Perimenopause or Anxiety or ???

I hope you get the relief you need very soon. I'm glad I came across this forum. I was really starting to feel alone. Now I don't think I'm going crazy as someone else out there feels the same as me. I have been fighting all weekend not to run to the ER only to hear the same thing that nothing is wrong and follow up with my GP. So I'm just suffering through it.

Hi Donna,

I was on my way to work yesterday and decided to go to the ER against my better judgement. I tried not to but the dizziness was too much. They said I was a little dehydrated, gave me some fluids and home I went. I had some heart palpitations but not like I do right before my menses starts. I now have a stuffy nose wich makes me feel even worse when the heart palpatations start because I feel like I can't breathe. I try not to have a panic attack. I have to work today and I know this is going to be a struggle but I am going to try to hang in there....

Hiya

Oh you poor thing. I always get palps worse before my period and around ovulation. I think you've done the right thing going to your emergency department, peace of mind at least. Keep your chin up, there'll be light at the end of the tunnel for us. I'm not too bad today, achy around my shoulder blades and a bit headachey too, I'm ovulating at the min, I get horrendous lower abdominal cramps during this time, usually lasts for 5 days. My gyno thinks I've got endometriosis and a scan showed a bulky uterus, indicative of adenomyosis but I'm too scared to have a lap done, hoping it all just goes away soon xx

These symptoms are the worse. I'm at work trying not to have the nervous jitters. I am trying my best not to give in and leave early to go home. I did not want to get out of my bed this morning. I just made an appointment to see the GYN next week and it cant come fast enough. I just want a little relief so I can work. My boss is going through the same thing so she gets what I'm going through and let's me leave early when I need to. But it's killing my bills. I have to get a grip and soon.

Aww, it's not a case of getting a grip, you can't help it. Hopefully your gyno might be able to, maybe do some bloods to check tour hormone profile. I'm trying my hardest to steer clear of synthetic hormones as the pill sends me nuts, the coil came with a whole host of odd side effects and the depo injection caused bleeding for three months solid!! So I try with the vitamins and B12 boost spray, try to exercise, however when I'm having palpitations I'm too scared to do anything strenuous. I must admit I've walked my dog the last three mornings for a good hour and it did but a little spring back in my step.... and hers 🐶

Hello Davida,

Trust me, you are not going crazy. I thought I was too. My family thought I really needed to talk with a psychiatrist. Talking about it does help, but I only find it helpful talking with someone who understands and going through what i'm going through. This forum has helped me in so many ways. I still have some anxiety that I need to work on as I am nervous driving, going to work, and going places by myself. But when I read this forum it helps me to fight my panic attacks and not run to the ER every day since they aren't helping me anyway. They have done multiple test and everything comes back fine. I just recently found out that so many of the women in my family including my mom went through this. No one ever shared it because they too thought they were going crazy. Yesterday didn't get better until the late evening which is when I usually get ok. But these symptoms truly have been scary and altered my life a lot. I've come to accept that I have to go through it so I'm learning how to manage. My life is going on wether I stay in the bed or not so I have to face this and just keep thinking that it won't last forever... best of luck to you and hope you find relief soom. Definitely keep sharing your expierences, it helps to know you are not alone.

Hi Jamie

Just have to say it does get better I was the same dizzy sickness anxiety neck and ear pain sore throat whacky jittery feeling could not function like a normal human being at all, honestly thought I was dieing, it would wake me in the middle of the night heart racing strange feelings in my head dizzy sick thought I was going to have a heart attack or was having a stroke it's no joke for some women and the doctors don't seem to get it at all I'm four years on and still have bad days but really nothing like the first year it was hell. I'm not on any meds tried everything nothing helped so I decided to go with it, don't bother with doctors anymore waste of time for me anyway, keeping calm can help a lot, the panic can take over if you let it, being very very patient too, I'm nearly 54 still having periods that's when it's bad but there less frequent so I get longer good stretches and I feel fab so I'm guessing once my periods stop altogether I'll carry on feeling fab fingers crossed. Does anyone get the feeling you just can't get enough air in your lungs and can't breath it's not like asthma although I do get asthma but this feels different I get it around the time I have a period it's also not anxiety as I can feel perfectly calm but it comes and goes and makes a lot of phlegm in the back of my throat weird!!

Hi Soozi,

Thanks for the kind words. I have all that going on. Sometimes I feel as though I can't breathe. I try not to panic. I try to do things to take my mind off it because it comes and goes and yes I have the phlegm in my throat also. I am struggling right now as I am responding and trying not to freak out. I need to eat something but don't want nothing in my chest until this feeling passes. Every little thing makes me jittery. The when I am ovulating the symptoms are magnified, once the menses comes on I feel better for a few days then it comes back. It's so frustrating at times and hard to hold down my job. I used to enjoy going out and going to work but I have become such an introvert as these symptoms have made me feel batty. I get my menses every three weeks and normally they have been heavy with lots of clotting, blood loss, and last for about 7 days. But lately they have been lasting about 5 days with minimal bleeding, and little to no cramps. I have an appointment with the GYN next week so hopefully some light can be shed on this. My aunt was the one who brought all of this to my attention of it being hormone related after several trips to the ER only to come up with nothing. I started researching peri and couldn't believe everything i was feeling was staring at me from the page. I felt like i wrote it all. It gave me a little sense of relief but its still scary and annoying.

Yes it is all so scary. This nightmare began for me about 2 1/2 years ago at age 39 right after I had my daughter via c section. I had to have my right ovary removed 16 years ago when I was 26 years old long before I had my kids. They told me then that I'd go into menopause early. I started getting really intense symptoms after my daughter was born. Thought I was dying of some crazy disease. Sometimes those thoughts still hover over me. I've gone to the ER on occasions and everything is always normal, thank God. But I feel far from normal.

It will pass I promise it's comfort to me too that I'm not alone with this breathing problem, I also had really high blood pressure for the first year it's all normal now and my sex drive has returned to my husbands delight I thought it had gone forever very depressing and it made me feel like I had been catapulted into old age before my time, doing things to take your mind off it is a very good way of dealing with peri it just takes a very dammed long time to get through. Carry on as normal as possible and keep calm, I feel your frustration good luck with gyno you might just get some help and answers but if not your not alone . Sue

Hi Jamie, 

Thank goodness I found this forum, none of my friends seem to be going through this (yet) I am almost 49, had a hystorectomy 13 years ago but they did not take my ovaries.  On top of it all, have recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (which I am sure is hormone related except Dr is adamant it is not).  I am not medicated for this and have not had a bgl reading over 7.7.  It is always higher first thing in the morning and lowers after eating which is the opposite of what a diabetic is, so damn confusing, and this just adds to my anxiety levels.  I have had quite a few symptoms of menopause for a couple of years but the anxiety, foggy brain, tingling sensations and generally feeling like sh*t has really ramped over the last 2 months.  Apparently blood tests for hormone levels are really inconsistent as it depends on your symptoms at the time the blood is taken and how your liver is acting which distributes a lot of hormones.  Some days I don't know how or if I will wake up next morning, not coping with feeling like this.  I have 3 teenage kids, work and have a really busy.  I thought keeping busy and keeping the mind busy was the key to overcoming this but lately I seem to be drowning in a pit of despair.  Thank goodness I have the ladies on here and know I am not alone but it depresses me that I may have many years of this to go. 

Davida,

I truly understand. When I first started dealing with this I was a real basket case. I thought everything in the world was wrong with me. I was at the ER every other day. The nurses and doctors got so used to seeing me that they stopped taking me rite away. I was getting frustrated. I know the body changes over time but I just wanted someone to tell me what was going on. I would have felt better if I at least knew where the symptoms were coming from. I have two kids and a full time job and lately it has been a mess trying to hold down the job and do for my kids as I am afraid all the time that something will happen. The issue I have been dealing with is my potassium that keeps dropping. I was put on supplements but I am scared of those as too much potassium is dangerous and too little is dangerous. I have been eating foods rich in potassium to see if that will work for me. I've never dealt with anxiety so this is new to me. I try to calm myself when I get these symptoms but it is hard when my mind is racing with a million thoughts that I'm having symptoms of something serious. It is scary and annoying. The symptoms are so strong that I've gotten to the point of coming home and getting in the bed which is no fun for my kids. I had an anxiety attack the other morning because I felt like I couldn't breathe and It took a while for my body to settle down. I felt bad afterward because my little one saw me and she was worried and kept asking was I ok. I wasn't but told her I was. I have to get out of this bed in a few minutes to go to work, and I am already on edge as I don't want to leave early with these symptoms but I can't sit still when they are acting up. Having you ladies to talk to and others sharing their experiences helps me a lot and keeps me knowing that I am not crazy. Keep talking on this forum. It won't take away the symptoms but it helps to vent to ladies who understand and they have tips that may help with some of your symptoms. I've picked up a few tips of things to try. Now it's just seeing what works for me.

hi davida, no your not crazy just one of us ladies who's going through the most horrendous time of our life. can i ask you about your low blood sugar level as I have suddenly developed this with peri, mine has been down to 2.2 and i get dizzy, shaky and off balance so have to eat every 3hrs.  I've had every test known to man and the only thing the hospital can come up with is that I can be hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and i have a healthy low blood pressure but it keeps dipping too low which has the same symptoms as low blood sugar and also dealing with peri menopause it all gets too much some days.  I still work full time in a very responsible job which i struggle with on a daily basis  but i'm a trouper and try to carry on.  I must say that I'm a lot better than i was in 2012 when this all started for me, I didn't think I'd still be in my job as I was forever coming home ill but I have a brilliant boss to thank for that and I do think my job has kept me going as if i was at home I'd be thinking how I'm feeling all the time and become a hermit i know i would.  I still can't drive far or go far, i stay within my comfort zone all the time which is no fun for my husband. davida you will be ok but you have to give it time and be kind to yourself, its a long long haul but we will get through it together as I don't know about yours but my GP just dosent want to know about womens problems so we only have each other.  sending you a comforting hug x

Hi Soozi,

now that you mention it, I have had episodes where I felt like I wasn't getting enough air in my lungs. I had no problem breathing but it felt like my lungs just could not get any oxygin from the air. That happened to me about a year ago really bad. I chugged it off as some kind of cold after it went away. It stuck around for about 3-4 weeks really bad. Now I am thinking it was all part of peri. 

Hi anxiousface,  thankyou so much for your comfort and support.  My sugar levels aren't actually low, just very erratic but higher first in the morning then decrease as the day progesses, which should not be the case.  I have been having the night sweats, hot flushes and a lot of symptoms for the past couple of years but the sugar thing is a new thing for me as well as feeling completely overwhelmed with everything.  Am starting a natural treatment this week and will see how that goes.  Thinking about chucking the blood sugar monitor in the bin as I think the readings cause me stress than I need.  I don't have any symptoms of blood sugar issues, is just another thing to add to my already overloaded brain that I don't need to think about.  I really appreciate all the support and advice on this forum, has been much more enlightening than anything from a health professional recently.

Yes I was using my blood sugar monitor about 3 times a day at first and I agree it made me feel stressed so Iv not used it for over a year and can tell by my symptoms if my sugars low. I'm too getting night hot flashing but not too bad. It is all overwhelming I feel that every day but yesterday I picked up some Bach Rescue from the local Heath shop so I will see how it works for me when I go to the shop later. Let us all know how you get on with your natural treatment. I think we'll all try anything x take care hun

Hi, So after reading through a lot of previous posts on this forum, I went out and bought a Mega B Complex Vitamen which has most of the B group vitamens.  Also got some Remifemin from a friend who said they helped her a lot.  Will do a bit of research on that one first thought before I start taking it.  Will let you know how it all goes.  Fingers crossed.

So did some research on Remifemin (black cohosh) and am going to give this a miss.  Too many side effects and lack of research for my liking.  Will try the Mega B for a while and maybe some flaxseeds (which are supposed to be really high in phyto oestrogens) and see how that goes.