Peri Menopause

[Helen150171]

Hi. I am 45 and my periods have always been every 28 days for 5 days. Over the last year strange things have been creeping in like being two days early or two days late, sometimes heavy and sometimes not. For the last few months I have been waking up about 5 am and one minute I am in the duvet then the next, I am cold and back in. I also have really itchy skin all the time. My mum went through the menopause early 40s and had a full hysterectomy to alleviate her symptoms. I am not suffering from hot flushes in the day though. The doctor did a blood test to see if I was starting the menopause but it came back inconclusive. Should I push for another test? Does anyone else suffer with really itchy skin please?

Hi OP
I had a full hysterectomy in 2008 then my ovaries in 2014 and my GP had to do three hormone level tests over three successive months to check whether I would need HRT as apparently the first test only shows it at that point in time and they need to measure it over a set period to check for differences, so I would certainly ask for at least one other.

The going from hot - cold in the night does sound like the start of it but the itchy skin could be from anything really - some painkillers have that as a side effect as do a couple of other things.

Given your mum started early I would go back to the GP and ask them to test the levels over a couple of months and then decide from there. Might also be worth asking if your practice has a womens' health specialist on staff that you can see, as they will be up to date with all the new developments and advise on managing symptoms until you hit the glorious fun which is the full blown menopause. which really is not fun, by any stretch of the imagination. oh no sirree. even with the edge taken off by hrt!

I'm wondering why you want a blood test to confirm (or not?)

All of us go through meno but there is no need to have it confirmed by blood tests unless it's very premature (before 40 or 45) and then HRT is the advised treatment.

NICE menopause guidelines ( out last November) advised GPs not to do blood tests on women over 45. There isn't any point really and it's a waste of NHS funds. The advice to GPs is to treat symptoms; so this might be advice on lifestyle measures or prescribing HRT.

Itchy skin is a symptom as are night sweats and insomnia. Ive been using HRT for 8 years but I still wake early - reckon it's just old age now!

I get itchy, twitchy legs around 9.20 every night. It's an absolute pain and like my body saying "right you, bed". I've got in the habit of taking half an anti histamine each night to help me sleep. I thrash about, legs out of the duvet, back under the duvet all the flipping time.

I've had occasional night sweats for years. When I was married, my the husband used to say it was like sleeping next to a frog.