Hi Sparkles1973,
Nice name. My Dad used to call me sparkles.
My peri menopause symptoms were initially mostly settled after a year on daily gel and 14 days utrogestan. Unfortunately at the time of my GP annual review to change me to a conti regime (because of my age - 54) I had covid which floored me (and took me 12 weeks to feel human again, mainly from an energy perspective). At the same time as Covid and change in HRT many of my symptoms returned almost immediately, the worst being anxiety and it was worse than I'd had before. After a desperate call another GP told me to return to my original sequi routine and let everything settle. She also said that I shouldnt have changed regime whilst recovering from covid as there is evidence to show covid affects hormones.
I'm now 3.5 months in back on my original regime and due another review tomorrow. Many of my symptoms have settled but my anxiety reared its head again in November and just got worse with the run into Xmas. I feel that my regime needs tweaking as my bleed pattern has changed as a result of messing up my HRT original routine whilst having covid. The anxiety wasn't helped by having to cope with my feisty mum (who went into a care home last year with Alzheimer's) demanding to "go home" all the time and saying she wasnt staying "in there" for Xmas. So I have spent the last few weeks with a jangly tummy, loose movements, palpitations and generally feeling agitated. I have never really enjoyed the pressure of the xmas period anyway and I think the combination of unbalanced hormones following covid, my own fluctuations and external family stresses (I also have 2 poorly in-laws who live 250 miles ago) have "aligned" to cause havoc with my anxiety levels.
Funnily enough when I woke up yesterday I felt better just knowing that the festive season is over and we can get back to some normality and hopeful get a GP appointment this week.
I am not a medic but I wouldn't be surprised if your anxiety has a lot to do with Covid and hopefully it will soon settle.
Exercise, Meditation and Chamomile tea are my go to therapies while I'm waiting for it to pass, though it's not easy.
Hope that helps x