Is there any actual treatment for perimenopause?

[SweetnessNshite]

I've been feeling anxious and depressed, and having never had depression or anxiety before, my Mam thinks I may be perimenopausal.

I've got blood tests on Wednesday, if I am, is there any actual treatment? Or do I just have to put up with this awful feeling?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Only joking, Framey, although some people do get a bit crazy over the subject of bio identical hormone creams.

Personally, I'm not into being negative about any option regarding the menopause. Whatever works for you, I say.

Apparently Julie Walters used progesterone cream, Belinda Carlisle used a magnet, and a well known newsreader used herbal remedies.

If I had £1 for every time I've read someone say they got stuck to a supermarket trolley with their menopause magnet I'd be very very rich. Still, some women swear by them, including Belinda Carlisle.
Everybody's different.

It's a whole new world of research! I've done conception, pregnancy, breastfeeding, baby led weaning and now this! I'll have to give up work!

Well, if JW and BC used those, is that supposed to be a recommendation? LOL! One's an actress and dunno who the other one is, but are they somehow menopause experts ?

I'm 35 and have similar symptoms. Dr gave me repeated Day-21 (progesterone) tests, and depending on results may move to Day-3 tests which will tell you if you have high FSH levels (I think high FSH makes peri-menopause more likely).

I decided not to take HRT because I was told it just delayed the symptoms so I decided I might as well deal with the symptoms now rather than at a later date. Thankfully I'm not getting hot flushes but I have had very heavy periods the last few months and my last period lasted 11 days which wasn't great.

I'm just taking Menopace and hoping for the best because I can't think what else to do.

I decided not to take HRT because I was told it just delayed the symptom.

Interested to know who told you that?

It's not true anyway- for some women!
I've a few friends who have come off it and been fine with only mild symptoms.

Polly, that's true. My GP said some women experience no symptoms at all when they stop taking HRT but for some women it just delays the symptoms and they experience the symptoms all over again immediately after they stop taking it.

I know many women swear by it but as my symptoms aren't that bad, I decided to give it a miss.

I just worry about the bone density and the skin ageing really. That's why I'm gung ho for HRT, or cream or whatever is the best for stopping me becoming an old lady prematurely... I'm inly 41 for fucks sake!!!

Im back to see my gynae Dr next week
Scan tomorrow to check for fibriods/nasties
As he said to me last awesome women don't suit hormonal treatment....sadly I seem to be one of them
I have tried the mirena, the depo, the pop pill and hrt patches....none suited me and one made me feel suicidal!
In will be interested in what he has to recommend. I feel like I am out of options really.
My symptoms are;
Palpitations
No libido. None.
Awful.night sweats
Fatigue
Heavy bleeding and clots but only for 2 days
Bowel issues
Gerd
Insomnia
anxiety
Recurrent utis
I have had bloods...all normal. Had a colonoscopy...normal.
I'm at a loss to.know what to do

Reading this i think im gonna get some blood tests, i had an absolutely heavy aunt flo not so long back, like flooding! then this one super light, next to nothing! and thats not me, hot and cold all the time, no sex drive, and the rest!!!!

I'm going to go full chemical on its ass. I'm about to start a new career in teaching and need all my wits about me. I don't need any additional feelings of anxiety!

Well, I bought natural progesterone cream after reading the book on bio ident hormones....

this evening I had mega sore boobs, so used the progesterone and boob soreness had dissipated.
I want to go full chemical too Sarf but not sure adding more oestrogen is going to work if I've got too much of it at already judging by my symptoms.

I find with all of these issues, that it's hard to get decent information. I have the sore boobs too Framey which does worry me as I know a lot of breast cancers are oestrogen dependent. What I would really like is to find out what hormones I am deficient in and then find a natural alternative to it, but I guess the whole point of the perimenopause is that its the fluctuation of the hormones that causes the problems. My symptoms are sore boobs, anxiety (seems to have gone a bit now though) and hardly any libido. A friend of mine has breast cancer and part of her treatment was to send her into menopause, and she says that she feels great.

Could someone link to the nice report which says no ad s for perimenopuse please? Have anxiety and depression which is helped by hrt but gp a couples of months ago prescribed ad s. I told her I thought it was hormonal and wanted to sort that out first.

Could someone link to the nice report

Doubt that any of us have a link to hand- you'll have to google and find it which is what I do. Easily available and then read through to find the right part.

Try this allin hope you feel better soon?

Some women find that full hrt makes them really agressive, have painful boobs, terrible migraines, or have huge mood swings.

There are treatments for vaginal/bladder problems, including using topical hormone products, and if your only problem is in that area then you don't need to use full hrt. In fact, most women that are on hrt still have to use topical treatment too.

The nice report seems a little bit one sided - in favour of hrt.

Professor Emily Banks seems to weigh up the pros and cons better.

theconversation.com/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-menopausal-hormone-therapy-and-cancer-risk-51305

But equally, many women feel bloody great on it with more energy, no anxiety, better sleep, better mental capacity and concentration, no hot flushes, joint pain and weight gain.

Just had a quick look at that link- it's from Australia?
It's at complete odds with the latest advice from NICE so not sure why it's relevant to post it.

The stats are confusing for most women because figures like 'a 20% increase' don't show actual numbers. We need to make clear absolute and relative risks.

It's outdated, basically, right down to the length of time women can use HRT and the info about the link between oestrogen and breast cancer. Oestrogen alone actually protects against breast cancer because women on oestrogen only HRT are shown in all studies to have less cancer than women either on combined HRT or no HRT.

If you are thinking of using HRT look at the NICE report and not outdated articles.

Thanks Polly. So does progesterone cause cancer? My GP seemed to think it was Oestrogen but I don't really trust her knowledge on this...

I think we need a 'menopause for dummies' or similar. It's quite a steep learning curve.

Morning all. It really is very confusing isn't it? There's almost too much information! Appreciate everyone taking the time to post links etc.

I think because results differ so much from woman to woman, there is no catch all solution.

I was talking to my friend, who is a vegetarian, and was against how hrt was produced. She uses Holland and Barrett H5000 tablets, and says they're perfect for her, so I'm going to try them, and see how it goes.

Now I'm confused Polly! I may have misunderstood, but if oestrogen doesn't cause breast cancer (which is the reason I'm in menopause - chemotherapy and oophrectomy) why am I taking oestrogen blocking drugs like tamoxifen? My oncologist even warned against plant oestrogens.