Hello - I'm Gypsy and I am nearly 44.
I have always suffered with PMS, and I also suffered with PND after my first child was born. When I had the Mirena coil fitted, it turned me into a raging harpy. So suffice to say, I have always had very problematic hormones.
Last year I noticed that my periods, although still very regular, were lighter and shorter in length. I also noticed my usual stomach cramps and very achey boobs had disappeared too. I also noticed that I seemed sweatier than usual, and my normal deodrant couldn't cope. Another thing I noticed was that my usual PMS pattern had changed. My PMS was starting earlier and lasting much longer, right through my period and for a few days afterwards. Also, as my cycle came closer to ovulation I felt better and better, almost giddy with happiness and on days 13-15 of my cycle I would feel incredibly chilled out and relaxed.
Basically I was only getting about 10 'good days' per month.
Now, with all these physical symptoms you'd think I would have twigged that maybe the menopause was just round the corner. But I didn't. The reason being that suddenly, out of the blue, huge anxiety and feelings of panic arrived and totally knocked me for six. I'd never experienced anything like it, apart from when I had PND which had been a very, very dark time in my life.
I couldn't understand where this anxiety and feelings of panic/dread had come from. I put it down to having had a stressful year. My GP agreed and promptly put me on anti-depressants and beta blockers. At no point did he ask about my menstrual cycle, or mention peri/menopause.
I took the anti depressants with reluctance. But realised that they only seemed to work for about 2 weeks per month. The rest of the time I still felt anxious and on edge, and basically just not my usual happy confident self at all. Some days the anxiety was unspeakably bad, and I had to resort to diazepam. I could handle all the physical symptoms, by this point I was also experiencing occasional hot flushes and constipation too. But I simply couldn't handle the anxiety and panic.
Eventually, it took my Mum to point out that all my physical symptoms were the classic menopausal ones. My Mum also pointed out that she, and her sister had gone through the menopause in their late 30s. And my poor Mum had suffered terribly with irrational anxiety and panic attacks. So I did some research and found this place, and realised that increased anxiety and mood swings were very common in women going through the menopause, or peri menopause. I also read everything on Professor John Studd's website, and it was a complete revelation. It was like he was describing me exactly.
Armed with this new knowledge, I saw my GP this week and he agreed that early menopause was certainly a possible explanation for my sudden on set of anxiety last year, especially when accompanied by all my phsyical symptoms. He agreed to have my blood tested to see if there were hormonal changes afoot. He mentioned the possibility of HRT for me.
So I am waiting the results of the blood test, but it was done on day 13 of my cycle, and I know I was ovulating at the time. But the nurse assured me that so long as I knew what day my last period had been it didn't matter. They would be able to make a judgement.
I am so desperate to get this issue sorted. I am only living half a life, just 10-12 days out of each month. The other days are just endured.
If my GP won't really help me, I'm very tempted to get an appointment at Studd's clinic in London, because I can't go on like this anymore. There's no point in taking anti depressants and beta blockers to just mask my symptoms, when actually I need to be properly cured and given hormones instead.
