Hormones in a mess! Any advice please.

[izzysmum7]

I'm new to Mumsnet and would love some help please. I'm 45 and over the last 2 months my body has gone wonky! My periods are irregular, heart palpitations, vaginal dryness, feeling anxious etc. and to top it all I've just been diagnosed with Rosacea which has really upset me.

I know that I'm perimenopausal. I saw my doc and she says that with my symptoms she agrees. She has done a blood test of my hormones but this will only show my hormone levels for that day.

I've been searching the internet and have found that I can have a comprehensive female hormone profile carried out where I will have to take several saliva samples over a month to show my true hormone level.

This is an expensive test to have done and I was wondering if anyone has had the test done, and if so, did it help? I was thinking that it would help me decide how to deal with my symptoms.

Any help on perimenopause, Rosacea or generally feeling really rubbish about myself would be gratefully received. Thank you.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer but TBH there is no point at all in having those tests done.

What would you hope to achieve if you had more information on your hormone levels?

My gynae who I see privately ( he's very very good and a meno/ fertility expert) usually does blood tests on day 3 of a cycle and then again on or around the 2nd half of the month- day 14-15 onwards. This would show if you were peri or post meno.

The only way to deal with your symptoms is either to take HRT because what you are experiencing is oestrogen deficiency, or follow some complementary approaches-maybe herbs, supplements, exercise, yoga, acupuncture, dietary changes etc.

You might ask your GP if they'd refer you to a dermo for help with your Roscea- there are treatments out there that could help.

Thank you missbopeep. Your comments make a lot of sense to me. It's just that I'm struggling with this on my own and have no one to discuss things with so I end up getting a bit too het up and paranoid about everything.

I've got myself a meditation cd and am looking at changing my diet. To be honest I've always been able to eat what I want and not worry about it so it's now time for some big changes and become healthy and to start looking after myself.

All my changes seem to have come on so quickly and at the same time and it's hard trying to deal with it all.

Thank you for your help. You've saved me a lot of money!

That's ok:)

Feel free to PM me if you want to brain pick any more.