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[Dee46]

Got my blood tests results back this morning as I assume I am peri as put on AD & had a breakdown before xmas, anxiety is horrendous & blood tests have come back normal....apparently they suggest normal & I am not in the menopause, I am still going to see the doctor next week as I am not happy as I was speaking to an old friend who is my age (46) & she has been put on AD too & having all the same symptoms on the AD as I am, she said she has been on them 10 months & is still not herself, how much longer can this torture go on for it is so exhausting with doctors dishing out AD & just get on with the side effects, do I now push for HRT even though my tests are normal?

[dazned]

A few on here use both hrt and ADS. What exactly symptomwise are you looking to address ?
The way I eventually got my gp to get on board originally with hrt was to keep a comprehensive spreadsheet of three months,I got my DH to print a calendar spreadsheet for me, I wrote everything down each day so I could prove it was cyclic,and then saw at least five different gps at my practice until I found one who agreed.
You just need to know firmly in your mind what you need to achieve i.e. is it flushes,or tiredness or what.

[Dee46]

I am looking to address the anxiety, basically I wasn't feeling myself last year, started getting a panic attack & the nurse said it was asthma, went away for 2 weeks with these panic attacks not feeling myself I knew there was something wrong, back to doctors & he put me on Sertraline which started all this heightened anxiety, came off after 2 weeks & I was a right mess thought I was having a breakdown & after xmas went back on AD Citalopram, had a rough time getting on them & now still got anxiety, have never suffered with depression or anxiety in my life, so basically want that sorted out.

I am on my 3rd doctor at the practice since October & I have made a word document of symptom's I am still getting on these AD's or just the general anxiety, I have copied over some facts on the perimenopause & some hrt I would like to try, I also have night sweats.

I have booked a private appointment with a meno specialist next week but I shouldn't really have to pay if my doctors listened to my symptoms rather than a blood test they told me would come back normal anyway !!

[dazned]

Hrt does very well at tackling physical symptoms I found in my experiences but the anxiety,palpitations etc. is a far more complex one unfortunately,you may have to approach that concern from a few different angles.

[Hurdity]

Hi Dee46

I was going to say that your cycle combined with your age and symptoms are the best way to determine if you are peri-menopausal - but I see from your previous posts that you have been on the mini pill so you won't have had a natural cycle. How long is it since you stopped the mini pill and what have your cycles/periods been doing since then?

Also if you are having a cycle where in your cycle were the tests taken and can you ask for the actual results?

If you've gone back to having normal monthly periods - but experiencing these symptoms - then you may well be in the late reproductive stage when ovulation ois still working normally but hormones begin to go awry - just before peri-menopause - when cycles become longer and irregular. In this late reproductive stage many women get either worse pmt symptoms - mood swings, anxiety, headaches etc and the unlucky ones also seem to start to get flushes and sweats.

At this stage HRT can work wonders or it may not - and increasingly from what l've read some gynaecologists/meno-specialists recommend the combined contraceptive pill - which will regulate the cycle but also provide added oestrogen which will start to become depleted at least at certain stage in the cycle.

Have you thought of this? If so there is one called Qlaira which contains estradiol rather than synthetic oestrogens - and is the same as in HRT. There are also only 2 pill free days which prevents the extreme oestrogen dip which can occur. This can help bridge the gap between the stage you are at and peri-menopause proper when HRT is often more successful. Ads you are so young still you are able to have this.

Alternatively you could have a Mirena coil and add in the oestrogen (with patch, pill or gel) but I think your own hormone cycles continue in the background to some extent?

If your anxiety is hormonal then you should not be given ADs before trying a hormonal solution.

Hurdity x

[Dee46]

Hi Hurdity

I stopped the mini pill 4 weeks ago & 2 days later had a period for 2 days & haven't had one since, previous to that they have been anything from 2.5 - 4 weeks & anything from 4 days to 8 days.

I wasn't having a cycle when my tests were taken, I was under the assumption you should have them done about 2 days into your period, I am going to ask for the result & hopefully a print out.

I was well up & down last year with my moods & crying, headaches/dizzy head was also something I was getting last summer, I get night sweats & get hot now & again in the day.

I am going to suggest your previous suggestion of Qlaira to my GP if she will let me try it. I have used the symptoms from the Husband thread & highlighted all the symptoms I have had over the past 4 years & going to show her that, she can see from my records I have never been treated for depression or anxiety in the past. I have also added a note that I can take the Qlaira until I am 50.

I was talking to someone today about the Mirena coil & that is also an option, but how will I ever know the menopause is over if I am masking my own cycle?

My old friend who I saw at the weekend is suffering from this anxiety due to be putting on AD's but she cannot take HRT, I just don't get why you are put on an AD & it gives you anxiety for months & months, she has been on them 10 months & still not 100% why do these AD's take so long to work, or is it a case of if you didn't need AD's then it will not solve the hormonal problem.

[Dorothy]

Dee46, I'm taking Birth Control Pill instead of HRT and my GP advises staying on it until I'm 50, and then coming off & if I have a lot of symptoms, trying HRT.  She says some ladies just come off the pill at 50 and never have any trouble as they've 'finished' by then!

[Dee46]

Hi Dorothy

Are you taking Qlaira? I am going to ask my GP for this, if she prescribes it & I get on ok with it then I will be able to be on it at least 3 years.