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[jorainbow]

Having suffered with anxiety very much related to hormones (PMT, PND and now in peri) I am interested in this subject and what helps. There is a lot of thinking out there with anxiety gurus springing up and reworking what has essentially been around for decades (and usually at great cost!) but I recently joined a group out of curiosity and was gobsmacked that they  argue that anxiety at perimenopause is not caused by hormones but purely by our thoughts.  Whilst I agree that positive thinking etc helps anxiety, I'd be interested in others' opinions.

[Spangles]

I do agree with thought processes to an extent. However how do you explained waking up with crippling anxiety, before you have had chance to think?

[jorainbow]

I totally agree with you!

[GypsyRoseLee]

I totally disagree with this. When the hormonal anxiety first hit in peri there was literally ZERO in my life to create my anxiety. Just nothing.

Same when I had PND. Everything in my life had been coming up roses before the birth. I was a very happy newly wed, really looking forward to being a Mum and we'd just moved into our dream home. But within 48 hours of our daughter being born I knew there was something very wrong. I felt like I was sinking into a bottomless black pit and it was terrifying.

It was a chemical/hormonal reaction. Nothing else.

[jorainbow]

Thanks Gypsy Rose Lee - I am in total agreement with you. I actually found the podcast very patronising and quite belittling to women's very real problems with hormones.

[aspie65]

They couldn't be more wrong.  I have faced this argument with numerous health officials and after seeing both a psychiatrist and psychologist they both agreed, within one meeting, that it was not anxiety from my thought processes but hormonal.  After these consultations I was prescribed pregabalin which has been an absolute life saver for me.  It is non addictive and can be taken long term.  I find it works very specifically at the anxiety (unlike SSRIs) and is brilliant at targetting that morning adrenaline rush the menopause brings for some of us.

[jorainbow]

Thank you aspie. Im glad you found something that helps too 😊

[racjen]

I agree with everybody else - this is absolute patronising rubbish. I can pinpoint when my anxiety started - it was a reaction to utrogestan which began out of the blue the morning after I started taking it, was there on waking so no time for thought processes etc. If it was simply about thought processes it should respond to treatments like CBT, mindfulness, relaxation techniques etc. and mine simply does not - it comes and goes when it wants to and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it, like a switch being turned on in the brain.

[dangermouse]

I suspect we'll all be in agreement with this one!

Physical anxiety from hormonal imbalance, be it PND, perimenopause, menopause or infections is very real and cannot be talked down.

We can, of course, make it worse with panicking, worst case scenario, health anxiety etc. and I do have a fellow hypnotherapist who does work on manipulating the actual hormones but it's not thought driven. This is one of the reasons it's so frightening because it's so out of place with how we are feeling at the time.

[CLKD]

As someone who had my first panic attack at the age of 3 and was diagnosed as anorexic at the age of 5  and who had several psychologists tell me in the 1990s that I had to have a thought pattern in order to trigger a panic attack, well nope actually!!!!  What ever happened at birth triggered a phobia which has controlled my Life  until recent years .

There's a lot to learn about the brain.  I admire the whole system of digestions, the various triggers both internal and external but no amount of therapy helped my over-come the physicality of the phobia and panic attacks.  I know why panic happens: the fight/flight response.  But because my response was triggered so early, there is no way that my brain and gut can over-ride what happens.  Oh how I wish .......

So medication has been my route to survival plus a loving husband and Very Good GP.  Hormones.  Well, the evenings prior to a period starting I would sob bitterly, even if a bleed wasn't due.  Next morning, hey presto!  In later years, probably mid-30s onwards, I also had hormonal input in a similar way, 10 mins. B4 a bleed began I would HAVE to rush to the loo immediately, even if a period wasn't due.  Which meant no holidays, no journeys, no plans around 'that time'.  Which probably left a week when I knew it might be safe to go out and about 

We are so interconnected with our who physicality.  I had bad pre menstrual syndrome again in my 30s, NAPS advised the 3 hourly eating habit to stop the anxiety surges due to the body being hungry a habit I continue to this day. 

When I was very ill with depression I would wake with deep, pre-hensile fear - not related to hormones at all but I was ill ........ I would leap out of bed, get dressed and then sit for hours, staring at a wall, fearful.  I hardly dared move in case it made me feel worse.  I was unable to eat, in case it made me feel worse 

What was the question again, sorry, I meandered 

Of course, hormone cortisol, the waking hormone, can cause immediate anxiety ........  but that's a different type of hormone presumably?

[Letmein]

Can I ask a stupid question, but what do we mean by anxiety? The word seems to be used in a number of different contexts. I tend to associate it to fear of something specific (like health anxiety or talking in public etc...) but recently, I am starting to think that anxiety can just be an extension of stress from a chronic perspective.

I never considered myself suffering from anxiety, but what I've started to suffer from more and more often since starting peri is worrying, in a fearful way but in a constant need to overthink things, analyse situations, weight decisions, consider consequences, tell myself that I won't cope with this or that. I go to sleep planning things for tomorrow, wake up immediately thinking of my day ahead, and I know that my brain remains as atuned at night (hence very little deep sleep).

My GP says that I suffer from Chronic Anxiety and that is the reason why I'm suffering from neurological symptoms and feel exhausted all the time. On hrt for 6 weeks now and no obvious sign of this getting better, although I think I might notice a bit of improvement the day after I change the patch.

I have so far found that the only thing that seem to help me a little bit is to go for a 1/2 hour walk on the beach where all I -try- to focus on is the sound of the waves. I really hope hrt will kick in but I'm wondering if it works best for reliving anxiety that it is trigger specific.

Can I ask, has anyone tried betablockers for physical issues relating to anxiety and has it helped and if so how?

[CLKD]

Anxiety is a natural reaction to possible situations that we are not familiar with.  Exams..  Wedding nerves. Prior to an interview, driving test, hospital admission.  Anxiety in the true sense is the fight/flight response.  The blood is transferred to the limbs that allow us to fight or run away.  Which means that the digestion process stops in order to divert blood supply.  After the threat has gone one may feel weak in the limbs, nauseous and short of breath.

OK so it's natural.  But it is so physical for me that it transfers into full blown panic attack. (My first at age 3  ).  Intense feeling of sickness.  Thighs go weak.  Calves go weak.  Need to sit down.  Light headed.  Dry mouth.  Which is where the emergency tablet comes in as it stops the sickness and eases other symptoms.

Depression comes in several forms.  Clinical/situational is where people are in situations that they are unable to alter so depression starts.  There is also organic which is when the brain doesn't get enough good chemical to function properly, I often forget it's an organ that needs support.  I have both and there is a subtle difference in symptoms but many 'experts' don't recognise them; they tend to lump depression as one problem 

I have learned not to say 'yes' to anything in the evenings as I am a different person.  I wake in the morning sometimes dreading the day and as my commitments are done, I feel better so that by evening I could take on the WORLD!  NOPE! 

I have taken beta-blockas since 2002.  They ease the anxiety surges overnight so I take my dose at bed time.  It's what they are designed for ;-).  Nothing however works instantly other than a Valium-type drug, GPs are reluctant to prescribe many due to the possibility of addiction.

[Letmein]

If you are someone who can manage to live "in the moment" all the time then you are lucky indeed.

That is so true! It's hard to do though. I am where I am a lot due to having planned ahead and invested, so it's hard to let go and embrace a 'what will be will be' attitude.

The difference is that I used to cope fine with the pressure, going on adrenalin and then getting a rush of endorphins when things went well, but nowadays, I feel totally depleted of any adrenalin and am just left with physical neurological symptoms and exhaustion!!

[Daisydot]

What great posts ladies I think most of us can relate to this in some way and your explanation or analogy of this has been really interesting to read,we are not all rockets scientists so I love the way we can share information here in a positive way and in layman's terms,thanks so much xx

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

An excellent thread and I agree with all that has been said. In my experience the anxiety, over-thinking,  the dreads and a sense of unease are created by hormonal changes and these have physical and emotional consequences. I've read that oestrogen is the tranquilising hormone and at menopause we are dealing with oestrogen withdrawal. Sure feels that way at times!

Wishing you all well ladies and take care.

K.