Perimenopause symptoms are making me feel crazy
Posted , 11 users are following.
Hi all, just joined these boards. Please bare with me if this is long and rambly. I am 44 years old and think I have been in perimenopause since early this year. I always had a clockwork cycle of 28 days and then at the beginning of this year, my cycles dropped to almost exactly 21 days with pretty light flow. In the spring, I dealt with heart palpitations that lasted a few weeks (everthing w/heart checked out okay). Then this summer, they started getting longer, out to about 30/32 days. In August, I had crushing tenderness in my right breast, so much that while my GYN didn't think it was anything more than hormonal changes, I went for an U/S just to be sure (came back clear). Around the same time, I started having terrible insomnia and night sweats (no daytime hot flashes though) and saw my PCP. She sent me for some bloodwork and my FSH came back at 57, so she confirmed my suspicion of perimenopause. I didn't get a period at all in September but it did come back late October into the first week of November, at which point I had a few more heart palpitations over a few days. I've also been dealing with some really bad muscle tension in my upper back, to the point where I thought it pinched a nerve when I had some 'dead arm' feeling in my left arm, which I saw my PCP about a couple of weeks ago. She has me going to PT, which is helping a ton, and the PT diagnosed it as Upper Crossed Syndrome. On top of that, starting about a week ago, almost every day at about the same time my feet tingle (almost always starts ~10/10:30 AM and is on and off for a few hours) more in my right foot than my left. It goes away and then no more tingling until the next day around the same time. I've read that tingling in the extremities can be another perimenopause symptom, but my goodness, it's by far my most disconcerting one. It's ratcheting up my anxiety and I almost have myself convinced that I have MS. I asked my physical therapist today if there could be any connection to the stretches and exercises I'm doing for my neck/back/chest and she said no. I made an appoinment to see my PCP this afternoon, even though I fear she's going to think I'm a nutcase/hypochondriac. These symptoms are driving me mad and I hate feeling this way. I hate the anxiety it causes me, I hate that I jump to worse-case scenarios, I hate feeling like my body is falling apart. Has anyone else experienced this? Any words of advice? Things I can do to try to calm myself down? Thank you in advance!
1 like, 7 replies
Guest tebrown96
Posted
Hi Tebrown, just wanted to say hi and welcome you to our hell. I am 41 and dealing with lots just like you...started in July 2017 right when I turned 40 and stopped long term BCP use.. I have been tested up, down, in and out. Had tests to rule out MS too! Periods anywhere from 21-26-57 days. I struggle mostly with migraines, off balance feeling, fatigue along with the other joys. Stopped working last year...symptoms just too much for me to function.
I am trying different things to help, even an AD for my so called anxiety, went off after 3 months ... now on a med for migraines. just started back on BCP low dose, only on week 3 and I have felt horrible the last couple of days.
sorry I do not have any sure fire advice, but you will have to try different things!
tawana68 tebrown96
Posted
Hi Te, welcome to the forums ! there are alot of us here suffering with symptoms from peri hell so to speak and - like you , manage the best we can i guess.
i am 50 almost and started skipping periods about 6 months ago but , have had peri symptoms since i was about 41. this past year i have had more anxiety and insomnia then ever before and some says feel just totally drained and i havent even done any work that day for instance. i think there are over 44 symptoms with peri and i think i have been through almost all of them sadly, and lots of reading you can do on it , but honestly , i find it better to come here and post questions and learn from ladies and help with advice when i can too.so, with saying that " my advise would be first , get as much rest as you can . second , try to figure out what foods make your symptoms worse by keeping a journal or diary . then third , keep the doctor informed of any unusuall changes that way they can keep up to date on your how your body is transitioning through peri.
i also drink lots of water daily , i eat lots of baby spinach leaves , and to help calm the anxiety i take walks of 3-7 klms nightly.
but youll find what works best for your symptoms as you go through this with time ya know? also , remember your not alone and your not going crazy ! this is a phaze woman go through and it will get easier and better one day so keep hope and hang in there . hugs from canada .
p.s. make sure to keep checking the forums out here because the more you do , the more youll see , all of us are kinda paddling in the same boat.:-)
Guest tebrown96
Edited
Yes to all of the above and much more. What's the saying "if it looks like a duck, or quacks like a duck" something like that. Anyway, bear with me, since all of your symptoms started in conjunction with your monthly menses becoming irregular than you are fairly safe to assume that all these wacky symptoms indeed go along with it. And this would be my best advice to you: DO NOT let anxiety get a hold of you, this will just bring on more symptoms, trust me on this one. I know how hard it is to let go of the thought that something more sinister is going on. I had every test imaginable, MRIs of breasts/brain/spine/thoracic, CT scans of abdomen, multiple blood work, mammograms, xrays, ultrasounds. I'm sure I was glowing that entire year. I had heart palps, high heart rate, awful pain in upper left back, frozen right shoulder, eye disturbances, ovarian and breast cysts, burning and tingling in feet (mostly left, sometimes both), now graduating up my legs, really bad flu like malaise, fatigue, gastritis,adrenaline rushes, trouble breathing, depression, you name it, I had it, and all of this started around the same time my periods started changing. I was convinced I was dying of something and clocked in about a million hours on google. Anxiety was my middle name. I saw no less than 10 specialists and racked up 20 grand in bills that year. It just made everything worse. I'm two years in and still not back to normal. Still getting periods but skipping some months. But the really horrible symptoms are past, the burning and tingling has gotten more intense and sometimes I'm starting to feel it travel up to my face. Think these are hot flashes without the sweating. It's pretty much been hell and who ever knew that all this could happen because of hormones? Certainly not me. Thank GOD for this forum, you all are the only ones who know how bad this all can be.
I hope that you will heed my warning on the anxiety. Get what tests you need to, but if all is normal, then just try to support your immune system the best you can, try and get sleep, so important, and realize that this is all part of your changing hormones. Try not to let doctors make you feel like you are crazy. Most have no clue.
sara97862 tebrown96
Posted
Hi Te, welcome to the boat ride!!
I am 48, and my ride started around 6 years ago. At first, I would get cycle-related migraines, and that was it except for the usual PMS.
Then I went through a time when my cycle was still predictably 27 days long, but I was super tense all the time, heart palpitations at ovulation and at pms. and would flow for 7 or 8 days instead of the usual 4 or 5. Sometimes super heavy, but not always.
Tried bcp for that, which wrecked my digestion for a while. Went off the bcp to just track whateever would happen.
The first few months off bcp were pretty good, but then my cycles started getting shorter, and I started getting other symptoms (high anxiety often, shocklike feelings in a few places would precede a hot flash, super emotional sometimes, and completely devoid of feeling at others... walking through each day watching myself go through the motions. Tired but wired a lot of the time. Achey. More period cramps and pain than I have ever had in my life. Anxiety so bad all I could do is pace around the house.
I have started taking some supplements, and getting a few more good days recently...
Vitamin E
Calcium/Vitamin D
Magnesium
Fish Oil
Blessings to you! Feel free to ask any questions, this forum is a great place to get a lot of input and moral support!!!
Hugs!!
tebrown96
Posted
Hi All, just wanted to come back in with a quick update. I went to see my PCP yesterday about the foot tingling. The good news is that, at this point, with that as my only 'symptom,' she does not think it's anything to be scared about. She checked the reflexes in my feet and knees and all were fine. She's not fully on board with it being linked to perimenopause, though she does think it could be a secondary affect of the PT I'm having for my upper back. If I'm holding myself differently, new postural stances, etc, I could be impacting other nerves. No real advice other than to have an ergonomic assessment at work to see if there are changes I can make at my work stations. She also wants me to report back if things don't get better or get worse and we'll go from there.
andrea05399 tebrown96
Posted
have you had a neck xray before the physical therapy? problems with your neck can cause pain in your upper back, shoulder or arm as well as causing tingling or deadness in any extremity.
tebrown96 andrea05399
Posted
Hi Andrea,
No, I have not had any x-rays done, but it's something I'll keep in mind. The PT has been really helpful with the muscle tightness and I haven't had a relapse of the 'dead arm' feeling.