I’m now 50 but for the last 5 or so years I have been on a steady downward decline in my mental and physical health.
I can’t work out if the issues I have are actually down to perimenopause because I actually still have a cycle and have minimal hot sweats (although I have always been a super chilly person so not sure if that makes a difference) or if the fact I’ve had lots of family stresses, a death in the family and caring for a parent with dementia has a lot to do with it?
I have seen several GPs regarding this and they have put everything down to anxiety and won’t acknowledge that I may be in perimenopause despite my age. One even tried to put me off HRT by printing off some literature warning of the breast cancer risks.
So I am at a bit of a dead end. I can not afford to see a private menopause specialist and so am coasting along feeling like shit every day.
These are my symptoms, could most or all of these be caused or made worse by my hormonal system?
Anxiety - I have had anxiety most of my life but hitting my late 40’s seemed to unlock a level of anxiety I have never experienced before. It’s relentless, overwhelming and much worse during the first half of the day, I wake up feeling dreadful and feel shut most most mornings. I feel so low, cry at the drop of a hat and am spiralling into quite a depression
IBS and upper gut issues - again, something I have suffered from for several decades but it’s been super bad these last few years. Despite endless tests via gastroenterology all has been put down to IBS and functional dyspepsia. I have a bad tummy every day, nausea, acid, gurgling, bloating and gas. The symptoms even wake me during the night. This is one of my biggest issues and is very much getting me down but nothing I try helps (on a low fodmap diet, take IBS meds and meditate etc)
Sleeping issues - I am often woken by my tummy but also woken because I’m hot, or because I just don’t sleep deeply enough anymore, I wake so easily. I often wake from 3am - I’m knackered a lot of the time.
sore and dry I am often sore and dry down below and have what looks like a paper cut down there which flares up throughout the month and can be quite sore and itchy. I also have zero libido.
very dry skin dry skin all over unless I moisturise every day.
Periods up until last year I had very heavy periods, so heavy I ended up needing an iron infusion and uterine ablation. I now have a tiny light period which is every 28-30 days so obviously still having a cycle.
Aura migraine I suffer from aura migraines, not so much the headaches but the visual issues, these became worse since hitting 45 and have always been during my periods so must be down to hormones. Not sure if this means I could take HRT or not as I’ve never been allowed to take the pill due to the stroke risk.
Of course, none of these things could be down to the menopause and maybe lots of these symptoms are related to the amount of stress I have been under for the last few years and according to the GPs I’ve seen I’m not yet ‘there’ as my cycle is the same but I can’t help but think that surely I must be somewhere there? My mum was about my age when she went through it but she has Alzheimer’s so I can’t ask her but I do remember her being very low with awful anxiety and crying a lot at that age but she also lost her mum at 48 so I had put it down to that but who knows now?
Can anyone relate to these symptoms? Where they part of your menopause symptoms and what help you? The GP just wants me on antidepressants which make my gut issues so much worse.