I had a full hysterectomy at 36 (not 51) - I was put on HRT because of my age at the time of the operation. I took the advice of my GP and weaned myself off of HRT about 2 yrs ago - I'm still getting hot flushes several times a day - my moods are up and down - I have headaches and fairly recently noticed slight heart palpitations. I continually have an anxious feeling - I've been to GP who did blood pressure etc and said that it was all good but is referring me for a 24 hr heart monitor but doesn't expect it to pick up anything. I feel like I am constantly saying how unwell I feel - I suffer from constipation, aches and pains in joints and I'm finding it hard to concentrate at work - I just want to feel human again! Apologies if this sounds like me feeling sorry for myself - I'm usually the one helping everyone else to deal with their traumas but I need to focus on me just now - and figure out how I'm going to get through this. I would be very grateful for any info, advice or words of wisdom as my faith in medicine is waning.
hi Aileen, i too have had constipation for about a month on and off, this a new one for me, i am 8th year Peri, currently having over one week of lower tummy cramping, back ache, and no period, all the symptoms but nothing..
i too get palpitations, maybe one a day, increased thumping in my chest, think many ladies mention this, try not to worry, i am hoping its just peri symptom, i dont take HRT....
i am taking liquid Dulphalac for constipation when it occurs, its on and off..
insomnia is my biggest nuisance, been like it for years, and anxiety, and sometimes feel very sensitive and tearful of late... cannot be bothered with things i normally enjoy, its awful isnt it ...
Thanks for taking the time to respond. You're right, it's comforting to know that others are going through the same things, but I feel sorry for them 
My sleep pattern is also very erratic, which is playing havoc with my work life, I want to sleep at 2 in the afternoon - I work full time so afternoon napping is not an option.
Let's hope that this all comes to an end soon and we can go on with enjoying life instead of planning around these symptoms.
Hi ladies..mine started in Sept last year..anyway i think its peri but since im only 40 doctors give me that look of your to young..have night sweats and having trouble sleeping..have had the palpitations on and of but am always tired and get shaky..dr say they want to put me on anxiety meds but had bad side affects with one of them and scared to try anymore..hands are always cold also and periods became very heavy now..just wish i could sleep so i had energy during day...all blood work comes back normal and its just very frustrating not knowibg how to help symptoms...have upset stomach alot and some joint pain...uuuggghh
Hi, I'm sorry to hear you're going through this so young. I can totally relate to all of your symptoms. I've never been on any forums like this for anything but I was at the end of my tether with this and just wanted to know if anyone else felt the same. I'll keep you posted on how I get on with heart monitor thing, I've had bloods taken again, second time in a few months, but I'm sure they'll come back clear.
Thanks for responding and I hope you find a way of coping with it all. If I get any advice that I think might help, I'll post on here.
Laurie, my hands too are always cold, especially the backs of my hands and toes, i too was given a med last week for anxiety but only took one as it made me feel so dizzy, and headachey and i was bumping into the wall, so feel better with out it..
a doc i saw ages ago ( i was 41 when i started peri) well i started younger but was told it was peri after the FSH test and home menopause kits, at first around age 40 and 41 i kept fainting, three times in total, once while i was shopping in a Boots store, awful... I had to eat little and often and never skip breakfast, i still had fainty dizzy bouts and still do, cold hands maybe be thyroid troubles have you had some blood tests? i had to but all was okay at the time, but i take iodine kelp tablets for it now and since the test...
Hi there
I had a total hysterectomy 14 yrs ago ( I am now 62yrs) Have been on HRT ever since and now my Dr says I'am to come off it. He has reduced my dose by half.
I really don't know what to expect and have tried searching for help via internet but have not found anything telling me what may or may not happen. Will my skin start to sag? Will my hair start to drop out or get thin? eeek none of it is nice is it?
What about...... will I loose weight? I put it on when I STARTED HRT, surely it should now come off as easily???
HELP HELP HELP please!
Hi Suzie, I think the answer is that everyone is different. There doesn't seem to be any guarantees about how easy or difficult the menopause will be. I looked at my immediate family history to try and gauge it but my mum had an awful time but my older sister seemed to come through it with only some flushes and mood swings but nothing major so I'm not sure that you can predict anything. All the advice about eating well, taking regular exercise etc is all good advice but to be honest I've just had to deal with the symptoms as they happened. They didn't all come at once and to be honest after two years I thought that I should be getting better but I'm afraid that's not the case.
Anyway, you might be one of the lucky ones. Take care of yourself and be kind to yourself, don't beat yourself up for feeling low or being moody - I learned that I can't control it, so just go with it and who knows you might be one of the lucky ones! - Good luck.
Jayneejay i have had blood test for thyroid,peri,diabetis, and few other things and all is normal..i know its good news but frustating when u feel so awful and doctors just dont get it..wish i could take what i feel on some days and give it to dr and let them see how it feels then i bet they would figure something out for us...yes anxiety med i was on made me dizzy and made my head feel like it was on fire..and i also only took one..very scary.thank god my husband was home with me..be nice to feel like my old self again..hugs to you
laurie, the FSH blood test for peri can not always be accurate until your well into peri, as the FSH fluctuates up and down.. in early years my main symptom was waking up wet through. legs use to slip off each other with the night sweats, for me that was my first clue.. then occasional hot flush during the days, i had many of those awful night sweats early on, i do not have them now... i can sympathise .. bless you...
hello Aileen1962, don't apologise for feeling sorry for yourself cos we all get to that stage. I too had the 24hr heart and blood pressure monitor fitted which only proved my blood pressure dips too low at times. I'm not on HRT and would rather not go on it. My problem at present is anxiety that came from nowhere in Jan 2012, i get so many headaches that can last for 4 days with nausea and dizziness. like you i constantly feel unwell and i think about how i feel 24/7 which is obviously not doing myself any favours but i cant help it. i so sorry your feeling this way and hope things get better for as i do for all the other lovely ladies on this forum that have been a tower of strength to me with their advice as i'm sure they will be for you . Keep taking on here cos it does help. take care of yourself. sending you a comforting hug x
Hi all is it me or does any one else feel like no one is listening to how ill we all feel its got to the point where ive just given up going docs and putting up with it all I want to do is sleep all day as joint pains wake me up at night dont know what pain killers to take tried naproxen did not do thing nor co codamol any suggestions anyone
Eileen, I had a hysterectomy and oopherectomy at age 38 and went immediately onto HRT (estrogen implants which are no longer available in Australia - so now I have to use awful patches and supplemented with gel because the 2 patches a week do not last me a week and sometimes the patches become unstuck). My current gp does not like HRT and I have got flack from various drs over the years. However, their reasons are based on flawed research and for every warning against HRT there are studies that reveal HRT is good for you.
I am now 63 and I am not giving up HRT for anyone. I have haemochromatosis which robs my body of oestrogen, and a prolactinoma which also robs my body of oestrogen. I do not have any fat on my hips or thighs (not a boast - I wish I did) so I cannot store oestrogen and as soon as my oestrogen dips for above reasons, i get arrythmia, rapid heart beat, waves of depression or anxiety, head sweats.
i went for 7 years with extreme head and face sweats (like sweat visibly bubbling out of my pores), sticking my head under the shower at midnight because I could not stand the smell and the heat. It sounded like menopause or thyroid but I was on HRT and thyroid tests were normal so it was ignored until I decided I would try to get botox to reduce the sweating. This dr said she would really like to find out what was happening to me and referred me to an endocrinologist who told me to go off HRT. Then when he found I had prolactinoma, he said stay on the HRT (as women with prolactinoma need extra oestrogen). I researched that and found that excess prolactin causes a reduction in the body's oestrogen via a 5-alpha reductase enzyme. I have now discovered that I have a prolapse as a result of insufficient oestrogen to keep the ceiling of my vagina strong.
When I was given cabergoline to reduce the prolactin, my sweats, etc stopped. However whenever I try to reduce the dose now that I have minimal prolactin, menopause symptoms overtake me. Another endocrinologist now says it is more important for me to have oestrogen in my body, has no worries about HRT, and can continue cabergoline for years without any side effects.
Read Dr Christiana Northrup, specialist in female hormones. She has no problem recommending HRT past 70 years. Important that you use bio-identical hormones. Estrodiol implants and estrodial patches and gel are ok. I have never used oestrogen tablets as they pass through the liver. I have used Provera tablets though - recommended by a knowledgeable dr when she found out I had endometriosis. Endometriosis can be activated by oestrogen, but progesterone/gen? deactivates it.
Don't let a dr (in denial and not keeping up with research) destroy your health through their ignorance. Their recommendations cause heart failure, early dementia, divorces, and/or jumping off cliffs.
Thanks all for your replies to my questions. It's a real comfort to know that I'm not going mad and imagining my symptoms as someone suggested to me! I've had more time off work with menopausal symptoms than anything else - and I'm 'old school' as far as work is concerned, my mother believed that " if you can walk then you're ok to go to work" - I have a strong work ethic and am really struggling with the way this is debilitating me. When you get those looks from men when you're in a meeting and you're trying not to draw attention to the fact that you are burning up and finding it hard to concentrate - some smart ass always has to comment on it, somehow it makes you feel weak and undermined. Anyway. I'm now two full years into menopause, surely the symptoms should be getting better? Or at least, lessening? Dear Sheryl137154, you have certainly had a struggle - I think I was on every patch available and the strongest dose and had all the issues with them that you describe - I don't miss taking them at all but I do wish that someone would tell me when I will feel normal again :-) Thanks again for words of wisdom folks and here's to coming back a man the next time lol.
As my menopause symptoms did not pass after 7 years of deficient oestrogen, I have my doubts of it ever doing so. Most women that I have come across who had minor menopause or even none at all, have big hips and thighs. That is the only hint that I have about reduced menopause. It is NOT normal for us to go through menopause, as we used to be always pregnant or did not live that long.
Good luck, but I think you need more than good luck. I know what I will be doing. Keep in touch.
Aileen, I forgot to reiterate Dr Christiana Northrup. Look for her book 'The Wisdom of Menopause" in library or shops, as she also gives alternative medicine solutions. Google her in case she has some solutions on her website.
Sheryl, wow thanks for sharing your experience, i used Provera before I started Menopause, injection type prvera, as a contraceptive, my god it made me so irregular, fainting, I bled for 22 months, it has awful side effects as a normal contraceptive, and affects your bones, never again, not even for menopause.. i only had two injections and it messes me up completely, i was fine beforehand.
what i find confusing is peri menopause leads us to believe its low oestrogen, yet many say it is infact high levels of oestrogen, i find it so confusing, you dont know what to believe and therefore dont know if treatments given are actually correct for each of us..
Wendy, yes i agree, its like banging your head against the wall trying to get help, in my opinion a male doctor thinks your over reacting, the best person would be a female doctor thats going or been through it to understand us.
hi jayneejay, Provera is a progesterone/gen. Usually progestogen is the first hormone to go. My regular gp would not give it to me (after hysterectomy and oopherectomy) because she said it would give me bad moods. When I was eventually prescribed it 'cause I had endometriosis which the surgeon tried to remove right up to my diaphragm but only, he says, that the eye can see. Another enlightened dr who prescribed it said it would reduce the activation of the endo remaining in my body. No bad moods, did not want to kill anybody nor jump off a cliff.
But everyone is different. Check it out in Dr Christiane Northrup's book "Wisdom of Menopause" if you can get it from library. I have just been checking out her website, and she has some info on perimenopause and progestogen, but book better.
Taking menopause out of the picture it is given to stop periods when you have endo in order to reduce them. So it seems strange that you bled for 22 months, when it is meant to do the opposite. I have not heard of it being used for contraception. Usually it is a mix of oestrogen and progesterone. But then I do not know a lot about contraception except that mine was ok - long time ago now.
Latest about the contraceptive pill, oestrogen and progesterone combination is now found to reduce the incidence of ovarian, cervical, rectal cancer and possibly breast cancer because ovarian and breast are connected, by 50% and recommendations for women to keep taking them.
Really worth your while checking out Dr C N, and see if what you were given was really appropriate.
hi Sheryl
i had Depo-Provera, Injection form for contraception, before peri menopause, after this is when i seemed to experience peri menopause.. but my mum finished menopause at age 42 so i expected to be an early peri candidate, i am 8th year peri, when I was in my 30's i had endometriosis and had laser surgery to remove the
adhesions all was cleared at the time of operation, it did not return, i was lucky as they thought it may return five years or so later.
thank you i will take a look at the Dr C N website, i now live in Spain so the book would not to an easy option here, I would love to try something that would work for me I cannot take HRT as we have a history of beast cancers etc in the family and its suggested as not an option for me, but i try and manage with Vits and Estroven and Maca, but its not ideal for my symptoms.. thanks Sheryl
Hello Sheryl
I was very interested to read your post as I too have a high prolactin level with a prolactinoma tumor and didn't know it can reduce estrogen levels. My consultant at the hospital who i see every six months has never mentioned this and i have been asking him on my last two visits if he thinks i'm going through perimenopause with all these weird and debilitating symptoms but he said no. How long have you had a high prolactin level mine was discovered in 2005 when my level was 1100 but is now down to 620 but should be below 500 to be normal. I too take cabagoline but my dose has been reduced to 1/2 a tablet a week cos I thought maybe the 11/2 tablets a week were making me feel faint as that is a side effect so i'm giving the reduced amount a try until i go back to the consultant in April and i will see what my level is. What dose are you on? How do you cope? I too have no fat I'm 8 stone which may sound great to others but i could do with some fat to protect my bones and i wouldn't be so weak. I'm not on any HRT and don't wish to take it cos I;, afraid of the side effects, love to hear back from you x