How is everyone doing today?
Posted , 8 users are following.
Hello lovely ladies, I'm feeling absolutely awful today - nausea, anxiety, depression, woke up sweating and hot, PMS type cramps but had my period just a few days ago, which was a week early - so I've just come on here to vent and to see if there is anyone out there feeling like this..I'm 43 and being going through this for almost 4 years, but the last 18 months have been awful, love and hugs to you all xxx
1 like, 14 replies
jennifer12699 karen60759
Edited
Hello, I feel your pain. I am 47 and have been going through peri for years. I just finished my period and feel worse at the end if it. Having night sweats, nausea, PMS, anxiety and horrible digestive issues. I have tried several birth control pills but they seem to make me feel sicker. Waiting to hear back from GYN as we may try an estrogen patch next. I am willing to try anything once to see if it helps. I dream of the day when things level out. My stomach rules my life at the moment. Hang in there.
karen60759 jennifer12699
Posted
Hi Jennifer - thanks for replying I really needed to hear from this group today! giving you a virtual hug, I get the digestive issues too - have had an endoscopy which was all clear, given up gluten and dairy but it still flares up when the rest of the symptoms do, due to have a colonoscopy next month but now with the corona virus, it might not be happening - but I am 99% sure it's all related, as when I feel well - which is currently for about 7 days of the month, the digestive issues also clear up i.e. my poop is normal...never been able to tolerate BC pills - made me sicker too! I tried the oestrogen patch and gel when this all started and after a month of feeling awful it worked and I felt great for about 6 months - then all the symptoms came back - I guess there was a shift in my natural levels that caused it, idk - but since then I've come to the conclusion that while my hormones are still fluctuating and shifting so much HRT won't work and I just need to ride it out....though I certainly will take it once I'm post meno! xxx
sarah39816 karen60759
Edited
Hi, Karen
I'm sorry you are feeling this way! I can completely relate. I am 49 and perimenopause started when I was around 42. I have had every symptom imaginable: incredible PMS symptoms, debilitating cramps, heavy bleeding, periods closer together, then several missed periods, hot flashes that made my skin feel like it was on fire, anxiety, muscle and joint pain, weird vibrations and buzzing sensations throughout my body and the list goes on and on. For several years I felt like I was going crazy. Seriously. The worst part of it all was never knowing how I was going to feel. I talked to my doctor and had some hormone testing and found that my estrogen, progesterone and testosterone were almost non-existent. I opted for bio-identical hormone replacement therapy and that has seemed to help with several of my symptoms. I know this is not an option for everyone, but I did find some relief.
Again, I am sorry you are feeling poorly today. Know that you are not alone in this and that it will someday pass. I find this forum to be extremely comforting. I hope you feel better soon!
Big hugs, Sarah.
karen60759 sarah39816
Posted
Hi Sarah - thanks for replying - I can so relate when you say the worst part is 'never knowing how I was going to feel' - this is so true, I have 2 young kids and I don't like planning too much in case I'm not up to going out etc - in a way this lockdown has been a relief because I don't have to worry too much about that now...sounds like you are further along than me as my hormone tests are still coming back as normal - as i said in my reply above I tried HRT but I don't think I was ready for it yet, but I will certainly try it once things have calmed down - oestrogen is essential for women's health IMO and I'm glad it's given you some relief - yes this forum is amazing, the best thing on the internet! xxx
helen79040 karen60759
Edited
Hi Karen im just starting back on hormones, im struggling with them, higher dose makes my heart race lower dose not enough. Been stuck at house for 2 months as i have RA so makes it worse. Have you tried cbd oil that you rub in on wrist or behind ear helps some.
liz28780 karen60759
Posted
Hi ladies
yep I can relate to everything you have all said. It does feel very lonely too and this forum is a godsend as it makes you feel less isolated. As much as your family are supportive( and my family truly are so I am lucky), when that feeling of fear and dread takes over either because of hormones messing about or the fact that you feel so crap again it brings on the anxiety that creates that doomed feeling the only place I can come is here. Reading what you are all experiencing as awful as those experiences are reassures me that 1. I AM NOT DYING
2. I AM NOT GOING CRAZY and
3. I AM NOT ALONE .
Thank you ladies for sharing xxx
Irene1210 karen60759
Posted
Hello,
I can relate to all of you. All those horrible symptoms are what I am currently experiencing now. Just wondering in addition to those, does anyone have internal shaking or tremors and chest / throat tightness? i haven't been feeling 100% everyday for the past 4 years since perimenopause started. I often ask God when can i have my old self back? i hate my current Me. I feel so useless, awlful & hopeless, just as good as being dead. Sob, sob!
Irene1210 karen60759
Posted
Hello,
I can relate to all of you. All those horrible symptoms are what I am currently experiencing now. Just wondering in addition to those, does anyone have internal shaking or tremors and chest / throat tightness? i haven't been feeling 100% everyday for the past 4 years since perimenopause started. I often ask God when can i have my old self back? i hate my current Me. I feel so useless, awlful & hopeless, just as good as being dead. Sob, sob!
Irene1210 karen60759
Posted
Hello,
I can relate to all of you. All those horrible symptoms are what I am currently experiencing now. Just wondering in addition to those, does anyone have internal shaking or tremors and chest / throat tightness? i haven't been feeling 100% everyday for the past 4 years since perimenopause started. I often ask God when can i have my old self back? i hate my current Me. I feel so useless, awlful & hopeless, just as good as being dead. Sob, sob!
liz28780 karen60759
Edited
Hi Irene
It is awful I know. I get the internal shaking and there are a few posts on here from other ladies who do too. It's a very strange experience. I'm having it as I write it comes in waves. The thing is that when I have a particularly bad day with this and all the other horrible things I have to remind myself that it is what happens but each time I convince myself I am dying, it doesn't make sense does it. I seek reassurance from my family asking if this is what I am like each time and they tell me that it is and I think well I haven't died yet!!!. The anxiety is awful. I do not have periods any more although I have a coil so do not know if my periods have actually stopped naturally yet. Therefore I do not have any sense of a cycle as such so I am currently writing a brief daily account( nothing elaborate) to identify any pattern plus it helps me to focus so my anxiety does not spiral. The thing too is that I am a psychiatric nurse and have various mental tools at my disposal but they all go out of the window when I have an episode. I find this forum really helpful as it reassures me that (even if in a strange way) I am normal and not alone.
ackallday karen60759
Edited
Hi Karen, Just wanted you to know that I hear you 100% Started peri at 39 and now at 46, I can safely say that the last 3 years have been a living hell. I have all the symptoms that you describe but I had a sub-total hyster at 36 so I don't get periods anymore and I only have 1 ovary but goodness at this point that doesn't even matter because every other part of me is a wreck. Digestive issues, night sweats, insomnia, anxiety attacks, depression, aches and pains everywhere, heart palpitations, urinary urgency/frequency, you name it. Each day brings something new and just as one horrible symptom improves, something else shows up to replace it. I try to take it each day as it comes but it is hard when I just got through 8 loooooong months of the urinary symptoms and before that 12 months of alternating constipation and diarrhea with world-rocking stomach cramps. I started HRT 3 years ago after having 2.5 years of weird vaginal infections (after never having anything worse than a yeast infection 25 years ago) that forced me to find a new gyn to get them treated. I am currently thinking about starting an antidepressant to help with the mental strain that all of this has taken. I have read several articles that show a correlation between women that suffer from PMS and/or postpartum depression who then go on to suffer through perimenopause. I had the worst postpartum depression x 2 kids that required meds to get through so I am thinking I need meds again. Anyway, just wanted you to know that you are not crazy, not alone and if we can just keep putting one foot in front of the other, we will get through this. Sending you good, healing vibes!
karen60759 ackallday
Edited
Hi there - thanks for getting back to me, do you find your symptoms seem to ebb and flo? the last week has been awful for my nausea - and so bloated, look 4 months pregnant (I'm deffo not!!) and it all feels inflamed is how I can only describe it, and then I just have the worst diarrhoea, and just constant anxiety and low mood - I also get this numbness in my shoulders as well - I just try to exercise every day and keep busy and then have a bath every evening which is the only time I feel relaxed, so I guess that's something, it's so good to know I'm not alone with this - it's hard to believe that this is all caused by hormones! I just feel so ill...but it always passes, we need to remember that - everything does, it;s a shame more women don't come on here when they are over the worst of it - but I imagine it's the last thing you'd want to do when you're feeling better! Hugs to you xxxx
ackallday karen60759
Posted
Hi Karen,
Yes, definitely an ebb and flow to the symptoms. Some days are hideous and some days are manageable. I feel like the digestive/GI and urinary symptoms have been the most disruptive to my daily life. I can live through the nausea, the bloating, the "ill all the time" feeling but goodness when you have terrible diarrhea or the need to pee all the time, you can't get anything done! Thank you for your response, it makes me feel better knowing that I am not alone in this. It is hard not knowing how long this will go on. My mom and one Aunt had surgical menopause and immediately started HRT, they breezed through menopause. One Aunt who didn't do HRT told me that it was a solid 10 years of being symptomatic, ugh. I am hoping that since I have 7 years of this nonsense under my belt that maybe only 3ish left? Anyway. Here's to enjoying the good days and crawling under the covers for the bad days. Oh wait. I have a family to take care of. LOL. Sending positive energy to you!
karen60759 ackallday
Posted
well you are a strong woman for sure, having the urinary symptoms must be terrible - its actually good to hear that you know someone who has been through these symptoms and out the other side, as it seems women don't really want to admit to anything ! I think things started for me in my mid-thirties, but I didn't know what it was, and then I got pregnant and after the first few months - which were awful, it all cleared up and i felt fantastic and was fully expecting to get PND - but didn't and actually felt great both times....until I stopped breastfeeding and then bam - all the symptoms back back with a vengeance when my periods started again and have been with me since - so then I realised it must be related to my hormones and my cycle...so I just can't wait for my periods to stop and hopefully then everything will calm down, but as you say it's probably a few years away yet, so until then the support here is amazing xxx