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[bev567901]

My last (and only hormonal) blood test was done 3 days before a period. I am going to request another one. Is there a better time to have one that will actually prove beneficial to me in that the doctor will acknowledge perimenopause & I might get some sort of hormonal treatment even if it isn't anything mega. I have a horrid feeling that there is no such day but I live in hope that someone will know a better timing rather than anytime can be unpredictable. Bev x

[Taz2]

Blood tests for peri are really unreliable so I'm not sure that it will help. I have found this online - not sure how accurate it is though

"
According to ZRT Laboratory (a well known lab, referred by Dr. Christine Northrup):


Regular periods - day 19, 20, or 21 of cycle (Day 1 is the first day of menses)

Irregular periods - collect when not bleeding

No periods - any day"

Good luck.

Taz x

[bev567901]

Thank you Taz that is helpful, now all I have to do is book the blood test when I want it & knowing my GP practice that will be a major hurdle. I am not going to be defeated!!!  Bev x

[honeybun]

A lot of GPs will go on symptoms alone. Why don't you arm yourself with information from the green menu on the left and try and discuss HRT with the doctor.
Blood tests are so unreliable and can change by the hour let alone the day.

Honeyb
X

[andius]

 What is your most bothersome symptom?

A

[bev567901]

Andius it is nausea which has made my anxiety rocket. It is like the nausea you have the day before a period or when you are pregnant, I would say the pregnant one more than the period one. I cannot get my denture in so have no top teeth as I gag now so cannot go out. When I was last pregnant I had a tiny denture it was the same with that, as soon as I delivered it was back in. I gagged on tablets when I was pregnant too, same again now.  Never had a problem with my complete top denture as never been pregnant since I had it about 7 yrs.  I went through all the anti nausea tablets over many mths none worked, I explained all the other meno symptoms but because my blood test was not showing anything I got no hormones just benzos & AD. I did get a pregnancy test though even though my husband has had the snip because I kept saying its just like feeling pregnant.  I haven't been out since early Sept except for docs appt. If I was 80 & invisible I probably would but having an 8 & 9 year old so late in life school runs & shopping can't be done it does look terrible without your top teeth. Bev x

[Dyan]

Aww Bev
Are you able to eat properly?
Low blood sugar doesn't help with the nausea.

[bev567901]

Yes I do eat using my bottom ones but sometimes I swallow stuff hardly chewed & nearly choke. I do eat well & regularly as I have always been slim, I guess I have spent my whole life trying to put weight on. Last few years though probably hormonal I look a bit less skinny. I think the only times I have missed a meal in my life is when I  was having an operation. My sister goes all day without eating, no idea how she can wait until the evening I would be on the floor by then. Bev x

[bev567901]

Forgot to say meno started in the new year but it was Sept before it had built up to the no teeth thing. Maybe I do have quads on board immaculate conception

[CLKD]

My Gynae will not waste money on blood tests for possible peri-menopause, he goes on symptoms.  Hormone levels rise adn fall many times within 24 hours so it is highly unlikely that a perfect 'yes' or 'no' will be decided by blood tests alone.  Keeping a food/mood diary for 2 months prior to a GP visit is probably more helpful.

Grazing is useful, eating every 2/3 hours ....... keeps the blood sugar levels even, I need to go eat Right Now 

[andius]

Just a guess here....something to think about or research on.

Nausea is usually considered a side effect of  excess estrogen and it probably won't matter when you have the tests done as it will be higher than menopausal levels.

Have you considered asking the doc for progesterone or ordering some high quality progesterone cream and trying it yourself?  There are many anecdotal comments all over menopause sites on the internet where people claim that it helps! It is supposedly not highly absorbed enough to work for balancing HRT estrogen to protect endometrium, but it might give you some symptomatic relief if you don't take HRT currently and are suffering from high or fluctuating estrogen levels in perimenopause.  I never tried it myself and I kind of wished I had......isn't that why sometimes they give women the progestin-only pill at your stage? Maybe SuziQ will comment on this....I seemed to remember she took it?

Andius

[bev567901]

Oh thats a great tip? I shall google immediately but will make sure its from somewhere safe. Stupid question do you put it in your lady parts? I don't think I can rely on the doc although I do have an appt in a week so will still ask but feel like I need to take control myself xxx thank you xxx

[Hurdity]

Hi bev
I'm not really clear about what the main problem is? I understand you are on quite high doses of certain meds known to have side effects including nausea - so wondering what the symtpoms are that you had before starting these meds?

Although progesterone performs physiological functions in the body, in terms of balance, as I understand it, the only crucial area where we need the right balance of oestrogen and progesterone is in the regulation of the uterine lining.

During the menstrual cycle oestrogen is "dominant" during the first part of the cycle, when most women feel at their best. The oestrogen is "balanced " by the progesterone during the second half and this is normally sufficient to ensure that the uterus lining is shed at menstruation, when progesterone levels fall. Most women feel at their worst during the second half of the cycle when progesterone is "dominant".

Menopause obviously upsets this cycle of hormones and many of the symptoms are due to the rapid fluctuations in both oestrogen and progesterone, and ultimately to the decline in oestrogen as we get further into peri-menopause.

I would be wanting to phase out the meds you are on and get some blood tests of all sorts of things to get properly checked out, so that you can find out what is causing your symptoms - and if there is anything wrong. Then if it is hormonal (female or otherwise) this can be treated.

Taking progesterone will only cloud the issue - and I  wouldn't recommend buying the stuff.

One suggestion would be to take oestrogen and progesterone during the second part of your cycle, if the fluctuation in hormones is causing the problem - I don't know if this is ever generally recommended or not!

Just thinking aloud so hopefully not completely off the wall!!

Hurdity x

[andius]

You can find this information readily on the internet.

Estrogen levels can rise in perimenopause and be imbalanced by progesterone.

In normal cycles in younger women, progesterone is produced by the follicle after ovulation.

In perimenopause, there can be ANOVULATORY CYCLES.  As there is no follicle shed, there is no progesterone made. Estrogen levels rise and fall and that is why periods can be quite erractic and heavy during perimenopause as there is low or no progesterone to keep the lining in check.  The natural balance is thus disrupted.  Progesterone can apparently be just rubbed on any skin in very small doses. I have not ever used it, but if you look at the instructions for the products, they do recommend a cycling of the applications to try to mimic your natural periods during perimenopause. If you are sensitive to progesterone or PMS prone it could possibly make you worse. 

Mind you, if your estrogen levels are low, trying progesterone cream might make the estrogen deficiency seem more pronounced.  That is why it is not normally recommended for women already in full menopause and when the estrogen levels have permanently dropped.

As Hurdity says, new medications you are taking that coincide with the onset of the nausea could be suspect and you should ask your doctor about it.

Andius

[bev567901]

I was on no meds at all when the nausea started in the New Year. I just kept busy & had a glass of wine to relax after a hard day (wish I could still do that but it felt like poison as things got worse)  I tried all the anti nausea tablets first from the docs then the stool/blood tests then after months of dilly dallying getting worse classic meno symptoms each day I reached breaking point & was put on the meds I have now. They do cause nausea too. I know it is hormonal I am 100%.   My first docs appt saw me walking out as he was so rude, I am not the sort of person to do that I am very meek. I just said I am sorry I have to go now. He had a medical student in with him & maybe that is why he wrote me a letter of apology! I would never have complained. The next male doc who is nicer said I could have no hormones until I had 12 months of no periods. I only got the blood test after I saw a young lady doctor.  They are just not going on symptoms which is why I will print everything out from here & elsewhere. I have ordered some cream from Amazon but you can cancel the order with them.  I feel really let down by the NHS & I am going to change GP's very soon. I shall be asking for a lady 50+ for sure.
My horrid GP was the one who we took our little girl too at a few weeks old, she had a heart murmur at birth & maternity said it would close up in a week or so but if she had this or that symptom to take her to the doctors. He didn't even get her out of her baby car seat when she had all these symptoms. We had a late stillbirth two years previously so they must have thought we where neurotic. She was scheduled for a check up back at the hospital the next week to say all was well as they said it would be & I just persevered with her knowing things where not normal but thinking she was not right in some way. At the hospital appt she was diagnosed with a very serious heart problem & should have been sent to a specialist hospital at birth, we where straight in for her first open heart. Had I been a first time mum I think she wouldn't have made it because I would have thought this is how all babies are & I wouldn't have stayed up 24/7 with her for 7 weeks. My eldest is a staff nurse in A & E I always tell her never to take anything at face value & make assumptions based on the obvious or from previous notes or visits. Sorry for waffling on, xx