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[Itwillpass]

I’m 46 been in peri menopause for about 2 years but last 10 months have floored me. Periods started to get much shorter 2 days & dark brown but still quite regular. Tried femoston 2/10 for 5 weeks had awful bloating & digestive issues. Doc put me on Evorel Sequi no change, last few weeks put extra patch on (100mg) no change! I just feel awful everyday on waking, can barely function like I’m being poisoned. I feel constantly fluey, buzzy jelly legs, hot, cold, I get sweats at night behind my knees, elbows & chest, I feel off balance, no appetite, bloated, loose stools on waking, no appetite, back ache is so painful doc says tension, my eyes constantly want to close I’m exhausted, anxious about everything, muscles/joints ache, I basically want to curl into a ball! Can hormones really make you feel this unwell, I’m convinced I’m slowly dying even though had several blood tests the last one showed slightly raised white blood cells but not deficient in anything. The doc is phoning me back again lunchtime & I don’t know what to do I’m just completely lost 

[CrispyChick]

Yes!!! This was me. At 41.

I won't bore you with all the details. But I'm now 44 avd still struggling. But I am 99% certain all my problems stem from hormones.

You mention you feel poisoned?! I too have used that phrase. I tried HRT in December and felt soooo poisoned. My conclusion now is that, whilst my own estrogen can dip causing symptoms, it's actually very erratic and at some times maybe too high. HRT tops up...

I'm now trialling lots of different combined pills with a hope to suppress my own system during this erratic phase. The estrogen dominant pills caused me problems and some left me with that poisoned feeling. So I'm now trying a prog dominant, but still with a good dose of estrogen in it. Lots of side affects... But I don't feel poisoned...

Maybe ask the doc about the pill?

[Itwillpass]

Omg hello! I’ve been following the two threads you on are on about this, it’s been very interesting. I think I might mention when the doctor rings, to be honest I really cannot feel any more ill  I’m not sure if I’m very sensitive to medication, I tried amitriptyline for the back pain & was so drowsy on it which just added to my existing fatigue. Thank you for replying x

[SaraC2773]

I could have written your post. I feel awful. I posted a couple of days ago about the fact that since I had my first period in 11 months a couple of weeks ago, I’ve felt awful.

I have on off symptoms such as aches, pains, vertigo and phases of tiredness but this last week I have felt like crying. I’ve had nausea, daily headaches that come and go, feeling off balance, heavy head, stuffy sinuses, shaking, feeling unsteady, the list goes on.

At first I thought I was coming down with something but the fact it started after my period ended is making me think hormones.

You have my sympathy and I can relate to everything you have said.

Big hugs

Sara

[Itwillpass]

Hi Sara big hugs back, it’s just awful I’ve not moved off the sofa for an hour now just exhausted no motivation I’ve just found your other post & I forced myself to the shop last Thursday & felt just like you crushing fatigue & felt sick when I got home. I wonder if it was anxiety after pushing myself? It’s weird I feel like crying but don’t even have the energy to cry. Thank you for replying it’s good to know I’m not alone x

[CLKD]

Have you all had blood tests recently?  Low VitD levels can cause similar symptoms, I would do 20 mins. weeding then have to sit absolutely still for 2 hours .   

Eat little and often, keep well hydrated.  Some ladies find that keeping a mood/symptom/food diary useful. 

Group 

[Itwillpass]

Hi CLKD yes had bloods done middle of January all fine, slightly raised while blood count? I take vitD3 1000iu daily for months now  I do eat every hour fruit/nuts/toast etc even though I have little appetite at least 2 litres of water a day (I have a Fitbit tracker) there’s no let up as I just feel like this daily I think my anxiety has a lot to answer to x

[RebJT]

Hi

Just to chime in and say have you tested your iron?  The reason I say this is I've had an horrific time with peri with heavy cycles, estrogen surges, histamine intolerance etc but turns out a massive missing bit of the puzzle was iron deficiency (not to be confused with anaemia which is one of the end results of iron deficiency, but iron deficiency is the 'disease' if you see what I mean).  This is extremely poorly understood in primary care and in gyanaecology, and I had a private iron infusion in Jan, and it's changed my life.  Massive, massive improvement in symptoms.  All cycling women need their Hb to be 130 or above (anything below 127 = iron deficiency) and a ferritin above 100 to not have iron deficiency symptoms.  Pretty much every single GP and gynae would argue with that, but the iron specialists I've been dealing with are emphatic on this point.  I'd encourage any woman struggling with peri to ensure her iron (and other blood builders such as folate and B12) is optimal  (and not to take a GPs word for it). 

Some good resources here: https://www.oatext.com/iron-deficiency-without-anemia-common-important-neglected.php and here: https://theironclinic.com/ironc/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Patient-information-for-iron-infusion.pdf

I'm fortunate I have a brilliant gynae who's been in the trenches with me and she agreed that many of the peri women she sees are in fact iron deficient, this means both doctors and patients end up chasing their tails on trying to sort out symptoms when in fact what they need is a good dollop of iron.

I've now just completed my first month of Qlaira (the new pill for peri women, it's like contraceptive and HRT in one) and doing OK, hoping this will over ride the ups and downs of my own hormones and stop the blood (iron) loss.  There's another thread going on Qlaira is you want to see how we're all doing.

However, key thing for me has been fixing the iron and it's now my life's mission to never, ever, ever get iron deficienct again, as the symptoms were life wreckingly catastrophic. I cannot believe how much better I feel in terms of symptoms, mood, sleep and generally feeling like my 'old self' just for sorting out iron (and yes it is a bit of a soapbox of mine). 

Reb
x

[Itwillpass]

Hi Reb thank you for all that will have a read through, all I know is I had my iron tested in January & gp said was fine no idea of levels didn’t really query it, probably just relieved they where fine. How did you find out this was your issue & who treated it? I don’t bleed a lot even on the hrt barely two days really. I’m following those threads this might be my next move? For now I’ve ripped my patches off! Just come off the phone to gp she said that if hrt isn’t helping it’s anxiety & to try duloxetine so fingers crossed & keep pushing on guess 

[CrispyChick]

So I'm guessing your gp thinks if hrt doesn't work, it's not hormones?!?!

This is totally not my experience. When I tried the hrt in Dec (femoston tablets) I only made it 2 weeks as the estrogen alone made me so out of it, dizzy and poisoned. The conclusion can only be too much estrogen. See how you feel in a few days after removing.

I lost the poisoned feeling after stopping, but all my original symptoms were still there, hence me trying to suppress with the pill.

I'm currently on microgynon. As I mentioned earlier, I've tried many, with various issues. Interestingly the contraceptive patch I only survived 4 days as I got the poisoned feeling back. The patch is one of the highest in dose.

I've chosen to stick with the traditional pills, rather than qlaira or zoley, as I'm hoping to get greater suppression. But also because I'm in Scotland and I don't think they'll prescribe without a fight. I'm fed up fighting 🤣🤣.

I did have an NHS menopause clinic appointment last year - they told me to try the pill, ring or patch.

I too seem to be incredibly sensitive to medications. I also font gave heavy bleeds (grateful for that).

See how you go stopping the hrt, then reassess. X

[Letmein]

I could have written similar at the sane age. I felt like I was dying which took me to ENT due to my balance and dizziness being so bad, then getting a head MRI as convinced it was a tumour, to the cardiologist as then questioning whether it was my heart.

I even demanded to be tested for Lyme disease as I too felt like I'd been poisoned.

What I can say is that things got much much better when I hit the full menopause. It's also at the same time that I discovered I wasn't processing but B12 and started to inject myself.

I'm not sure how much one or the other or both is what has made it better, but although the nasty symptoms still come in waves, it's nowhere as bad as it was and I can just about get on with normal life.

[Itwillpass]

Thanks crispy yes she basically said if I feel worse on hrt come off it then said it’s a natural process we all have to go through  so guess I’ll just have to wait & see how I feel, do you think days, weeks, months how long does it stay in your system for?! I think she was a bit stumped as what to advise, but I’ve had to speak with her because my usual gp is so hard to get hold of as she’s so brilliant & the one who originally said peri. I’ll do a reassess & maybe try get hold of her about the pill? But like you I’m getting fed up of it all now x

Hi letmein, wow it’s a nightmare time isn’t it! So it’s got better for you in menopause, I suppose if I stop the hrt I can do a body reset & see where I go from here, what periods are doing etc I think I thought hrt would be a life changer & it isn’t x

[Floo36]

I can also relate to this and have been struggling for a while now.  I seem to get the same outcome whatever I try and I'm now considering stopping and trying to reset and start again from a low dose as I'm Peri with fluctuating hormones.  The other thing that really bothers me is that when I try to sleep I get drowsy and nod off to be jolted back awake repeatedly and then sleep doesn't happen, I keep wondering if it too high estrogen or fluctuations.  I have for the last week been doing blood tests, I'm doing my last one this afternoon to try and build a picture of what on earth is going on. I stopped taking the low dose combined pill 2 weeks ago and am now just on Lenzetto and utrogestan.  My bloods on the  two morning test have been  around 1700pmol and in the afternoon 1100pmol I take my Lenzetto at 8 am.  I have all the symptoms of low estrogen, its awful.  Any thoughts?   

[CrispyChick]

I think my honest conclusion at the moment is, I'm not ready for hrt. My own hormones are clearly erratic.

I do know that I am functioning a bit better on the pill than on nothing.

My original symptoms like Letnein led me down the ENT route (vertigo and nausea) and an MRI and CT scans... I still get sinusy issues, no idea if connected or not.

For me, I know I can't just ride it out. I'm hoping I can take the pill until all settled down. Others too on this site have told me that they felt better after meno.

You'll probably have thd hrt out of your system quite quickly, but to see whete you are at, you'll prob need to give it a few months. I did 3 months au naturel before Dec... It wasn't great.

Good luck x

[CrispyChick]

Floo - I didn't find the low estrogen pills helped me. So I'm on a 30mg one now.

Geez, I'm no expert though. My other threads show all the mess I've been through, and still trying to find a pill that works.