Talk to me about the bone crushing tiredness of menopause

[TheMarbleFaun]

I seem to be permanently knackered - never get enough sleep & I feel like every afternoon I need to take a nap - is this normal?
Are there any supplements I could try ( or any other tips) ?
For info I’m 47 and been on HRT about 3 months (Elleste duet 1mg)
Thanks in advance!

@hullaballoonie You cannot use private insurance for menopause. (I've had private insurance for over 30 years.)

You can use it for a diagnosis of your symptoms which may turn out to be hormonal (ie irregular periods, spotting, etc) but you cannot tell the insurance co that you want to see a dr for hot flushes or whatever as you think it's perimenopause.

Originally I had a referral for something connected (possibly) with hormone levels. After that was dealt with I stayed with the consultant but pay for my own consultations.

At 44 you are on the cusp pf needing a blood test. The cut off is 45. This is before aged 45 it's regarded as an early menopause (if periods have stopped or almost stopped.)

The NICE guidelines are to give HRT for menopausal symptoms in omen over 45.

Your GP is out of touch and highly ignorant too! Why would there be HRT for
1 perimenopause
2 post menopause?

You need to either be very assertive and say you have all the symptoms of peri meno and you want to try HRT, OR find another GP who is clued up OR see a menopause specialist. YOU DO NOT NEED A REFERRAL FROM YOUR GP FOR MOST PRIVATE APPTS IF YOU ARE PAYING YOURSELF. But you will if you hope to use insurance.

@JinglingHellsBells you are very well informed. Can you come to my GP appointment with me? I will ask again for HRT but I don't think she'll give it to me based on what she said last time. Sigh. I'm not happy about the antidepressant route, having read the NICE guidelines it specifically says they are not suitable unless you've been diagnosed separately with depression, which I haven't. What I struggle with most is anxiety.

@hullaballoonie if your GP does not want to prescribe HRT for peri menopause symptoms then try another GP. This is a perfectly reasonable request which most GPs would be happy to comply with.

If you want to try it out I would say that you have hot flashes and insomnia. It's not a standard remedy for fatigue although it does help for many people. I am post meno, it helped me with insomnia, hot flashes, my skin and hair.

@Snog thank you. Some really great advice on this thread. Again apologies OP for hijacking the thread but I hope it has been helpful for others who are going through this. I feel much better informed for my upcoming appointment.

For those with brain fog, I can honestly say if I do the app Wordscapes once or twice a day I dont have brain fog. I’m not advertising it. I genuinely got fed up and looked online and found Wordscapes and have been using it. I only noticed it was working fir me when I got too busy and didn’t use it. Guess what? The brain fog returned. So long as I play this game (and exercise my brain) I do not have brain fog and don’t think I have Dementia (which is what I wondered too) so I’m happy. The rest of menopause.. I have no answer. I was on “no sugar” and it made no difference, but I think I’ll go back to it because of the weight gain. The symptoms all just suck. Honestly. That’s it.

@hullaballoonie
I think you need to say to your GP that, having read about HRT on the NICE menopause report, you want to try it. And unless she can give you medical reasons why you can't, then you want to go ahead with it.
She cannot deny you treatment if you have no contraindications.
You need to be brave and stand your ground. You might also like to ask if this is their practice policy (ie not HRT) or if it her personal stance on it. You can't allow a GP who is clearly ignorant when it comes to menopause (she doesn't even know the types available!) to treat you this way.

Here are the types of HRT for peri menopause. This is a medical meno site written by a consultant.

www.menopausematters.co.uk/perimeno.php

Print it off and give it to her, and if she is still not playing, see another GP or suggest you will take it up with the practice manager as she is not working within NICE guidelines.

Am feeling absolutely desperate at the minute due to lack of sleep. Last night I gave up and went downstairs at 2am. Must have eventually fallen asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours. At best I get 5 or 6 hours of broken sleep. Have been on HRT for 6+ months and it helps with everything except the lack of sleep. Think I may also have a bit of anxiety as I've had big life changes over the last year (got married, husband and his two kids moved in with me after living alone with just my daughter for a long time). Am considering hypnotherapy or similar, can't go on like this.

@JinglingHellsBells thank you so much. Will definitely follow your advice and be brave and stand up for myself.
@MichelleC69 the anxiety is awful and will definitely be affecting your sleep. When my anxiety is bad I find it hard to drop off and then I will wake up v early. It is shit. One thing I have used to help with the anxiety is something called the tapping solution. There's an app and the anxiety meditation is free. It sounds wacky but I tried it out of desperation and it really did help. Good luck.

Here you go
www.thetappingsolution.com

@hullaballoonie thankyou, I appreciate the reply. I will give that a go. I also just downloaded a free trial of the Calm app, will see if that helps.

Hi all. I'm actually not sure i have any symptoms of going through the menopause, apart from feeling really tired most of the time. I have a merena coil fitted, so not sure if this masks the symptoms? I'm almost 51, and this is my 3rd coil to be fitted. I get the odd bit of period pain now and then, but dont seem to have experienced any hot flushes or anything else.. Yet. Should I be having more symptoms at my age?

Well if anyone's interested I had a minor victory at the GP today. I showed her screenshots of the NICE guidelines regarding anti depressants and the menopause and explained that I was reluctant to take them. I then asked again about HRT and her reasons for saying I couldn't have it, and pointed out that there are different types of HRT depending on which stage you're at in the menopause. She admitted that she wasn't an expert and that she would seek advice from the GP in our practice who is more clued up. She's going to ring me back next week.
I would never have known what to say if it hadn't been for everyone's advice so thank you to all who posted. I may still get that HRT!

That's great news.

But it's still a disgrace that she will have 50% of her patients who are female, will go through this, and she won't know the basics about treatment/ HRT.

Which other condition would GPs be allowed to be so ignorant of?

The basics, such as types of HRT and the NICE guidelines (published 4 years ago!) should be on her homework list if she can't be bothered to go on a training course.

sorry this makes me so angry.

ps Not sure if it's reached petition stage yet, but there is an on-going campaign targeted at Parliament for all GPs to have mandatory menopause/ HRT training.

@JinglingHellsBells yes you are of course right. I would be happy to sign that petition. Maybe we could run a thread with a link if and when you have one, there must be so many of us out there who don't have the right information at our fingertips. We are reliant in GPs to known what they are talking about.

Too many typos!
We are reliant on GPs to know what they are talking about.

I'm just popping back on to say a big thank you to everyone who's given advice, I'm reading it all before I try to make a gp appointment this week. I don't think I'm especially stressed or anxious, above normal daily life stress, but the disturbed sleep from desperation to pee and night sweats are just grim. I'm particularly concerned about dry eye, as I've had it before I changed to my current minipill, and I ended up at the emergency dr with a scratched cornea, as I'd rubbed my eyes in my sleep . This past week seems better than the previous ones, but still not great.

night sweats and waking to pee were sorted out by HRT for me

Thanks, Snog, that's good to know. When they changed my minipill to one with higher progesterone it made a difference, but it's obviously not enough now.

I've printed out lots of stuff recommended on here. I think my gp will want to put me on the mirena coil with an oestrogen gel (I can't take oral oestrogen).

Insomnia, night sweats and anxiety were my main symptoms.
HRT sorted them out (mostly)

I went to a physio yesterday. She had the results of my X-rays, taken last week. It appears I have severe osteoarthritis and need one hip replacement urgently, with the other currently at the moderate stage.

I’m actually feeling that this is a positive. After many months of feeling ancient and decrepit, there’s an opportunity to feel better and lessen my pain. I’m 53 at the end of the month, and have felt like I was in my 80s. Finally there’s a light at the end of my sweaty, hormonal tunnel. It won’t solve everything, but it’ll help.

Just joining the thread mainly to say thankyou for everyone posting their experiences. I'm 46 and going through the mill. Insisted on a referral to a gynaecologist and have an appointment in July. I've had mental health issues and menstrual problems forever but this last year or so has been utter hell and I've firmly decided getting myself into a better place is my top priority now! I can't go on like this with the exhaustion, moods, anxiety, broken thermostat etc

My whole family depends on me for various reasons and I'm buckling under it all.
Need to sort myself out as I'm no use to anyone like this. Feel wretched. Definitely can see now I'm not alone, and wish I'd made a fuss sooner

Shockers, I know several people who have had hip replacements and felt so much better afterwards. No wonder you felt so rubbish.

Mummaofmytribe, it's easy to dismiss isn't it. I need to be fit and functioning too, not helped by dd2 with sn, whose sleep can be somewhat erratic at the best of times. It doesn't help that I'm not getting good sleep on the nights she is, now. I'm going to try for an appt tomorrow with my gp, having read up lots of info.

I posted on general health, but am wondering if I'm perimenopausal. For the past 3-4 months I've woken up in the midst of what feels like a panic attack. This happens usually every day the week before my period is due. My heart is racing, feel sick etc... It goes away after about 20 minutes but then feel tired, anxious, drained and tearful for the rest of the day.

I've got an appointment to see the GP later in the week.
I'm 46 - nearly 47. I have random nights when I've woken up drenched and generally have vivid dreams. I feel like the panic must be hormonal as it's so cyclical. Does anyone think HRT could help?

Meant to add - my periods are regular and normal