Should I see my GP about mild perimenopause symptoms now?

[Globaltravel]

I have what I presume is mostly fairly mild perimenopause symptoms and I’m not sure if I should see the GP or muddle along as long as possible or maybe try some sort of herbal remedy I.e Menopace etc?

• Sleep - varies between fine and dreadful, and the latter seems to occur in clusters of days or weeks and then it’s fine again
• Mild hot flushes on/off for about a year. Can have nothing for weeks or a couple of months and then I get clusters of small hot flushes on/off all day or for a couple of days. No sweating or redness. Overall not really too much of a bother so far.
• Periods were heavy but for the past year I’ve only had 4 of them and they weren’t heavy really. Still painful.
• Headaches - been getting them for the past 2-3 months but for the past 3 weeks it’s been constant. Had eye test yesterday and all fine. Do have a lifelong history of headaches/migraines but nowhere near as frequent/bad as years ago.
• Weight gain is horrific, now obese
• Aches and pains all over a lot of the time
• Irritable or flustered occasionally, usually if having a hot flush or just feel hot

Do I muddle among for now? I don’t feel my symptoms are enough for HRT and I’m not keen on taking any kind of drugs if I can help it.

Anything that causes weight gain or affects tinnitus is an outright no.

I am joining the gym again this week to try and lose weight etc.

Don't muddle along. HRT will stop all this so you can just be normal.

Be wary of going on to HRT, I ballooned in size within weeks of starting treatment. I’ve never managed to lose the weight I gained.

How old are you op? I started like you at 38 and while it wasn’t full blown, I was able to manage it with menopace etc. Then I went on HRT when I got further along.

Why do you class those as mild symptoms? It sounds overall like they're having a significant negative impact day to day?

@StarDolphins I’m 52

@LongtimeLurker2 this is what I am terrified of. My weight has ballooned to BMI 35 so I think a GP would need to be careful of prescribing anything to make it worse.

I cannot afford WLI.

@BrummieKara aside from the headache, all these symptoms are very intermittent. I would think that going on HRT should be because you are experiencing daily symptoms.

I’d see a GP for the constant headache for 3 weeks. That’s not a normal response to the hormone fluctuations.
Ballooning in weight is also a concern. Many women put on weight but not to the extreme.
Not everything that happens to women after the age of 30 is due to menopause.

In all honesty it doesn't get better as your progress through menopause.

Try HRT.
if you hate it, you can stop it.

I lost weight after I started it as my joints stopped hurting so I moved more.

That's not universally true. You cannot speak for all women.
Some symptoms may improve, some might get worse, many will fluctuate.
Post menopause many, many symptoms will decrease and then stop.

I thought you were going to say you were 38 or something. What’s to lose trying it at 52? As other say it could help and if not stop

all those things could be low estrogen etc but could also be caused by other things too.

You have just 'spoken for all women' there!

I was still developing new symptoms 3 years post menopause. Vaginal atrophy and vertigo. So no, symptoms won't necessarily decrease then stop.

Well yes, but I have used words like some, may, might, fluctuate, which is very different to PP saying "will".

I said "many symptoms will decrease", not all.

Granted I didn't say 'some women may develop new symptoms post meno' but what I said wasn't wrong either.

No, you said many symptoms WILL decrease. Not in my experience, none of my symptoms decreased, not even some, until I started HRT.

The point is that everyone is different.

Absolutely agree everyone is different. I couldn't tolerate Utrogestan and put on weight each month I used it, because it gave me horrific PMT symptoms - exhaustion like being drugged, crying app the time, totally distraught. So I ate..

Then I had a Mirena fitted and my life went back to normal as did my weight.

I wasn't speaking for all women, I was sharing my experience. Just like the other replies were...

@Globaltravel You should have a blood test to check your thyroid.
Putting on loads of weight isn't the norm so that needs looking into.

Your symptoms do sound more than just a mild nuisance.

Weight gain on HRT is not inevitable- it's menopause and food that are.

Weight- you probably need to rethink your diet - weight is 80% food, and weight loss by exercise is 20%. Gym is great for cardio and so on but you won't lose much weight that way.

Take a really hard look at what you eat, portion size, the amount of carbs/sugar etc in a day. if nothing else maybe try reducing portions by half?

Also, being obese does make menopause symptoms worse so the priority is to lose that. Does your BMI not qualify you for WLI?

If you do nothing else look up the symptoms of GSM and if you get any ask for vaginal estrogen straight away and don't take no for an answer!

@JinglingSpringbells I don’t meet the criteria for a single thing for WLI on the NHS. It’s a very strict criteria and you basically need to be severely obese with at least 4 co-morbidities.

@MissGorringe I looked that up and I’ve definitely not have any of those symptoms, but thank you.

I will make a GP appointment and go from there.