Sadness

Dear Kauaiblue , thank you for your concern. I have always been a "sad" girl, timid, shy. At school i was "labeled" nervous and artistic type. Now i think i was a typical introvert among extraverts. Later in my life I learned to cope. I did sports, run my own business, had a demanding job. However, it is my public face, the private was (and still is) full of worries, anxiety and depressive thinking. I say, I learned to cope. I have never taken any medication. I read lots of psychology books, I had even study psychology for one year at uni.

Now, at peri, I feel and react in the similar way as in my twenties. Sometimes Í am paralysed by fears, deppresion, feeling like a stranger. I use my strategies: physical activity, creative tasks, etc. However, with other peri symptoms it is sometimes so difficult. And i see now clearly that my depressive moods are related to hormones fluctuation. Several times i skipped the period and during the skipped month I felt wonderful- full of energy, happy, strong. Today my period finished and I feel low, yesterday I had a panick attack with health anxiety. The same situation repeater several times: a period plus a week or so of depression, than my mood improved, no pms, until the next period (skipped or not).

Its definitely the hormones.

I too suffer but have not had periods for 5 months now, and am 53.

I wish it would go away. How do you handle the panic attack? Do you talk yourself out of it or just wait it out?

For me these days its really up and down drastically. One day good, then next dark, then good, then dark. Its ridiculous.

My hope is that i have good days, and I have to remember that.

However its not an easy way to live your life. 

I will post a discussion about reproductive depression, and hopefully some of us can respond and share what they know.

I am also an introvert I have to show the happy face to everyone and i hate it. Physical excercise doesnt seem to do anything for me..i tried but i dont feel a difference..

I have kids to take care of and its the 3 of us alone, no family no support. So its a HEAVY burden when they look to me to be strong and im barely coping. 

very difficult.

I hope to talk soon, this website of course has been so very helpful for us all.

Wishing you well Lena, i understand.

xx

Hi Lena.  I like that you keep track of your moods/mental health in relation to your cycle.  I have a meno app where I keep track of the physical symptoms, but I think if I can keep track of mental ones too it will help me cope better with them if there is a pattern.

Dear Kauaiblue,

How I deel with anxiety? It depends on where I get an attack. The attacks are sudden and one attack has usually three waves. It lasts usually no more than 5 minutes, but mentally it lasts for ever! I try focus on deep breathing and on my fingers- I count with my fingers, watching how they move etc. If I can, i say my name slowly, and what I am doing at the moment. If at home, I go to bed for a while, or go for a short walk. Both help.

I did sports since childhood, but i struggled with physical activity between 30 and 45. I felt tired, did not like any kind of sports, hated all the sport culture, and when I switched to dancing I felt emotionally drained (and often crying) after lessons .However, last a few years I started enjoying activities again.

As for the hormonal doom and gloom, I am in the tenth day of the cycle, and since the morning , everything is almost perfect. So, something in my body has changed, and I ride high now.

I am going to read your post, hope to find more feedback from other ladies too.