So it’s not the menopause - then what is it?

[TheWickerMan]

For four years I’ve been exhausted, had insomnia, extreme dryness to the point of bleeding, severe mood swings, loss of interest in sex, loss of appetite, night sweats (although they’ve largely stopped). I’m irritated, I cry a lot, I feel awful. My period stopped for several years after having my DC but they came back and now they’re roughly every 2.5 - 3.5 weeks. They were VERY heavy, I would bleed through a pad and my clothes. Recently they’ve been lighter and shorter.

Everything to me was screaming perimenopause. I had a blood test over a year ago and apparently my oestrogen was low but they didn’t tell me that, I only found out when I went back recently. I’ve had some more bloods and I’ve just sat and looked through the results and everything seems perfectly normal. Nothing even on the low side.

So does this mean it’s definitely not the menopause? They’ve done iron and thyroid etc too. The doctors have said that that’s that, off you go. But I’m in tears because I was clinging it to be this because then I could take HRT and feel normal again. Now it’s just me alone feeling awful constantly and miserable. I don’t want to live like this. Physically and mentally I’m a wreck. I feel like I’m going mad.

Perimenopause is what you go through to get to menopause. Many women's bloods come back normal during peri, and so perimenopause is usually diagnosed via symptom and not blood results. Have you been seen by a menopause clinic and not just a GP?

I ask because your symptoms SCREAM perimenopause.

How old are you? If you are experiencing peri menopuase symptoms and are over 45, blood results are not considered a reason NOT to give HRT on a trial basis. I know a few women who have been fobbed off with "blood results are fine" but who, on insisting, have found HRT life changing.

How old are you?
Perimenopause isn't diagnosed by blood tests because the hormones fluctuate so much day to day.
Go and ask for hrt, maybe a different doctor.
Good luck! I certainly sounds like peri!!

No, I’ve just been seen by my GP. They put me on the waiting list for gynaecology but the waitlist is several years.

Okay, I didn’t realise they often come back normal. But they’ve said that’s it, there is nothing more to do, so do I just wait for the gynaecologist?

I did read that there are some herbal supplements I could try, so maybe I will give them a go.

I agreed I am so sure it’s perimenopause but they just don’t seem to agree and they never even told me when my last bloods came back as low oestrogen back then, I only found that out as the doctor I saw who ordered these bloods told me.

I’m 37, so I know in medical terms not close but it just feels so right. Can I just ask to trial HRT then? I may do that

37 would definitely be considered early to be perimenopausal, but it's not unheard of. You need to find out if there is a menopause clinic for your area, because they have so much more knowledge than a GP. My GP has a dedicated menopause clinic, but I know many areas still haven't sorted them out. I was perimenopausal at 40 and wasn't believed until I was 44. I'm 47 now.

My GP won’t take bloods for peri menopause as she says it’s so unreliable.
in the meantime, menopace supplements are good and you can buy them in supermarkets!