How do you know you are in peri or your symptoms are something else?

[JustlookingNotbuying]

I’ve been to see several GP’s and changed surgeries twice due to my frustrations with ongoing symptoms and feeling that I am not being taken seriously.
I am 49 and for the last 4 or 5 years I have had health issues/worries, they are steadily getting worse and seriously affecting mine and my families quality of life.
Yet the GPs I have seen say I am not yet in Perimenopause because I do not have regular day sweats and still have a regular cycle. Because of this I have googled my symptoms and fallen down a rabbit hole, thinking I may have a whole host of other conditions.
I am thoroughly confused, bewildered and drained.
These are my symptoms, if anyone can relate:-

Exhaustion/tiredness - I am so tired all the time. I was very anaemic at the beginning of the year and had iron infusions but they haven’t helped me feeling knackered all the time - this be peri or low iron again or thyroid or……..?
Awful, daily digestive issues - Bloating, gas, nausea, gurgling, unpredictable bowels, very unsettled guts - yet despite endless tests via a gastroenterologist nothing has been found, I have had IBS for decades but since mid 40’s it’s just been awful and nothing I try seems to settle my gut. This may be my hormones upsetting everything but could also be SIBO, a gut bacteria issue or low stomach acid?
Overwhelming, daily anxiety - Again, something I have suffered from on/off for life but my 40’s has seen this getting worse and worse (especially the mornings) to the point that I feel I am going crazy. This may be hormonal but it could be something like a thyroid issue?
Gynae Issues - several years now of excessively heavy periods caused by recurring uterine polyps and despite a uterine ablation a few months ago, I am still suffering from heavy periods! Could this be peri or endometriosis or again, a thyroid issue?
Aura migraines - again had for years but much more regular in peri and always during periods so must be hormonal?
Terrible moods - literally sobbing one day, better the next then shouting and angry the next - this is probably hormonal but often comes from the frustration of the other symptoms ruling my life.
Burning/sore tongue and throat - I have read this can be a peri thing but also read it could be a histamine issue.
Zero libido - more than likely to be hormonal but I feel so crap about myself because of the above that has a knock on effect about how I feel physically/emotionally.

I know that no-one on here can diagnose me but I am so frustrated with the GPs. They are my most first port of call but it’s a nightmare trying to get an appointment (my appointment with my gp is 22/8), then when I do see them all they want to give me is antidepressants but they give me additional symptoms which I do not want.
I am so fed up of this merry-go-round of suffering symptoms, waiting an age for appointments, feeling that it’s all being dismissed and suffering a bit more before gp waiting an age for another appointment etc….
I feel that I am wasting NHS resources by having so many GP visits and requesting tests etc. I feel like they think the same but I don’t want to visit them, I just want to feel better and be getting on with life.
I never envisaged my mid to late 40’s would leave me feeling so shitty and miserable.

I’m so sorry, this is rubbish. I’m 47. Have never had a hot flush and my periods are regular as clockwork. What I did have for 2+ years was anxiety, insomnia and mood swings. It took me 2+ years for the penny to drop, after several particularly awful nights lying awake with crushing anxiety I realised it was hormonal. Fortunately my GP was great and after blood tests to make sure nothing else was going on, I was prescribed HRT. I felt better within a couple of weeks, I’m now (6 months on) absolutely back to normal with none of the debilitating symptoms I had before.

Can you see another GP or can you afford to go private? Don’t let them fob you off. HRT has been incredible for me.

Sorry I don't really have any advice, but I would love to know this too. I know if I go to my GP I will just get fobbed off. I ache EVERYWHERE and I have weird burning/ stinging sensations on my left arm plus other weird symptoms.My legs ache so much every night I want to cry. However I don't have hot flushes or night sweats so who knows what this is. So hard to get a GP appointment and you have to wait around all day for them to phone.

I hope get the help you need.

Get a peri menopause test and take it to the GP. Your symptoms sound pretty unequivocal to me. Good Luck.

JuneFromBethesda I forgot to add the sleep issues, I really wake between 1-3am then struggle to get back to sleep. So good to read that HRT is helping you. I am saving to see a private specialist but because of my issues I scaled back to working minimal hours so funds are low, it’s a vicious cycle.
Gingerella55 so frustrating that so many of us are not listened to. I know the NHS and GP surgeries are on their knees, but so are we and if they keep turning us away or dismissing our symptoms then we are likely to keep making appointments. And don’t get me going on the telephone appointment thing. It is also why I have had to change surgeries, too many times I would wait in all day only to be told they will call me another day as they had an emergency!

Ihavekids I did! I purchased one of those pee on stick tests from a pharmacy and showed it to a GP, he laughed at me, said he’d never even seen anything like it - then offered me Sertraline!

I went for blood tests that were all fine.
I told my GP I wanted to start HRT as i had some symptoms and she was fine about it. She did me a prescription after I sent in a blood pressure reading.
My patches will be available tomorrow... I can't wait to see if it help with my extreme tiredness and all my aches and pains!

Forgot to say, I am 47. Don't have hot flushes or night sweats.

Please keep trying. My insomnia was exactly as you described, usually waking around 3am then unable to get back to sleep for an hour or more - having been a really solid sleeper all my life. I hope you’re able to find a GP who will listen. It makes me realise how lucky I was with mine, and makes me so angry when I hear of other women having to fight for treatment.

I hope it helps you @youngestisapsycho. I’m evangelical about HRT, it has given me back ‘me’ after 2 years of feeling that the joy in my life was slowly draining away.

So do I June! Have spoken to a few people who have told me how much it has helped them.

I never had a hot flush and have continued with regular periods (I'm 56 now) - HRT helped but beware the progesterone part, that just makes me so much worse, like PMT x 1000. I love the estrogen though, I started off just taking that for the second half of my cycle when I was 52, no progesterone was required at that stage.

Thanks everyone, I will have to wait until my appointment at the end of August but I will definitely push with this.
Rina66 my friend is the same with her progestogen, says it’s makes her feel awful but she really does well on the Oestrogen part.

You mention above that you were anaemic but iron infusion didn't help. Have you been tested for iron levels since? Did you have your B12 levels checked?

It could be that your B12 is low which means your body can't absorb iron properly (no amount of iron infusions will work if your B12 is out of whack).

A lot of your symptoms including anxiety are also signs of a B12 deficiency.

...but could also be lots of other things so this may not be a helpful thought.

Good luck in getting things sorted, it sounds rotten.

Polpette according to the hospital, they are all within ‘normal’ levels now but I am going to ask my gp to check alongside my thyroid levels too.