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[Sencho1999]

Hi all,

This is my first post and I'm hoping someone can help as I'm really down and at my wits end. I'm 42 and for the last 4 years I've suffered what I believe to be a whole host of peri menopause symptoms or most certainly huge hormone imbalance. These seem to have got much worse following the birth of my two children (one when I was 39 and one when I was 41. My youngest child is only a baby 4 months old). I'm also breast feeding and believe the the breast feeding hormone prolactin suppresses progesterone - either way I feel dreadful and I've been to my GP many many times over the last few years but have yet to find real help.

My symptoms are mainly: huge increase in migraines which happen mid cycle (ovulation time) and before and during my periods (which are getting shorter), these debilitate me at the moment about 15 days out of every month. I also get huge night sweats, join pain in ankles, anxiety for no reason at all (my life is currently good and stable), insomnia, vertigo/dizzy attacks, episodes of feeling faint, fatigue (yes I know my children are young but its more  than that) and nausea.

I've had my thyroid checked, iron ferritin levels are fine, heart has been checked it fine, been to my neurologist about the migraines. I've cut out sugar, we eat organic, I take Vit D, magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin c. I do yoga most days. I don't drink any caffeine at all ever and haven't for over 5 years and my alcohol consumption is zero. Yet I still feel like I am losing my mind. I used to travel the world solo, was competent at my job and now I'm scared I won't have the confidence to work again if I can't get a grip on these awful symptoms.

I also had a full month long female hormone profile done back in July 2015 (saliva tests) which showed my progesterone and oestrogen levels to be in the lab 'normal' ranges.  However there were days on the graph of results where either my progesterone or oestrogen would totally spike or drop compared to the rest of the curve if that makes any sense. Despite 'normal' levels this I often think it must be the ratio of progesterone to oestrogen as certain times of the month which make me feels so ill. I researched that to feel as your best the P/E ratios should be at least 300:1, mine was a maximum of 165:1 on the peak progesterone day of Day 20 of my cycle when tested in July 2015. I also know that what is a normal lab range for one person can mean something totally different for another person - case in point during pregnancy my ferritin dropped to 7 from 145 and the GP told me that 7 wouldn't make me feel so ill - well it did and when I started Ferrograd I felt much much better within weeks.

Right now I'm totally confused as to which path to try next. I am thinking of asking my GP to prescribe me Utrogestan but I believe this is usually prescribed along with Oestradiol which I'm not sure I need at this stage. Then I think I should try the over the counter progesterone cream. Then I think I should ask for the mini pill to stopped ovulation altogether which just might stop my menstrual migraines (but this scares me because its got progestins in it which I once had in the arm implant contraceptive and it made me very depressed very quickly).

I'm so desperate now because my husband works away for weeks at a time and I have tow young children to look after alone - they are missing out when mummy is walking around wearing sunglasses in the house every day groaning from migraines.

I want to pay someone privately who actually knows what they are talking about but many consultants seem to be London or south based which is really hard to get to for me - especially as we have no childcare so would have to drag the children along. I did pay to see some guy 2 years ago who told me it was impossible to be perimenopausal if I had just succeeded in pregnancy and having a baby??? I think this complete tripe because the fact is that from around age 35 my symptoms have appeared, got more intense and more widespread so something is going on despite being lucky enough to be fertile still.

Can anyone recommend a women's hormone doctor within 2 hours of Lancashire?

Thank you so much in advance, from a vert tired and desperate mummy of two.

[MicheleMaBelle]

Hi Sencho1999 

You've got an awful lot going on there without being peri menopausal and it definitely sounds like it from where I'm sitting. Could you also be suffering from PND?

I'm not qualified to give you advice on your hormone levels or recommend someone in the North West. Read up on this website and go see your GP with a list of symptoms. Please ask to be referred to your local meno clinic ( some are also self referral ). It definitely sounds as if you could consider HRT and bio identical versions are available on the NHS - but you'd need oestrogen and progesterone together I'm afraid. Some are kinder than others, Femeston and Utrogestan but they can still have side effects. Maybe a mirena coil would suit . It's trial and error but it certainly sounds as if you might benefit from starting HRT sooner rather than later. Remember that norethisterone can have the worst effects of some progesterone preps so you might want to avoid this one.
There is no evidence that topical progesterone cream works and there are concerns about personalised bio identical preps from compounding pharmacies so proceed with care. I do believe that some of the consultants will be prepared to do a telephone consultation but again I've no knowledge of this.
Hopefully some others will be along that might be able to help more.
Hope you get this sorted and let us know how you get on x

[Katia]

Tony Mander is great, but he's a menopause specialist.  It sounds like you may have post natal depression, or your hormones still haven't settled down from the birth.  Maybe the breast feeding.  Perhaps even ask your GP for a referral to a gynae.

[Mbrown001]

You are not that far from Dumfries and the founder of this site Dr Heather Currie consults there.
She also does an email consultation at a cost of £25.
If you have a look on the home page you can get the details there.

Also if you look at the top of the page there is a find a specialist link. Pop in your area and it will give you the details

Hopefully you will be able to get things sorted out really soon.

Oh, one other idea. As you are so young have you looked at the Daisy Network. It's for women going through an early meno. You might find help there as well as here.

Let us know how you get on.

Mrs Brown

[Sencho1999]

Tony Mander is great, but he's a menopause specialist.  It sounds like you may have post natal depression, or your hormones still haven't settled down from the birth.  Maybe the breast feeding.  Perhaps even ask your GP for a referral to a gynae.

Hi Katia, I would maybe agree if I hadn't suffered from all of these symptoms before my children but I did. I've had the PND quiz by my health visitor and I've done a few online questionnaires. My HV wasn't overly worried - my father died suddenly at the end of my recent pregnancy so they've been keeping a close eye on my mental health. Obviously I'm grieving but I don't feel as much sad as I do frustrated - I'm sad I can't find any help. No doubt my hormones have yet to fully settle but it still doesn't explain the last 5 years of symptoms. x

[Sencho1999]

I presume you saw a Health Visitor with your latest baby? I remember there is a very easy test they do for PND, you fill a form out and they ask you a few questions. I don't think it sounds like PND. All your symptoms are similar to mine and I'm peri menopausal. I had blood test that didn't show anything but Dr said they don't rely on them and just go on symptoms. That's the trouble you see, all GP's are different. Some are supportive and some not. Some are clued up, some not.

Not sure where in the North West you are but there are Specialists in Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield.

As for "I did pay to see some guy 2 years ago who told me it was impossible to be perimenopausal if I had just succeeded in pregnancy and having a baby???". I have a friend who had her children in her 40's. After the last child, her periods stopped, never returned, she's in her 50's now and just assumes the birth put her straight into menopause.

Hi, yes I saw my HV who is keeping an eye on me but I'm more concerned that the fact I've had a baby recently will distract from the fact this has been going on for years and years.

[Sencho1999]

You are not that far from Dumfries and the founder of this site Dr Heather Currie consults there.
She also does an email consultation at a cost of £25.
If you have a look on the home page you can get the details there.

Also if you look at the top of the page there is a find a specialist link. Pop in your area and it will give you the details

Hopefully you will be able to get things sorted out really soon.

Oh, one other idea. As you are so young have you looked at the Daisy Network. It's for women going through an early meno. You might find help there as well as here.

Let us know how you get on.

Mrs Brown

Thank you Mrs Brown x

[Otes73]

Paula Briggs based at Southport Hospital was recommended to me by my local chemist. You could ask to be referred to her via NHS as she runs a clinic there. She's supposed to be fantastic.

Wishing you good luck.
Xx

[Mazza27]

Hi sencho,

Tony mander, I have just been to see him in Oldham and he does rochdale.
I found him myself and he was very good my gyne said he would listen to any advice he gave.
He told me I'm not menopausal but suffering severe pmt which does build in peri stage.

I am suffering like you lack of confidence feel like I am not good enough at my job/wife and can't cope with everything
I feel no one is listening as I am like you felt like this for few years with panic attacks starting staying away with work and now I don't want to do anymore.
Night sweats and mood changes

Hope you get sorted
Mazza x

[linfit]

Hi all,

This is my first post and I'm hoping someone can help as I'm really down and at my wits end. I'm 42 and for the last 4 years I've suffered what I believe to be a whole host of peri menopause symptoms or most certainly huge hormone imbalance. These seem to have got much worse following the birth of my two children (one when I was 39 and one when I was 41. My youngest child is only a baby 4 months old). I'm also breast feeding and believe the the breast feeding hormone prolactin suppresses progesterone - either way I feel dreadful and I've been to my GP many many times over the last few years but have yet to find real help.

My symptoms are mainly: huge increase in migraines which happen mid cycle (ovulation time) and before and during my periods (which are getting shorter), these debilitate me at the moment about 15 days out of every month. I also get huge night sweats, join pain in ankles, anxiety for no reason at all (my life is currently good and stable), insomnia, vertigo/dizzy attacks, episodes of feeling faint, fatigue (yes I know my children are young but its more  than that) and nausea.

I've had my thyroid checked, iron ferritin levels are fine, heart has been checked it fine, been to my neurologist about the migraines. I've cut out sugar, we eat organic, I take Vit D, magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin c. I do yoga most days. I don't drink any caffeine at all ever and haven't for over 5 years and my alcohol consumption is zero. Yet I still feel like I am losing my mind. I used to travel the world solo, was competent at my job and now I'm scared I won't have the confidence to work again if I can't get a grip on these awful symptoms.

I also had a full month long female hormone profile done back in July 2015 (saliva tests) which showed my progesterone and oestrogen levels to be in the lab 'normal' ranges.  However there were days on the graph of results where either my progesterone or oestrogen would totally spike or drop compared to the rest of the curve if that makes any sense. Despite 'normal' levels this I often think it must be the ratio of progesterone to oestrogen as certain times of the month which make me feels so ill. I researched that to feel as your best the P/E ratios should be at least 300:1, mine was a maximum of 165:1 on the peak progesterone day of Day 20 of my cycle when tested in July 2015. I also know that what is a normal lab range for one person can mean something totally different for another person - case in point during pregnancy my ferritin dropped to 7 from 145 and the GP told me that 7 wouldn't make me feel so ill - well it did and when I started Ferrograd I felt much much better within weeks.

Right now I'm totally confused as to which path to try next. I am thinking of asking my GP to prescribe me Utrogestan but I believe this is usually prescribed along with Oestradiol which I'm not sure I need at this stage. Then I think I should try the over the counter progesterone cream. Then I think I should ask for the mini pill to stopped ovulation altogether which just might stop my menstrual migraines (but this scares me because its got progestins in it which I once had in the arm implant contraceptive and it made me very depressed very quickly).

I'm so desperate now because my husband works away for weeks at a time and I have tow young children to look after alone - they are missing out when mummy is walking around wearing sunglasses in the house every day groaning from migraines.

I want to pay someone privately who actually knows what they are talking about but many consultants seem to be London or south based which is really hard to get to for me - especially as we have no childcare so would have to drag the children along. I did pay to see some guy 2 years ago who told me it was impossible to be perimenopausal if I had just succeeded in pregnancy and having a baby??? I think this complete tripe because the fact is that from around age 35 my symptoms have appeared, got more intense and more widespread so something is going on despite being lucky enough to be fertile still.

Can anyone recommend a women's hormone doctor within 2 hours of Lancashire?

Thank you so much in advance, from a vert tired and desperate mummy of two.

I see Dr Julie Ayres at Leeds menopause clinic. I am post menopausal and she has helped me.

[Hurdity]

Hello Sencho1999

 

Sounds like you could be in the late reproductive stage if your periods have come back despite breast-feeding (mine never cam back that soon and I fed all of mine up to between 9 months and 14 months).

Saliva tests are not accurate and not recommended to determine true hormone levels - only relative ones eg throughout the cycle, to see if you are in fact having an ovulatory cycle. Since you haven't missed any periods and they are coming closer together it is doubtful the docs would do full blood tests of sex hormones eg FSH.

However if you have been checked out and there is nothing wrong then you could regulate your cycle through the CCP which many gynaes recommended to younger women. There is one called QLAIRA  which contains estradiol, the same oestrogen that we make, and another called ZOELY  which is weaker. There is more info here: https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/contra1.php (scroll down).

I agree with Michelemabelle - progesterone cream is not what you need and definitely not recommended for your symptoms and stage.

Hurdity x

Oops pressed the wrong button before finishing!

[Katia]

Mazza27, I really like Tony Mander. 

Hurdity - I've recently read an interesting publication (BMJ or Pubmed) as to how Qlaira can be effective with a bio identical estrogen and it's due to the progestin that's in it being 10 times stronger than levenorgestral.