Is This The Start???

[Seahorse77]

I am 40 and for the past 5 months I am experiencing all of the below:

Waking early in the morning
Palpitations
Irregular periods - longer & spotting in between
Increased anxiety
Increased emotions
Sense of smell heightened
Pain / dull ache in armpit pit which radiates to boob
Hair was straight but has gotten wavy this past year
Spots!!!
Awful mood swings!!!

Does all this sound like I am starting to go through the Menopause? I have booked a GP appt to discuss it all. Any advice appreciated, thank you!

Forgot to add.......I seem to be very hot at night, not hot flushes but just very hot legs / torso etc

Anyone?

Yep, that sounds like peri menopause. Go armed with your symptoms, age your mum had menopause if you know and try and think about what you want...

I just wanted symptoms to stop {no great concerns about fertility ending etc) so was v happy to head on to hrt as soon as possible. Worked wonders for me.

Yes op it does, some women sale through it, think positive, exercise and start some menopause support vitamins etc, works for me.

Well it doesn’t sound like she’s sailing through it, that’s quite a list of symptoms. Especially if you are younger, replace that oestrogen and take HRT.

Thank you for your replies, my mum was 40 when it started for her......great!!

BarchesterTowers-

I didn't say that op was going to sail through it!!!!
I was just trying to be positive. Dnt think you should be telling people to take HRT it is not for everyone.

Feeling at a loss......doctors appt was with a different doctor to my lovely usual one as she's not back in until end of January! Felt completely patronised and just cried in the appt and when I got home - don't feel like I said half of what I should have as I felt so anxious and she made me feel like there's nothing wrong with me when I know full well there bloody is! She agreed to blood tests next Wednesday but said if all results normal then she Would then just look at my mood and being a bit low - ffs I have numerous symptoms, very painful boob and armpit, irregular periods etc etc my mum started at 40, my sister is only 42 and has been on HRT for 5 years already! I've come away feeling like a freak and broken to be honest, my husband is being a complete rock for me and had said we will go private to a Menopause Clinic if the GP clearly cannot deal with this. I just feel quite lost and naively thought that a female GP would have some compassion / empathy but there was nothing.

The same here! My peri was a nightmare for me and started at 38. I was convinced that I had a terminal disease. I am on hrt 2 years now and it actually gave my life back. Try not to think so much about and ask for help.

@Seahorse77 I’m so sorry. But don’t give up. GPs are surprisingly uneducated. I had to go to another gp in the practice armed with what I wanted.

It’s unlikely the blood tests will show anything, though mine picked up anaemia which was helpful.

Read the menopause matters website and the U.K. NICE guidelines on menopause. You have all the symptoms and family history of starting at 40 ish. Unless there’s contradiction then hrt should be ok for you, I started it at 42. Game changer. Take your husband with you, I go with mine to his appts sometimes when he knows it’s going to be hard to talk to the GP.

I said, I want to stop feeling like this and hormone replacement is something I’m happy t9 take. We had to try a couple as one gave me terrible pmt.

What did the Dr say about your painful boob and armpit?

I was just trying to be positive. Dnt think you should be telling people to take HRT it is not for everyone

Actually, it's medical advice to use hrt for early menopause.

@Riv12345

HRT is recommended as treatment for women whose periods stop or become irregular before 45. It's called early or premature menopause. Using hrt is necessary to prevent an increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and dementia in later life.
Have a read about it.

@Seahorse77 Your GP ought to know that age of menopause is hereditary. You have a mum and sister with early meno.

You need to push for HRT.

If your GP won't agree, see another one, or as pp says, go armed with the NICE guidance and insist on it.

@BarchesterTowers Thank you for your reply. I found the GP incredibly dismissive and wasn't expecting that, hence meltdown yesterday. As she wasn't my registered GP she made a point of saying to me that the surgery have a strict policy of doctors only seeing patients on their list.

I am expecting the blood tests to show nothing and then to hear no more from the doctor - slightly concerned that she thinks blood tests will give a definitive yes or no as to whether I am peri menopausal.

My options are to wait until the end of January for my actual GP to return or go private in the meantime. I am sure my GP will be much better than the one yesterday but if she isn't then I guess it will be the private route.

Had a long chat with my husband last night and he does agree that I am not the same person as I was which is upsetting. I just want to be me again.

@joystir59 She said nothing about any of my symptoms which I thought was a bit odd - starting to think that because I am not one of her patients she didn't want to get into any of it with me 🤔 who knows.

My armpit is quite tender today!

Go to A&E about your symptoms esp armpit/boob. They will examine you properly. Or go to another go. Do not rest until you get the attention respect y and answers you deserve OP. Women are all too often fobbed off.

I'm sorry but it's irresponsible to suggest someone goes to A&E with menopause symptoms or a sore arm/ boob! A&E is bursting at the seams and it's for serious urgent issues.

@Seahorse77 Go back to your GP with one issue- your armpit pain.This ought to be examined and if necessary they will send you to the breast clinic.

I didn't think there were any surgeries now that insisted on patients seeing the same GP- usually it's the opposite where patients are pushed from one dr to another and they never build up a relationship.

You need to contact your surgery and make another appt for your armpit/ boob issue. The GP you saw has no right to fob you off simply as you are not 'on her list' - that's bizarre.

@JinglingHellsBells I definitely would not go to A&E at all.

I guess my surgery must be one of the few remaining then as every patient is on a set doctors list - hence why doctors are very reluctant to deal with a patient not on their list. My actual GP is lovely and I have been with her for a few years now so guess I am lucky in that respect but unlucky as she has reduced her hours significantly so getting to see her is harder.

I am just assuming my armpit / boob pain is part of peri menopausal symptoms? Is started months back - woke me in the night as my armpit was just throbbing and then radiated to my boob. Has been like this on and off, sometimes more intense pain sometimes just a dull ache. Regardless I will still have to wait for end of January to see my GP - I told the Doctor yesterday about it and she did not even comment on it.

Regardless I will still have to wait for end of January to see my GP - I told the Doctor yesterday about it and she did not even comment on it.

@Seahorse77 You see maybe you need to be more assertive in cases like this?
You can't allow drs to ignore or dismiss your symptoms like this.

You could have asked her to examine your armpit and said you know armpit pain can be a sign of breast cancer and although it's highly unlikely at your age, you'd still like her to look and reassure you or send you to a clinic to have it checked.

@JinglingHellsBells Unfortunately my emotions were running wild yesterday, sometimes some people find it hard to be assertive when they are crying and feel like shit.

Maybe try writing it down as bullet points and going in with that? Say you want to read from your notes.

I did have a list.

It's shit isn't it? You just want to be reassured that you haven't got some horrible illness and that this is normal. I've been to two different GPs now (each time, like you, with a list) and I still don't know what is going on and when your periods go haywire and your mood is completely all over the place it's proper scary.

I'm 43. And I'm probably going to book another appointment and see a third GP because I need someone to tell me for certain it's perimenopause and not something awful. I hope you get someone understanding next time you visit your GPs, who actually listens to what you're trying to tell them.

Not sure anyone will see this thread but thought I would add an update......

I finally managed to see my lovely GP, she was brilliant. She examined me and has referred me to the Breast Clinic and I should get an appointment through quickly she said.

She said all my symptoms point to perimenopause and didn't dismiss me at all or make me feel like I'm losing my mind. My FSH level was 12 but she said that result isn't a diagnosis of perimenopause as that level fluctuates all through your cycle. She said she makes a diagnosis on the symptoms I have. She added that some women have just a few symptoms, some none and some have lots like me.

I was asked what I wanted and I said I just want my life back and feel like me again.

So, plan of action is to get checked at the Breast Clinic first to rule out anything else that may be going on. If I have the all clear then she will do my prescription for the mini pill first to try and level things out. I am happy to try that first to see if that alleviates some symptoms and if not then I see her again and look at HRT.

Feel worried about the Clinic but happy I saw her.