Perimenopause?

[AnnaCantata]

Embarrassed by my lack of knowledge so have name changed. At a party recently I had a hot flush... 1st one and came out of nowhere. For a few days before I had been having palpitations sometimes even in the middle of the night which woke me up. No more flushes or palpitations since then (about a month).
Then suddenly yesterday my period started out of the blue, 14 days early! I've had slight variations for a couple of years but never more than 3 days late or early. This has really thrown me... it's only a week since my last period stopped.

Has anyone else had this?

How old are you?

Sounds like peri menopause, add in night sweats, anxiety, depression and the Rage. Great website called menopause matters. Also read the NICE guidelines pinned to the top of the page. Especially in relation to age and HRT.

(If it Is peri) It’s your oestrogen levels falling and mucking up your body. Hrt replaces it. You may need to take it if possible if you are younger, or if you are older then you might want to try diet exercise and supplements. Personally hrt was the only thing that got me feeling like me again.

Thank you for your reply. I'm 49 so I guess the right kind of age band for this to happen. Will look at the things you mentioned.

Peri is really unpredictable Anna, as you've already discovered. Don't be embarrassed, I don't think many people have any idea about peri. I stupidly thought you just got a bit hot and periods stopped.

Often symptoms don't just come from oestrogen levels falling as they spike all over the place in peri. There's also so many other things going on with other hormones. Periods can be early, late, heavy, light, short, long or anything in between! You could keep a diary of symptoms and track your periods to see where you are. Might be an idea to get some blood tests done on vitamin d, ferritin, thyroid - ideal time to just get them checked.

Thank you that's really helpful.

Is there a bloodtest to reliably show peri?

Yes you can check your FSH but blood test are not absolutely reliable at peri.

Thanks. I've seen fsh urine tests

The urine ones only show if you have an FSH level which is post menopausal. Blood tests give you a figure and are used for those under 45 - they'd need to do a couple to get a better idea though as FSH levels don't rise at a steady rate. Over 45 and they just go by symptoms.

Great. I'll ask for d bood test.

A bloodtest

Also ask for a pelvis and transvaginal scan, something my GP offered me without prompting.

The reason I've posted this is because I'm 42, and have every perimenopausal symptom going. The scan revealed I have uterine fibroids and possibly a polyp. It transpires this is very common in perimenopausal women/women in their 40s-50s, and is caused by fraised oestrogen levels which in turn causes hot flushes, irregular periods* and many of the other symptoms you've talked about.

Like you I've always been regular as clockwork, and then my period became irregular, going from a 25 days cycle to one a fortnight for a few months and then a 7 week gap, and then back to two month. It was this irregularity that caused my GP to order the scan in addition to blood tests.

That's interesting. I have a fibroid!