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[cox1058]

Hi there - I would welcome any help and feedback on others who may be experiencing what I am going through as I am finding it difficult to cope.  I am 49 this year and was told after tests about 18 months ago that I am starting to go through the menopause.  I am still having periods, which are currently fairly regular again, though I did go for about 6 months without one, only for them to start again.  My main problem is anxiety and panic attacks.  When I was in my early 20's I had some sort of breakdown - I was virtually housebound at the time as I always had bad heads, shakiness, pains in my chest etc.  I went for counselling and relaxation and nothing really helped.  I was put on prozac, seroxat, valium, beta blockers - nothing really helped, though I am still on beta blockers now, as they did help with the migraines and high blood pressure whilst supposedly keeping the anxiety at bay.  I got over it all after a few years and lived many years trouble free.  However, nearly 3 years ago, the weird heads started and the intense panic attacks that suddenly hit me - usually when I was out, in a shop or something.  I just can't get on top of it now.  I went back on some anti depressants a couple of years ago but they just made me feel terribly sick and triggered a gall stone attack!  I am just on my beta blockers now and am not as bad as I have been in the past but I find any going out or social activity a nightmare.  I can barely eat out in public as I feel like my throat is closing and I am going to vomit or choke.  We have been to a couple of parties recently but after an hour, I just need to go home.  I feel like the music is getting louder, and everything is closing in on my.  I notice my breathing gets faster and despite all the relaxation tips I have learned over the years, I just feel like I am going to die and need to get home - it's the only place I feel safe.  I am just fortunate that I work from home, or I could not hold down a job.  I don't want to go on more medication as I am trying to control my gallstones without an operation, but this is really taking over my life and I just make up every excuse I can so I can stay at home.  I can rarely go shopping - thank goodness for online shopping.  Does anyone else suffer like this and will it ever stop..................

[CLKD]

   yep.  Anxiety seems to come with 'the change'  ........ <sigh>.  If you do a search you will see there are several threads on the subject.  I suffered for years and was for a few months, housebound.  My GP eventually put me on Beta-blocaks which have been a life saver.  I take 40mg at night and if necessary 40 extra at breakfast.  Most days I cope.  In the 1990s I thought I would never be able to have a 'normal' life again.

Browse round! 

[honeybun]

You are not alone in this. It seems to happen to some with meno. Have you considered HRT although that might not help your gall stones. Worth having a chat with your GP though.

As CLKD says there are quite a few topics running on this, mine included. I'm afraid I don't have a majic cure for you.....I really wish I did.

It sometimes just helps to know you are not the only one suffering and its all down to hormones.

Fun.....no.


Honeyb
X

[cox1058]

Thank you for taking the time to post replies.  I have spoken to the Doctor about HRT but she is not keen for me to have it.  I am overweight, and she has said that the risk factors of HRT for me would outweigh the benefits.  I just find the whole thing really difficult to deal with - my poor husband..............I'm surprised he sticks around, as it not only affect my life, but his too.  Every time he suggests a day out, I make up every excuse not to go as I just feel safer at home.  I can't seem to concentrate on anything else but how I am feeling.  I know that's not 'normal' in itself, but really do not want to feel drugged up and out of it on another lot of medication.  I just can't fathom out what triggers the attacks.  I can feel fine at home and then decide I am going shopping.  The minute I walk through the door of a supermarket, my breathing goes funny, my head feels weird and I just feel like I am going to collapse and die.  My legs feel like they are shaking, but I don't think they do, and I just feel like I want to run out of the place.  I have to make every 'outing' as short as possible and think of the shops I can go to where I will be in and out as quickly as possible, can park nearby, and can just get home quickly.  I don't want to go on anti depressants - I'm not depressed, I just want my old life back.  I feel so trapped ................

[bramble]

It is strange that anxiety and depression are two different ends of the spectrum but both are treated with the same drugs! Some of the newer ads like Mirtazipine seem to work well for anxiety with very few side effects. There are also other drugs used for treating anxiety that are not ads. Might be worth another chat with your doctor about what is available...... especially as it is having such a profound effect on your life. 

Bramble

[honeybun]

Oh that could be me. I battle with shops and they often win.

Have you tried some self help books on managing anxiety. I also had a few sessions of CBT. Although I did not like the councillor it did give me some coping techniques. I am currently looking\reading some books on Mindfulness. It's basically relaxing but has its links in Buddhism.
I also intend to start a yoga class in the autumn.
There is a good website called No More Panic.

Hang in there it will get better but I have realised there is only one thing that is going to help me and that's me.

Honeyb
X

[nelliedee]

Welcome to the forum, you will find lots of helpful ladies on here. A really good book called Chimp Paradox by steve peters is a fab read on mindfulness which, lets face it, is what we are all battling and its written in such a easy to read, clever way that I feel its a must fr anyone battling with inner worries. 

[suzykeens]

Me too - shops are particularly places where my anxiety can become worse.  I read somewhere that supermarkets are designed to create all sorts of visual, auditory even smells that stimulate your body to produce adrenaline so as to encourage excitement and resulting in purchasing - I think therefore it is the situation we find ourselves in - we need specially designed shops for the menopausal ladies 

[Dyan]

Hi cox1058,

Just to say 

and to let you know that I have been taking 15mg of the AD Mirtazapine now for nearly 5 weeks and they have really made a difference.
I think Bramble mentioned those.
I was surprised at how quickly they started to work.
Almost instant with the anxiety in the mornings and in the first week I was feeling better than I was,and I tell you I was really bad.
The second week better still and by the end of the 3rd week I was almost back to my self and feeling really well.

To start I did have that hungover effect on waking but once the medication got in it went away.

Apparently this AD is one of the quickest ones to work and it has a calming effect.

As Bramble said it might be worth having a chat with your GP about arduous options available.

Good Luck!
I really feel for you!

Dyan X

[Hurdity]

Hi cox1058

Welcome from me too.

Sorry to hear about your anxiety returning and being made worse as you are entering menopausal transition. Also that your GP has advised against HRT due to being overweight.

You say you don't want to go on any more medication and I can understand why you feel like this.

Have you thought of trying to lose weight gradually by changing your eating patterns? It would be so beneficial for your health as you enter your 50's and beyond and prevent all sorts of other problems too. You may find you begin to feel better and then able to make a decision about future medication and even HRT if you reduce to within a healthy BMI range?

Why not try to set yourself really small goals, re diet and exercise a little bit at a time over a few months - whatever you can cope with, and take it from there?

I don't know anything about panic attackes but do they only occur on your own or when your are with someone else? Can you get someone to help you through them while you are out so that you are better able to cope on your own?

Is your blood sugar stable do you think? Eating foods with very high sugar content and quick release sugars and carbohydrates can cause havoc with blood sugar metabolism which can make these sort of feelings worse, as well as the flucutations in your hormones. Trying eating little and often of things like apples, bananas, muesli bars, wholemeal toast - and other low fat, low sugar snacks and see if this helps too.

Hope this helps and if you decide to take a course of action like diet and increased exercise, why not start a new thread to chart your progress and where forum members can support you on your journey?

Hurdity x

[charliegirl]

HI again Hurdity, just read your remark about blood sugar, before this latest bad period the first thing I noticed was my blood sugar, I was feeling so hungry and sick and thought i was just fading away my legs were giving way, then began the period type symptoms, my mood dropped to the floor.It seems to be all related, what do you think?
cheers charlie!

[Lucky Stone]

Hello cox1058, I can all too easily identify with what you are describing, I used to get what they term 'depersonalisation' which is where the brain is SO stressed that it just shuts off and it feels a lot like you are in a film. That and the anxiety and 'spinning head' in shops (doesn't help when the lighting is so harsh and the floor is white). Three years down the line and I am a lot better than I was - my anxiety is mainly centred around food now (I SO know what you mean about eating out but it is tension, nothing more - doesn't help to know it much but I'm sure that's what it is). I also had panic attacks in my 30s (I'm 51 now) and I'm sure that the meno has exacerbated what was a weakness in me but I have seen an improvement as time has gone on and my dose of HRT is quite low now. I've had betas, CBT, herbal remedies, hypnotherapy, mindfulness, calming CDs, The Linden Method - I am a walking book on the whole lot and maybe together they have helped me but maybe also it has just been time and progression through the meno. I do take diazepam in a low dose if I am doing anything I would consider stressful (like eating out which I try to avoid but it's not always possible) but I try not to do so unless I know it's going to trouble me. Some is in my head, I know, but some is also the bouncing hormones that the meno brings, the same hormones that give flushes and the like. It's a misery. Although you do have to see the funny side - like, if I am ever in a place where there are rows of chairs, I have to sit on the end and also I rarely go out without water. But, by and large, I can do supermarkets now, I can bear motorways and a couple of years back, this was all more of a challenge. So what I am saying is, the chances are this will lessen as time passes like it seems to have for me. Don't give up and come on here for support - it's been brilliant for me.  Hang in there.

[cox1058]

Hi everyone - thank you for all the suggestions. Reference losing weight, I have battled with my weight all my life having been born at 9lbs 12! I am convinced that if beta blockers calm anxiety supposedly, they lower your metabolism too. Yes, I do eat things I shouldn't but I don't eat huge amounts and over the years I have been on every diet possible but nothing has really worked and I have had the usual tests for thyroid etc. I have reached a conclusion that as much as I yearn to be slim, I never will be! Back to the anxiety, it makes no difference i f I am alone or with someone - the panic just takes a hold when it likes. If anything I am probably worse with other people around as I worry what people will think if I start to feel strange and have to make a quick exit. I have had to leave restaurants on several occasions mid-meal as I develop a strange feeling in my throat which prevents me from swallowing to the extent I feel I may choke or vomit. I have had to make quick exits to the toilet to spit mouthfuls of food down the loo or face vomiting at the table. I sometimes wake with a swimmy head and if I wake with it, I have it all day - it's not a headache and pain killers don't help - I just feel 'out of it' like I have had a drink and just feel woozy. The last anti depressants I had made me feel soooooo sick and shortly after taking them, resulted in a trip to A and E with a gall stone attack - if they are going to give me acid stomach issues, I would rather not take them! I would love to try hypnosis but it seems all these therapies come at a cost that I can't afford. I have tried homeopathy, reflexology, relaxation but nothing keeps me on an even keel. Just frustrated that no 2 days are the same and I can't plan anything. I have recently also developed a sensation of smelling burning intermittently - is this yet another symptom too - grr!!

[daisie]

hi cox 1058,,yes i can say you have the exact same symptoms as me ..iv suffered anxiety and depression in the past but always got over it  ,, when starting with the menopause it hit me realy bad had a breakdown with it i was realy ill ..doctor put me on amitriptyline ,,they helped me a lot by relaxing and helping with sleep but they do make me drowzy in the morning tried different antidepressants ,,but always gone back to taking the amitriptyline ..i finished up with agrophobia could not go anywhere i would panic when leaving the house dont know what i would do without my partner he as to take me places i need to be..its been 4 years now since the breakdown i can get out on my own now but i cant travel too far away on my own..i seem to be inproving as time goes on but its a slow progress,im not taking hrt does not suit me but we are all different iv also got gallstones the amitriptyline have also helped with them  by calming the pain down..they are also a pain relief  its worth giving them a try for a while and see how you go ..good luck x daisie

[Lucky Stone]

Hello cox1058, well I've been to the doc's this morning and she's put me on Sertraline which is an SSRI as she says I need to break the cycle of the eating worry thing and she says I am too anxious. I wanted to shout "yes yes YES" when I read your post about restaurants - that's me!! Last time we went out I had to resort to half a diazepam and several drinks just so I knew I could sit there and eat - felt a bit woozy but wan't tense. Anyway, we'll see how these go - I am quite hopeful. I've started a new thread to seek feedback on the actual meds but I'll update you as to how they are going on. In the meantime - hugs from here.