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[GetStuffedPeri]

People don't talk about this enough.  Perhaps we feel ashamed?  We shouldn't - the "quick to anger" thing is a real, genuine issue. 

No PMS ever before.  Barely noticed periods during menstruating years.  Now on month 7 without a period (went 10 months before the last one so have had 2 in a year) and the mood swings are SO debilitating.  I have a great sense of humour so can look back and (sometimes) laugh but overall it really isn't funny.

Is it "just" low estrogen?  Never been anxious or depressed.  Now can go from 0 - 100 anger at the drop of a hat.

Anybody happy to share their experiences?

[CLKD]

Well - in my late teens early 20s I had rages.  DH could tell when my period was due B4 I was aware. Every month the same: OK for 3 weeks then something that I could tolerate would send me over the edge  .  I kicked doors. Threw items - though never anything valuable  .  Get really, really angry ...........

Even into my 30s.  The last time I threw anything it was a wet cloth at DH as he heard me muttering about him whilst I was washing up: he wrung out the cloth and threw it back ........... I would get my anger out in the sink and obviously talking out loud which drew his attention.  I didn't want to hurt his feelings but had to 'get it out'!

So definitely hormonal.  PMT and PND can cause women to kill.  So it should be discussed.  Dr Kath Dalton did a lot of studies on PMT.

[corianne]

I suffered from some PMT when I was younger in line with my periods, but nothing compared to now, my mood changes quickly...
But, I think a lot of the Irritability and Anger I have now may be because of Anxiety and the changes in health the menopause has hit me with and how much these things take up my mind and thoughts.
I spend so much time and energy just trying to get through the day with the Palpitations, dizziness, aches, pains, etc. etc. Trying to be as normal as possible so I don't worry my family that anything 'trivial' I snap at, or get angry with because it doesn't seem as important as what's going on in my own head ( those irrational but overwhelming thoughts that take precedence over everything else!)
It could be hormonal mood changes, but like everything related to the Menopause I just don't know for sure 

[CLKD]

I had learned to 'give a little' .......... I would also sob the night B4 a bleed even if a period wasn't due.  I would know it would be the next morning and was never wrong.

I can't remember how I felt other than obviously throwing things no longer worked  - I still mutter when annoyed, usually at the TV  but less about Himself.

[Bevey]

I have never had a temper in my life, and I am one of the last people to get angry. That was until perimenopause. I can't believe the level of anger that I have. It is totally unlike me and totally debilitating. Even the sound of my boyfriend chewing beside me can make me want to choke him. I love him dearly and, of course, would never to anything, but these are the emotions that I have.

Sometimes I get so angry that I just want to break things and smash windows. When it gets unbearable, I pace around the house screaming because I need to let it out. I feel like I have a wild animal trapped inside of me sometimes.

I know that this isn't me, but it doesn't make it any easier to cope with.

[CLKD]

Bevey - is there a pattern to it?

[Beaker]

"Ragehead" checking in here.  I have had a terrible temper for as long as I can recall.  In retrospect, I was put on Dianette (a form of the pill) for PCOS from the age of about 21y and wonder if that contributed.  I stayed on it for years and it wasn't until I hit menopause and continued to struggle with mood swings that a consultant suggested I might be intolerant to progesterone.  She changed my HRT regime to Utrogestan and Evorel 75 continuous and hey presto.  I became far calmer for the first time in my life.  This, combined with my periods stopping seems to have stopped the rages for good.

What did I do about the rages all my life?  I tried therapy, and spent half my life on Fluoxetine both of which kind of helped.  The best thing ever was when my periods stopped and I could go onto continuous HRT with Utrogestan.  I'm really enjoying the calm these days. 

[Bevey]

It's completely debilitating! The moods are so bad sometimes that I feel like I am going insane at times. Last summer, I went 101 days without a period; this was the first time in my life that I ever missed a period. Now my period spans between 20 and 36 days. When I was younger, I would get teary and irrational before a period, but now there isn't a pattern anymore. I am turning 52, and I am so looking forward to this being over. In the meantime, I persevere, no matter what.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

At one point in this blooming journey and I swear I was as angry as a fourteen year old boy! I developed a new appreciation for my door slamming son when he was that age.  Thankfully the rages have calmed down but I often have irritability which, according to my trusty meno book is teamed with tearfulness. Now THAT I have in spades...

Take care everyone.

K.

[CLKD]

Learned patterns of anger are different to hormones!  [long story short]

[corianne]

I'm on HRT - but having problems finding a regime that suits me at this time as pretty sure I am Progesterone Intolerant.
I was having regular periods until the age of 45 (47 now) but since I keep having to stop/start different HRT recently I'm not sure..

Thanks for your reply Corianne - do you still get periods and are you on HRT?

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies.

GetStuffedPeri - I have been post meno for almost ten years. After three  years I tried HRT and was on that for six years. Unfortunately I can't quite remember if I was taking it at the time of the fourteen year old boy rage.  I do recall however that the rages just stopped. I can get irritable now without HRT but these feelings are not as severe  and are more rational.

Another meno symptom I had was constant daily headaches but they also faded/stopped after six months and I had horrible nausea akin to morning sickness but that also went on it's own. Both of those 'afflictions' were before I first tried HRT so clearly my body adjusted to lower hormones in those cases.

Hope this is of some help.

Take care.

K.

[corianne]

Please don't let it stop you trying something which could improve your life dramatically 
I was fine on the Evorel Sequi which was the first HRT I was given about 4 years ago, this stopped my low mood, hot flushes, hair loss, etc within a couple of weeks -  I remember saying at the time I felt like a new woman!!
It was only when the problems of availability started that things got worse for me.
the Provera I was given instead caused me a lot of problems, it seemed to make all my symptoms more acute, and I knew it felt 'wrong' for me. Unfortunately this was also around the time Covid-19 started, my (wonderful) GP left my surgery and the Locum GP I had (by phone appointment only) didn't treat the cause but the symptoms. I felt after numerous phone calls and being prescribed everything from ADs to Indigestion remedies  that they didn't see Menopause as the problem, so I had to find my own way of coping with it and saw a Gynaecologist who was one of the rare Specialists who stayed open during this time.
It's trial and error I'm afraid, one woman's cure is another's poison and trying to find the right one for you could be the first one you try or the fourth, but I wouldn't let it put you of at least giving it a try, when it worked for me, it did wonders!
(I am now on Estrogel and Utrogestan which must be the 4th combination I've tried since I've started HRT, and I am keeping everything crossed that this works)
Also please remember that most of the time people will only post about the bad side effects of things, people who are happy rarely post that, which is why I like this Forum, you get both views.
Whatever you decide to do, be comfortable about your decision, and I hope that whatever you choose to do that life gets better for you.
Let us know how you get on 
xxx

Thanks Corianne - your experience of HRT regimes and stopping/starting etc is one of the things that makes me reluctant to give it a go.

[Beaker]

Hi GetStuffedPeri,

The Consultant said that the reason she changed me over to Utrogestan was that progesterone-sensitive (or intolerant) people tend to tolerate Utrogestan much better than the other progesterones.  And that was certainly the case with me.  I hadn't stopped my periods for long when I was started on Utrogestan.  Initially I was put on a regime with a break and I started having irregular bleeding so she increased the Utrogestan gradually until the bleeding stopped altogether.  I had to take it continually to stop the irregular bleeding.   

[Beaker]

Usually you do have to be 1 year period-free, GetStuffedPeri.  I think it was because I was struggling so much, the consultant made an exception.  The practice of keeping to a sequential regime is partly to coincide with your own menstrual cycle, but also to avoid irregular bleeding that can occur going too early onto the continuous regime.