Is this Menopause?

[BonitaFangita]

I'm after a bit of advice from people who have experienced or are going through this.
I had a hysterectomy last year due to fibroids. I kept my ovaries as they were not affected. However since then I'm convinced I'm peri menopausal. I know that hysterectomy can cause your ovaries to go into shock which can cause symptoms similar to menopause but it only usually lasts a short while.
My symptoms include, anxiety and what I can only describe as a pretty much constant feeling of dread. Not depression, but not my usual temperament. Libido has disappeared. Not so much hot flushes as I feel like my thermostat has broken (does that make sense?) insomnia and broken sleep.
I went to my doctor earlier this year and he prescribed anti depressants, but I don't think it is depression.
I want to go back and discuss my symptoms with a more sympathetic doctor at the practise but just seem as just so busy right now and after taking years to get my fibroids diagnosed I don't really trust them now.
Do these sound like menopausal symptoms? and can anybody recommend and decent remedies?

how old are you?

It does sound possible. They are my symptoms.

Thanks for your replies. I'm 40, I asked my mum what her symptoms were, but apart from irregular periods she seemed to sail through it.

Yes it does sound like menopause - the thermostat being broken - that was me - not hot flushes per se but just being warm/hot for long periods of time!

I recently returned to the NHS system after years abroad in private medical care - one thing I have learnt is that you have to take charge of your own care in the NHS - if you don't look after yourself/push for your own health no one else will..keep on at it and insist that you are referred to a menopause clinic or - go private - it cost me 160 Pounds to see a doc privately to get HRT but it was worth every penny. Private prescription HRT is about 5 Pounds a month.

I think you ought to go back and bother your GP and ask for a referral to a consultant!
It's well known that a hysterectomy can bring the menopause forward- not sure about the symptoms you are having being temporary. It's really important that you get this assessed via blood tests etc with a specialist because at 40 this would be a premature menopause and all the medical advice is that HRT should be used up to the age of 50-ish at least to protect your heart and bones. As Eamonn says, there are lots of private clinics and specialists who will see you outside the NHS if you draw a blank. You need to look after yourself because no one else is going to do it for you!

Thanks Eamon and Polly, thought I was losing the plot! I will go back to the doctor, it is easy to put things off. But you're right, I have to look after myself.
I really appreciate your advice.

Hi OP, i'm 42 and had a hysterectomy in June this year. My ovaries were left too and one fallopian tube was removed. I started having menopause symptoms almost immediately. Hot and cold sweats, irritability, tearfulness, couldnt be bothered to even get dressed some days. I started on HRT, very low dose and am now beginning to feel more myself, i look like a hormonal teenager though as I have developed acne for the first time in my life! At the moment is night time cold sweats that are my big problem. I'm not sure how long all this will last.

Sounded totally like my peri symptoms (throw in a good dose of regular, unjustified rage in there and you might as well have been describing me a few years ago….). I felt anxious, overwhelmed, EXHAUSTED and at night I would weirdly overheat as though I had some furnace inside me (not quite hot flushes, but weird). On HRT now and feeling MUCH better for it, though still have some cotton wool head symptoms that don't seem to have completely cleared.

Bore the GP into referring you to the meno clinic at your local hospital, they really know what they are doing.

Sounds just like it to me too. I felt as if someone has filled me up with hot water and I was radiating heat. Add in insomnia and things that previously wouldnt have phased me in the slightest feeling almost insurmountable, and it sounds even more like it. I hope you find a more sympathetic GP who will be talk through the options with you.

I have very similar symptoms except my thermostat isn't broken yet. But I know exactly what you mean when you say you have feelings of constant dread, as I get them too. They're soul destroying aren't they, and suck the joy out of everything.

I saw a consultant who told me it was due to premature ovarian failure.