Women Only, perimenopause?

[JerseyHen]

OMG! Thank god I am not alone! Can I comiserate? I thought I had some terrible disease two years ago when I started having hot flashes, heart palpitations, was so tired (it felt like I was walking through solid air), dizzy, headaches, and on and on... the hair loss and acne are a real treat. I mean, why should we have acne AND wrinkles? That is just plain old unfair. I am 42 next week and the docs said, too soon, too soon, and all of those symptoms cannot be related to the same thing. I am NEVER sick, so I demanded bloodwork and it came back not just perimenopausal, but fully post menopausal. YOU ARE NOT CRAZY (or maybe we all are a bit, dumb hormones). I also had a late 30's baby with years of breastfeeding leading right into all of these symptoms.

My doc wants me to try the hormones because he says it will improve my quality of life (10 - 15 hot flashes a day and very little sleep are making me less than joyful this holiday), but past instances with birth control made my blood pressure go crazy. I tried some acupuncture and herbs and the palpitations have gone away, not much else though. The key is to be sure it is just run of the mill menopausal stuff and not something else causing the hormones to go out of wack. The gyn should be able to do that much for you, geesh, don't they understand it is like your whole understanding of your own being is rattled? You feel like you are in someone else's body.

 

[VA Susan]

It might be good to have your thyroid checked too. That can cause hair loss hot flashes and depression too. A 30 year old friend of mine was severely depressed after childbirth and her hair started coming out. She was diagnosed with a thyroid disease, can't remember what the name of the disease was. She went to a specialist. The Lord healed her! It turned out to be hormone related.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I've had my thyroid checked and really thats what the doctor thinks every time something new comes up but then when the tests say its fine then its all in my head. I am Mrs. crazy lady I swear. If I get a cold and headache its related to anxiety, not a sinus infection I swear. Thats from the nurse. The doctor is great but she is never ever there. She is down to just a few hours a week in the office. I am going to look for a new primary care tomorrow cause i cannot stand the nurse practitioner. I really can't. She is very condescending. I called them and they told me its all mental and would go away with anxiety meds. umm how do messed up cycles and everything else go away with anxiety meds? I call the obgyn and I have an appointment and a caring attitude. The nurse I spoke to there thinks is fully possible considering family history and what I am going through. I got such a quick appointment because she said there is no reason for me to suffer longer than I need to. So I can't see the doctor at the obgyn but one of the NP's who i know just as well. Its an all female practice too, so I feel they understand a bit better.

I asked my sister and mom btw. Mom refused to answer, my sister did say she started herbs at 38 because it was so bad. She then laughed like mad that baby sister is going through premenopause. Whole family should know by morning. I swear, sometimes I wish i did not know them this well. I got myself a "crazy lady survival kit". I got hair dye, jasmine green tea, evening primrose oil, and a knock off of super mom vitamines. I upped my magnesium today which is supposed to help with anxiety and that helps the jitters some. I am in a bit of disbelief i am even checking this out really. Maybe I am just crazy, ya know. I still feel like I am this cute little 20 year old, why must my body disagree with me? No seriously WHY?

So the ob has me set for tests first and appointment later. I have an ultrasound to check for something and some bloodwork. Then its off to talk to the NP and have her ask me lots of questions. I think I will feel better after I talk to her. I feel so guilty for putting the family through me being a nutball. I don't know what to think right now.

 

[JerseyHen]

I just remind everyone (and myself) that I am not my usual self when I start to feel that tension and I go exercise. A walk to the coop usually does the trick. I just have to remind myself not to engage and to let it pass. It is getting easier. I have found that this experience has let me be a bit more vocal about my needs (like: can everyone please make their own bed when they vacate it and if you can't wash the dish, can you at least deliver it to the sink?). They key, at least in my case, is to remember to do it before you are close to losing it. Those little things, which everyone should have been doing all along, that I let go for years (because I have to do everything, right?) has made all the difference in how my day goes. So, everyone is pitching in a bit more and I am feeling more relaxed (I am very type A to begin with, so that doesn't help).

Sounds to me like you are on track with this doc visit. They will check the hormone levels and the hormone stimulating hormone levels. Then they will know (if it is far enough along and/or they catch it in the right place in the cycle). I hope you feel like yourself again soon!

 

[VA Susan]

Glad you are getting the tests and can see the NP soon. Hope you will find some answers as well as relief soon!

 

[1muttsfan]

My main issue was the urge to commit bodily mayhem - seriously. A combination of vitamins (stress-formula, heavy on the B vitamins), a clover supplement called Promensil (really helps with the night sweats) and an antidepressant have kept me from murder, and restored some happiness back into life. Dont feel like you have to tough it out if things are really bad - some women really need some outside help beyond meditation and exercise (both of which I would also recommend). A sympathetic, knowledgable doctor can be such a help!

 

[HeatherLynn]

You know what you guys are so nice about sharing and I am so over emotional I start crying. Yea I have to watch my temper which is very upsetting to me. I was never like this and I won't be like that. Even if I tear myself up, I will do my best and more to hold that irritability and anger back. No clue what the heck is wrong with me I swear. I feel like I have lost my mind.

Ok I can share this cause well none of you know my family and will tell them. I checked out in patient treatment places recently. I just thought maybe it was time to remove myself from everyone till I was not nuts anymore. the last year 3 months or so have been pretty rough and it just keeps getting harder right now. Probably cause its confusing and scary too. The possibility of knowing whats wrong is sorta comforting and sorta scary. I just hope that this gets better soon. My sister said it was rough for 2 years and then she was past all the insanity and it settled down. I hope I am that lucky.

i have to say my husband is being really super duper great about all of this. Not sure how I would do without that. Not that he is perfect but right this second he is being very perfect. I can cry and he doesn't ask why, he just hands me a tissue and starts looking through funny chick flicks to turn on. He is just going with the hormonal flow right now.

 

[HeatherLynn]

No feeling sappy and hormonal tonight. These jitters are about driving me out of my skull. I made an appointment with a cardiology/ internal medicine doctor also. Just want to get checked out I guess to make sure that nothing else is causing these symptoms. Looking back though it really seems like maybe a week to 10 before a cycle I would start to get a bit of tummy upset, almost like morning sickness. Actually thats exactly what I have been complaining to my husband. Its like every month I get morning sickness without the prize of a baby afterwards. The anxiety has been bad for more than a year. The sick to the stomach each month has been almost a year. The being hot at night about as long as the anxiety. The jitters just started though. Man I hate this feeling. Its like my pulse is racing but if I check my pulse its not. My whole body is buzzing and hot. Pretty sure even without the doctors that my guess is right. I was upset at first but now I just want to get it over with and feel normal again. I wonder how long it takes for any of the natural stuff to help with this?

If this month goes like last month and the month before everything calms down shortly after the cycle is done and I will have a couple weeks peace. Unless I skip which would be awesome. I just keep praying I am not insane or dying of something really funky. Would be nice to have someone around I could talk to besides the hubby. Its a bit lonely in my little nut house right now.

 

[Spikes Chooks]

I have been thinking of you all day. I loved your earlier post about your husband being there for you. Mine has been great too. I can't imagine the horror it would be if your man wasn't supportive. It sounds like you're doing all the right things. Checking out what it may be. Appointments and results will be frustratingly slow. Here I am in Australia on a warm summer's night thinking of you. Be kind to yourself. Let yourself feel wacky without worrying you are going nuts. Don't beat yourself up! When you feel ok, hug your hubby, kids, chickens, goats and whatever else there is to hand. They will ALL forgive you for bad moments when you share your good ones with them. Allow yourself to put the fear in a box for a brief time and think that this too, will pass.

All the best.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Can I just say that at times talking to my mom is like talking to a brick wall. Sigh. She asked if i was feeling better yet, so I explained what I thought was going on. She " has no idea about that kind of stuff, she just skips them." Ummmm yea I lived with you during this remember. So right now I am just the horrible person making everyone unhappy because i am insistent on taking time out for doctor appointments and accupressure. Well geez.

I feel like its not as bad right as it was. Seems that going insane might be slightly on a schedule. I am still jittery but as we work through a cycle its kinda of tapering down. Except on the hot thing. My husband nixed moving a bed onto our balcony. Dang it. He and that baby cuddled under a couple feather comforters while I slept peacefully thanks to sleep aids, open windows, wintery temps, and a fan. I gave up and just started taking somethign to help me sleep. All natural of course but I do not intend to be so miserable that I cannot be a good mom. No sleep would make that happen. I talked to my accupressure therapist and she is going to teach me some things to help me cope also. Very sweet woman. I tell you she has helped me more than my doctor ever has. She is a registered NP also, I get the best of both worlds really. Not that she gives me medical advice really but she is very helpful with information and what to ask the doctors and such. If not for the excercises she has taught me anxiety would be unbearable. i can lower my blood pressure when I get overly upset too in nothing flat now. woot

Anywho, 2 more days till I see one doctor and I see the cardiology/internal medicine doctor next week. Not that I think there is anything wrong other than this at this point but I have not had a good physical in a couple years so now is as good a time as any to get one.

I feel awfully alone at this point. I am not close enough to anyone here really to talk about stuff like this. Sometimes its great for your best friend to be your husband but he really is a bit lost on some of this female stuff. He tries though. I homeschool so usually I am busy with them but today we are taking the day off and having a fun day. Going to head out for some fun craft stuff. I think a bit of fun today is just what we all need. Is playdough a cure for perimenopause?Maybe lol