Silently freaking out!

[Everthenever]

Bear with me.
DH and I use condoms. Not ttc.
A few weeks ago I had a weird dream, twice in a row, where I got a massive extension put onto our house. The last time I had a dream about an extension, I was pregnant. OK, so. There you go.

So I was dreaming of this extension and started wondering if it was connected to a pregnancy. I then met a lady in town who I used to know, and she was pregnant. She proceeded to tell me that she was pregnant but had used a condom.

I went home that day and told my husband and his was extra careful with our condom. That was 8 days ago. 3 days ago I felt the deepest itch in my abdomen, right inside.

I just decided to take an IC I had lying around and a faint second pink line came up at once.

I peed on the test rather than dipped it. Did I maybe flood the test? I went to look for more tests to confirm and that was the last one and I have to wait until tomorrow after work at 6pm!

I'm in two minds about how I feel about this. I always got very early positives with all my other pregnancies so the timing isn't unreasonable. I love babies! I always wanted more! But I'm 41 and my husband is dead set against more.

The line is visible in real life, albeit very, very faint, has a tinge of pink and came up pretty much straight away. Can you see it?

I'm excited that it's real and full of dread that it was just an evap or flood line. I'm also overwhelmed at the change this little one would bring to our lives, if I really am pregnant. Don't want to freak my husband out so, mumsnet...arghhhhhhh!!!! Talk to me. I need straight talking.

I also felt so thirsty and dehydrated last week like I had a hangover (see alcohol consumption above!) I drink loads of water but was taking deoralyte as I felt so depleted. I'm going to Google low oestrogen to see if anything else resonates.

Honestly, with the bloody clotted nasal discharge and your exhaustion and other symptoms, I think you need to see your GP asap. There are many things that this could be, from something like a nutritional deficiency to more sinister illnesses. Please get checked out.

Thank you. I do need a full health MOT. The bloody nose thing only happened once though. Is it worth mentioning?

No single test for peri because a blood test is a single day snapshot and the nature of hormonal fluctuations is that they can look ok on one day (fall within 'considered normal' range) but that doesn't mean your cycle is as was normal for you or regular, here's a graph illustration, you can see why a blood test on one day wouldn't tell you much
https://images.app.goo.gl/e2G75KqUhrms7zYr7

Some doctors still take a test bur a normal result is meaningless.
NICE guidance is that 40+ agree and symptoms is enough to try hrt and see if it helps.

Private specialists could take bloods across your cycle for better picture

Nhs Dr or private will and should take blood test to rule out other causes like thyroid issues etc which can have similar symptoms.

Agree with pp your symptoms need to be checked out properly.

Helpful resource
https://rockmymenopause.com/

@Everthenever I think if you are prone to sinus problems, hayfever or nose bleeds, I would bring it up in passing. If you are not prone to these things I would absolutely mention it, but state clearly it was a one off. You may have/have had a lingering infection or it could be symptomatic of another health problem. Any unexplained bleeding/clotting needs to be mentioned. I expect you will need a blood test at least, so don’t be fobbed off with “stress”.

Thank you. My gynecologist has referred me for these tests blood tests.

FSH, LH, PRL, TSHr

Not sure what good this will do but there will be a regular blood test in there too. Its a start.

I had EWCM this day 2 weeks ago so my period might come tomorrow.

Am waiting to hear back from my Dr with the blood test. Not in the UK so things work a bit differently here.

I don't know if I mentioned that I had covid in September and ever since then I've had every bug going!

If your immune system is down, it might be an indication your reserves were depleted by the infection... B vitamins etc micro nutrients etc (especially zinc which plays a crucial role in immune response)... Might be worth taking a multi vitamin and a bit c+zinc supplement to support your immune system and general health.

Very common post COVID. Have you been feeling a bit brain fogged too?

No, I haven't had brain fog, but i have had a reduced sense of being able to 'cope' with things. Like if i have to fill out a form or pay a bill online i have to really prep myself for it and some times I feel like I just cannot face it.

I've had a very, very stressful year on top of the covid stuff. The major stressor will not be an issue in a few weeks and things will calm down on that front but I've been running on empty for nearly a year. Maybe it's a combination of stuff affecting my hormones rather than the peri menopause. I'll see what the blood test says anyway. Will be agood starting point.

I have had emotional symptoms too which have been really weird, like symptoms of depression but I'm not actually depressed if that makes sense. I have an internal sense of general contentment and happiness as my default setting but lots of tiredness and easily annoyed. However I do put that down to my very stressful situation (which is nearly over).

I can relate to that.
I was in peri, didn't realise, but like the time you are in now, it also coincided with an extended super stressful time and it was impossible to pick apart what was causing what.
Fortunately for me the first hrt intervention I tried worked well and it became clear how much of a drag factor that had been, as once it was out of the picture, the super stressful situation was much more cope-able!

Good luck getting to the bottom of it.

A sense of doom and pointlessness was a major symptom for me. 🤣

I definitely think my hormonal issues will feel much lighter when my stressful situation ends! It's so interesting learning about menopause. All I ever knew was about getting your first period, not getting pregnant, how to get pregnant and them how to look after your baby. Nobody ever told me what happened when the baby making apparatus started to hang up its fallopians 😀

Period arrived this morning! That's the longest cycle since my teens, yet!