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.

I think the problem is that because menopause only happens to women, nobody has bothered to do enough research to fully answer the questions.
Re Oestrogen, a lot of breast cancers are oestrogen dependant, my mum had that kind of breast cancer. But as to what is the actual cause of the disease, I don't know.

By the way, my mum took HRT well into her 70s... Got breast cancer at 77 and has recovered fully. At 83 she's strong and active, looks much younger than she is. She puts it down to the HRT, which she's off now. But if you see other women her age, there's a big contrast.

I'm 50, regular periods but heavy - fibroid related. Struggling with sore legs/knees/ deteriorating vision etc plus anaemia. I don't like feeling like this so I'm looking for solutions too. I'm more of a 'natural' than chemical bias and have spent hours trying to sort through all the information. Nothing is clear. Too much stuff to choose from...

The basic supplement I have chosen is vitamin D because, apparently, it functions as a hormone and is needed by the body for this purpose. It has really helped with anxiety and inner tension. Has also helped with sleep.

The next supplement on the list is iodine - again, needed for hormone balance.

The next is pantothenic acid - B6? Again, needed for hormonal balance

These choices appealed to me because they are known to be generally lacking , are needed by the body and influence hormones. If I'm still feeling awful after maximising the levels of vitamin d , B6 and iodine I can then look at herbal supplements.

I feel like a walking experiment, but given the cost of supplements that have no guarantee to work, I feel that I've chosen a route that I'm comfortable with

Interesting what he said about progesterone at the start of the month, I've not heard about that before. Everything he says rings true though.
So many different ideas... It Is confusing.

I gave up coffee and alcohol and felt waaaaay better I can't drink red wine but seem to be fine with rum or gin. Seriously try cutting things out before taking things.

Interesting. I'm on tamoxifen at the moment but I'm soon to move to the other kind - a couple of recent studies have shown its more effective in younger women who have had cancer. I also take another drug called megestrol as one of its off-plan effects is to decrease hot flushes. My oncologist has also prescribed vagifem pessaries for atrophy. They are HRT but as they are topical they're pretty much risk free.

Yes, it's all interesting. Interesting too to compare personal stories. My mother in law was captain of the ladies darts team at 79 and could still kick her height (no hrt), and my granny still did her own decorating at 70 and at 90 could give Carol Vauderman a run for her money on Countdown (no hrt)!

We've all heard of the octogenarian who puts their long life down to a whiskey and 80 cigarettes a day, but would we really copy it?

Best to look at impartial advice and weigh up the pros and cons.

We should look after our physical and mental health. Diet and exercise - osteoporosis society, british heart foundation, and cancer research all have info on the best things to eat/drink, exercise etc.

Hi Framey Sorry to be a bit slow in answering your questions.

I've spent years reading all the research on HRT and talking to my dr (menopause consultant) and the feeling amongst specialists - shown by research- is that it's the synthetic progesterone part of HRT which is the key for breast cancer. Other types of HRT - such as oestrogen only or natural micronised progesterone - do not show the same increase in breast cancer.

This is touched on in the latest NICE report - they say more research is needed because not all HRT is equal in terms of risk.

I think the consensus is that oestrogen does not cause breast cancer. It's cycles ( where there is a turnover of cells on a monthly basis) that is possibly the risk (either in women with a late menopause, no children, or using synthetic progestogens.) ALL the research so far shows women on oestrogen-only HRT have less cancer than women not using HRT at all.

It's obviously not simple or black and white but what is for certain is that we all need to move on from the trials in 2002 etc when the research was flawed. Unfortunately this is the basis of most articles on the web that posters link to whereas I prefer to listen to my dr who talks to other consultants and has up to date knowledge.

Agree Lorraine, but looking at what worked for one's own Mother and sisters could be useful because it seems people react very differently physiologically to both menopause and HRT.

SarfEast1cated - Menopause for dummies try the Menopause Matters website - founded and run by a gynaecologist. I haven't found it confusing. Good starter anyway. Has a forum too.

tormentil - not sure what you mean by "hormone balance"? Which hormones? Vitamins and minerals are required for all the body's functions including the endocrine system (hormones) but you should be able to get most of these from a good healthy well-balanced diet - with one or two exceptions and in certain groups of people, and if you are shown to be deficient. Small amounts of one or two well chosen supplements may be beneficial to some women eg some of the oils (all these omegas!), a little iron if you bleed a lot, and maybe Vitamin D if you don't get out in the daylight/sunlight enough. Otherwise - eat your way to better health

LuluandtheNightshade isn't most of menopausal disruption due to hormone imbalance?

I'm basing my own personal approach on supplementing to promote better hormone balance. No one seems to really know if it's too much or too little oestrogen/progesterone/testosterone. Supplements are expensive and you can spend a fortune on stuff that doesn't work for you.

However - vitamin d is definitely one of the important elements of healthy hormone production - and there is a general deficiency across the population. There's a thread in 'general health' on this topic. You can supplement with vitamin d3, well over RDA. I've done this and have experienced a massive reduction in anxiety and improved quality of sleep. All good things. There's a growing consensus that the government has set the RDA too low. It's cheap too.

Eating your way to better health is too simplistic when a lot of food hasn't got the nutrients it once had. Also, by the time we are feeling awful, we're a long way down the road of deficiency and supplementing is probably the fastest and most efficient way to support our bodies.

It's very important isn't it to eat well especially during mid life and beyond. There is a lot of discussion about Vit D which has been going on for a few years. I don't think from my reading that vit d 'balances' hormones in any way. The trace minerals that a modern diet doesn't give us so much as before include selenium which is depleted by modern farming methods. You can easily get this though by eating 3 Brazil nuts a day. Hormone imbalances are the result of a depleted supply of ova and nothing can change this- we are all born with a certain number of ova. It's definitely important to cut out sugar- the daily amount we ought not to exceed is now given as 6 teaspoons, which is still quite a lot- 30 gms- and I don't eat anywhere near that. Sugar causes peaks and troughs of energy and this can cause mood swings.

There is no argument over some women who live long and healthy lives without HRT. My mum is nearing 90 and has a full and active life, all the women on her side of the family lived long lives without HRT but equally I have school friends whose mums were crippled with osteoporosis, housebound after hip fractures, on ADs and other anxiety meds all from when they hit menopause. Anecdotal accounts like mine or anyone's are pretty meaningless because you needs 1000s of women in a trial. The research to date shows that women on HRT tend to have less disease and live longer; maybe this is because some of them are having regular check ups and taking an active interest in their health. There was some talk in a recent report by the International Menopause Society about health of women in middle and old age. HRT was being debated as perhaps one way of helping women live longer and have a better quality of life by preventing disease.

pinkfancy thanks for those links. I think it's disappointing that the 2 surgeons are both talking about the WHI studies which were shown to have invalid data.
I have heard from my dr that breast surgeons are in favour of micronised progesterone over synthetic progestins, re. breast cancer risk.

I came off HRT two weeks ago, and so far so good. I have only taken it for 6 months, but the effects (periods/bleeding, PMT, very very painful boobs) were as bad if not worse than the night sweats/hot flushes for which I took it. I am taking my chances now.

An interesting article on 'vitamin D' as a hormone

drgominak.com/vitamin-d-hormone.html

I was interested in this after I'd seen the previous posts and did a bit of research.

Amazing how there are so many different pieces of research.

This is one I found which I myself would trust due to the authors.

Viamin D is not a hormone

I have found evening primrose oil really good for swollen sore breasts - mine are back to normal now :)

polly I'm due to have blood tests too for menopause and I'm only 42.

I was recommended to have a mirena coil fitted to help my symptoms but if I have that what dates am I supposed to have the blood test as I don't have periods.