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[Amychaos]

Hi this is my first post and was wondering if you could help with my symptoms as i am not getting much help from the doctors and really need some support. All my family is now male, my doctor is male and my mum isnt here to ask. My friends are all older and didnt seem to suffer the way i am.  i am 47 and trouble started 4 years ago with bowel trouble (IBS), generally feeling unwell and fatigue. For the last year i have had incredible fatigue, very painful joints and muscles (aching and sore to touch), restless legs, and now gastritis/reflux for 4 months. I really am at the end of my tether - on the worst days i have to rest half way up the stairs. I had a wonderful few weeks, but then realised i had had a period that month. They were getting closer together, then i had one that lasted 6 weeks, now they are unpredictable.

My GP said i wasnt perimenopausal and didnt want to check bloods but all other blood tests have been normal except vitamin D. Rheumatologist diagnosed fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue but not sure why. They say i am depressed because i recently lost my mum and at the same time i was diagnosed with cancer. (I am all fine no evidence of that any more just had surgery). I finally paid for a private blood test and the results are as follows:

FSH 65
LH 35
Oestradiol 106

GP says i have "psychological distress" and that counselling and antidepressants would help. I really disagree, i have dealt with my mums death and my diagnosis, I just struggle with the fact that  i feel this dreadful most of the time and no one seems to want to help. I am happily married and really love my life, slight anxiety these days but i can cope with it and sleep well, I just want to get on with things. My periods have gradually stopped although i have the odd couple every 6 months. The last one lasted one day.

Would these figures mean i should be asking for HRT? My mum had breast cancer after being put on HRT but she was on it for 15 years and refused to come off it. (She didnt die of breast cancer it was treated successfully). Can this pain and stomach trouble (severe indigestion/acid/gas) be caused by the menopause? I am taking tablets but dont really want to be on them long term. A couple of months ago my breasts swelled up and i developed a large cyst so had to have that checked out and the breast consultant said HRT would help me for a couple of years until i reach 50 or so as surging hormones are causing my breast issues. I am low in vitamin D because i cant go in the sun so i worry about my bones in years to come.  The GP keeps asking if i am having hot flushes but im not so he is reluctant to do anything else and keeps telling me to come back in a few weeks. I just feel hot in the mornings some times. My mood has actually improved without PMS but i really want to feel well and function again.

Thanks in advance for your help, sorry for the waffling. If anyone has experienced something similar I would be glad to hear from you.

x

[Taz2]

Hi Amychaos.

Sorry to hear that you have been feeling so awful and I'm sure that you will find much help and support on here.

Blood tests are very unreliable during peri menopause so it is better to go on symptoms rather than one blood test. You may well benefit from HRT especially as you are not yet at the "normal" menopause age of around 51. Any risks from HRT don't begin until after this age as you are replacing what should have been yours naturally up to 51.

You say that your vitamin D is low and this can cause fibromyalgia type symptoms and can make you feel quite unwell and, if left, can lead to more serious illnesses. Do you know what your level is and have you been given a supplement to take? You can find out the symptoms here http://patient.info/health/vitamin-d-deficiency-including-osteomalacia-and-rickets-leaflet

Someone else will be along soon with more advice. In the meantime have a good look around the site and thing will feel much better now that you have us lot to chat to.

Taz x 

[Amychaos]

Thank you for replying Taz2, i was given a supplement of vitamin D by my GP, who told me it was under 30 (very low) and to take it for 3 months. I actually felt worse when i was on it - my cancer doctor was shocked and asked what on earth was wrong as i wasnt the person i used to be!. Another test revealed it had risen to 80 so was considered normal. At that point i realised this was not just a deficiency as i was still in such pain and so poorly. However i was under incredible stress around the time of my mums death and my diagnosis so perhaps stress made everything worse. It all coincided with my periods stopping. I tend to feel better when one appears...

I had actually begun to feel a little better over the last few months but my stomach issues started up, very frustrating.

x

[CLKD]

Your GP is fudging the issue  - many still believe that unless a woman complains of hot flushes, they are not menopausal.  However!!!

Your symptoms may well be due to The Change.  Have a browse round, make notes.  Some ladies find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary useful. 

If a lady finds an HRT that suits - also HRT protects heart as well as bones - then there is no reason for her not to continue with treatment for as long as she wants.  No reason other than GPs who want us to stop! but if we are told and if we accept the slight risks associated with HRT, then we should be able to continue.  After all, if a lady is well on treatment then it must be better than continually being in the Surgery  .

Apparently as oestrogen levels drop muscles can become lax = aches and pains.  If you really can't get into the sunshine then ask your GP to check your VitD levels, a supplement may be required.

As for IBS - well hiatus hernia is 'common' at this stage of Life, probably due to laxity of muscles ……. making sure not to eat/drink too close to bed time helps me, if I take my meds too late then I get reflux  which requires Rennies x 2; eating little and often may help symptoms too.  What tablets are you taking?

As for restless legs which only bother me at night although I am aware all the while, I've suffered intermittently all my Life.  By chance in the mid-1990s I found that 3/4 small bananas a day stopped symptoms so I try to include one, several times a week.  Otherwise I swallow two Nurofen to ease symptoms.  For me it's a lack of potassium.

You waffle away! 

[Amychaos]

Thank you CLKD, I am on ranitidine tablets, or lansoperazole which i found didnt work so well...i am on the maximum dose and it just about keeps it at bay, but sometimes still have the burning stomach (i have it now but hope going to sleep will make it go away), i try to eat little and often but have bad hunger pains despite eating. I am not overweight, but have a bloated stomach and sometimes look pregnant!

The doctors seem a bit preoccupied with hot flushes, but i really don't have them, even when my periods stopped. I do have funny turns where i feel like someone has pulled the plug on my energy....i say to my husband it feels like i am wearing a concrete onesie! Perhaps that is a hot flush without the heat? Or maybe they are to come. I think if i could find a bit of reassurance about my symptoms i would feel happier because once you have been told you have cancer you do tend to think the worst, especially as these new symptoms have changed my life so massively in the last couple of years.

x

[Annie0710]

Sounds like meno and mine kicked off after the sudden death of my dad (mum had passed away suddenly when I was 36)

Ladies on reflux/indigestion meds, please look up vit b12 deficiency and your meds to see if they are lowering your b12.  B12d symptoms (bar flushes I think) are so very similar

By the way, I've never had flushes and I'm post menopause

X

[Annie0710]

Yes it's a very good book and it's wise to know as we are all different it goes without saying another person could function well at your level, but you may not.  The B12 range is ridiculous.  Mine was 197 (211-911) and they wouldn't treat it as they said it wasn't that bad !

I think it's becoming more known that b12 isn't a vitamin you can overdose on (despite some gps still thinking you can)

Tablets can only work if the deficiency is diet related otherwise you're wasting your money and the only way this vitamin can reach cell level and start to heal you is by injection

Maryjane is much more knowledgeable on this but I have learnt a bit after what happened to me.  My initial visit to GP was for a sudden onset of symptoms and the 2 flagged results were b12d and menopause

X

[Annie0710]

The only trouble with asking for another b12 test is that your siblinguals will give a false result.  You really need 4 months clear of tablets and any supplement that includes it and even then the result is total serum, not actual available b12

I've now gone 4 months so good to go for bloods and am just waiting my opportunity.  If it's raised, fair do I'll get some sublinguals, but if it's down again, well......I'm educated on it this time x

[CLKD]

Apparently the two medications that you are taking can, in some patients, cause more problems than they solve!  Have you tried something more soothing, i.e. Milk of Magnesia in liquid form?