Returning Symptoms
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi All
I had my last period about 5 years ago and I am now 58.
At that time and for about 18 months afterwards, I had some of the menopause symptoms including mild hot flushes, disturbed sleep, bloating, some weight gain and mild low moods.
I considered myself lucky from what I had heard from friends that my menopause was relatively easy. I was very grateful.
However, in the last 6 months I have seen some health issues that I did not connect to menopause until watching a tv article today. My sleep has become very poor - most nights I am having very broken sleep, sometimes only getting 2-3 hours. I have also been getting some aching joints and general tiredness and malaise. Plus an almost constant dull headache.
But, one of the most concerning issues has been abnormal heart palpitations. I have seen the cardiologist and did have an electrical fault.
This has now been corrected but I am still getting high levels of ectopic beats which cannot be corrected.
I am wondering whether there could be a link to menopause despite it having happened over 5 years ago?
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
0 likes, 9 replies
Jeudi pammied
Posted
I am 53 and had my last period 3 years ago. Like you, I had minimal symptoms and coped with them. However, in the last few months the hot flushes, insomnia, nausea, feeling ill have returned with a vengeance. i am hoping to go on HRT when I see my doc on Friday.
Jeudi pammied
Posted
gailannie pammied
Posted
Absolutely. What's important to remember, is that menopause causes changes in all our hormone systems because they all function together. Also remember that even though a women may not be producing enough estrogen to create a period, she's still making some. (well documented in studies) It takes time for the deprivation to establish itself and create problems.
I was also 53 when I went into menopause, and it wasn't until 58 that I really started feeling bad. That's also when vaginal atrophy/dryness/painful sex, cholesterol problems, low mood and energy started to take over. I have no doubt my ovaries functioned pretty well for those 5 years. But now, my estrogen and progesterone have tanked.
pammied gailannie
Posted
I thought I had been lucky in that my symptoms were really no bother.
And after about 18 months, I was getting nothing to speak of - but these last 6 months have been pretty unpleasant. I really made no link to the menopause at all but now I am beginning to believe it is the major contributor.
I think if I could sort out the heart palpitations I would feel better. These seem to occur at night and of course, they make you anxious when they disturb your sleep and then you cannot get back to sleep. The cardiologist says that they are ectopic beats and nothing to be concerned about. I have recently had a 7-day monitor and nothing sinister showed up.
Being tired of course does not help with mood, energy etc.
I have an appointment with my GP on Friday as I was wondering if I might have a thyroid problem but I will definitely be raising whether the menopause might be the culprit. Not sure what they can do to prove it rule it out?
Pam
gailannie pammied
Posted
pammied gailannie
Posted
Thanks for your response. Sorry to sound dumb but it is not I ever thought about - can you take HRT even after 5 years?
I would have thought you needed to take it before your hormones completely deplete?
Pam x
gailannie pammied
Posted
Yes Pammied you can. Remember, your body was making some estrogen even for those five years. It sounds like it was meeting your needs for quite awhile. But eventually things tanked. I've even heard of menopausal women who had blood levels of estradiol of 50 pg/ml. That's a pretty substantial amount of estrogen for menopause. Not enough to create a monthly period, but things were still happening.
The rule is start low and go slow, giving your body the time to adjust to the increased hormone level.
pammied gailannie
Posted
Well just returned from GP and she (yes a women) says that after 5 years, there is no posssibity that my symptoms are menopause relayed. She sees no point in running any blood tests for hormones as all this will prove is that the levels have now tailed off! I think I may try to see a private second opinion.
She has agreed to run some other bloods, thyroid, vit D, haemaglobin, and a couple of others.
At the moment, the best suggestion she can make is perhaps try a daily multivitamin and mineral tablet.
In the UK, I think it is very hit and miss whether your gp has a full knowledge of things like menopause. I think they understand the ‘general’ stuff and therefore don’t look any further.
I will investigate a private consultation with a specialist.
Pam
gailannie pammied
Posted
Honestly I'm not surprised by her response. Even endocrinologists are taught very little about menopause and how this hormones effect the entire system. You can't even buy a book written on the endocrine changes that occur with menopause and how it effects insulin, thyroid and the adrenal glands.
If nothing turns up with all our blood work, and you still want to pursue this issue, go see a menopause specialist or an alternative therapy (holistic) doctor who works with this. One simple way to find someone, is to call a local compounding pharmacy and ask them for recommendations. Since they are the ones filling prescriptions, they usually have several names of doctors in town. Then you can look them up, call their offices and talk to a nurse there and see who you might want to try out.