough to trust in your reporting of symptoms and try you on some meds even if you have results that fall towards one end of the normal range but still not outside it. Hope that last bit makes sense!

You should get your B12 and folic acid levels tested.

Most of these symptoms are caused by these deficiencies so ask the doc for a blood test.

Arrrgh, sorry I missed these last responses - I've had my thyroid checked but had to push for my ferritin levels when I started losing my hair. Turns out they are too low. Not sure on b12 - I turned vegan for a bit last year in an effort to get more energy and have been taking a b vit supplement for over a year so it should be okay. Will look at folic acid though - have appointment face-to-face with doc next week. They seem to think my fsh levels are within normal range but I've just missed my period so something is definitely amiss :(

1980gal yes, I'm hopeful the doc will treat the symptoms rather than test results - my FSH is 11.8 and 'normal' range is up to 12.5 so is high end of normal either way. I will report back how I get on!

As upthread I too had a lot of these symptoms when I was diagnosed hypothyroid and then when I was undermedicated. The anxiety in particular was through the roof. I had to cut out almost all caffeine and sometimes I would just sit and shake for no reason. I felt like I was in neutral with my foot on the accelerator.

In my experience a gp will not connect the two though anecdotally it seems they are related. If you have the test make sure you get your results printed so you can parse the numbers. Sometimes people with borderline results can benefit from treatment.

Could also be b12 or vit d. My sore hands resolved with enough d (I was severely deficient) and sore feet resolved after b12 injections.

Good luck tracking it down.

I'd go with B12 (& maybe Vit D) tests too

Thanks pals, I'll mention B12 at appt - I was taking vit D up until recently because I'd read somewhere that it helped anxiety so may get back on it too.

I'm cold all the time too - painfully cold, like I'm a hundred years old. It's so weird. Some of the things have resolved themselves with the iron tablets - hair loss, eye twitching etc - but the rest is still a pile of poo.

As you may know that is a very common symptom of underactive thyroid and one of the first things to resolve for me when I went on meds. I used to feel so cold it would make me nauseated.

Look at B12/D deficiency symptoms

I have no experience as such but my gp called me to come in next week as I have a b12 & folate deficiency.

I googled it out of curiosity and was amazed at the ‘basic’ symptoms it can cause.

www.b12deficiency.info/signs-and-symptoms/

Might be worth requesting a test.

Be aware that B12 deficiency can be caused by pernicious anaemia (which won't be cured by oral supplementation due to lack of intrinsic factor - it requires injections- and can be very serious) so not one to skip over.

Veganism is about the only way to develop B12 deficiency by dietary insufficiency, though, so if the issue is B12, that's far more likely the reason in your case.

I'm 55 and had quite a few of your symptoms. HRT sorted 90% of them I would say.

Hi hun
so all
of your symptoms had been resolved with HRT?