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[Charleyfarley]

Hi guys

I have hero worshipped you all from a far in this awful journey & you have eased many anxieties so thank you thank you. I have been you’re severe health anxiety so this happens quite often🤦‍♀️

I am visiting my GP AGAIN tomorrow, but the anxiety is so high I was wondering if anyone has experienced this new delicious slice of peri 🤦‍♀️ my anxiety is very much eased if someone else has experienced it…

I am 45 and I think maybe 18 months into peri…I have experienced a whole heap of symptoms but the newest is really concerning.

My scalp is itchier than I have ever known an itch. Literally cannot stop scratching. My neck is covered in a bumpy sore rash and all over my head is head sore from scratching. I have read lots about the meno itch so was initially reassured. But when I look further into it it rarely seems to be scalp related. I feel the same sensations as the itch mentions, creepy crawlies under skin, but I haven’t read anyone experience this with the rash and in their scalp… I’ve ruled out head lice etc…

[CLKD]

As oestrogen levels drop the body may become dry: inside and out including skin, deep in the ears, eyelids, nostrils, vagina ...... bet you wanted to hear that  and muscles may become lax = aches and pains.

   replacing the oestrogen lost as we age can ease symptoms a lot.  Normal for peri-menopause.

It's 'normal' from where I'm sitting  .  Browse round.  Make notes.

[Charleyfarley]

Absolute gem…thank you 🙏

I’ve stalked here for a long time and it’s really eased the anxiety over the last year.

My health anxiety revolves around the big C. Sounds silly doesn’t it because I can’t imagine anybody that DOESNT worry about that….but it’s quite debilitating for me:..so when peri came along the hundreds of little quirky symptoms send me into overdrive…

The itching scalp & rash comes up with quite a lot of C results 🤯🤯🤯

[CLKD]

So STOP GOOGLING    unless it's an NHS web-site.

I understand health anxiety as a phobic sufferer since age 3.   

I had treatment for breast disease in the 1990s, still here >wave<.  There are so many testing opportunities at certain ages that we should take up, including mammograms and cervical smear tests.  My anger at the NHS is that too many people are being put off appts., several times - treatment that could ease their disease/worries that simply are not being dealt with!

Is there a history of cancer in your immediate family? 

[Penguin]

Have you had your hair done recently, or changed shampoo? I had no itching until I starting doing highlights again in July after a year's break and now my scalp is itching!

[Charleyfarley]

I absolutely NEED to stop googling 

Oh wow since 3 yrs old, massive props to you for navigating thru that for so long x

Just for context, I have always suffered with horrific hormone imbalance and have PMDD. I’m actually unsure why I was diagnosed as this never led to any treatment or help: Apart from all of the things I did myself to try and alleviate, ie diet, exercise…


My health anxiety developed when I had my little girl at 40. I lost my life momentarily in childbirth & when I had been resuscitated my baby turned blue & was rushed out of the room. I have never been the same since. I live in hypervigilence. Left my home, my partner & my job to come back to my home town and start again. The second I started to find my feet and start to accept PTSD symptoms I flew bang into perimenopause…my little girl is 5 and I’m terrified that her formative years are going to be a memory of mama in an anxious haze. I use all my energy to make sure that she never sees a drop of anything other than happiness from me, an act which leaves me in a heap on the floor by the time she’s in bed. My work is stressful, I lead on Safeguarding for a group of schools, although I love it it can be lots of traumatic information to process a day.

I finally hit the bullet and asked for HRT. My fear of cancer had to take a back seat as peri was ruining my life. My lovely GP sat for an hour showing me data about cancer risks etc. I’m 3 weeks into Evorel and just started the conti patch.

The head itching is just one of the 60 symptoms so far but it just says everywhere that could be related to cancer

The health anxiety and peri has lost me relationships and friendships over the last few years it’s been so severe. But the fear of C was greater so I held off HRT:

My aunty and Nan had breast cancer but GP said that isn’t classed as direct as it wasn’t my mum or a sibling. I’m praying that’s correct

Thank you so much for sharing your story it really does help and so many blessings that you recovered from that Illness xxxx

[Charleyfarley]

I haven’t changed anything or had highlights, I have some extensions but I’ve used the same ones for a while now.

[Penguin]

I understand the health anxiety, I really do. But please know that most symptoms, in isolation, could be a symptom of cancer evem bog standard ones like tiredness, headaches, tummy aches, constipation etc. What matters is context. In the vast majority of cases your single symptom won't be related to cancer and will be something benign that google has no interest in telling you, becusee om google all roads lead to cancer! Please share your concerns with your GP re the itching and let them reassure you x

[Charleyfarley]

Thank you Penguin 🙏 really appreciate that, I’ll be in my usual spot in the waiting room tomorrow 🤦‍♀️😂so hopefully my GP can reassure me xx

It’s been quite funny today, all of the children in my school are dodging me because they’ve seen me scratching and are convinced I’m riddled with headlice 😂 suits me! Any deterrent from the children is a positive lol 😂♥️

[CLKD]

May I giggle .......... 

A good moisturiser will help too, we use either 'nivea' or the Vaseline hand cream in the yellow bottle which works all over ........ even DH uses Nivea on his legs at night.

Let us know how you get on, would you consider HRT if offered?

[Gnatty]

My scalp is very itchy at the moment. I always get itchy when autumn comes along and I am not sure why! I bought some aloe Vera gel and I massage it into my scalp, it's very soothing. The other thing is don't have your shower on hot. Difficult I know, but it makes a big difference, the cooler the better. I see Head and Shoulders have an itchy scalp range. Not sure whether to try. Someone recommended a nettle shampoo but again not tried it yet. Another thing you could do is take antihistamines for a week or two and see if that helps. Maybe fish oil? I have just started this but of course too soon to say. And no hair dryers!!

[CLKD]

Head and Shoulders gave me scurve 

[Charleyfarley]

Waaah thank you for tips ladies, I’ll give them a go…..

To be honest it’s never the actual ailment that debilitates me, in that way I’m quite a trooper…it’s the waiting to be told if it’s anything sinister that kills me 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Surgery think I’m crazy, any minor ailment where they’ve ruled out anything bad and I dance out the door singing & flossing! Never been so happy to have things like fibroids 😂🤦‍♀️

If I go to my appointment tomorrow and they told me it was scabies I’d be having a celebratory cake at work tomorrow 🤣

Sheeesh…shouldn’t laugh…but this anxiety is next level…and symptoms in Peri are just the gift that keeps on giving 🙄🙄🙄

[Dierdre]

I had itchy neck and scalp every night for a couple of weeks when i started Femiston Conti tablets, I assumed it was a side effect as I'd not had anything like it before. No rash though.

[Charleyfarley]

Ah that’s interesting, I definitely would have put it down to these patches but it started before I put my first one on…

How are you finding the Conti? My first one went on yesterday…I’ve read a couple of times that the 2 weeks of sequi are a breeze & then when the progesterone starts to kick in it’s a bit of a downer??