Hi, I'm new to this forum. I'm 48 and have always been a 'bit of a 'worrier' since childhood and have suffered from bouts of moderate depression since my early thirties, however, back then it seemed reasonably manageable...however, KABOOM! I hit the grand old age of 47 and I felt like something had turned up the amplification knob!. I started having bouts of intense anxiety resulting in insomnia (in particular early waking) which then manifested into depression, the most awful feelings of doom, gloom and helplessness, intense fear, shame, guilt etc. My periods were becoming lighter and later and blood tests confirmed my hormones were fluctuating, I was put on anti-depressants which I'm still on but they don't seem to help with what seems to be the most crippling PMT which I have at the moment. Only a couple of days ago I just crumpled into a heap on my bedroom floor and cried, no I 'wailed' like a banshee!.....I feel like I'm losing my mind and am feeling very scared at the moment as I can't see any end to it and feel very alone...is this normal? has anybody else felt this way? and what helps you cope?
Hi lovely lady
That's exactly what happened to me seemingly out of the blue. I'm also 47, looking back been in peri for 7 years, but the real onslaught started 6-7 months ago. Things are generally less intense now & I am managing much better. Still have some painful crashes but keep telling myself that this will pass. I hope things ease in intensity for you soon xxxxx
Hi brimbo67
Thankyou for your kind reply, it's good to know I'm not alone or going crazy and that there is light at the end of the tunnel, I guess I have to convince myself that these feelings will pass. I'm glad you're coping better now. x
I was 48 ,when things began for me ,out of the blue. I even remembered the day a Thursday .got up normal ,came downstairs and Wham pulpatations ( non ever before ) ,stayed with me all day on and off. Went to drs several times as I had anxiety / panic attacks ( never had those before either ) so I knew something was wrong .Not one of those drs mentioned menopause ,it took the last Dr Id not seen an old one ,who said about my age ,he then said lets do blood test for the menopause hey week later there it was the answer the younger drs hadn't even considered as to my symptoms .
Once I got that diagnosis I settled over time ,just accepted it along with hot flushes knew it wasent a disease. Never had depression ,just the anxiety which was bad .
So try and get into a menopause clinic ,insists on it .They see your symptoms everyday as your describing ,they even have walk in clinics check your area out .
Jay on site has placed on here through research ,some 65/66 meno symptoms it's still up as of yesterday I looked .Go check it out. Having a read might just help you ,I know it has many females. By just reading what she placed.,you will get a clearer picture in how your feeling .Its completely normal .Then go from there .
Hello. Im so sorry to hear you're having such a rough time. I am 48 and you could be telling my story. I have always suffered from anxiety with bouts of depression but 5 months ago my anxiety went through the roof. I was so desperate I didnt know what to do with myself. Lots of visits to the doctor and mental health worker later I was finally referred to a lovely lady who specialises in menopause. I finally felt someone was hearing what I was saying. I now have a mirena coil and started on HRT 4 weeks ago. Things have improved for me hugely but I still crash... am having a particularly bad day today so I empathise with the sitting on the bedroom floor and wailing like a banshee...that was me 3 hours ago! I took an 8 week course in mindfulness which has helped hugely and I find talking to good friends helps too. I am still talking anti depressants too and i know what you mean when you say you think theyre not much help. This time of life just sucks! It helps to know youre not alone and youre definitely not going mad but its really scary.
hang on in there and be kind to yourself. Big hugs xxx
Anita
You are totally normal! This exact thing has happened to many of us. It won't go on forever even though when it's happening it certainly feels like you're going mad.
You may want to consider supplementing with magnesium and B6. Magnesium will help you sleep (I had the same insomnia and early waking and anxiety issues), and I feel tremendously improved since I started on those particular supplements. There are tons of recent threads in this forum about magnesium and the B vitamins, and you can also find a ton of info about both via Google. I wish I could link you to specific articles/brands, but we're not allowed to do that.
Have to say I wrote on this website a few weeks ago, feeling like I was going out of my mind (am 47 nearing 48). Same symptoms really as yourself, really anxious, extremely bad mood swings, panic attacks, generally feeling awful and teary a lot of the time as well. Did go to the doctors, suggested I look into HRT cake!! So I was glad to find this site to note that I wasn't the only one feeling this way. Its been very helpful to go through a lot of the other titles and see what is shared. I can only say that I do a yoga class, skip a bit and have started taking Vitamin B6 high doseage and sage tablets (memory was going as well). So am giving it time to kick in. I think the very fact that there are many women online discussing all these different symptons is a real help in itself. Someone also told me that if I cut out the sugar and alcohol that may help. Which I did for a week, ate a fair bit of chocolate and had some wine and felt absolutely hideous, so back off of them. Can't offer many practical solutions but only that maybe read more of these discussions see if there is anything that you think may help you and give it a go, can't make you feel any worse than you do already and who knows something may help. But you're not alone and you're not losing your mind and it is scary but like you I'm hoping it will get better. So keep posting.
Hi marlene, thanks for your reply, it doesn't help when Drs don't do a thorough diagnosis. I think your idea about going to a clinic is a good one, I may get my GP to refer me to a Gyno clinic so I can have a thorough check up and I'll also look up that list of symptoms x
Hi Anjipanji, 'KABOOM!' - I know exactly where you are coming from! You will have many replies and YES! These are definitely peri symptoms. I have been going through severe (health) anxiety and depression (as well as many physical symptoms) since last summer (I'm 49). I've been wailing this very weekend and often just feel like a different person, like nothing feels the same as it used to - lots of weird thoughts, feelings and sensations of feeling out of control, impending doom etc, sometimes the anxiety feels very physical too. YOu are certainly not a lone. Hold on! You will get lots of advice here. It's a great foruma dn very active. Hugs to you x
Hi Anita, thanks for your kind reply, sounds like you've had a rough time of it as well. I guess, as you rightly say, it's finding that somebody who actually hears what you are saying and not just being a voice in the wilderness which is a scarey place to be. I'm getting so much support and advice on this site, it's quite overwhelming (but in a nice way). I was put on HRT for a year by one GP, then another GP took me off it! so I think I need to see somebody who is a little more sympathetic. I've heard of Mindfulness, so that could be something to explore as well. Its so unfair isn't it?.....I'll try and hang on in there though. Thanks for your support. Hugs xx
Thanks for your advise justlease, I'll certainly look into some of those supplements....glad to know I'm normal, I feel I bit more 'grounded' now and less 'at sea' x
Thankyour reply Anne, it is helpful to read these posts and realise that that my symptoms, as awful as they are, are normal and that there are activities I can do and supplements I can take that can help. I sometimes go for a run, when I'm not feeling too 'blaargh' and that does help. I am trying to reduce my sugar and don't drink much alcohol. I was on HRT but another GP took me off it! so I may try and get a referral to a gyno clinic where I may get a more balanced oppinion. It is a scarey place to be, I so desparately want the 'old me' back! but I guess I've got the 'weather the storm' x
Hi Ruthie lots of drs put patients on these sites,especially the drs who haven't got answers for patients .Maybe even meno drs look up these things here in regards to there own meno symptoms .We will never know,end of day they get the symptoms as we do,and not all can go on HRT for various health reasons females we all are regardless
I was lucky in the end I got an old male Dr ,suppose he'd seen and heard a lot over his doctoring years shame he wasent the first Dr Id seen. Could have saved me weeks of symptom worrying .
So I always say now to any female ,I this age grouping see a Female Dr with few years behind her,she's got same female parts as we so she knows what and where your describing symptoms .Failing that. Get in to an older male Dr as I did or go to a menopause clinic .Lessons I've learnt I my meno life .watch the sugars you have as with anxiety. It can shoot it really up.Messes up hormone levels big time ,as they go up and down at will .You have no control ,but you can help minimise affects to anxiety and depression if you suffer from that or both .I find anxiety worse AM then tapers off as day goes by like its stored up overnight .The joys of female life ,to all this at end .?
I was 55 and was hit by extreme anxiety and depression was put on drugs which seemed to help in the begining but did not like taking them when they quit working, so i took myself off to quickly as my thinking was jambled, was the scariest thing i have been through...i figured that i could deal with anything for awhile the anxiety has lessoned a whole lot (almost gone now) but other things gave raised their ugly head...im 61 now and i have been dealing with periods out of the blue (this has been going on since i was 54), i take ladys mantel for this (stops the bleeding) wish i had known about the herb sooner, i am dealing with severe muscle aches and pains, trying to learn on my own as doctors have not been helpfull for me, they just want to give me pain pills, so i am learning as i go and found some ideas on this forum i am going to try.
Hi Ruthie, thanks for your reply, it sounds as if I'm not alone in my 'wailing' bouts, it is awful, like yourself I feel like a different person and a sense of loss of who I used to be and fear of who I've become. A bit like being possessed by some kind of demon!. The impending doom is by far the worst feeling 
....but I've just got to get through it the best I can. This site is very supportive and full of great advice. Hugs xx
Hi Sheri, anti-depressants are not for everyone and the side effects of some of them are unpleasant, I'd rather not be on them but they have been helping a little bit. I'm sorry to hear you're in a lot of pain but it sounds like you've found a remedy that works, sometimes it takes a while to find the right one. This forum is full of useful ideas and suggestions, I may try some of the herbal remedies but my problem is lack of patience and you have to take some tablets for quite a while before they begin to work! Good luck x
For anxiety Im not into meds as when they gave me one packet ,it increased it to whole new level. Binned that now what I keep handy is Bach Rescue spray can get it chemists and any supermarket , I'm okay with B12 ,but B6 gives me upset stomach got to be one ingredient doing that go get some Magnesium Chelated ,Jay said that doesent upset stomach .
Hi Anjipanji
Mine is similar story to yours. I'm 44, 3 years roughly of perimenopause (mostly manageable fluctuating cycle lengths, odd nights of early waking and night sweats, generally hotter during the day and more seating down the back (not actual hot flushes).
Like you I have always been a worrier and since my last child was born nearly 15 years ago, I had moderate anxiety (health fears). The last two months I have had really bad anxiety and panic attacks with dizziness which last almost a week after my period has come.
I am also on low dose ad.
I saw the doctor last week for the increased anxiety and panic, thinking that my ad was no longer working, but she says the anxiety and panic is hormone related and classic perimenopause symptom with erratic oestrogen decline (I think that's what she said) and she said bumping up or switching ad will do nothing as the anxiety/panic is not related to serotonin levels, but erratic oestrogen. I am having blood tests in 2 weeks on my first day of cycle to check hormones.
She said depending on results we can talk about medication to help (what medication I don't know).
I can recommend my ad...Effexor xr (at low dose)which has been fantastic for anxiety (up till hormone anxiety kicked in) and far better than my previous ad (zoloft).
Happy to chat anytime! Follow up in 2 weeks or so after my blood tests and chat with dr.
loads of hugs,
Sydneymum
Hi Anjipanji
Last year I did not know I was going into menopause I found out this year and it was rough on me I had severe panic attacks even at work sometimes it got to the point where I had to go home because I was feeling paniky and sick
This year it is some what undercontrol but I am on a low dose of zoloft ativan two twice a day and a half with my trazodone at bedtime. Yes I have had times where I lock myself in the bathroom and just cry and cry or I just stay in bed away from everyone until I feel better.
Things will get better just hang in there and pray meditate and take time for yourself smile the world is not coming to an end its just your hormones are up and down
hi anjiipanji66 you on definitely on the right site. im only three months into this and these wonderful women have helped me loads with support and advice..i was introduced to menopause by being rushed to hospital thinking i was having a heart attack then came the panic attacks anxiiety depression crying as well as physical symptoms. i was on propranalol for panic attacks but been off them for several weeks now i was offered antidepressants but decided to try natural remendies and followed recommendations from the ladies on here. i take b6 and b12 along with cod liver and fish oil tables milk thistle and calcium and things seem to have calmed down still get anxiety particularly when at work but nothing to what it was . this site is wonderful and you will benefit greatly from the advice of this remarkable women i know i did. hope it helps x