I think I'm in peri. It's hell. What are my options?

[WhereAreWeNow]

I'm 44. I've always had bad (heavy and painful periods) and my PMS has been getting worse over a number of years but it's now just totally out of control.
I'm exhausted, achey, and I have terrible insomnia for 2 weeks before my period,.
I'm so irritable, tearful and angry for a good two weeks before my period - I veer between depressed and raging. I'm horrible to be around.
My periods are still regular but increasingly heavy and painful.
I can't concentrate and I have the worst memory.
I've also had a lot of joint pain. I had been worried that I have osteoarthritis but I'm now wondering if it's another symptom of perimenopause.

So the first question is, does this sound like perimenopause?
Second question is what can I do about it?

I've got a GP appointment (phone) on Friday. What should I be asking for? I'm scared of HRT because of cancer risk.

TIA

Read the website of Dr Louise Newson and be reassured that HRT is not a cancer risk for women your age. There are no risks for the best HRT up to 5 years use and after that they are tiny. (less than 1:1000)

You are also very young for all of this so it's worth thinking about hrt.

Thanks JinglingHellsBells - is that right? I was googling HRT risks and found some scary stats on the NHS website about recent research finding increased rates of breast cancer in women taking HRT and that the longer you take it, the greater the risk.
Is 44 young? I don't feel it . Does that mean this is only the beginning and I've got a good decade of this hell to go? Or does it mean I'll go through it early and be out the other side by 50?

Yes, it's right- look at the website I mentioned and search for all the articles on the site on HRT. The risks of using hrt do not start until you reach the age of the average menopause. Before that, HRT is supplementation to what you ought to have at 44.

The NHS website is quite limited to be honest- it doesn't dig down into the real detail, it's just a rough overview.

Menopause- as is periods stopping- is age 51 in the UK although the run down starts a few years before that.

My periods stopped at almost 53 and that's when I took hrt.

I am 43 and been on hrt (everol sequi patches) for a few months now. Best thing I have done. I had some issues the first 6-8 weeks with side effects but now at 12 weeks and they are starting to settle. I did stop the patches for a week in my first month and the peri symptoms came roaring back and so much worse.

Speak to a good gp, download the nice guidelines on hrt and ask for them outright.

Definitely spend some time on the Menopause Doctor website OP www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/ Dr Newsom is great for educating women about the risks/benefits/symptoms, etc and giving clear, unbiased advice.

From your OP though, yes, that sounds like peri-menopause. Joint aches and pains can be awful for some women - I certainly had them before I went on HRT and was utterly amazed at how quickly they disappeared (within 48 hours).

Don't be afraid of HRT. The kinds that are absorbed through the skin (patches and gels) are generally thought to be safer than tablets. I'm on a gel and it's been incredible. I will be on it as long as I'm allowed!

When people say that HRT is amazing - what exactly do you all mean? I went through peri without it and it was hellish - far worse (so far) than menopause itself. The chronic exhaustion, the deep joint pains that woke me in the night, the lack of energy or enthusiasm for anything at all, the brain stupor, weight gain, hair loss. Then menopause happened and all of these lifted: clear head, energy, pains gone etc. Hair seems thicker, some weight is slowly coming off.

I didn't take HRT because of two close friends who did one had cancer that doctors said was caused by HRT and the other a heart attack also said by medics to be caused by HRT and both had to come off it immediately. But now I wish I hadn't wasted 5 years of life struggling so badly with peri which went on forever. I just never could quite work out what the benefits are.

Im 42 and started having symptoms, heavy periods main one. My GP wouldnt consider hrt as my periods are regular so she recommended low dose pill.

Im on it about 2 months now and its helped so much with hot flushes & joint pain. My periods are lighter and less frequent as I take three packets back to back although Ive some spotting inbetween.

Thanks all. I've spent a bit of time on Dr Newson's website today and it is really helpful. Fingers crossed I get a sympathetic and knowledgeable GP who won't just fob me off.

I had hideous hideous PMS (I really believe it was PMDD) for half the month and it was getting worse and worse in my early to mid 40s. I took HRT (oestrogel, androfeme and utrogestan - the latter for part of the month). I felt amazing on the days I was taking the first two, but the PMS was just as terrible as soon as utrogestan was in the mix.

I went private for the above btw. My GP was clueless about all things hormonal.

My PMS was definitely caused by high sensitivity to progesterone. Disclaimer: I don't know if this is the case for every woman who has PMS.

In the end after trying lots of different combinations, doses and timings for three years I admitted defeat and had a hysterectomy at 46. I now take the first two and can safely avoid the utrogestan. I feel tons better.

If you do get one that fobs you off (I did when I first went to see the GP), don't give up, just go and see a different one. The one who really helped me was a youngish, male doctor, so don't assume you need to see a woman.

As for When people say that HRT is amazing - what exactly do you all mean? HRT has made me feel like I did before all this peri nonsense started. I sleep well again, I have no joint aches and pains, PMS - gone, anxiety - gone, red-mist-type rage - gone, libido - returned, hair - thicker (this takes a while, so be patient), skin - less dry. That's what I mean by amazing!

Hrt also protects you for bone health, heart health etc. Broken sleep is linked with growth issues such as obesity and anxiety.

Your risk of cancer is FAR increased by being overweight or drinking a lot. The stats are something like being obese increases your risk of breast cancer by 28% compared to hrt which is 1% for under 50s.

You can always try it and come off it after a year or two but omg it really helps.

Health not growth issues!!

hippospot that sounds terrible. I was actually wondering whether I had PMDD when I was in the depths of my insane PMS symptoms this month. I hope a hysterectomy isn't the only solution.

That's reassuring about the risks. I'm not overweight and I don't really drink so presumably that helps to balance out the risks.

@Newgirls the cancer risk for women under 50 is zero because at 50 you'd be expected to have these hormones in your body anyway.

The risk for older women is less than 1 in a 1000. But it's 28 times that if you are overweight.

That’s good to hear jingle - I started at 48 with periods and the gp said my risk was about 1%. Much prefer it be zero.

I was about same age when I was in Peru. At age 51 I’m still in it. HRT didn’t work for me. I get hormonal migraines so adding more hormones into the mix did not help. After several years of various levels of crap without decent explanations I now take a concoction of vits each day and so far, it’s helping. It might be that my symptoms and external factors are waning but heck it’s not doing me any harm.

I take B6, B complex, starflower, magnesium and Vit D every day

Can you take HRT when you have regular periods though?

I went through a premature menopause at 36, none years ago. It was literally overnight as a result of chemotherapy for lymphoma. There followed removal of a non cancerous cyst on my ovary a couple of years later and then in 2015, I had a full hysterectomy. I have been on HRT for years and ny gp has said I will be on it until i am 52 so another 5 years. I cannot recommend HRT enough, I could not have functioned without it as the symptoms of the menopause slammed into me full force. As a cancer survivor, I mentioned the cancer risk to my gp but she assured me that the risk is minute. When your symptoms were as awful as mine, I had no choice. You sound the same. Talk to your GP

Yes @Suzi888

@zafferana oh thank you for responding. How do you know if you are Peri and need it? Does the doc test you?
I get the ‘rage’ as my DH calls it. I get exactly what OP gets, but just put it down to being tired and always on the go.

How do you know you're in peri?

@Suzi888 just age and cross referencing changes that you've noticed in yourself since about 40-ish against the list of symptoms for peri. Some things I'd put down to just 'getting old' and thought I was stuck with them from now on, but it turns out that all I needed some oestrogen!

@zafferana I think perhaps I am too! will keep a list and talk to the nurse about it at my smear. I thought as long as you had periods then HRT was out and I have just turned into a moody, achey, weepy, forgetful person over the past few months. Thank you for the responses!

I was prescribed Prozac to take the two weeks before my period and it’s really helped. I’m fifty

@WouldBeGood That's the weirdest thing I've read here! Prozac is addictive and cannot understand why a dr would offer that rather than hormonal treatment. Not your fault but very odd prescribing.

@Bbq1 The guidance now is you can use HRT for life- no time limits. As long as you have regular check ups and nothing changes and the cancer isn't an issue unless it was breast cancer and even then there are many more consultants now who give women HRT if they have had B cancer.