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[Dancinggirl]

Hi all you ladies on this thread.  GPs are so keen to get us on ADs/SRRIs it's bonkers. Of cause these symptoms are menopausal. I get this horrible sudden wakening when not on HRT - it really prevents me from having a decent nights sleep.  I wade through my days in a fog of exhaustion and start to dread going to bed. I have recently gone back on HRT and it is bliss to get some decent sleep.

honorsmum - welcome to MM.  Do start your own thread so more ladies can offer help and support.  Also read up all the info under the headings to the left of this screen to et really clued up.  I am so pleased to hear your GP seems on the ball and is discussing the option of HRT as it will really help. HRT is certainly not a 'last resort' - if you are oestrogen deficient  by you mid 40s then it really would be wise to use HRT provided there aren't health issues that prevent it. NAtural menopause is around 53-54 but we can be peri menopausal fro years before this which can bring many problems.  It is now known that 5 years of HRT in your 50s can prevent long term problems with your heart and bones.
Here is a link to an interesting article  - well worth reading:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2800760/should-women-hrt-menopause-experts-say-s-best-way-ease-symptoms-avoid-long-term-health-problems.html

Pof - I assume you can't use HRT for health reasons?  Oestrogen deficiency at your age could result in long term problems for your heart and bones. I had premature ovarian failure and was basically told it was essential I use HRT for the protective factors for heart and bones.  I even read recently that it can reduce our risk of bowel cancer.

Tiredlady - some women get more migraines when peri meno emerges and though HRT can make the migraines worse, it is recommended migraine sufferers use trans dermal HRT e.g patches and particularly bio identical as it can be OK and could be worth trying.

My adrenaline surges and palpations have all gone with the HRT and I feel so much better - I'm also getting far fewer nasty headaches.  Without HRT I was taking so many painkillers and they were really upsetting my stomach. I'm 58 BTW.  DG x

[tired lady]

Thanks so much everyone for all your replies, it has been very interesting reading how many other ladies get the same symptoms with their heart and are told by doctors that it is just anxiety!  I have been to the doctors quite a few times over the last few years with my horrible racing heart symptoms at night and everytime they just say that it is probably just anxiety because my FSH tests were normal!  However, I know this is not normal for me, I slept like a log before that rapid heart beat episode 2010!  It was so frightening that I had what I think was a 'nervous breakdown' with panic attacks night and day and not being able to go out of the house without fear of getting a panic attack somewhere.  I've still got bad anxiety now, so does that mean I've still got a nervous breakdown or is it my bloomin' hormones?!

The thing I fear most is the rapid heart beat episodes where I wake up suddenly, my heart does a huge lurch and then beats really rapidly for about 2 mins and then eventually calms down.  During that time I feel really weird and feel like a might faint - it is the scariest thing I've ever experienced!  Everytime it happens I think I'm going to get a cardiac arrest and wonder whether I should call 999!  However, recently it just seems to be the pounding heart not the really rapid one which I dread.

I had no idea that perimeno could affect the heart like this and it completely took me by surprise - hence the nervous breakdown!  I do still have a heart health anxiety though and spend quite a lot of time during the day and at night feeling my pulse to make sure it is regular because I hate the feeling of my heart pounding and as for missed beats omg - I hate those with a passion! I never had palpitations before I tured 39 so I'm convinced it is hormones not just anxiety!  I'm fed up with going to the doctors and just being told that I should go and have some more CBT.  What was happening to me at night caused the anxiety in the first place - chicken or egg!!

I'm so glad to have found this forum where there are so many lovely ladies offering help and support.  I talk to my husband about it and my mum knows about it and keeps saying it is my hormones but it is the sort of thing you keep to yourself and suffer in silence.  If it is perimeno, I don't like it one little bit and I keep wishing it would go away and I could just go back to feeling like myself again.

[Millykin]

It is horrible the heart thing. I used to get it constantly but I still do keep check img my pulse. Whenever I feel funny a sort of rush now I go all quiet and then the anxiety kicks in. You just can't win.
X

[tired lady]

Hi Millykin, it certainly is absolutely awful isn't it!  It just feels like your heart suddenly take on a life of its own and there is nothing you can do until it starts to slow down on its own.  I was absolutely convinced that I had a heart arrithymia (not sure how to spell it)  and although I was reassured when my 24hr ECG was normal (just showed a bit of pounding and a missed beat but normal sinus rhythm) it wasn't enough for cure my heart phobia because the rapid thing didn't happen when I had the monitor on!  Luckily though the rapid heart beat doesn't happen during the day, it is just at night when I'm asleep but I get a bit of pounding and missed beats during the day and it often happens when I've eaten.  What worries me is that I've got this for many more years to come because I'm only 43.  I have not enjoyed my 40's at all so far in fact I've never felt so dreadful and at times I've felt extremely low due to sleep deprivation. I've been putting off going to the doctors just to be told it is anxiety again!

[Hurdity]

Hi tiredlady

if you want to stay on a contraceptive pill then you could try Qlara which contains bio-identical oestrogen (as estradiol) in addition to the progestogen.The added oestrogen should help with your menopausal symptoms while providing contraception.  It seems to be the only contraceptive pill with bio-identical oestrogen.

However if you get mgrianes you might like to try Mirena coil ( has this been discussed already?) which will give contraception as well as keep the uterus lining thin. Along with this you could take a low dose transdermal oestrogen ( patches or gel) hopefully to relieve your menopausal symptoms. As you progressed towards menopause you could increase the dose if symptoms became bothersome.

Hurdity x

[honorsmum]

Hi Millykin, it certainly is absolutely awful isn't it!  It just feels like your heart suddenly take on a life of its own and there is nothing you can do until it starts to slow down on its own.  I was absolutely convinced that I had a heart arrithymia (not sure how to spell it)  and although I was reassured when my 24hr ECG was normal (just showed a bit of pounding and a missed beat but normal sinus rhythm) it wasn't enough for cure my heart phobia because the rapid thing didn't happen when I had the monitor on!  Luckily though the rapid heart beat doesn't happen during the day, it is just at night when I'm asleep but I get a bit of pounding and missed beats during the day and it often happens when I've eaten.  What worries me is that I've got this for many more years to come because I'm only 43.  I have not enjoyed my 40's at all so far in fact I've never felt so dreadful and at times I've felt extremely low due to sleep deprivation. I've been putting off going to the doctors just to be told it is anxiety again!

I had the 24 hour ecg last week, and just like you, that was the one night my heart behaved itself and I got a half-decent night's sleep! Typical!
I'm 45 and the palpitations at night started a few months ago, not long after my periods started to become irregular. I refuse to believe it's a coincidence.

[Millykin]

Tired lady
What you wrote about ecg and heart monitor was just the same with me!

Life begins at 40  who are they kidding, I'm 44 my girls are 23 and 21. I'm supposed to be having a great time! Maybe in another life
X

[PoF]

yep - agree with all of this about the 40s!!!! For the other lady that asked if I was on HRT, yes I am and take Evorel Conti and Sequii. 

Please tired lady have confidence to know that you are NOT going crazy at all.   Any normal person in your situation would feel exactly the same.   I have BEEN THERE!!!!   Just like you, I had my husband ready to dial 999 because I was convinced about the doom and gloom scenario.

Like I've said, the trick is to try really hard not to add a layer of your own panic to the heart palpitations.  REmember that if you did exercise your heart would pound at a high level for 50 mins if you were doing aerobics!  Although I still feel anxious, I have made some headway recently about not panicking when I get the racing heart, and it does mean the episodes last a short amount of time.

HOrmones in perimenopause, from your late 30s onwards, can surge and change and fluctuate and everything is interrelated.   YOu could try to keep a diary of the heart issues just to see if they are related to any specific point in your menstrual cycle.   They might be, and even knowing that can help you deal with them.

[starfish]

Hi,

Just wanted to join in and sympathise when I read the OP's post this is absolutely my experience too - I've had 24 hr monitors, cardiologist appts, et al. Knowing that the nightmares and racing heart are very common for perimeno is extremely reassuring in itself (and nothing the gps told me, grrr!)

I take a low dose beta blocker daily and it does help. I found that side effects settled down after a few weeks so worth re considering if the natural remedies don't help. I use natural remedies too - camomile tea, magnesium, red clover, menopace night have all helped me; though I know we're all different. Also this site - a remedy in itself!

Starfish x

[honorsmum]

Hi,

Just wanted to join in and sympathise when I read the OP's post this is absolutely my experience too - I've had 24 hr monitors, cardiologist appts, et al. Knowing that the nightmares and racing heart are very common for perimeno is extremely reassuring in itself (and nothing the gps told me, grrr!)

I take a low dose beta blocker daily and it does help. I found that side effects settled down after a few weeks so worth re considering if the natural remedies don't help. I use natural remedies too - camomile tea, magnesium, red clover, menopace night have all helped me; though I know we're all different. Also this site - a remedy in itself!

Starfish x

Which beta blocker do you take, Starfish? And how often - once a day, regardless?
What were the side effects?
I mostly get palpitations in the early morning, but some days my heart carries on racing for several hours. I have lowish blood pressure, so slightly worried about taking beta blockers (not that I've been offered them).

[Dancinggirl]

honorsmum - I wouldn't rush to beta blockers when HRT could do the trick.  I was getting terrible palpations but the HRt has stopped them.  Dg x