Hi all,
This is my first post and I'm hoping someone can help as I'm really down and at my wits end. I'm 42 and for the last 4 years I've suffered what I believe to be a whole host of peri menopause symptoms or most certainly huge hormone imbalance. These seem to have got much worse following the birth of my two children (one when I was 39 and one when I was 41. My youngest child is only a baby 4 months old). I'm also breast feeding and believe the the breast feeding hormone prolactin suppresses progesterone - either way I feel dreadful and I've been to my GP many many times over the last few years but have yet to find real help.
My symptoms are mainly: huge increase in migraines which happen mid cycle (ovulation time) and before and during my periods (which are getting shorter), these debilitate me at the moment about 15 days out of every month. I also get huge night sweats, join pain in ankles, anxiety for no reason at all (my life is currently good and stable), insomnia, vertigo/dizzy attacks, episodes of feeling faint, fatigue (yes I know my children are young but its more than that) and nausea.
I've had my thyroid checked, iron ferritin levels are fine, heart has been checked it fine, been to my neurologist about the migraines. I've cut out sugar, we eat organic, I take Vit D, magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin c. I do yoga most days. I don't drink any caffeine at all ever and haven't for over 5 years and my alcohol consumption is zero. Yet I still feel like I am losing my mind. I used to travel the world solo, was competent at my job and now I'm scared I won't have the confidence to work again if I can't get a grip on these awful symptoms.
I also had a full month long female hormone profile done back in July 2015 (saliva tests) which showed my progesterone and oestrogen levels to be in the lab 'normal' ranges. However there were days on the graph of results where either my progesterone or oestrogen would totally spike or drop compared to the rest of the curve if that makes any sense. Despite 'normal' levels this I often think it must be the ratio of progesterone to oestrogen as certain times of the month which make me feels so ill. I researched that to feel as your best the P/E ratios should be at least 300:1, mine was a maximum of 165:1 on the peak progesterone day of Day 20 of my cycle when tested in July 2015. I also know that what is a normal lab range for one person can mean something totally different for another person - case in point during pregnancy my ferritin dropped to 7 from 145 and the GP told me that 7 wouldn't make me feel so ill - well it did and when I started Ferrograd I felt much much better within weeks.
Right now I'm totally confused as to which path to try next. I am thinking of asking my GP to prescribe me Utrogestan but I believe this is usually prescribed along with Oestradiol which I'm not sure I need at this stage. Then I think I should try the over the counter progesterone cream. Then I think I should ask for the mini pill to stopped ovulation altogether which just might stop my menstrual migraines (but this scares me because its got progestins in it which I once had in the arm implant contraceptive and it made me very depressed very quickly).
I'm so desperate now because my husband works away for weeks at a time and I have tow young children to look after alone - they are missing out when mummy is walking around wearing sunglasses in the house every day groaning from migraines.
I want to pay someone privately who actually knows what they are talking about but many consultants seem to be London or south based which is really hard to get to for me - especially as we have no childcare so would have to drag the children along. I did pay to see some guy 2 years ago who told me it was impossible to be perimenopausal if I had just succeeded in pregnancy and having a baby??? I think this complete tripe because the fact is that from around age 35 my symptoms have appeared, got more intense and more widespread so something is going on despite being lucky enough to be fertile still.
Can anyone recommend a women's hormone doctor within 2 hours of Lancashire?
Thank you so much in advance, from a vert tired and desperate mummy of two.