I am so thankful I have found this forum, reading the posts makes me realise that a) I'm not mad and b) I'm not dying! In July I had a fainting experience, sent to the cardiologist who after tests says your heart is grand but here are some beta blockers for the palpations and fainting thing. 6 weeks later I am getting very sick, I am in constant state of this falling feeling, vomiting etc. I ended up in a&e 3 times and am told to go to ENT. Head to ENT who tells me I have Meniere's disease, a lifelong, terminal disease! I get sicker and sicker and finally take myself off beta blockers and I begin to improve - in two weeks I had lost a stone and my body was shutting down. Now I am off them I can focus on what is really happening to my body and after reading your posts I believe it is the menopause. I am constantly uncontrollably crying, I haven't driven in weeks because I am afraid!!!!!! What??? I definitely have anxiety issues and I am thinking of the worst possible outcome of things. My neck is so sore with an aching feeling and this morning I felt so bad I couldn't even sleep it off. I know I am rambling but could this be menopause and these male doctors just don't think about it?
I can't begin to tell you how reassured I am by your post, my experiences are incredibly similar. I've fainted three times, had heart scans and brain scans and am going to see an ENT specialist next week. We are NOT going mad.
Poor you, you really have suffered. I think my gp and it sounds like yours too are so slow when it comes to diagnosing this peri menopause stuff. I've been to the doctors for the past 5 years with this and that and thought I was found mad, if I had let them by now I would be on anti depressants for the past 5 years. Thankfully I refused. Not once did anyone mention the menopause, my blood tests showed that my fsh level was post menopausal but because I was still having periods they just dismissed it.
My gp now says to try alternative treatments like black cohosh, but I am not trying something that has not been proven to work. I'm not a guinea pig. I will take my usual mess of 2 glasses of rose wine nightly and get on with it! So far it's been hell, can only get better x
Why is the Menopause the last thing that these doctors think about? On another point I've often wondered why women of a certain age stop driving, it never made sense to me - now it does!
I want to second that question, WHY IS MENOPAUSE THE LAST THING DOCTORS THINK ABOUT? I did 4 years of chronic muscle and ligament pain that was so bad I could barely move. I saw a dozen doctors looking fr help. It wasn't until the vaginal atrophy and dryness happened that I was given vaginal estrogen, and within weeks all the pain went away. NOT ONE DOCTOR EVER THOUGHT TO ASK ME ABOUT MENOPAUSE STATUS TO SEE IF THAT MAY BE THE REASON FOR THE MUSCLE PAIN!!!!! NOT ONE!!!
Well to answer you gailannie, I'm just back from the doctors who has said I am suffering from anxiety but sees no reason why it should be related to menopause because I do not have any hot flashes.
It's so obvious as well!!! I wonder how much time and money is wasted on tests, scans, medicine that is a complete waste of time.
OMG Catherine!!!! I never had hot flashes or night sweats either! No, my symptoms were completely pain related. My muscles weren't happy at all with estrogen deprivation.
Agreed Mrsgm. Just look at all the scripts for cholesterol meds that are written, when it's well documented that estrogen will reverse high LDL, helps with heart health, and helps with insulin resistance! My Lord we need to understand menopause better.
This is typical. Very annoying when they can only relate to it with hot flushes. Aaaagh.
Absolutely wonder!?
Hi Catherine oh my goodness I feel for you!! Yes it is deff menopause! So many women get misdiagnosed! I also have itchy scalp, feeling of doom and gloom, anxiety over nothing, light headed at times, dizziness, pain in back under left shoulder blade( I saw on here a lot of women has it) dry mouth metal taste, irritable, sluggish.... Ag there's a few more but after joining the forum I know now that I'm not indeed going crazy!!!!
Hi Catherine
I would guess that you are probably going through this transition and its happeining aggressivly.
You will see tht you are not alone. Palpitaitons are so common, and all of the aches you describe and anxiety are all too common. How old are you ?
No you are not mad
you are just transitioning ...be kind to yourself and feel the support here on the forum becasue everybody here is suffering in some sort. You will learn to accept and not resist, just take the best care of yourself and dont succumb to anything that does not feel right with medicine. Take what you need to , but for example the beta blockers...not needed. If you need them take them but follow your heart and your intuition. You will be oK.
Wishing you well, and hang tight
OXOX
I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have found this forum but also how angry it makes me that the menopause seems to be just a blip in the medic's eyes. If I had not taken myself off the beta blockers I don't care to think where I would be today, my body was literally shutting down. I also find it amusing that although the medical profession seems uninterested in the menopause how they poo-poo the fact that the only help, understanding and actually relief is coming from acupuncture. I'm wondering about this patriarchal society that we are living in and how the menopausal woman is rather low down on the social ranking whereas in times gone by she was at the top being seen as the wise old woman.
Very much so, menopause is 100% REAL and so are the horrible list of symptoms that come with it!
Hi Gailannie, i have been suffering with neck pain tightness and shoulders and back since March. i am currently having physio and have had several massages over the last few months with little help. My GP said its because i am anxious and asked me to go to Yoga i did it got worse with bad headaches. My neck muscles are so tight the physio therapist stated my back vertebrae are not moving right due to the tightness.
I also don't have night sweats or hot flushes. My hormone levels were normal too, but that is not an indication of menopause either as hormone levels fluctuate daily, and this result was from only one blood test. My GP is a specialist in gynaecology and has ignored the other symptoms I have just because I don't have flushes! She also ignored the fact I had a hysterectomy last year as I still have my ovaries. She has just prescribed me antidepressants for 6 weeks as I said i had mood swings and was tired and weepy sometimes. I asked her opinion of alternative therapies and she basically laughed at me. I am going to see another GP! My sister in law has also.suffered with fainting and sickness - vertigo, again GPs did not link it to menopause, but is most definitely one of the symptoms. I will not be taking the antidepressants, and definitely will be seeking out herbal/natural alternatives. I do hope you get answers and help from elsewhere. There is a wealth of information out there, I just hope you find a more understanding and knowledgeable GP!x
For me hot flashes mean a horrible sensation of sickness waving through my body and into my head - does that make sense?
Hi Catherine
Yes its not something anyone likes to talk about or deal with. Its a shame. Yes in other cultures women are highly regarded, and respected.
Its been ravishing on my moods and overall wellbeing. I function and do all the things i need to, but its so hugely exhausting.
Im really glad you got off the beta blockers. They have their place for sure, but to counteract the natural fluctuations of our homrones with something that slows down the conduction of the heart is really reckless. Good for your..trust yourself. Im around!
xoxox
xoxoxo
I know the feeling Amanda. I did chiropractor, message therapists 2-3 times a week. I saw a total of 12 different doctors looking for help. But, at least for me, this was an estrogen issue. Just a small amount of vaginal estrace made all the pain go away. Don't know if that's also your problem, but certainly might be something to look at. Oddly, It isn't until I had the experience that I noticed all the charts of meno symptoms mention muscles pain.
I feel for you. Cause boy it's difficult to live every day in pain.