Hi I'm 52 and been suffering years now with the menopause thought I was just going round the bend but after reading these posts I don't feel like that now, My periods just stopped 3 years ago and never seen or spotted again so in that way I have been lucky but mental health wise anxiety and depression hot sweats vomiting without warning have blighted my life. I've only just bothered going to see a doctor as I just thought I couldn't cope any longer but didn't really get anywhere I take Paroxetine and diazepam and trying to control such negativity and weird thoughts in my mind. I worry about my health and dying and loosing my husband but assume that's the menopause after reading some posts I feel like I'm just waiting to die I have some agoraphobia and can't leave the house alone but will go to the shops in a car with my husband. Can I ask when you use the term peri or pari what does that mean ? Also how long do you think menopause symptoms carry on for ?
I am so sorry things are so hard for you. A friend of mine has agoraphobia, but she has started to leave her house a little bit, very recently. Her husband is so supportive.
Did you just start on the Paroxetine? If so, it does take six weeks to start working. And if it doesn't work, you can try a different anti-depressant. And also, I remember when I started on it, I felt a lot of side effects like extreme sleepiness. I think it will wear off.
I think the problems with depression or anxiety are really strong during menopause because of estrogen peaking, with very low progesterone. So HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) might be really helpful for you. It looks like you are the perfect age for it. I think you can stay on it for ten years quite safely.
I am glad you got on this website! You sound like you've been suffering alone for a long time.
I guess your vomiting might be caused by nervous tension (they say the stomach is a second brain). Both the practices of 'conscious relaxation' and 'meditation' might help you. You can find out about them on the web. These practices cannot (in my experience) help like medication can, but they do improve the quality of your life once you have a kind of baseline mental health.
I learned to control my hot sweats with by eating less carbs, or eating carbs more spaced out during the day (5 times a day, rather than three). I also try to eat low glycemic index food generally. You can find out about them on the web too.
Good luck with trying new things. I know personally how hard it is when you are suffering from anxiety and depression. Really hard. I hope some suggestions are helpful for you.
Sorry to hear you have been suffering but glad you have found this forum. It's helped me a lot.
I'm nearly 50 and still menstruating. I've suffered many physical and mental symptoms in the last year which have coincided with a change in my menstrual cycle leading up to menopause. I can relate to the anxiety and depression you describe and that awful feeling that you're waiting to die, as though your life suddenly feels over but you can't work out why because you know you have everything to live for, it just doesn't feel like it. It's a trick of depressive thinking brought on by the hormones. It will pass, I firmly believe it.
I think you are through the worst of it and will start to see an improvement soon. I remember my mother going through the change. She had a hard time for eight years before her periods stopped at 50. She thought she was through it but then suffered more problems in her early 50s. But by 55 she really was like a different woman - much calmer and I've never known her depressed since (she's nearly 80 now). By 60 years old she seemed happier and younger than ever! So there is hope.
No I have been on Paroxetine for many years I have weened myself down to 10mg as the side effects sent me doo lally a few years back I wnted to go back on to Citalopram as the side effects are not so bad but the doctor told me not to chage at this present timedue to how the menopause as effecting my mental health. I had extremely bad post natel depression when i was young so didexpect something to return once i was in my change which it did What really throws me is the bad feelings which awake me during the night its like extreme fear which consumes my whole body and the acute joint pain and weakness which comes on and off as it pleases. well i sound like a barrell of laughs today dont i just LOL
And these kinds of symptoms, disturbed sleep with nightmarish feelings, they got really bad when I got anemic as well, so maybe check your iron levels?
I have been suffering terrible anxiety, which has escalated alot since I had a fall in the garden bringing in firewood for our log burning stove one night about 2 months ago. I thought nothing of it at first, but then developed symptons which have now been confirmed as whiplash. I go to an osteopath every week or 2 weeks, and take naproxen - anti-inflammatory tablets.
I also am very agraphobic, and the depression and anxiety have been terrible.
I have also been put on prozac by my GP which I think is actualy starting to work a bit, and have in the past couple of days cut out all caffiene from my diet, and am trying to do the same with sugar - quite difficult with some foods if they are processed, but I'm doing my best. Last night I had the first decent nights sleep I have had in many weeks.
I also have TMJ which I had a bit before my fall, but has now got worse. I have a mouth guard which I wear at nights. I want to ask my Dr about going on HRT, and also phsyiotherapy. My joints also seem to be cracking alot more in the past 2 weeks. I take all the recommended vitamins for someone in perimenopause.
I just get so depressed and panicky because I was pretty fit and pain free and everyone thought I was quite a bit younger than I am. I am really worried that my pains wont go away, and how to cope with them if they dont.
I am going to see a hypnotherapist to see if they have any calming techniques I can use.
I do recommend cutting out caffeine and sugar if you can.
I also have been taking diazepam, but recently its had no effect, so now I have to also come off that!!!!
Hi Im 67 ,and I'm still having post meno symptoms ,anxiety flushes odd palps just hit me out of nowhere Im to on a BP med just over 2 years with Losartan .i started meno at 48 ,was like that for 4/5 years then all seemed okay. Then got an illness(virus) ,it set all the meno back off for a second time same symptoms all over again I was then told that an illness will do this .Ive got a low immune system ,ended up with IBS ,you name it it came along .Thought the first time was bad. But this is a whole new ball game entirely .i e got tinnitus bad. Plus balance along with that in past 4yrs .
I wish you better days. No female warrants this daily .
Omgggggggg is that when your jaw locks cause I am under the hospital for that as at one time my jaw locked shut had acupuncture and exercises it's quite a bit better now but have to be so careful with it the dentist won't treat me but says th he hospital will have to deal with me think I've seen every consultant at the hospital have chronic IBS heart problems as with bad palpitations lol but didn't want to say everything in my first post otherwise you will all think I'm a hypercondract but I do like to drink wine as it helps me feel normal 😇
Think it's a good thing for women to be open and up front with all health issues regardless as to what they are ,I was so healthy prior to that virus ,turned my health up side down .
So I say this ,say what's on your mind ,what's worrying you about your health concerns ,there maybe just that one person feeling exactly as you are looking in .Were all finding illness challenging ,and meno is just one problem ,we face .Never believed Id be facing what I have these past 9 years .
IVe now gone Gluten and lactose free ,in the hope that might just help,with this autoimmune that's gone pear shaped .I know I've learnt a fair bit since chatting to the ladies here ,plus all Jay has placed on her findings ,a good soul I call her ,in doing what she has ,and not feeling good herself in the prosses .Need someone in our corner ,drs ain't doing so great in that regard ,sad to say .xx
So sorry you are feeling this way. I'm still in perimenopause and have odd feeling days. I don't care to leave my house and visit with friends or shop like I used to. I know from being on here and speaking with a few friends, this does occur yet each of us have different experiences on the length of time. Honestly there are days I feel like trying HRTs to see if that would just take the edge off as I didn't start to feel unstable really until last year when the periods because unpredicable. Now I've gone 4 months without one and this is like PMS on steroids.
I grit my teeth on days like these and oddly enough make it to work, where for a little bit, my mind is focused on my work and not me. I've tried numerous things and the latest is working with a Naturopath and also will see an Integrative MD, as I found out, like many women in our group, my thyroid finally fizzle to hypothyroidism and that can actually cause some of these feelings as well. We'll see if getting that addressed, helps. Not an overnight fix as the Naturopath has put me on a diet to restrict some foods known to aggravate the situation. Just started a week or so, so I can't say I'm sold on this. I do drink way too much coffee and wonder if I gave that up would it help. I quit smoking 2 yrs ago thinking that would help and I swear that's when (coincidentally I am sure) all hell started to break loose a few months later! haha! Haven't started smoking again-no interest. No if I could lose my interest for coffee that would be great.
WIsh I could tell you how long-only thing I can say is that I am noticing things getting less crazy and the bouts of depression and anxiety wanes a little less, like it's lightening up.
Sending you hugs of comfort and hoping the best for you-this will pass. Just have to find the right combo that's for you, be it a different AD, HRT, supplements and vitamins, whatever......exhaust all means to find what helps you and stay with us here in the meantime!
Ruthie-thanks for sharing about your mother as it helps to hear about the light at the end of the tunnel. Much like many of you, I get those horrible scary thoughts that you were able to put into words. They terrify me at times, and I am certain these will pass, but yikes it's crazy how an inbalance of hormones can really alter our perception at times. I always say this is PMS on steroids. I used to have a day or two of light sadness and crabby, but holy smokes.........this is nuts! I have noticed a lightening up of symptoms, still considered Peri, so I'm not getting too excited yet.
If nothing else, this has taught me to not react when another women may act out. Before I would think WTH, now it's I understand and let things go.
well my jaw hasnt locked. I can still eat without pain and I dont generally get pain with it. I try not to chew too much on the side which is affected. I did see a specialist about it, and he said he gets about 100 people a month coming with the same problem. I suppose I was hoping for maybe some miracle cure, but will probably have to face up to it as lifelong. I wear a mouthguard at night, but if I have phlegm or something I find I cant. Its when I move the jaw from side to side that it crunches, which just upsets me. My husband is a very pragmatic sort, and says it just wouldnt bother him.
I am seeing my dentist on Friday, - maybe get an X-ray, see whats going on and if anything else can be done.
I have had bad IBS since I was 25. Its not too bad at the moment, (Thank God). I have found that at certain times through my life it has gone away totally, and I could eat anything I wanted with no ill effects whatsoever. Then it just came back again.
I do like to have the odd drink, but with my strict no stimulants diet at present sadly I cant.....
Might be worth looking up Adrenal glands and menopause ,think Dr Christine Northrup has done a good write up ,I've just had a read ,went down into the write up post ,hey and one lady said she'd gone gluten and dairy free .Stress anxiety will take its toll on both these glands .Maybe Jay would know where more info is .
i am still feeling weird ... post shingles ... Nuisance..
but trying to stay positive .. ' trying'
this natural progesterone cream ... wish them luck with that ay ...
sells it - it seems, stick the word natural in it and its confusing some, thinking its not HRT .. And it is .. Hay ho.. Sticking to my Gynos opinion on that one, and our two's personal experiences using it.... Didnt do us any good did it ..
chilly here today, but have sent you some warm weather over that we had last week..