Ffs I’m 38. Is this it?

[uuughhhshsh]

I’ve been experiencing low mood, low sex drive, mood swings and sleep issues for a while. Everything seems to be pointing to hormonal issues, I didn’t think it could be peri as I’m 38. Got some FSH tests online, purely to rule out peri, did one today at day 9 of my cycle and it’s come back positive.

Ffs is this it then? I’m feeling so depressed now. I didn’t think I’d be having to worry about this for a few more years.

Have you got a full set of blood tests done to rule out other common causes of your symptoms?

Not yet. I will arrange one asap.

What other causes could there be? Under active thyroid runs in my family, I’m wondering if that could be going on too.

Yes thyroid is the most likely explanation, iron deficiency or anaemia is also possible, other things like Vit D or B12 deficiency can have similar effects. You can't possibly know if this is peri from that test. You'd also need to go through a checklist of other symptoms you may have.

When did your mother go through the menopause?

You need a medical evaluation - the tests are only telling you one part of the story. Menopause did start for my friend at 37 so it is not impossible but unlikely depending on your family history.

Yes to getting a full set of bloods done just to check and rule out anything else. Is the FSH supposed to be done on Day 9 now? Back when i was testing it was Day 3 but thats a decade ago so criteria may have changed in the meantime - either way I have GP checked that too, I wouldnt have a lot of faith in otc tests tbh. 35 is the average for progesterone to begin declining afaik, so you arent wildly out of the age bracket for symptoms to begin - society seems to be convinced we should be 50+ before we notice any changes

Get your doctor to do a full blood test.

I don't want to upset you but I'm 33 and have "primary ovarian failure" which means I'm basically going through menopause now. It does run in my family as does an under active thyroid.

I believe they checked for both during the blood test. It may be worth finding out how old your mum/aunties/grandma's were when they started going through menopause as I wasn't taken seriously until I told the FEMALE doctor about my family history of early menopause.

I’m in my 40’s, but looking back peri symptoms started at 37/38, maybe a bit earlier. Aching joints that came and went were the worst symptom for me.
Still peri at 47 with no sign of periods stopping unfortunately!

I think DM started menopause when she was in her late 40s. DSIS is currently in her late 40s and only started in the last couple of years, so maybe I’ll be ok for a while.

Luckily I have DC and am definitely done, so even if it is early menopause it doesn’t really affect me in that respect.

I’ll ask for a full blood screening to see if anything else is going on. I’m wondering whether it’s worth going back on the combined pill to see if that helps. I haven’t been on it since I was 25!

If you need contraception the pill might help symptoms a little while covering the contraception element too, otherwise you may as while just use hrt and properly sort the symptoms. Check with your GP what say you need fsh checked in bloods - also just be aware, in peri you can have normal months/levels along with erratic ones so a one off blood result that rules out peri isnt necessarily the case, oestrofen and fsh can flutuate wildly during this stage. Over 12 months i had very high post menopausal range fsh to normal and higher than average while being tested for premature ovarian failure, if id had a normal level in the first test the process probably wouldnt have been chased up as throughly as it was.