i am 36, when have you experienced first premenopause symptoms?

Posted , 10 users are following.

hello,

i am 36, with 2 little girls (5+2), and a few months ago i started to have irregular periods with spotting/bleeding in between, funny skin & hair, joint & muscle pain...i've had pelvic pain on mostly the left side where my ovary is, but nothing could be found in various ultrasounds, examinations...blood test fine, thyroid fine, i even had a colonoscopy...i can't sleep anymore because i am so anxious that i have cancer or sth...but doctors keep telling me i'm fine.

my gynacologist prescribed a bc pill that i believe was quite high in estrogen that was having terrible side effects on me, with panic attacks, terrible. i stopped taking it after 2 cycles, but i am still feeling shaky, dizzy and tired...

a few days ago they found a small functional cyst which unfortunately ruptured and bled into my abdomen. it was removed via keyhole 2 ago and i am already feeling a lot better - the surgeon said all looking perfect in my tummy. the cyst was on the right ovary, but i have had pain on my left side for more than 3 months now!so i am still not closer as to what have might caused that...i am feeling so exhausted from all these worries, and i have no idea where to turn to next.

they checked my hormones when i was taking the pill which obviously only showed the hormones from the pill.

i am also suffering from a bit of a cough since a few weeks which i think is due to reflux, with some nasty mucus in the back of my throat, so now i am thinking i have lung cancer...

how much of a mess am i? i've had a lot of stress last year, working 2 much, lost 2 loved ones, and people keep telling me i need to relax. but how i am supposed to do that if i am bleeding on and off, with pain etc...which is worrying me sick?!

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  • Posted

    Hi Susanne I think my first symptoms were at least 3-4 years ago. I moved and started suffering major anxiety pain between my shoulder blades even going off to A&E at one point. I then got joint pain, couldn't and still don't sleep well, got water infections one after the other oh the list goes on!! My GP was great and got everything checked out but it wasn't till I asked could it be menopause. I had a blood test and it confirmed I was peri menopause but this was a couple of years after all these symptoms started. I think we have symptoms long before we know we are hitting the menopause. I bleed on and off too. I can bleed for 2 days then have a week off then bleed for a day then have a month off they're just all over the place. I just make sure I carry something with me all the time. It's so sad to hear you've lost loved ones and the stress and anxiety over that will not help. Wishing you well xxx
    • Posted

      Hi Tracey just read your post and the symptoms are exactly what I'm experiencing (nov 2014) I moved home into a new build and should b happy BUT I wasn't I was low and miserable (not all the time ) looking back and reading your post I see simularitys. I'm 45 periods aren't bad sometimes 2a month for me it's aching body joints (i never really thought much about these aches until I saw this site) the pain to between my shoulders was so unbearable I went through packs of heat patches and now experiencing hot flushes at night . My my age to I went to the doctors a month ago and I explained my symptoms to him and conid my age he did not question me at all further about menopause?!. I feel a lot better reading these posts I can now go to the doctors and ask for a test ! .
  • Posted

    I'd say symptoms started early 40 x
    • Posted

      thank you tracky!

      i've never had irregular periods before, despite a lot of stress etc. - so i am finding it hard to believe that this is the cause for all that. but maybe it just ended up being too much? and i am getting older & my body can't take it any more? it's just all these other symptoms that make me worry so much!i guess i would be fine believing in menopause if i was 10 years older!

    • Posted

      Go and ask for a FSH blood test if you haven't already Susanne. My reading is 9.6 and in the scale as follows: 6-9 Good 9-10 Fair 10-13 diminished reserve 13+ hard to stimulate. In women, FSH helps manage a women’s cycle and stimulates the ovaries to produce eggs. The test is used to help diagnose or evaluate. xx
    • Posted

      thanks tracky!

      i will have to do this quick as my gyno wants to put me on birth control again, to stop the bleeding and prevent new cysts - i am not so keen on synthetic hormones and would rather like to find out the cause for all this first...just to see where i am. will ask for the FSH definitely!

  • Posted

    Sounds like a very stressful time does not really help! I have a similar story stress wise with losing loved ones. Work related and so on.. so I will just go along for my scan and go from there. It just worried me how quick my doctor has arranged for me to have a scan like this is serious. This has helped reading I am not alone.  Take care will keep checking in .
  • Posted

    Susanne your not alone, I've been feeling the same I am only 45, and I've had premanpause systoms since I tuned 40, it's scary believe me!!! I always feel like something is wrong with me, I have anxiety I think! Because I have muscles pain in my leg, my feet feels like it feel a sleep, I am freaking out so much, but I do notice helps little, when you keep busy, I try not to think of it so it won't drive me crazy, 
  • Posted

    Hi Susanne 

    my hormones started going crazy mid thirties, i also had two follicular cysts aged 38, at different time, size of small oranges but they did disperse alone, were monitored etc, from age 39 peri kicked in and i had it ten years, i am post meno now and age 51 in June.

    didnt have HRT as high risk for me, also had endometriosis early 30's etc, avoided a hysterectomy and had it all lasered off successfully.. 

    try and stay positive hun, stress so affects us and makes it all worse, but its not easy to avoid when life is busy, hectic etc. ' easier said that done avoiding it' 

    simple, fucntional, follicular cysts we all have its part of ovulation, but if periods are out of whack etc they may grow... my doc said i needed a good period to disperse mine, but i was irregular.. they did sort themselves out which was a big relief .

    big hugs 

    jay x

    • Posted

      hi jay,

      thank you so much! it feels so good to be able to talk to someone...!

      i think i am really having anxiety issues these days - all this irregular bleeding scares me and doctors just wouldn't really listen...if i tell them about joint pain, dry eyes and dizzyness, they look at me as if i was completely stupid...

      i haven't gotten much sleep lately, which probably stops me from thinking clearly as well.

      oh i just want it to stop!

      i am not even planning ahead anymore, like family holidays etc..., since i am just visiting doctors all the time hoping they will finally find the reason for all this...

       

  • Posted

    Oh girl I feel your pain and frustration. I've been in peri I believe for since eary 40's. I'm 52 and OMG there are days when I feel for sure I am going to keel over and die! I was wondering if any ladies keep a diary of how they feel every day? I may start doing that just out of curiosity to see what the ratio of good to bad days are. The last 3 days it has been damp and miserable here in NJ and I feel horrible. Weird aches, sinus issues, felt like I was having a stroke with weird fuzzy feelings in face, I get horrible indigestion which starts with pain in chest but goes away when I burp, have issues with sleeping but my husband works second shift so I can't sleep well till he's in bed which is about 3 am ugh. Still get periods but irratically and the fatigue is bad some days. I wish I didn't have to work because it takes every effort to go because of how crappy I feel. I wouldn't have so much stress if I felt good but with having all these symptoms its hard not to think I'm going to die. Last year I had my heart checked and blood work because anxiety sent me to the ER and everything was fine. I almost wish they would find something! Anyway...please know that you are not alone! It's a rocky road we are going down...
  • Posted

    Hi Susanne, honey I wrote this long reply to you and then lost it because of my Internet connection!! Well maybe it was too long.

    I just feel for you a lot. And I want to say, yes, the doctors can be pretty useless when it comes to nervous system problems. So I understand your frustration with them, but you know, forgive them, they are only human. 

    In my long email I recommended the progesterone only Pill rather than the mixed Pill, although you have to be careful about birth control (vasectomies are really good options).

    Ooof! I am tired. Oh yeah, I remember. I want to tell you that adrenaline (stress hormone) suppresses other hormones (estrogen and progesterone). You have had SO much stress, I can't even imagine it, with two kids, too much work, the passing of your loved ones. Even one of those three would have sent me off the rails! I worked too much last year, and that really affected. All that stress will have suppressed your hormones and made your periods disappear.

    You can go on a progesterone only pill, that might help more than the mixed pill, although you have to be careful about birth control. 

    Your stomach is like your second brain, so stress affects it strongly as well. 

    So, I recommend you really try to reduce your stress, along with being vigilant with your health checks. The doctors can miss things, but on the whole, you probably don't have cancer, you probably have exacerbated nerves. The doctors can see those, so they don't understand them very well. 

    Oh I said all this so sweetly in my first reply! And you need sweetness, honey, you are really dealing with a lot. The most stressful time of life, really, small kids, work, deaths of loved ones. 

    So, about stress, you need to exercise always, chase your kids around the block until you feel that nice feeling that the dopamine brings you. Not too much, mind, and don't make a religion out of it. You have enough to deal with!!

    Meditation: I like the free guided meditation internet site fragrant heart. There are meditations for kids on that site too. Yoga: I like the free internet yoga sessions with adrienne. (yoga with adrienne). You can do with your five year old anyway, don't know about the two year old. There is a twenty minute beginner program. Mindfulness, being in the present moment, lots of stuff on the internet about that. All this stuff is non-religious, and won't conflict with your value system. 

    Mindfulness is really important. You are living in your anxieties right now, your imagination about what might be. You want to do your best (with no judgement here, with the kindest intentions, knowing that unavoidable stress has pushed you into this state, and that you are doing really great in the journey of life) to start living in the present. I myself prefer to bring myself back to mindfulness of the present moment with chocolate! Eat a piece of chocolate, whichever kind you like best, and just savor the hell out of it.

    Learn to breathe well, right down in your stomach. I need to look up about pranayama breathing (I think that's what it's called). 

    If your anxieties can't be managed by these practices, you could take anti-anxiety meds or anti-depression meds. Or you could take some meds for a while, and start trying some yoga, some meditation (favorite time to do meditation is on transit, kill two birds with one stone!). But meds are hard to come off of, and you are definitely entering the perimenopause years, so only if the other practices don't help you.

    Oh, of course and DIET!  less caffeine,( with the notable exception being the chocolate that you savor!), good foods. Take good care of yourself, watch lots of comedies, always chose a laugh over a worry. 

    Best of luck to you Susanne. Big hugs, Jennifer

    • Posted

      ...oh my god, i was so moved when reading this...!, actually started crying because it is just so exactly what I feel deep inside of me...and what you wrote just made it all come out and made me realize that i have actually been through quite a bit....i would have never thought that there was someone who i don't know at all, sitting somewhere behind a computer, that this person would have so much understanding for my problems and could make me feel so much better...!honestly, i dont know what to say but thank you so much!!

       

    • Posted

      You are very welcome Susanne, and your reply gave a lot of gladness to my heart. 
  • Posted

    Hi Susanne after reading your discussion and replies from the other ladies. I'm now piecing my puzzle together I'm 45 ( with 3 very demanding children) and moved November last year,,into a new build everything new NO worries, NO my body has been telling me something from october(just before we moved) i have become very snappy one min I can b happy snap moody espicially with the kids at the slightest thing, then ok BUT for me it's my aching body to the point body feels like I have ran a marathon or had ten ton pressed onto my body the previous day! I suffer from really bad migraines and my doc put me on beta blocker (for 4 weeks now) PLUS I'm now getting regular horrid pain between my shoulder by my neck ( thinking it was cold!!), gone throught packs of HEAT PATCHES, I told my doctor all my symptoms 2 moths ago and he never questioned me about the premono so luckily for me that I spotted this site. The symptoms other ladies have I can resemble to.

     

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