exhaustion

Sometimes all I can think of is going to sleep

I unfortuanatly still work so sitting at my desk has become such a hard job

 

Thankyou

Thankyou,

Just joined on today, alreay feeling less alone

Glad to meet you... I just joined recently as well and have found everyone to be supportive and kind.  Hope you find the forums helpful, too.  Can relate to wanting to crawl under my desk!

This forum is a sanctuary

I found it a 2pm one night when I couldn't sleep and I haven't looked back. Suddenly I just didn't feel alone and discovered that so many other women suffered the same symptoms. 😀

Agreed!  Everyone has been so kind and helpful.  Could not face my surgery as confidently without so much sincere support.

Zigangie, 

I too am waking at 3 or 4am, even sooner sometimes. Once I am up, there is no going back to sleep, no matter how tired I am. This has been going on for months now. Can you tell me a bit more about the estrogen gel? Is it bioidentical gel? How did they tell you to use it? Thanks 

Hi Snowbell, Yes it's bio identical. I use oestrogel 2 pumps one on each arm after my bath and Utrogestan pills for the first 12 calendar days of the month. I started bleeding again days 7 or 8 of the Utrogestan until days 14 or 15.

Mine started odd nights couldn't sleep then a couple of years later waking after a few hours.

Then complete insomnia at first I just thought I'd use the extra hours for myself quiet things making cakes etc.

But it soon starts affecting everything you do.

They gave me all sorts anti depressants anti psychotics, anti histamines cough medicine, always saying this one helps with sleep that one will help.

I tried (you could give some of these a go because they work for some people) valerian root, magnesium, 5htp multi b vitamins melatonin. I gave up caffeine, tried not to smoke a few hours before bed. Tried cannabis occasionally alcohol (I hate being drunk or drugged but things got very desperate)

Zopiclone gave me a disgusting metallic taste in my mouth which worsened to almost unbearable by the early hours.

Diazepam worked but only for 4 hours. Lorazepam the same.

Temazepam works but I'm now so used to it I have to take twice the dose so they don't like me having it.

Alcohol worked but I just seemed to need more and more and feared becoming an alcoholic. I don't really like alcohol luckily. Cannabis made me paranoid.

I had got used to it and asked for HRT because after 2 years period free I was just so hot I had no libido and vaginal dryness so bad it felt like razor blades if I had sex.

So I was gobsmacked when my depression and anxiety lifted this year I had the best Christmas in 10 years. Also 8 nights of perfect sleep did wonders. Improved libido dryness and being too hot all the time.

Discussing with my husband if there is any way I can see a meno specialist if my doctor is not happy to try tinkering with dosages. This is easy to do with oestrogel you could use another one or two pumps and still take the same amount of Utrogestan.

I'm at week 15 on it so still quite early days but I so wish someone had thought of trying me on it years ago when it first started.

I've had a few other improvements, some but not all aches and pains, nausea and a horrible taste also the constant loo trips, these do come on occasionally but more like early peri they come and it's not long until I feel ok again.

I am so glad you are finding some relief. Im going to check into estrogen some more. Thanks  

I start on estrogen next period. I'm on birth control to even out moods but my last period I went lower down in my depression and was so bad could hardly get out of bed and so going to take HRT, at least the estrogen part instead of placebos. Other choice gyn gave me was to stay on the pill without having a period. That doesn't seem natural to me.

As for insomnia I'm waking up about 2-3 hours after I fall asleep. Then I take my first Ambien. Then wake up around around 3-4am and take my second Ambien. I hate taking this stuff but I'm non-functional as it is with this severe depression and anxiety. Peri is truly hell.

CCinCal, 

Please keep me updated on how the estrogen is working for you. I need some relief and hoping estrogen may be the answer. The anxiety and depression is absolute hell in itself not counting all of the other horrid symptoms peri is bringing. I hope you get some relief from it. 

Just wondering does symptoms not improve and settle down when your in the menopause? Ie a year or more without a period?I thought it was peri that was worse!! 😢😢😢😭

Hi Tina,

Some things got a bit better. I had a horrible metallic taste which changed to more of a lemony flavour but still so annoying. I still felt nausea on and off but not as bad as early peri when I felt like morning sickness all the time and I went off foods caffeine alcohol.

I was able to drink tea again as I had always done but coffee only 2 a day because it started making me so jittery and that didn't help with the anxiety.

Before peri I didn't know what caffeine jitters was it had never really affected me before even if I drank it all day and I always had it strong and black and almost lived on it at one point.

My depression well to be honest I think I just got used to feeling like that and the same with anxiety. I didn't realise how uptight I was all the time until it began to lift along with the depression during the first 2 weeks of HRT.

I was always saying (in my head coz the family were sick of hearing it) Oh I feel so sick/ill/wretched whatever. Then within two weeks on the HRT it was golly I feel so normal.

I went from having not hot flushes but hot days, after my periods stopped that changed to hot weeks then became hot all the time, just cooking on the inside. I went from a sun worshiper to hating the sun hot days etc. I had lived my life being the first to want the heating on and if we went anywhere I'd always have an extra coat gloves and a blanket in the car just in case.

Then I was out mid winter without a coat and wondering if I would need to remove my cardigan.

My lack of libido (I'd say that's an understatement as it became revulsion to sex) and the awful hot all the time were the main reasons for trying HRT.

I'd felt so yuk for so long and was expecting it to go away once I was post meno (I started the HRT almost 3 years after my last period) I really wanted to do it naturally. I had read you are better off going on it sooner rather than 10 years post so I thought I'd give it a try while I was still within t at window of opportunity.

I'd tried loads of medications herbs vitamins etc. But I feel happier taking one thing that deals with most of it rather than several different things that, if anything just take the edge off.

I'm a little nervous but content myself with thinking all women on the pill are taking estrogen and progestins, if I were a male transgender wanting to become more female I would be given HRT at a much higher dose.

Antidepressants especially ssri's increase your chances of a stroke.

Bio identical HRT is a works away from the old horse urine types (the ones used in the trials that were stopped)

Also quality of life has to be considered, these days I don't keep thinking I can't go on line this for the rest of my life.

This is becoming a long post.

To answer your question, does it get better? I think for me the shock of suddenly becoming ill all the time and when all results keep coming back as normal, worrying that the doctors are missing some nasty disease, Hoping to feel better next week next month and then next year made peri seem worse, but I just got used to feeling that way, not a lot changed my periods stopped and I thought well that would be one positive thing, with that came the horrible dryness down below a sort of sandy itchy feeling all the time, I still get that but occasionally which is how it started.

It's so difficult to know what to do Re: hrt! There has been so many stories as to wether it's just putting off the enviable cos at som point you have to go thru it either at 49 were I am now or x amount of years down the line. Overall I just feel flat!! The joy has went out of life😕 I have no motivation and everything's an effort. I do as you have mentioned have dryness down below that comes and goes.... My worst fear is if I do decide to go on hrt is that il put in weight! I don't mean to be vain but I'm feeling crap about myself enough so think that wud just put me over the edge. Also my son getting married in few months and iv my outfit in so can't afford to put any on. I do want to feel more like myself though. Happy! I take fish oil x 2 1100g per day also seabuckthorn berry oil x1000g also bit b=50 complex x 1 per day + cut D3. It's costing a fortune but what can u do! I do think it's helping but just want joy in my life cos I have so many good things I feel bad about feeling bad!!! Xxx

I got a second opinion today and the doctor recommended I take the BC pill all month. So no estrogen replacement. I think it would be so unnatural and am kind of scared about stopping my period. But yesterday, 3 days before I was set to start on placebo/estrogen, I woke up with painful cramps, weepy, zero energy. And I don't want to be like that. First 5 months on pill pms and during period, symptoms were light and I was functionable. But last 2 periods symptoms are coming back strong. I thought BC was supposed to take away symptoms.

Hi I'm hoping to take it until I'm older, if I have to go through all that crap again at least no one will be expecting so much of me. As to weight I've just weighed myself I've lost 6 lbs without trying since starting HRT in November, I'm not so into cake and chocolate, in fact gone back to wanting things that are more healthy.

I always had a chocolate week before my period but after meno was like that all the time.

You are aware that birth control is estrogen (normally estradiol) and a progestin anyway?

Yes but I was going to take just estrogen during my period days to try and avoid the depression that comes with my periods.