Please help - debilitating anxiety in perimenopause

[PopRay80]

Morning ladies. I’m 43 and going through this horrendous perimenopause. I feel like it’s ruining my life 😢
I’ve never had anxiety before but this was one of the symptoms that made me go to the GP to ask for HRT as I knew it was hormonal.
I’ve been off work for about 3 weeks now and don’t know how I am supposed to work with such crippling anxiety and tiredness.
I wake up at around 4am every morning and the anxiety hits. I have a really tight chest and my brain is in overdrive.
I have been on HRT (gel and utrogestan) for around 10 days (prior to that I was on Evorel Sequi patches for 2.5 weeks, which made me feel worse) and desperately want to know if anyone can tell me if this will help with this debilitating anxiety??
Please let me know if HRT will help with anxiety as I’m desperate.
I’m SO unhappy right now and can’t cope with this 😢

Sorry to hear this OP, was exactly the same last year. Could not manage. Now on Sertraline along with oestrogel and testosterone. Have Mirena. Honestly feel like a different person. This too will pass 💐

I could have written your original post OP. I have a tight chest, high anxiety, wake up at 3am and never get back to sleep. I’m 43. I started a new job in the New Year and I just couldn’t cope with it all, I’ve already left. But when I went to GP, she gave me a blood test and said I hadn’t gone through the menopause yet and to exercise to help with the anxiety. She was definitely not up for giving me HRT.

moveoverdarlin your GP is plain wrong (as so many of them still are). NICE guidelines have recommended HRT as the first line of treatment for perimenopausal symptoms for years now.

Same here. There are solutions that can help op.

NICE Guidelines recommend CBT. Some find it works and some find it doesn't. There are so many different therapies out there that help with anxiety if you need something on top of HRT or Anti Depressants. I personally recommend hypnosis or RTT. That's the thing that helped me turn a corner but as I say everyone is different.

I would consider SSRIs. I am HRT and recently restarted Prozac and feel anxiety free for first time in months.

I am on HRT that should have read!

I was on the floor on HRT, but it was actually when they upped my oestrogen that I was suicidal. And a day or two after stopping, back to normal. This was with the Newson Clinic too. Anyone know about oestrogen sensitivity? I took progesterone while TTC and was fine but think it wasn’t helping either. It’s a shame as I’m keen on the heart-protective and other benefits of HRT but just can’t work myself out and a few gynaes thought I began too early. Def feel better off it at the moment but that’s not saying much. Swinging moods, flash rages, crashing lows and tears a lot

Bookist is right. I am fine on high levels of oestrogen but even menopause specialists are reluctant to prescribe enough. I am progesterone intolerant and even the mirena affected me. So in the end I had a hysterectomy so I could go oestrogen only

I think my GP has been doing some reading!!?
Initially she put me on Evorel Sequi patches and I felt suicidal on the progesterone patch so she moved me onto utrogestan and gel. She was quite dismissive about the coil, even though I said I have friends on it and say it’s great.
Yesterday I spoke to her and said that the anxiety has calmed (not gone) but I’m worried about talking the utrogestan on 1st March due to being on mini pill and thinking too much progesterone.
She then said, “have we spoken about the coil?” Ummm….yeah, I have!!!
It makes me wonder if she’s had a little read about progesterone intolerance (she’d never heard of it when I told her before) and now finding solutions!!
I do find the anxiety has calmed. I’m not such a wreck anymore but still waking at 5am and lying in bed with tight chest and trying not to worry 😖

I'm so sorry you're struggling like this. Can I ask what they upped your oestrogen dose to? And was it oral oestrogen or gel? Also did they increase your progesterone too?

Wait, hang on! You're already taking the mini Pill and your GP is prescribing extra progesterone on top of that? Why are they doing that?

You can try the Mirena, but if you're very progesterone intolerant then it really won't be good for you. Not all of the progesterone in the Mirena stays localised, some of it does get into your system. Many years ago, I tried the Mirena and it had me climbing the walls within a week.

When I saw Prof Studd he told me that he wouldn't prescribe the Mirena for me as I was so severely progesterone intolerant.

Yes, because the progesterone in the mini pill is not enough to protect womb with HRT.
so, what progesterone did you take??

How did you know you were progesterone intolerant? What happened? What were you taking?

I can't cope with the pill. Endless sobbing and thinking of suicide.

Utrogestan made me feel the exact same way.

So, progesterone intolerant.

But I can cope with Mirena.

I too felt suicidal on the sequi patches. I went on them as my main symptoms were hot flushes and atrophy but although they've helped with those symptoms they've caused horrendous anxiety and insomnia.

I've now stopped all hrt and I'm no longer anxious although the atrophy is back with a vengeance I think hrt is a minefield as every woman is different and until GP's have better training it's pot luck she th er you get something that works

Have you tried local Oestrogen for the atrophy? Ovestin has been a miracle worker for me and several of my friends.

Davina69 get some local oestrogen from your GP that should really help with vaginal atrophy. I am using Ovestin cream and find it really has helped.

I personally found with my peri and then menopausal help the following:

1. Talk to family and friends, especially female friends.
2. Magnesium citrate really helped with sleep (tablets) and also magnesium butter on legs/feet - there was one I got also with lavender in it.
3. I spent about 3 years or so on various supplements like Menopace Max, Sage etc and they helped somewhat but not really.
4. No one mentions the anxiety - I honestly thought I was going mad with it, hadn't had it since I was in my late teens and it was really debilitating. My PMS symptoms were increased ten fold.
5. I did get some PMS herb tea made for me by Neal's Yard Remedies and some essential oils too. Sort of helped.
6. I didn't do as much yoga/meditation as I used to do, but when I did do it it helped.
7. I know they say to decrease alcohol or caffeine but I found as long as you are sensible - e.g. no caffeine after 2pm and alcohol yes do drink but not to excess I found that was best. Otherwise especially if you go out and like e.g. a it was a bit sad to deprive yourself of it.
8. Exercise was really key to me - long 20km walks with air pods in was one way.
9. When I did start on HRT - Evorel Conti patches they were good but after just a year I had to come off due to spotting and then my doctor said she'd prefer it if I was off HRT.
10. I personally think if you haven't been depressed/anxious before (I was in my teens) then it's a bit much to suddenly take unnecessary meds for them whilst in peri/menopause. I've taken Prozac for depression once (late 20s) and I think there are other better ways of dealing with it. But if it works for you now, yes, go for it.

I'm surprised at that because I thought the mini was only progesterone. I ended up taking Utrogestan but at half the dose and for only seven days per month (as directed by Prof Studd). I could tolerate that and just had a yearly scan to check womb lining (it was always fine).

But sadly you won't find a GP who will prescribe that regime.

Testosterone for me too. Made a huge difference. It's difficult to get on the NHS though, unless you have a really educated GP. I get mine through the Newson Clinic. The GP will usually only prescribe it if it seriously affects your libido...we wouldn't want to disappoint the men of course 🙄

HRT didn't help me with anxiety I'm afraid. The insomnia was awful (I couldn't function on four hours, or less, a night) and the anxiety debilitating and irrational.

I exercise six days a week (sometimes yoga added), and have done for years. Teetotal for years and eat healthily. I also take daily supplements. I've tried meditation in the past.

The above were things the GP asked before giving me a prescription for sertraline, which I started in December. I'd tried HRT for six months and I'm still taking that. I feel calmer but not there yet so we've discussed an increased dose of the ADs.

Yes I have taken Testogel since 2016.

Also firmly believe that if peri menopause caused our vaginas to slowly seal up then HRT would be automatically prescribed to all women over the age of 40.

Thank you. I thought I was clued up about this, until it came to myself. Oestrogen was gel, upped to 3-4 pumps from 1-2, and also oral body identical progesterone- they didn’t up that but I’d only been taking one tablet instead of two for the last 12-14 days. So effectively that dose was doubled at the same time. After my extreme response they bandied around PNDD or oestrogen/progesterone sensitivity.

Dr Newson then suggested I take pessary progesterone continuously… and some oestrogen “when needed” - I just didn’t as I don’t know when that is! I can’t work it out so it’s all gone in the too hard basket!

I am not medically qualified but I would guess that it was the increase in Utrogestan that caused your issues? To give you some context Prof Studd had me on 4 pumps of Estrogel + 100mg of Utrogestan for only 7 days per month. He would have been happy for me to increase to 5 or 6 pumps of gel whilst keeping Utrogestan to a minimum.

On 4 pumps my own p/mol never got higher than 400. But I know women on 4 pumps who had 800 p/mol. We all absorb and convert oestrogen very differently.