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[Eastside]

Happy new year everyone. I wonder if anyone can help. I suspect I'm peri-menopausal (no obvious signs as such, as my periods are still bang on time, but I have frequent light sweating at night, and get v hot for periods of the night, then cold again. Anyway, the most debilitating experience has been my nervous system going even more haywire, waking up at all noises, being easily startled, not being able to get back to sleep, rage at whomever has woken me up, constant obsessional thoughts and worries about not being able to sleep etc.  If I've slept I feel relatively OK, or even great, unless something happens then I can get quickly stressed/irritable. But if I haven't slept, it's like the world is coming to an end.
Could this be included under 'sleep problems due to perimenopause?
The info out there is so generic, un-nuanced and rehashed, so I'm at a loss, and I wonder if anyone else has experienced this or similar? I've tried CBT/mindfulness etc. That does have an impact, but it's like fighting a constant battle with my nervous system. I'm edging towards trying out HRT but am anxious about that as well, and want to speak to my GP about utrogestan.
I'm a very nearly 50 year old, with a history of anxiety and trauma. I've read that it can all get worse at this time. Thank you! 

[Banjo1973]

Hi Eastside,

Like you, I had regular periods so didn't think I could be peri.

Anxiety suddenly became a constant for me. And I would get sudden pangs if impending doom. I also became obsessed with sleep!!! I didn't have night sweats, but did get hot feet. Then itching.

2 years ago (when I was 48) I decided to give HRT a go and haven't looked back. It's not perfect, I have to tweak it regularly, but when I look back at the nervous wreck I was who was too tired and overwhelmed to do anything... I realise that HRT gave me my life back.

I am on Sandrena and Utrogestan - (I hate the progesterone part, but still wouldn't give it up)

Good luck

[Penguin]

Do you wake up with a start? Being hot and night, and then waking up suddenly and being on high alert was one of the first symptoms of low estrogen for male and went pretty immediately when I started hrt. Estrogen is lowest overnight and then starts rising again in the morning. My worst symptoms (anxiety, cortisol, insomnia  sometimes nausea om waking) were always worse from 3am onwards. I'd talk to the GP about hrt if you're willing to give it a go, you may just need a low dose of estrogen x

[Lynney]

Hi Eastside,

Like you, I had regular periods so didn't think I could be peri.

Anxiety suddenly became a constant for me. And I would get sudden pangs if impending doom. I also became obsessed with sleep!!! I didn't have night sweats, but did get hot feet. Then itching.

2 years ago (when I was 48) I decided to give HRT a go and haven't looked back. It's not perfect, I have to tweak it regularly, but when I look back at the nervous wreck I was who was too tired and overwhelmed to do anything... I realise that HRT gave me my life back.

I am on Sandrena and Utrogestan - (I hate the progesterone part, but still wouldn't give it up)

Good luck

Can you say why you hate the progesterone part? Thanks x

[pastie supper]

I'd this exact symptom throughout my 40s, by the age of 47 I was convinced I was getting dementia because the next symptom after sleep deprivation was my ability to read more than two sentences went completely and I was studying so I noticed it a lot. My final two symptoms came together at age 51, my periods stopped and I started hot flashes and night sweats. By that time my thinking had cleared and I felt happier than I'd done since puberty.

Then I found out more about menopause and realised I'd gone through the worst of it already, before my periods even got all that irregular.

You are ahead of the game here, well done you! I'd have taken HRT if I'd known then it was perimenopause. Perhaps I'd have been better able to tolerate HRT if I'd started it sooner, before my own ovaries had completely stopped and I got to enjoy life without hormones for a while. Now I never want to feel progestogens in my body ever again, so I'm forced to go without oestrogen as the price of that decision.

As it was I got a herbal vaporiser, edibles work just as well. That's how I sleep, doped up, but I sleep great!

[Kathleen]

Hello Eastside and welcome to the forum.


The nervousness that comes with the menopause has been an ongoing symptom for me. My latest experiment is to alter my waking and sleeping times to see if that helps to calm me down during the day. Although I usually sleep okay I am always tired on waking and therefore tired all day.

I am planning to go to bed much earlier but also get up much earlier in the hope that my hormones will adjust to a more normal circadian rhythm.  If sleep is a problem for you perhaps you can make similar changes.

I am sorry that I can't be of more help and I wish you well.

K.

[CLKD]

The waking hormone, Cortisol, was a real enemy for months in the 1990s.  My GP prescribed Propranolol every night to ease the early morning anxiety surges.

[pastie supper]

I was prescribe propranalol for it too, then that changed to bisopralol which is a bit more targetted I was told.

[CLKD]

My anxiety is up this morning due to my body being hungry.  Nasty cycle.

[discogirl]

I'd this exact symptom throughout my 40s, by the age of 47 I was convinced I was getting dementia because the next symptom after sleep deprivation was my ability to read more than two sentences went completely and I was studying so I noticed it a lot. My final two symptoms came together at age 51, my periods stopped and I started hot flashes and night sweats. By that time my thinking had cleared and I felt happier than I'd done since puberty.

Then I found out more about menopause and realised I'd gone through the worst of it already, before my periods even got all that irregular.

You are ahead of the game here, well done you! I'd have taken HRT if I'd known then it was perimenopause. Perhaps I'd have been better able to tolerate HRT if I'd started it sooner, before my own ovaries had completely stopped and I got to enjoy life without hormones for a while. Now I never want to feel progestogens in my body ever again, so I'm forced to go without oestrogen as the price of that decision.

As it was I got a herbal vaporiser, edibles work just as well. That's how I sleep, doped up, but I sleep great!

Hi pastiesupper

Im post meno and had unopposed estrogen and had sky high estrogen levels and thickened womb lining
 biopsy was all ok.

 i cant tolerate utro and the cyclogest i was using didnt appear to be working so im not on hrt at the minute.

Can you tell me what herbal vapouriser you are using and which edibles.

Thanks so much x

[Banjo1973]

Can you say why you hate the progesterone part? Thanks x

Hi Eastside,

It appears that I have dome sort of progesterone intolerance. Where as most people seem to sleep well on Utrogestan, it makes me jittery and wired and therefore unable to sleep.

I'm working towards some solutions though.

I am 50 and have been on HRT for 2 years despite still having regular periods. My peri symptoms left me with limited quality of life, almost like I was only able to perform absolutely necessary tasks.

HRT doesn't work for everybody, but it's definitely worth a go.

[Katherine]

Happy new year everyone. I wonder if anyone can help. I suspect I'm peri-menopausal (no obvious signs as such, as my periods are still bang on time, but I have frequent light sweating at night, and get v hot for periods of the night, then cold again. Anyway, the most debilitating experience has been my nervous system going even more haywire, waking up at all noises, being easily startled, not being able to get back to sleep, rage at whomever has woken me up, constant obsessional thoughts and worries about not being able to sleep etc.  If I've slept I feel relatively OK, or even great, unless something happens then I can get quickly stressed/irritable. But if I haven't slept, it's like the world is coming to an end.
Could this be included under 'sleep problems due to perimenopause?
The info out there is so generic, un-nuanced and rehashed, so I'm at a loss, and I wonder if anyone else has experienced this or similar? I've tried CBT/mindfulness etc. That does have an impact, but it's like fighting a constant battle with my nervous system. I'm edging towards trying out HRT but am anxious about that as well, and want to speak to my GP about utrogestan.
I'm a very nearly 50 year old, with a history of anxiety and trauma. I've read that it can all get worse at this time. Thank you!

Hi honey, I was the same with sleep before hrt. I’m 47, I went on hrt aged 45. Started 1 pump Oestrogel now on 3 pumps. Utrogestan 100mg one per day. Utrogestan makes me sleep more deeply and less likely to wake up. I wake up feeling much more refreshed.  Before hrt I felt like I had just shut my eyes all night, woke up unrefreshed, like was a slog. I would highly recommend hrt. At first I felt a bit sedated during the day but after about a year and a bit I don’t feel that anymore, just calmer then I would be without utrogestan. It’s amazing stuff and well worth trying and persevering with.

[Eastside]

You guys are amazing, thank you. I've got more sense out of you in this post than hours of research online.
I'm really ready for trying out HRT now. I'm going to ask for utrogestan, given that it looks like you can take it with regular periods. Think I might have a battle on my hands with the NHS, though.

[Eastside]

Thank you Banjo 1973. I'm so glad HRT worked for you.

[Eastside]

Do you wake up with a start? Being hot and night, and then waking up suddenly and being on high alert

Thanks so much Penguin. I get woken up noise (by doors, people moving around) and, yes, can go straight on high alert and takes hours to get back to sleep, if at all. It's definitely around that time of night too. I hope HRT helps.. Thanks again for sharing your experiences and I hope you are feeling better.