Possible perimenopause

[Neverendingsaga1]

Hello,

I’d be really grateful for some advice, I’m a long term mumsnet user although I rarely post. I have also posted in general health but wondered if any body knowledgeable about perimenopause could help?

I have consulted my GP and I’m due for another set of blood tests in a month.

I’ve not felt well for many years now. My symptoms have mainly been fatigue, my energy levels are always low even with at least 8 hours sleep, stomach issues which I was told after tests (including a colonoscopy) are consistent with IBS-D. I often feel nauseous however this fluctuates.
I have always had an anxious personality and I do tend to worry about my health especially as I age (I’m 45). I do have a stressful job (NHS) and have recently increased my hours from part to full time.

Over the past 6 months it feels as though my symptoms have worsened, I have been experiencing what I think is reflux and my nausea has increased, some days I feel sick to my stomach & due to this & trying to work through it I admittedly do not eat regularly enough & due to tiredness I often do not cook healthy meals, I definitely do not often enough foods with good nutritional value.

I have been experiencing lightheadedness on standing & the past few days strange brief head rushes that can cause me to panic briefly (the fear of fainting although it’s not happened yet).

I feel drained, I have started getting more physical symptoms of anxiety & my nausea definitely worsens at work although also happens at the weekends.

I thought it might be perimenopause related as I have noticed some brain fog, word finding difficulties, I get symptoms of thrush/UTI in the few days before my period & my breast tenderness has increased. I’m very emotional the week before my period & can be irritable, I’ve always experienced this to some degree but it feels like things have definitely ramped up. I’m not on any hormonal contraception, my cycles are longer on average 35 days but can be up to 42 days on occasion. My periods have definitely got heavier, often with large clots in the first few days.

My GP has tested my hormone levels which I did question and unsurprisingly these were normal. I have also been referred for an ultrasound incase of fibroids, my CA125 level was normal.

My bloods have however showed my B12 levels as 210 which I have been told is borderline, my folate is 3 and my ferritin 29.1. All other bloods are normal.
I have been advised they will retest my bloods in 4-6 weeks and check intrinsic antibodies.

Interestingly my B12 was 214 last year; my folate 2.5 although they were marked as normal & I wasn’t offered any follow up.

Does anyone have any advice? Could all these symptoms be due to my B12, folate & ferritin levels or should I be asking for further support with perimenopause.

All of this has started to affect my mood as I so rarely feel well & when I do it’s such a relief but also so brief.

I will add that I have cut out all alcohol for several years as it made me feel worse. I sleep well but I suspect this is due to the Amitripyline I am prescribed for migraine (20mg at night).

GP has just prescribed lansoprazole for reflux, I also use gaviscon advance.

I know nobody can tell me exactly what is going on & I will follow up with my GP but I wondered if anyone had experienced similar, any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Anxiety Can definitely give you nausea and abdominal pain symptoms, DH had this and trouble swallowing before he was diagnosed.
Low ferritin gave me palpatations, breathlessness and a swirly head feeling. I also had tingling hands with it and thought I had MS.
I take vitamin B complex for energy.
At the age of 45 and over, HRT would be recommended for anxiety before antidepressants.
I found that the Mirena coil helped my increasing PMT, and it would be the progesterone part of HRT.
Honestly, I struggled through wondering if this and that was peri or something else, and I was reluctant to go on HRT. But I got in such a mess that I decided to give it a 6 month trial, and I never came off it. Don’t struggle, give it a go.

Thank you so much, there are so many overlapping symptoms, I’ve been cycling between thinking it’s my anxiety, peri or deficiency but I suppose it could be abit of all 3 and it might be worth trying to tackle it all.
Ive been offered the mirena coil before but I’ve always been worried about nausea/migraines as a side effect as I don’t think I could function at work if those ramped up.

The swirly head feeling is particularly unpleasant, can you recall what your ferritin levels were if you don’t mind me asking? I know mine are classed as normal but on the lower end which is why I’m questioning if the symptoms are related.

Im glad you decided to go for the HRT and it helped.

Gosh this sounds like I wrote it!! I had very similar symptoms for years and have just this year been diagnosed with something called MCAS. Feel free to drop me a private message if you want to discuss at all.

I can’t remember what they were, sorry. I remember putting up with the palpitations as I read it’s a symptom of peri, yet when I took the ferrous Fumarate, they went away.
I haven’t got it now, but there was a scale I found on line for what happens when you’re at certain levels. So if it’s at one level you’ll get hair loss, then at another you’ll get breathless. It was showing that you need to be higher than they say, especially when you’re still having periods. I’d take the tablets and see if you feel better in a few weeks or not.
I had no problems with my coil other than some spotting while it settled, but that was preferable to the flooding I was having.

Hi, I could pretty much have written your post to a large degree. I’m 44 and since the summer my periods have definitely become more erratic (cycles are getting shorter not longer and all bar one cycle normal in flow) this coincided with more digestive issues (tending towards being quite loose..) I had normal blood tests with the exception of being shown as slightly anaemic (though the month I had the blood drawn I’d had two periods) and my anxiety is through the roof at the moment, I’m all over the place and barely keeping up with what I need to do on a daily basis. I start feeling PMS symptoms half way through my cycle which leaves me on edge as I never know when it’s going to arrive. In the main I don’t feel unwell especially since I started taking iron prescribed by my doctor. I’ve also been prescribed antidepressants but I’ve not started taking them yet. I’ve struggled so much with the iron I can’t bear to take anything else. I don’t know if this is of any help but I wanted you to know you aren’t alone x

Thank you so much for your replies ladies, I’m sorry you have or are experiencing similar but it definitely helps to know I’m not alone & it’s so nice of you to take the time to try & help.
I’ve booked my follow up blood test and I am really going to try & improve my diet/eat regular meals as I know that is definitely not helping.
If my vitamin levels stay within the borderline/normal range I think they will just recommend supplements which I will try.
I don’t have a lot of faith in the GP regarding perimenopause treatment but I will discuss again and consider the mirena coil.
I was also considering a consultation with the Newson clinic to see what they recommend.
i do think anxiety plays a huge part too and i think this has definitely increased which I think is hormone related.

There are supplements that might help your symptoms if you don’t want to use hrt. H&B has many.

Thank you, I will pop in & see what they recommend.

Have you been tested for coeliac disease?

Hi, yes I was a few years ago, came back negative