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Anxiety? Perimenopause? Both? Overwhelming Physical Symptoms.

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wearykitty
wearykitty

So....I'll try to be brief. I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder last March, after suffering a panic attack while traveling for business. Since then, I've had a multitude of daily physical symptoms...dizziness/lightheadedness, body aches, headaches, insomnia, night sweats, increased body temperature, feeling weak in my limbs, general fatigue, shakiness....you name it, I've had it. I've just about worn out my welcome at my GP's office, I've been there so often....I've been to the emergency room four times, had an MRI, multiple ECGs, countless rounds of bloodwork, an upper endoscopy...everything comes back clear. So why do I feel so sick all the time? I did have my hormone levels checked, and my doctor confirmed that I'm at least perimenopausal (I'm 45 years old)....could all of these symptoms (and truly, they occur daily) be related to perimeopause? I've developed a serious issue wtih health anxiety due to all of this, because I can't accept that these symptoms are harmless...I'm convinced that something catastrophic is wrong with me. Help!!!

17 likes, 201 replies

201 Replies

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  • louise963
    louise963 wearykitty

    Posted

    I came across this form + discussion by accident at exactly the right time. Lots of the stories sound very similar to what I'm going through. I so recognise that feeling of feeling all alone with the anxiety  - also that being made worse particularly because of the unpredictability. Really helped knowing there are others out there feeling the same and it's not just me.
  • shaznead
    shaznead wearykitty

    Posted

    Oh thank god I found this forum! 45 yr old started experiencing anxiety and panic attacks 2 months ago most scary thing I have ever experienced. All bloods clear even hormone bloods but dr has given me three months of hrt (under duress as was bullied by my mum to at least let me try) only on day 4 so shall see how it goes. Any advice at all would be appreciated I have changed from a fun loving sociable person to a quivering crying wreck and its not just certain times of the month. Have been given some advice from physiologist friend who has given some breathing excersizes which seem to be helping . Taking b6 b12 and buspirone xxx thank you to anyone who reads and advises x
    • dawnlcsw
      dawnlcsw shaznead

      Posted

      Hi Shaznead,  I was just wondering how you are doing?  Are you still taking the Buspar?  I am 44 - started symptoms of panic and anxiety almost a year ago - GP prescribed Buspar.  I find it helps some. You?  Would love to hear from you.  Thanks.  -Dawn
  • kim94523
    kim94523 wearykitty

    Posted

    Yes! This is perimenopause! I was on three different antidepressants and an anti anxiety drug and nothing was helping until I found out it was peri-menopause! The other woman on here have filled you in - the are the best! Stay here, write here, receive support here... Try to find a doc or acupuncturist or naturopath that specializes in this kind of thing and try different supplements and topicals and anything else that might relieve these horrific symptoms! For me, thyroid medication (low dose), progest cream, estrogen oil (both plant based and topical), calcium, magnesium, vit E helped. I am off all antidepressants now and there's no shame in staying on them either... I mention it only to punctuate that I was misunderstood and misdiagnosed with mental illness when it was hormone imbalance. There are a lot of good resources on this site but you'll have to be a detective and advocate for your own treatment and cure. And be prepared to have to make adjutements. I was feeling right as rain from June until about 30-45 days ago... Now I'm depressed, despondent and in severe pain, have no sex drive at all, and losing my hair at an alarming rate. BUT, I have hope that this, too, can be fixed with some adjustments to my regime thanks to this forum!!!
    • shaznead
      shaznead kim94523

      Posted

      Oh what hell to be a woman. Im just grateful to have found this site as it really helped reading im not alone and sometimes knowing y its happening also helps. Good luck to everyone experiencing this I have defiantly taken a lot if advice on board xx
  • NessiVega
    NessiVega wearykitty

    Posted

    Hi, I am so glad I have found this site.   I have just turned 45 and the last 4 months have been a nightmare.   I seem to have turned into a monster.   I have started fighting with my bosses at work. I have had a serious row with my partner which he didn't deserve, can't stop crying and have now been having anxiety attacks.  Also, I am only getting about 4hrs sleep a night, as soon as I wake my mind goes into overdrive and won't shut down.   These symptoms happen on the 2 weeks leading up to my period and almost instantly the minute my period starts the feelings subside to manageable levels.   Do you think this is the peri menopause for me?   I went to my Dr and he has prescribed anti-depressants and sleeping tablets.
    • kim94523
      kim94523 NessiVega

      Posted

      Nessi, it sure sounds like it... read the other posts on here -- lots of good advice and commisterating.  Sleeping pills and benzodopamines helped me but I still cry every day and write my resignation letter once a week, too.  I feel like I am burning the fields behind me with anger.  I don't know if you are in the UK but there is a move that was popular here called, "Fried Green Tomatoes," in it, Kathy Bates goes into Peri and literally tears her house down and starts calling herself, "Towanda"!  She's my hero.  Stay strong... try writing angry emails to your boss and husband/parter, but send them to yourself... wait two days and re-read.  If the facts still apply, let him/them have it, those b*stards probably deserve it!  (I have man anger issues ;-) If not, save them in a folder to for when those feelings comes up again and to remind you that the situation wasn't as bad as you thought.  I guess that's journaling...?  Love hugs peace and relief!!
    • Toddpodd
      Toddpodd NessiVega

      Posted

      4 hours of sleep wow me too. I am hoping that this will soon pass as i am a quivering wreck...
  • sherree93151
    sherree93151 wearykitty

    Posted

    I too am having symptoms like yours. I have been to the Er 3 times. I was losing weight not eating and sleeping. What a toll on my body. I was put on medicine to get my appetite back which helped with that and the anxiety it helped me sleep. I was taking off it put on something that was to be gentle for me which did nothing. Finally went back to the hospital with pain in my abdomen and had my appendix removed. All this and I am still weak and eating very little. The anxiety is causing me nausea and I am not eating again. I have ordered herbal supplement for anxiety and depression from Amazon. i have also been resesrching adrenal problems too. I really dont know what to do. I have nine children and they need me but Im not much help now. Any suggestions on overcoming the nausea. I am waiting to get blood work done for perimenopause but Im so weak and tired.
  • moe97092
    moe97092 wearykitty

    Posted

    Hi my name moe

    My girlfriend going throw menopase i want to help her 😞

    And she siad she want to leave me and she dont to be with me

    I need help what can i do

  • Maxine07
    Maxine07 wearykitty

    Edited

    Hi there, 

    live been going off my head with worry, anxiety is so bad I feel like I've got something serious ly wrong with me,  I just want to feel normal( whatever that it😤) , I panic over nothing, my head feels like a washing machine with lots of stuff going round and round it, heart palpitations, dry mouth, aches in my shoulder back upper and lower, I want to be on my own a lot, I want peace, and walk away from drama and avoid it at all costs, my temper is terrible, headaches, the worse pmt ever, was bleeding  heavily for a year or so then no regular light and had shows every day for 2 months,😟, I've had scan internl and external X-rays, blood tests which only show vit d deficiency, I can't sleep, been having sweats for about 5 years now, I'm 49, lately I suffered upset tummy for 8 days everything I ate came out😷,  I stopped going to loo, but now have a bloated stomach, and pain like period pain,  I feel like I've got a tight belt on around my stomach! I guessed last year it could be perimenopause, but I wasn't warned about how it affects you, I try so hard to be my old self but it's so difficaullt, my taste buds seem different too! I can taste metal sometimes, I feel like my eyes are are so heavy, I feel tired, and just can't be bothered with anythin it's the worst feeling ever I feel like I'm 90 years old👵  , well I've had yet another blood test so let's see if this one, tells me anything? Otherwise I will still think it's cancer  and they can't find it😥

    really don't like this at al it's scary stuff! 

    Glad I joined this forum! 

    Take car all😃x

    • kristi63
      kristi63 Maxine07

      Posted

      so sorry to hear you are going through this.  i read an article which said "it's perfectly normal; women have been doing it for thousands of years..."  well, this doesn't feel normal, does it??  i've had similar issues (not the blleeding...yet) such as brain fog, eyes wanting to close just all of the sudden, so tired.  one night i ate a pasta dish and 3 hours later i had burning (skin; flushing) in my chest, pain, hr over 100, bp 200/100, i was in a panic and thinking i was having a heart attack.  went to the er and they said it was gerd.  while i was in the hospital it happened again when i had broth and jello.  they thought again, it's gerd.  they sent me home with gerd meds.  it happened again about 5 days later, more mild but wouldn't go away after 4 hours.  scared the hell out of me.  went to the er again and this time i had a nuclear stress test - nothing.  i've had nearly every test done on me except for endoscopy of throat or intestines.  everything is clear.  i figure it's stress (i'm very prone to anxiety) and perimenopause.  because of the experience with foods and symptoms i have completely changed my eating habits.  i am scared to eat certain foods: spicy, fried, sugars, a little bread; and so i've lost 14 pounds in about 2 months.   i eat mainly rice, lentils, fresh veggies and fruit, dried fruits, nuts, protein shakes.   i take evening primrose, magnesium, calcium with d and fish oil.  if anxiety is really bad, i'll take a valium, but ONLY if it's really bad -  don't want to create a habit with those.  diet and control of stress has been key in calming these symptoms. i kept thinking i was dying and it really stressed me out and i think that's what made my body experience the hr, bp and pain.  i hope you can figure out what works best for  you.   
    • jackie95472
      jackie95472 kristi63

      Edited

      I've lost 20 pounds in 3 months because of GERD.  I can't believe what is happening to me.  It happened right after a big bleed so I know it's PERIMENOPAUSE.  I've never had GERD BEFORE!  I wish I could eat what I used to eat.  
  • marguerite41075
    marguerite41075 wearykitty

    Posted

    Every time someone is "mad" at me or is potentially dangerous to my happiness when I go to school is what I call my break down moment. I know it doesn't sound like much but as soon as I feel something not right with a friend or a peer even, my stumic starts to hurt or cramp I feel my self breathing harder and my head is spinning and I just want everything to go back to the way it was. Even something as simple as a friend not texting me back makes me scared but it's not just that it's what that represents it represents a whole line of hell for the next couple of days, weeks even because this has happened to me before. Nobody will take my side, everyone who I thought were my real friends will turn to some unfamiliar monsters that in a matter of seconds can ruin my life and these things that I am feeling in my stumic and with my breathing get worse when I wake up in the morning and don't know how bad today's going to be. And I try and I try to be one of those people to not give a Damn what someone else says or thinks or even does to my social life but that is just not me I can't function with anything uneasy the thought of waking up in the morning knowing that your day could be the worst day of your life makes me absolutely sick. I start breath heavier I can't think about anything else until that one problem is resolved or at least I give myself a since of security that everything will turn out for the best but the more the person means to me in any of these situations the more I start to panic and I feel like just bursting in to tears but I find myself asking "for what?" Because I "think" something might happen to me that I "might" have a bad day or maybe it's all in my head this is what I do I make situations up in my head that I don't know for a fact will happen or not and then I pick the absolute worst situation I can think of and think it's that. That that is going to happen. And that's why I get panic attacks over such small things it's because of my mind. But I know why I do this it is because this has happened to me so many times where it is the worse case scenario where my life is total hell for weeks where I do have extreme anxiety for weeks where the thought of getting on my school bus or coming across my "friends" makes me want to through up and run away. So that's why my mind makes me think of the worse case scenario because it knows me too well it knows that I get hurt so easily and most of the time, hurt in the worst case scenario, hit the hardest in away I know that this will happen and I get so scared I get sick over it I panic I can't breath or do anything else. Anxiety comes in all different forms but please if you are a person that likes to start drama or spread rumors to be benefit yourself think before you do it because you NEVER know what the other person is truly feeling on the inside.
  • marguerite41075
    marguerite41075 wearykitty

    Posted

    Every time someone falls asleep before me... anxiety... when someone is snoring and I am still awake... Anxiety... an old run down store that ruins a perfectly good town... anxiety... when I non HD or non high quality or cheesy commercial cones on for a family business or a product that nobody has ever heard of... anxiety... the poor part of town... anxiety... not being able to fall asleep "fast enough"...anxiety... being the only one awake... anxiety... friends stabbing me in the back anxiety... not known what the day holds... anxiety... thinking that the day hold more anxiety for me... anxiety...New places... anxiety... change... anxiety... having to say something in front of people... anxiety... fear of losing all my friends... Anxiety... getting blamed for something I didn't do... anxiety... fear of messing up in front of an audience of any kind... anxiety... not knowing what's going on... anxiety... thinking too hard about things... anxiety... saying anything bad about anyone in fear they will find out... Anxiety... the smell of campfire... Anxiety... remembering old things I never accomplished... Anxiety. Life is full of ANXIETY.
    • meno
      meno marguerite41075

      Posted

      Hi Marguerite41075,

      I've just read your post. I don't really know what to say, except I empathise and sympathise with how you are feeling . I have gone from being confident, bright and outgoing to full of anxiety myself . I really really hope this gets better and just wanted you to know, you are not alone. X

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