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[hotie]

Hello all,
I am a new member to this forum and needing a bit of advice and help with this menopause thing!
I am 51 and untill this time last year every thing was as normal, i went 6 months without a period then they started again for 4 months and then stoped again with no other symptoms. Last April i was put on to Duloxatine( antidepresent) for a nerve problem, first 30g and then 60g iwas on this medication for 8 months and they didnt help at all so my GP has told me to withdraw from them,i started cutting them down from 60g to 30g per day but within a week a had really bad hot flush,s 10 to 12 a day and then the night sweets, also not sleeping and  all my joins are acheing, when i went back to tell my GP she said that the tablets my have serpressed the start of the menopaurse, any thoughts anyone? could this be the case, if so i will need help and advice as the hot flush,s are driving me mad and making me feel sick, looking forward to your replys............thank you.

[CLKD]

Firstly:    some anti-depressant (ADs) do suppress hot flushes.  So your GP is probably on the right track!

Have a browse of the menus …….. top of screen apparently [site has undergone updating this week  ] - keeping a food/mood diary can help chart progress too.  Make notes ……. could you go back on a similar AD which will help the flushes?

[hotie]

Thank you i will have a look round the site.

[CLKD]

Ask away - no query is taboo  ……. lots of experiences shared here!

[thorntrees]

Hello Hottie, welcome to the forum. When I had severe hot flushes and sweats and HRT wasn't an option my GP gave me citalopram(an AD) as it has been shown to help with these problems. You have to stick with it but it did, and still does, help me, I take 10mgs daily. I'm sure others will be along with more help for you, hope you get some relief soon.

Thorntrees

[Moomcat]

Hello Hotie!!

I'm just wondering if any of your symptoms could be down to AD withdrawal? I've cut down from 40mg to 10mg Citalopram over the last year and there are quite a few unpleasant side effects with with that particular tablet when you cut down.

I did start to have (or start to notice I was having) hot flushes when I went down to 10mg and just assumed they were part of withdrawal, it was only when my GP informed me that Citalopram is used for the relief of peri-meno symptoms that the penny dropped. She did offer to increase my dose but I'd worked so hard to come off them that there was no way that was happening!!

So, Citalopram does work but I as I had been taking them for depression and no longer need them, my experience of them is slightly different.

Definitely have a look at AD withdrawal syndrome though.

Hope you start to feel better soon. xx

[hotie]

Thank you for the reply, like you my GP said I could go back to a higher dose to see if the symptoms went but I have also spent time persevering to come off them altogether as they were not helping with my nerve problem. X

[Briony]

Hello, I totally sympathise!  I went to Hell and back on Duloxotine, prescribed for extreme nerve pain. I  actually ended up in A and E when I first went on it, my doctor having started me off on too high a dose. The doctor who saw me in casualty said I wasn't the first he'd seen suffer in this way. A year later, I felt I had created a whole new set of problems yet not helped the original ones - the extreme pain in my back and shoulder.

Eventually an on the ball  neurologist made a connection with my hormones, which were then found to be very low, and suggested stopping the Duloxotine and immediate HRT. Coming off the Duloxotine was horrible - nausea, sweats, aches, zapping in my head . I had to literally count the beads out in order to reduces readily (since they don't make a low dose). However, having now come off it and moved onto HRT, I feel miles better.

While I hated the Duloxotine (apparently it has more website hits for withdrawal help than any other AD!) I have to say, I don't think it was the cause of my early menopause . I only took it to treat the nerve pain which was in fact, as I now know, my very first menopausal symptom.
(I was 40 at the time).

Sorry that this is  all a bit waffling - even thinking about that stuff makes me wound up. Just want you to know the symptoms you describe are definitely the same as the ones many people have when coming off Duloxotine. If you haven't already, google it. The American sites are particularly helpful.

Good luck, B x 

[hotie]

So interesting to here your comments on duloxoline, they totally mess you up, I am off to the neurologist Monday and will tell him how they have affected me, thanks again. X

[Briony]

Glad to be of some help/reassurance. Don't let them fob you off - you need to know what's causing your pain before they decide how to treat (mask) it. If you can, get your hormones tested too. Although many doctors go on symptoms alone, if you're experiencing odd symptoms, then it's worth a blood test to put your mind at rest. This would have saved me two years of being told I had possible MS. I had always assumed that menopause meant anxiety, hot sweats and dry skin hence the reason I never questioned my estrogen (if anything, I have the chills, not hot flushes!). My initial symptoms were extreme back/shoulder pains (which later moved to my ankle) tingling in fingers, dizziness; later I got crushing fatigue and nausea.  It's only now that I realise a lot of this was a result of water retention 'touching' the nerves under my arm and in my ankle which in turn caused referred pain. An MRI wouldn't show this sort of nerve issue, hence the reason the doctors were so confused (to the point I am sure they didn't believe me!). I feel like I wasted at least two years of my life suffering and afraid, and would hate anyone to suffer in the same way. I really hope you get some answers soon! xx