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[tired lady]

Hi ladies

I am really having trouble coping at the moment with scary palpitations during the day and also during the night when they are much worse.  My problems started when I turned 39 (I'm 42 now) when I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart racing out of control and I ended up having a major panic attack.  It started happening again and again and I ended up at the doctor who said that it was probably anxiety and I had an ECG which was normal.  I also started waking up at night feeling boiling hot and started to have the most awful nightmares where I would wake up suddenly and then my heart would pound and I felt really hot.  I kept going back to the doctors and mentioning whether it could be perimenopause but they still said it was probably anxiety because of the stress of looking after my son who has M.E.  I went back in July  this year and my doctor said that because it has been going on so long that she wanted to check my heart was ok so I had a chest x-ray and a 24hr ECG which were both normal but it did show a missed beat and a raised heart rate which happened at night but my doctor said it was normal.  I mentioned about whether I could be in perimenopause and she said it could be because I keep waking up feeling hot and she mentioned HRT which I am not really keen on, I wanted to go through it all naturally like my mum. (She also had night sweats and palpitations).

Fast forward 3 years since I turned 39 and I am still having the most awful symptoms at night including waking up feeling hot, nightmares, pounding heart and the one I hate the most when I wake up with my heart doing a massive thud and then racing out of control for a minute and then eventually it calms down but I end up with a panic attack. I have not had a good night's sleep for over 3 years and I am finding it so hard to get through the day because I am so tired.

I am also having scary palpitations during the day including the odd missed beat, double beats and I've had two bouts of irregular heart beat with dizziness both lasting a few seconds and one of them happened when I was out walking my dog.  I am in recovery from agoraphobia (as a result of my panic attacks) and this has set me back and I spend the whole time when I'm out walking my dog thinking it is going to happen again and I have to fight against the fear because my dog has to be walked!  I mentioned the irregular heart episode to my doctor when I went back in August but she just shrugged it off as innocent palpitations because my ECG was normal.

I was just wondering whether anyone else gets the racing heart at night, it just seems like my heart has a mind of its own and I have not control over it.  It is like a get horrible shots of adrenalin a few times a night.  I dread the thought of having to put up with this for another 8 years or so until my periods stop it is just so awful.  Is it normal to get really bad palpitations during menopause and is there a way of reducing them?  I have cut out coffee and now only drink alchohol at the weekends because it seems to bring on hot flushes.  I don't know what to do because I really don't want to go down the HRT route.

I would be most grateful for any help or advice, I'm feeling really down about it all at the moment and I dread going to bed now.  Many thanks in advance - tired lady

[CLKD]

Yep.  Lots of people get palpitations, if you do a 'search' on here you all find several threads!  I had problems with leaving the house for 3 months in the 1990s, couldn't answer the 'phone or walk my dog.  Make sure that you eat regularly, a biscuit with a cup of tea for example before you go for a walk, this will help keep your blood sugar levels even to stop the nausea and low blood sugar.

My head feels woozy occasionally, probably because I have a disc at the top of my neck which gets nipped 

[tired lady]

Thanks so much for you replay CKLD, I will definitely have a look through the palpitations threads on here.  I just find them so scary and have ended up with a health anxiety about my heart and spend all day and night waiting for a heart attack to happen because I'm worried that the palps will damage my heart.  I just keep trying to remember that the doctor said they were harmless, it is easier said than done though!

[Taz2]

It is normal but very unpleasant. I found that once I started HRT the palpitations stopped within a week. They are back with a vengeance now that I have stopped HRT but for the past six years it has been great. Why don't you want to go down the HRT route if you don't mind me asking?  Although you say that you dread having to put up with it until your periods stop I am sorry to say that once periods stop the real symptoms of meno can really kick in. Up to the age of 50 (normal meno age) the risks of HRT are negligible it is only after you reach fifty-ish that the risks are a little bit higher. You could have a few years of feeling so much better and then, when you reach 50, you can come off it and decide whether your symptoms still warrant you taking it. You are young to be suffering in this way.

Taz x

[Shazzie]

Hi tiredlady.

I too have been getting the awful pounding heart that is sooooo frightening.  You are not alone.  I try and breath through mine and this really seems to slow it down.  Take a deep breath in through your nose and breath out trough your nose slowly.  It is terrifying but my GP said it was completely normal when in perimenopause/menopause.

I do know how you are feeling though.

Take care.

Shazzie xx

[tired lady]

Thanks so much for your replies Taz2 and Shazzie, I really appreciate it. 

Taz2, I am worried about taking HRT because of the possible side effects and I am on the mini pill  (Cerazette) and I don't know how it would affect that. The doctor I saw last said that she would like me to go and see another doctor in the practice that specializes in menopause, she also works at the family planning clinic.  She also wanted to make sure that she hadn't missed anything.  I just find it hard to get down to the doctors because my 12 year old son is poorly with M.E. and I am a carer for him.  I do worry about how many years I will have to endure these symptoms for and I would give anything for a good night's sleep, I have felt quite depressed recently because of the sleep deprivation.  I have been warned by other people that I have spoken to not to take HRT but these symptoms are making my life a misery.  I really need to get down to the doctors soon to have a chat about it, I will try and make one for when my husband is around so he can look after our son.

Shazzie, thanks so much for your help, I will definitely try the deep breathing.  I hope you feel better soon too xx

I completely forgot to put on my post that I also wake up feeling like I can't breathe which is just awful, has anyone else had this too?  I had no idea that perimenopause would be this bad, I've never felt so awful in my whole life

[honeybun]

You could use the mirena coil for birth control and add in a separate oestrogen in either patch or gel. That would help your flushes and sleep deprivation. Why suffer like this when it's unnecessary. I don't know who has been trying to put you off HRT but they are misinformed and its very easy to scare monger when you are not the one who is suffering.
I had dreadful palpitations and HRT has mostly got rid of them. I find if I do get them if you cough as hard as you can it seems to help. Not a clue why but my GP suggested it.
You need to be able to cope for both yourself and your sons sake so why not go and talk to a sympathetic GP and get something that will give you back your quality of life.
We really don't get any medals for suffering unnecessarily. You don't get back these years so please get some help.
Keep posting and we will help as much as we can.

Honeyb
x

[myra]

I had horrendous palpitations in the form of missed beats a few years ago.  I attended the cardiology unit at my local hospital and got various tests done.  They were registering at over 6000 missed beats per 24 hours.  I spoke to a Cardiologist who assured me that my heart was healthy.  At that time I was under some strain, which then sorted itself out and the missed beats vanished!!   I had an oopherectomy last Thursday and the last couple of days I've felt a spell of missed beats, which I'm assuming are hormonal, but if you've been reassured by the doctor then please don't worry.  Our hearts are more stronger than we think.  The palpitations don't do the healthy heart any harm, no longer how long you suffer with them.   When you stop worrying then they happen less often xx

[Hurdity]

Hi tired lady

Sorry to hear about your problems. I agree with the other posters re HRT.

You don't mention periods (I don't know what Cezarette does to these), but just to emphasis that if you are going through early/premature menopause, as well as alleviating your present symptoms, it is really important for your future health to take HRT - to protect your bones against osteoporosis, and your cirulatory system.

There is a lot of information on premature/early menopause on this site - so do have a read - it starts here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/prematuremenopause.php

and there are lots of tabs eg management (of premature menopause) - here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/pm-management.php

Like the others have said - there is no need to suffer.

In the past I know there have been members on HRT and the mini pill.

Hurdity x

[Taz2]

Hi again tired lady - I wondered if you have had your thyroid function checked?

Taz x

[tired lady]

Thanks so much everyone for your help and advice, I didn't realise that I might be going through a premature menopause, and I can certainly say that I have not enjoyed my forties one little bit so far because of these awful symptoms.  I thought I would start getting them around the age of 45 but not 39!  The heart symptoms were so scary that I suffered a nervous breakdown and almost became housebound with agoraphobia and panic attacks!

I don't really know what my periods are doing because Cerazette causes breakthrough bleeding and very irregular periods, they are certainly not monthly!  It is just so strange that I was absolutely fine until I turned 39 and then all hell broke loose!

Taz2, yes I have had my thyroid checked but I think that was in 2011, and the result was normal. I also had a blood test to check my hormones and my oestrogen wasn't low but that was 2 years ago now. Maybe the doctor will check it my thyroid and hormone levels again when I go.

These symptoms are totally ruining my life and have given me such a bad anxiety problem that I have had to stop the things I used to enjoy doing because of the fear of having a panic attack or palpitation attack (that leads to a panic attack).  I recently had to pull out of a family wedding because I just couldn't face it.  I would do anything to stop the nightmares, racing heart and palpitations. 

I spoke to my mum yesterday and mentioned about HRT again but she said that it just holds it back and that I will get a later menopause!  My husband is very supportive though and thinks  that I should try it, he doesn't like seeing my suffering and I continuously wake him up at night because of my nightmares and racing heart episodes!

I am going to have a look and see when that doctor is at the surgery and try and get an appointment as soon as I can. 

Thanks so much again everyone, I don't know what I would have done without this forum, I thought I was seriously ill or going mad!   tired lady

[Cassie]

Oh tired lady, you could be me writing this. I ruined the best part of my 30's and into my 40's obsessed with my heart and used to get exactly the same symptoms that you describe. I also did not realise that I was going through Peri and kicked over into full blown meno, just on my 40th birthday, they say life begins @ 40, but I had nothing but problems from there on, until I discovered the Oestrogel. It changed my life. I was prior to that on the oral birth control pill and it made the palpitations so much worse, the fluttering and missed beats were out of control. Since changing to the gel and taking Utrogestan for the oestrogen part, I have been a new person. I still get the missed beats now and then and the racing happens when I run low on Oestrogen, I too have a phobia about my heart racing out of control, but we need to just give ourselves a good talking too and I look @ my mom, who is well into the 80's and remember her complaining about the same thing and in fact my daughter, who is in her 20's now, is also complaining about palpitations, so the cycle starts again. I would see if you cannot get the gel and a separate utrogestan, just not sure about birth control then, as the gel will not cover you for that as far as I know, but you will be fine, its all part of Peri, the panic attacks, oh my gosh! My heart used to reach 190 beats and I was convinced that I had damaged it. The Dr told me to look @ marathon runners who run miles and miles and whose heart rates stay elevated for hours on end and to relax...all will be well, so I am hoping that you will realise, as scary as it is, you will be fine, but do try and get onto HRT, the transdermal, if possible, it makes a huge difference, all the best, chin up. x

[anna123]

I'm 39 and diagnozed as perimeno 3 months ago .The doctor just takes 2 blood tests a month apart to test your FSH levels and he will see if your levels are consistent with menopause. Maybe ask for the hormone tests as you have many perimeo symptoms

I've alos had lots of people tell me not to take HRT because of the risks but I prefer to listen to my doctor/HRT consultant.

There are no increased risks associated with HRT use under 51. In fact it is better to take it otherwise  yo uhave increased risk of osteoporosis and heart problems. Your body isn't supposed to go through meno and reduced oestrogren levels so young so need to take HRT to reduce any other potential real health risks. I would also rather have a good life now than the horrendous meno symptoms and so far HRT is helping me immensely with that

[Shazzie]

Hi Tired Lady

One more thing.  I have been on half a HRT Patch.  Femseven Conti and I feel so much better on them.  I didn't want the tablet form a I take a lot of meds for my MS.  The half patch is really working.   I was at the point where I was afraid to go to sleep in case I get the racing pounding heart.

Hope you get sorted soon sweets.

Shazzie xx

[Shazzie]

Forgot to say I only stared the patch last week.

xxx