Perimenopause? Low iron? Anxiety?

[mimblewimble]

Please help to calm a person with health anxiety and convince me I'm not about to have a heart attack...

I have seen the GP today, who seemed unalarmed, and am going for blood tests tomorrow, checking vit D, Iron, B12, folate, thyroid etc.

Basically I have a whole host of weird symptoms since the weekend. Most of these I've also had at some point in the last couple of years and never got to the bottom of.

• huge wave of adrenaline on Sat that seems to have set all of this off, smaller ones since, felt like an anxiety attack but came out of nowhere when I was resting, breathing and heart rate were fine
• feel generally weird and kind of wobbly since
• had one moment on Sat when I lost my balance a bit
• tingling hands/feet
• anxiety
• tight chest on and off
• occasionally slightly queasy

I'm in my 40s and pretty sure I'm perimenopausal. I had ovulation pain on Saturday too so could be hormone related?

I was definitely anemic about 9 months ago, with low ferritin too. Felt like shit with tingling and chest pains and anxiety and just not myself. Took supplements and started eating occasional red meat (was veggie), got my levels up to low end of normal range, but haven't been taking the pills since Jan as I was having some gastro issues.

I have health anxiety and a lot of these symptoms could be purely down to anxiety today, but I also experienced strange physical things in the first place that set me off.

The anxiety is making me want to just sit in a&e in case I'm about to break. Like, what if it turns out to have been a heart problem all along?!

I’m peri and I’ve got anxiety and gastrio issues now from the beta blockers I was given. It’s rubbish. The anxiety for me is in the evening when I’m chilling g after a long day and I should be calm. It’s awful, like a panic attack.
feeling your pain op.

Sounds like peri to me. I would get the worst whooshes of anxiety. So bad that they felt physical and would wake me up. I’m sure it’s all connected.

I'm not a doc, but the only things you mention that might suggest a heart attack are the tight chest and the queasiness.
Are you short of breath? Where in your chest is the pain? Does it radiate to your arm, jaw, back, neck, shoulder? Is it worse if you press on it? Are you sweating?
If it hurts when you press on it, it is less likely to be related to a heat attack. The other symptoms might occur with a heart attack.

Sounds like a panic attack, they tend to come on rapidly out of the blue like that. Still could be peri related though.
sounds absolutely nothing like a heart attack.

That doesn't help the anxiety... 😭

I'm not at all short of breath. I'm not sweating. It feels better rather than worse if I press on it. It's hard to say where it is, fairly central.

I've been to a&e with chest pains numerous times in the past few years. Every time the ECG is fine, and bloods are fine. I sit there on a hard chair for hours, usually overnight. Then I feel worse because I haven't slept.

I went into A&E with similar last year and checks were all fine, they thought it was hormonal / start of perimenopause. Also had low ferritin. Feeling a bit better with iron and HRT.

OK, you can be reassured about at least one thing - it doesn't sound like a heart attack. Let the GP deal with the medical work-up that you'll get tomorrow.

I would suggest restarting the supplements and working around the gastro issues, e.g. take the more irritating ones with food, finding ones that are coated in some way, finding a better brand, etc. Your body will be better able to deal with whatever comes along.

And, of course, anything you can do to calm the anxiety has got to help. x

Had another funny turn at work this morning - wave of dread, heart pounding, felt queasy and weak - so have gone to a&e. God knows how long I'll be waiting to be seen - it's very busy! Feel a bit of a fraud, but also don't feel right at all.

Best to get checked out. Keep us updated.

Hope you are ok

I can totally relate to all of this. Which I hope is somehow reassuring. Drinking loads more water helped as I was dehydrated, also having talking therapy. Both these stopped whatever was going on… weirdly I also related to it to fish, the symptoms would set in about 12 hours later. I know I need HRT but the hit and miss of getting the right dose was too much as I’m sensitive to hormones. Have started AD now to help mood and emotions hopefully even out a bit

How did it go? This is exactly the symptoms I had… on and off for years. Am still not sure what was going on…. the sudden fish/seafood intolerance can apparently be related to hormones. Let us know how you get on x

I am still waiting to be seen.

Been here since 11.30am FFS.

Ecg was done quickly, nothing showing but then I was feeling ok at that point.

Now sitting just feeling bored and uncomfortable and like a total hypochondriac, next to a guy with an actual heart condition.

The hospital doctor has said it sounds most like panic attacks. He recommended some other things to rule out, all of which are covered by the blood test my GP has ordered - diabetes, thyroid, iron levels (though he didn't particularly think low iron would cause this). Am being sent home now. He was so satisfied with my ECG that he didn't think it worth doing the troponin blood test I had to have last time.

I was having similar symptoms about a month ago, OP. I'm definitely in peri at 52 and have a history of anaemia (and gastro issues and post-natal health anxiety) and have found iron really messed with my stomach. I started taking a couple of supplements - Well Woman 50+ (which includes iron) and Ashwaghanda. A month on and I feel like a different person. I don't know which supplement did it, maybe the combination of both! Ashwaghanda is supposed to lower bp, reduce anxiety and make you sleep better.

I feel for you. The wave of dread is a good way to describe the perimenopause waves of anxiety. Hopefully it will help knowing it is nothing serious. Just have to do what you can to get through it.

Still feel like shit - tight chest, heart pounding in ears, tinnitus, pressure in ears, heart rate going up from not much, occasional palpitations, tingling hands, feet and face, and just generally wobbly and not myself. Health anxiety through the roof (my brain is telling me I have a brain tumour now as well as the heart condition), but physical symptoms are still there at the times I get the anxiety calmed.

Some of the blood tests just came back

Ferritin 13 (normal range 10-291)
Folate fine.
B12 317 (normal range 212-911)

The ferritin is low, that could be the culprit. (of some of it anyway). I used heme iron supplements on amazon and got my ferritin up it wasn't as low as yours though. Mine was 24 and now over 60.