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Original poster

Perimenopause, fybromalgia or both?

8 replies

SallyWD · 19/09/2023 12:49

I'm 48 and for a few years I've been experiencing perimenopausal symptoms such as:

Very heavy periods
Anxiety
Poor quality sleep
IBS type pains, nausea and discomfort
Anxiety (and recently panic attacks)
Lots of aches and pains in neck, shoulders, head, lower back
Terrible fatigue

I put this all down to perimenopause as most of them are classic symptoms. However, in the last few months the pain, in particular, has been increasing greatly. My neck and shoulder muscles are just so sore and my lower back is often agony. I've always suffered headaches but have been having them more frequently including a lot of pain at the back of my skull and a tight band around my forehead (I believe they're tension headaches). Given the frequent pain I started to look in to fybromalgia, which I previously knew little about. Reading the list of symptoms was like a revelation. Suddenly everything made sense! Whatever website I look at, I have every single symptom listed.

I'm now wondering if my symptoms are peri or fybromalgia or maybe a mix of both. All I know is that I generally feel awful. I'm tired of waking up feeling exhausted, nauseous and in pain. I'm not depressed but these symptoms and the unrelenting pain are really getting me down.

Obviously I'll go to the doctor but I just wondered if anyone can relate to this? Has anyone else had the same symptoms? If you have fybromalgia do you think my symptoms could be it? Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with this? I'm feeling utterly miserable. Thank you in advance.

OP posts:
landofgiants · 19/09/2023 16:53

GP trip definitely! I’m 47 and I have fairly similar set of symptoms - and also wondering what the hell is wrong with me!

My GP sent me for a pelvic scan because of heavy periods (I had one so bad, I thought I was going to die) and I’ve been diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst which looks like it is going to need to be removed. I’ve had bloods done (at my request) which were normal. So now I’m wondering if it’s perimenopause or CFS/fibromyalgia or the cyst or something else.

I think it would be well worth you having things like hypothyroidism and anaemia etc ruled out. In the absence of an obvious cause, it might be worth discussing an HRT trial? It would be one way of working out what was going on…….

Also sympathy, it sounds tough!

Lionoso · 19/09/2023 17:29

Definitely GP and get a full blood panel done to check for things like low vitamin D. Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis of exclusion of other illnesses.

Fibromyalgia can vary for what it feels like from person to person. For me it's a deep ache that's very different from strained muscles or joint pain. It's like how you feel if you have the flu. Everything hurts even your skin, it can hurt to brush your hair for example. Common places that are very painful with fibromyalgia are hips, lower back, pelvis and ribs. But you can get pain anywhere really.

It's also common to have a lot of nerve pain. At any point during the day I can have random stabbing pains. It's like someone has a voodo doll of me and just randomly stabs a limb for fun.

I have got more achy with menopause, but it's more joint pain for me.

AceofPentacles · 19/09/2023 17:29

Yes my all over joint pain and headaches got worse and more regular. If I'd done any activity the day before (eg mowing the lawn or even driving for a few hours) the pain would wake me up at night and stop me sleeping. I would be unable to do anything the next day from exhaustion.

HRT did help, but also high strength vitamin D spray and an iron tablet 3x a week with vitamin C also improved things a lot .

Original poster
SallyWD · 19/09/2023 22:18

landofgiants · 19/09/2023 16:53

GP trip definitely! I’m 47 and I have fairly similar set of symptoms - and also wondering what the hell is wrong with me!

My GP sent me for a pelvic scan because of heavy periods (I had one so bad, I thought I was going to die) and I’ve been diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst which looks like it is going to need to be removed. I’ve had bloods done (at my request) which were normal. So now I’m wondering if it’s perimenopause or CFS/fibromyalgia or the cyst or something else.

I think it would be well worth you having things like hypothyroidism and anaemia etc ruled out. In the absence of an obvious cause, it might be worth discussing an HRT trial? It would be one way of working out what was going on…….

Also sympathy, it sounds tough!

Thank you. I'm sorry to hear that you've been going through something similar. I wonder if the cyst can cause those symptoms.
I'll definitely get blood tests done and will happily try HRT if they think that will help. Hope you feel better soon!

OP posts:
Original poster
SallyWD · 19/09/2023 22:20

Lionoso · 19/09/2023 17:29

Definitely GP and get a full blood panel done to check for things like low vitamin D. Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis of exclusion of other illnesses.

Fibromyalgia can vary for what it feels like from person to person. For me it's a deep ache that's very different from strained muscles or joint pain. It's like how you feel if you have the flu. Everything hurts even your skin, it can hurt to brush your hair for example. Common places that are very painful with fibromyalgia are hips, lower back, pelvis and ribs. But you can get pain anywhere really.

It's also common to have a lot of nerve pain. At any point during the day I can have random stabbing pains. It's like someone has a voodo doll of me and just randomly stabs a limb for fun.

I have got more achy with menopause, but it's more joint pain for me.

Thanks that's very helpful and interesting. My neck and shoulder pain definitely feels like muscle strain but I do often have the fluey feeling you mention. My body's been feeling very tender if touched, almost like I'm bruised. I hope you're able to manage your symptoms.

OP posts:
Original poster
SallyWD · 19/09/2023 22:22

AceofPentacles · 19/09/2023 17:29

Yes my all over joint pain and headaches got worse and more regular. If I'd done any activity the day before (eg mowing the lawn or even driving for a few hours) the pain would wake me up at night and stop me sleeping. I would be unable to do anything the next day from exhaustion.

HRT did help, but also high strength vitamin D spray and an iron tablet 3x a week with vitamin C also improved things a lot .

Thank you. This all sounds familiar, especially exertion leading to exhaustion the next day. Did they think your symptoms were all perimenopause/menopause or dud they suspect something else was causing them?

OP posts:
AceofPentacles · 20/09/2023 11:58

Yes was told likely peri menopause but I do have a connective tissue disorder which doesn't help . The main thing was that it almost completely went after around 3 months of the hrt & vitamins, so that was great .

Original poster
SallyWD · 20/09/2023 20:54

AceofPentacles · 20/09/2023 11:58

Yes was told likely peri menopause but I do have a connective tissue disorder which doesn't help . The main thing was that it almost completely went after around 3 months of the hrt & vitamins, so that was great .

I'm very pleased to hear this.

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