Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DottyP]

Hello, I’m hoping I can get some advice on here. 

My periods are still regular - though I did have a 17 day bleed last December - and last between 4-6 days. Some months they’re on the heavier side, some their on the lighter side; some months I have bad pms, some I don’t. 

Since my last period ended, last week, I have been feeling dreadful and I can’t work out whether it’s peri meni, a virus or something else as they all seem to have similar symptoms. 

My main symptoms are:
- utter exhaustion that gets worse throughout the day,
- feeling cold (so cold) to the point where I just need to bundle up under the duvet fully clothed to try and get warm,
- dizziness that comes and goes and sometimes feeling like my eyes aren’t focusing quickly enough - if I go from close work to further away,
- a really weird sensation in my head, almost like a constant tingling feeling and it feels fuzzy. No clarity.
- sporadic stabbing pains around my body arms/legs etc.
- headaches which suddenly come on with a shooting pain
_ anxiety that also comes and goes for no obvious rhyme or reason.

All of the above symptoms I have experienced before in my life whether from anxiety, viruses or ME so I just don’t know whether what I’m experiencing now is hormonal or not. 

My gp’s are unhelpful. I’m too old to have a blood test (I’m 48) and tell me to just try the HRT but I’m scared to as have heard so many horror stories about side effects. Plus i seem to react to a number of meds and don’t want to have a bad reaction. 

Please, any advice, help or info would be so gratefully received. 

[Wrensong]

Hi DottyP    Sorry to know you are feeling rotten.  Just wanted to ask about a couple of points you raise -

- utter exhaustion that gets worse throughout the day,
- feeling cold (so cold) to the point where I just need to bundle up under the duvet fully clothed to try and get warm,

this makes me think your thyroid may be underactive - have you had it tested recently? 

As you also mention a long bleed in Dec & some heavy ones since, the 2 symptoms above, together with dizziness could perhaps be signs of anaemia.  Have they checked for that for you? 

Are you getting enough nourishment from a well balanced diet & eating regularly to stabilise blood sugar?  Exhaustion, dizziness, headaches, anxiety & other unpleasant symptoms can sometimes be caused by blood sugar dropping too low & we can become more prone to blood sugar instability when perimenopause begins.  As this is usually something our bodies have regulated well until hormones start to go awry it's easy to miss what may be happening.  So a good time to have a look at diet as it's something within our control to improve if need be & this can make a big difference to how well we feel.  If you'd like to use the search box, there are many threads on here about hypoglycaemia if you do think this could be an issue for you.
Wx

[Postmeno3]

Hi, yeah, it's a good idea to look for things matching specific symptoms and, if only to eliminate them, to deal with what may prove less complex first. (Note, "may"!) Did you mean Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) or ME as in YOU?

[CLKD]

I answered on your other thread 

[Gilla999]

So hard to give a defining cause and it could be a combination of multiple things, but some of your symptoms do point to Peri - from everything I've observed people seems to suffer with different symptoms more (eg. I was terrible with night sweats and insomnia, others had anxiety, others palpitations etc).

I wouldn't want to advise you of what to take or do but all I can say is that going on HRT was the best decision I ever made (I am 42). It often takes time to get it just right but the side effects are really not bad - certainly for me much more gentler than going on the Pill for example. Or starting anti depressants. No where near as difficult as those. I am also super sensitive to medication but because what you take in HRT is all body identical, side effects are minimized - it's really just about finding the right dose, which can take a bit of time.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do xx

Definitely check out thyroid too, as Wrensong says!

[DottyP]

Hi DottyP    Sorry to know you are feeling rotten.  Just wanted to ask about a couple of points you raise -

- utter exhaustion that gets worse throughout the day,
- feeling cold (so cold) to the point where I just need to bundle up under the duvet fully clothed to try and get warm,

this makes me think your thyroid may be underactive - have you had it tested recently? 

As you also mention a long bleed in Dec & some heavy ones since, the 2 symptoms above, together with dizziness could perhaps be signs of anaemia.  Have they checked for that for you? 

Are you getting enough nourishment from a well balanced diet & eating regularly to stabilise blood sugar?  Exhaustion, dizziness, headaches, anxiety & other unpleasant symptoms can sometimes be caused by blood sugar dropping too low & we can become more prone to blood sugar instability when perimenopause begins.  As this is usually something our bodies have regulated well until hormones start to go awry it's easy to miss what may be happening.  So a good time to have a look at diet as it's something within our control to improve if need be & this can make a big difference to how well we feel.  If you'd like to use the search box, there are many threads on here about hypoglycaemia if you do think this could be an issue for you.
Wx

I haven’t had my thyroid checked recently, but over the years I have had that checked quite a bit.  It’s a good point though.  I had my iron levels checked post long bleed and it was low but the iron made me feel sick - even the Spatone which is supposed to be easy on the stomach.  Perhaps I should have that checked again though too.

Re diet. Interesting because I’ve managed to put on 30 pounds in the space of a year which is so depressing, so I have started to count calories, aiming for 1200 a day.  I’m not exercising because I don’t feel well enough and actually sometimes feel so nauseous I don’t want to eat, or just force some nuts down.

These symptoms really kicked off after a long walk last week, my first in a very long time of no exercise (at least 8 months). I thought perhaps I had just overdone it but over a week later and the symptoms are still there.

[DottyP]

Hi, yeah, it's a good idea to look for things matching specific symptoms and, if only to eliminate them, to deal with what may prove less complex first. (Note, "may"!) Did you mean Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) or ME as in YOU?

Ah sorry, yes Myalgic Enc.  I had that when I was late teens.

[Wrensong]

I’ve managed to put on 30 pounds in the space of a year

That could point to underactive thyroid too. 

If you have nausea & can't eat regularly that won't help any blood sugar issues, but low blood sugar can also cause nausea.  I would mention this, the resistant weight gain & your diet, your exhaustion, extreme coldness, dizziness etc to whichever GP you think most likely to help, or even change to another practice if need be.  Sounds as though you're really having a rotten time of it & I think you need someone to take a good look at all that's going on.  You are certainly the right age for perimenopause but in your shoes I think I'd want a thorough MOT to rule out other possible factors before starting any medication I was not comfortable with.  I hope you manage to get some help with it.

[DottyP]

I’ve managed to put on 30 pounds in the space of a year

That could point to underactive thyroid too. 

If you have nausea & can't eat regularly that won't help any blood sugar issues, but low blood sugar can also cause nausea.  I would mention this, the resistant weight gain & your diet, your exhaustion, extreme coldness, dizziness etc to whichever GP you think most likely to help, or even change to another practice if need be.  Sounds as though you're really having a rotten time of it & I think you need someone to take a good look at all that's going on.  You are certainly the right age for perimenopause but in your shoes I think I'd want a thorough MOT to rule out other possible factors before starting any medication I was not comfortable with.  I hope you manage to get some help with it.

thank you so much.  Have spoken to the GP and she’s going to do bloods for Thyroid/Menopause/Iron and something else I can’t remember what.  Can’t get the tests done until end of this month and just have to rest in the meantime apparently.  Looking forward to some answers though.  X

[CLKD]

There was a shortage of phials with which bloods are stored, so routine blood tests are on hold in many areas.  Hence the wait.

[Wrensong]

Oh well done DottyP    Be kind to yourself meanwhile.  Please let us know how you get on if you feel like it.
Wx