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[Shazzie]

Hi Tired Lady

Just wondered how you are doing.  OK I hope.

Shazzie xx

[tired lady]

Hi Shazzie, I'm not doing too well at the moment, I've still got problems with palps at night, nightmares, anxiety, night sweats and waking up feeling like I can't breathe properly   I've had trouble getting to the doctors as the doctor I want to see is always booked up so I'm hoping to get an appointment on Monday by phoning early in the morning - the surgery always keep a few appointments available on the day.  I'm hoping that she might offer me a blood test to see what my hormones are up to.  I really don't like going to the doctors because I always get really bad anxiety there, especially when I'm sitting in the waiting room and normally my heart starts pounding!  I've had to fight panic attacks off in there before, it is awful trying to look normal in front of all the other people when you feel like you're about to faint or worse!

How are you doing, are you still feeling better on your HRT patches?

I will keep you posted on how I get on at the docs.

Tired lady xx

[Dandelion]

Hi Shazzie, I'm not doing too well at the moment, I've still got problems with palps at night, nightmares, anxiety, night sweats and waking up feeling like I can't breathe properly   I've had trouble getting to the doctors as the doctor I want to see is always booked up so I'm hoping to get an appointment on Monday by phoning early in the morning - the surgery always keep a few appointments available on the day.  I'm hoping that she might offer me a blood test to see what my hormones are up to.  I really don't like going to the doctors because I always get really bad anxiety there, especially when I'm sitting in the waiting room and normally my heart starts pounding!  I've had to fight panic attacks off in there before, it is awful trying to look normal in front of all the other people when you feel like you're about to faint or worse!

How are you doing, are you still feeling better on your HRT patches?

I will keep you posted on how I get on at the docs.

Tired lady xx

Hello Tired Lady

I also think that if you try HRT you will not regret it.
Mine doesn't get rid of all the anxiety and flushes, but I have been using magnesium and that has really helped, I only ever feel hot and sometimes slightlly sweaty when I wake up now.
Also, the magnesium will help you feel less anxious and I have a strong feeling it will also help your palpitations a lot, so that you will feel less anxiety about going to the doctors.
I think it takes about 800mg of magnesium to stop anxiety and you have to look on the back of the tin to see how much elemental magnesium is in each pill. For example, my magnesium pills say 1250mg each, but, there is only about 141mg actual magnesium in each pill.
I was taking three a day but I now take six and it has made a difference to my anxiety.
I would even go so far as to say, it works as well as taking a diazepam, only it doesn't have the horrible daytime drowsiness side effect diazepam has.
If you get certain types of magnesium though, they can give you the runs.
Avoid magnesium oxide, as that has a very poor absorption rate.
I started on the magnesium citrate powder, but it gave me smelly gas and loose stools, so I went onto the magnesium malate.
Magnesium glycinate is the ideal for not causing loose urgent stools, but it is a bit on the expensive side, whereas the malate was a bit cheaper for me.
I hope that helps.
I've been taking it for about a month now and I wouldn't be without it.

[Shazzie]

Sorry you are still suffering tired lady.  HRT has been a life saver for me.  Give it a go.  Also the Magnesium has really lifted my mood and is helping me sleep. 

I wouldn't even think that you are going to have a heart attack when you wake with palpitations as I am sure you would have had one by now if that was going to happen.

Let us know how you get on when you see your meno dr.

Good luck sweets.

Shazzie xx

[Rowan]

Everyone has their favourite magnesium, I use Magnesium Citrate, it is readily absorbed into the bloodstream, more then other magnesium. 

If you are struggling with palpitations, Magnesium Taurate is recommended.

I take both alternatively.

[tired lady]

Thanks so much everyone for your help and advice   I'm pleased to say that I have managed to get an appointment with the meno doctor, and I'm going next Monday afternoon so it is only a week to wait.  I've put up with it for 3 years so far so I can wait another week!  I had another bad night last night, woke up with a sweat, got back to sleep and then woke up suddenly feeling hot with my heart rate up, I think it must have been about 100bpm.  I went to the bathroom and splashed myself with cold water and managed to get back to sleep but had a very weird dream!  I'm sure I've got the palps at night because I'm overheating, however I don't seem to be having any flushes during the day yet which is a blessing.

I'm slightly confused about the magnesium supplements, the one I've got is from Tesco and it is 300mg of magnesium oxide.  I'm not sure whether it is the right one for me.  There is a good health shop where I live so hopefully they will have a better selection in there than Tesco's.

I am finding it very difficult to cope during the day due to my seriously disturbed sleep, I feel like a zombie most days.  I'm looking forward to talking about it with the meno doctor, I will let you know how I get on.  Thanks so much again for all your help and advice, the forum has been such a great help to me because I've felt on my own with this and it is not the kind of thing that you like to talk to people about!

[Rowan]

tired lady I am sure your local health shop will help you, personally I would not take magnesium oxide, its more of an anti acid, I have found

magnesium citrate is best for sleep.

[Dandelion]

I second that magnesium oxide is not the best.
Only a very tiny amount of it is absorbed.
I liked magnesium citrate but my bowel didn't.
Its a bit happier with magnesium malate but I would prefer magnesium glycinate, except it is too expensive.

[Mini2005]

Hi Dandelion,

Do you mind me asking what brand of Magnesium Malate you take?  I am going to docs on Friday to make sure that I can take Magnesium without affecting any of my other medication i.e. thyroid.  I think it will be OK if I take them at different times but better safe than sorry.   My symptoms have all gone with my Evorel Sequi patches but I am left with some anxiety which I hope will be helped with Magnesium x

[Rowan]

It all depend on what you want your magnesium to do,  magnesium malate may help with fibromyalgia and increases energy. 

This would be a good supplement to tale along side Boron.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/488777-malate-vs-malic-acid/

Apples are a good source.

Some people have a sensitivity to Malic Acid.

[tired lady]

Hi everyone, I had my appointment with the doctor that specializes in menopause this afternoon.  I got really bad anxiety in the waiting room so by the time I got in to see the doctor my heart was pounding away and I must have appeared a bit of a nervous wreck and stuttered my way through the consultation! 

I explained all my night time symptoms and she said that it could either be anxiety, perimenopause or a combination of both.  She said that it was probably to early for menopause symptoms because I'm 42 but I'm going to have a blood test next Tuesday to check my hormone levels.  She thinks they are going to be normal because hormone levels fluctuate so much in perimeno but I'm hoping it might show something otherwise it just shows that I'm a nervous wreck!  She has prescribed me some beta blockers to see if it helps my night time heart pounding and racing and that will hopefully stop the adrenalin rushes which I'm getting every night. I've got to go back in a month to see how I'm getting on to see whether I want to try some oestrogen or not.  I told her that I was worried about the side effects and she asked me if I had migraines which I do, really severe ones  (one or 2 a week with nausea) so it is possible that HRT might not be suitable for me.

I'm still in the dark as to whether I'm in perimeno or not, but would anxiety really cause me to wake up feeling boiling hot with my heart pounding and then when I splash myself with cold water my body starts to cool down and my heart rate goes down as well?  She also mentioned my having CBT again, but I'm really not keen on this, I found it didn't really help before and I don't have time to get to the appointments because I'm a carer for my son who has M.E.  Is it right that doctors keep putting physical symptoms down to anxiety all the time?  I've got anxiety because of what is happening to me at night, I feel really ill when I get really hot at night, it feels as if my body has gone into some weird state but I feel completely OK during the day!

I will keep you posted on how I get on with my beta blockers, I'm really hoping that I might get a good night's sleep for a change when I try them!

[Suzi Q]

Thanks Cassie, I was hoping that my doc might refer me to a cardiologist but because my ECG, chest x-ray and 24hr holter monitor were normal (holter showed 1 ectopic beat and few raised heart rate episodes during the night due to my bad dreams) she said that my heart was normal and that it was either anxiety or perimeno or a combination of both that was causing the problem.  She said the ectopics are benign but I'm just still concerned about what is going on at night and I live in fear of getting an irregular heart beat episode where my heart goes a bit mental for a few seconds and I feel a bit dizzy.  I also mentioned that episode to my doc and she didn't think it was anything to worry about. 

It is just a shame that the palps have left me with a terrible health anxiety about my heart.  I'm hoping to get to the docs soon and I will mention it again and say that I don't feel reasurred by the tests that I have had done.  I think the trouble is that it was only a 24hr test and of course I didn't get the really scary palp episodes when I had it on!

Thanks so much again for your help and advice

tired lady x

If the BETA BLOCS havenmt worked it maybe they are to weak I was put on INDERAL 40m
2 a day for a month and they stopped with in days the rest as they say is crap
Panic fear im 60 in June been over and done since I was 42 I went over at 36/7
I still have to resort sometimes to BETAS and still have 1 or 2 hot flushes a week
YOUR NOT ALONE OK I dont know if HRT is what u need I never had it?
But dont put things off make an appt NOW get hubbie to have a SICKIE dont wait for a few weeks Hey  know aboiut suport IM in Ozz came here at 28 with a hubbie and a 9yr old
We have always had no support as in family BUT our freinds have become LIKE family
Cant u have a girls night or go to the Cinema with a pal get out I know the more u tihnk
The worse it gets ME thats the tired thing isnt it my pals got it here shes even resorted to having her mercury filllings removed she had 5 out 3 weeks ago and has the final 5 out tomorrow Cant a freind watch ur son? If hubbie CANT take a day off. THIS NEEDS to be sorted asap 42 isnt too young far from it more and more ladies pop up on here 40 and under
Somne GPS and people seem to think u have to be fair fat and 50 well sorry I was size 8
36 and dark haired hehehehehe Taz will tell u u can have high meno bloods one day low the next I think TAZ says its the most unreliable test ? Of course with al;l thats going on u will be stressed to hell want to scream one thing follows another till our body says ENOUGH xxx
Hi ladies

I am really having trouble coping at the moment with scary palpitations during the day and also during the night when they are much worse.  My problems started when I turned 39 (I'm 42 now) when I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart racing out of control and I ended up having a major panic attack.  It started happening again and again and I ended up at the doctor who said that it was probably anxiety and I had an ECG which was normal.  I also started waking up at night feeling boiling hot and started to have the most awful nightmares where I would wake up suddenly and then my heart would pound and I felt really hot.  I kept going back to the doctors and mentioning whether it could be perimenopause but they still said it was probably anxiety because of the stress of looking after my son who has M.E.  I went back in July  this year and my doctor said that because it has been going on so long that she wanted to check my heart was ok so I had a chest x-ray and a 24hr ECG which were both normal but it did show a missed beat and a raised heart rate which happened at night but my doctor said it was normal.  I mentioned about whether I could be in perimenopause and she said it could be because I keep waking up feeling hot and she mentioned HRT which I am not really keen on, I wanted to go through it all naturally like my mum. (She also had night sweats and palpitations).

Fast forward 3 years since I turned 39 and I am still having the most awful symptoms at night including waking up feeling hot, nightmares, pounding heart and the one I hate the most when I wake up with my heart doing a massive thud and then racing out of control for a minute and then eventually it calms down but I end up with a panic attack. I have not had a good night's sleep for over 3 years and I am finding it so hard to get through the day because I am so tired.

I am also having scary palpitations during the day including the odd missed beat, double beats and I've had two bouts of irregular heart beat with dizziness both lasting a few seconds and one of them happened when I was out walking my dog.  I am in recovery from agoraphobia (as a result of my panic attacks) and this has set me back and I spend the whole time when I'm out walking my dog thinking it is going to happen again and I have to fight against the fear because my dog has to be walked!  I mentioned the irregular heart episode to my doctor when I went back in August but she just shrugged it off as innocent palpitations because my ECG was normal.

I was just wondering whether anyone else gets the racing heart at night, it just seems like my heart has a mind of its own and I have not control over it.  It is like a get horrible shots of adrenalin a few times a night.  I dread the thought of having to put up with this for another 8 years or so until my periods stop it is just so awful.  Is it normal to get really bad palpitations during menopause and is there a way of reducing them?  I have cut out coffee and now only drink alchohol at the weekends because it seems to bring on hot flushes.  I don't know what to do because I really don't want to go down the HRT route.

I would be most grateful for any help or advice, I'm feeling really down about it all at the moment and I dread going to bed now.  Many thanks in advance - tired lady

[Dancinggirl]

Hi Tired lady
I'm glad you got to see a meno doctor. Having followed your thread I really get the impression that you are basically 'rung out'. Whilst you may be suffering with early peri meno symptoms, the extremes of your palpitations and night time problems really show 'high stress'.
Stress is a major cause of all kinds of health issues and CBT can be helpful but it does depend on whether you get the right person helping you and it can take a long time to be beneficial. I do understand the time issues of fitting CBT into the schedule and it takes quite a bit of strength and determination to apply what you learn - which at the moment you don't have as you are toooo exhausted.
I think this doctor is proceeding in a very sensible way and it may take time to find the right drugs or possibly HRT to relieve your symptoms.
I would just like to suggest you read a book that many, many people have found helpful and my GP recommended - it's essentially a self help CBT that is easy to build into your life and can have quite quick beneficial results.
 Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world [Paperback].  You need to break the cycle of anxiety - I am finding I get fewer headaches since I started practising the exercises in this book - the strategies are really quite easy.
DG x

Click here to buy on Amazon: Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world

[Rowan]

Agree with all DG has said, in 2008 I started with anxiety and then panic, due to post surgery stress, palps included ( had all the tests that the NHS offered and found my heart was normal)

The only thing that helped me were two people Claire Weekes and Charles Linden ( I bought his method and though expensive, it worked, especially his Panic Eliminator CD)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlMdc_osnpU

and a free download

http://www.anxiety-central.com/index.php/page/index.html/_/articles/forum/how-to-recover-from-anxiety-by-dr-cla-r68

[tired lady]

Thank you so much Dancinggirl and Silverlady for you help and advice, I really appreciate it

I have not been getting on at all well with my beta blockers, in fact they have made me feel so awful that I have only taken two of them!  The first night I took one I woke up in a fright feeling boiling hot but my heart didn't pound or race due to the effect of the beta blockers but I was so hot that I had to go and splash myself with cold water.  I also felt a strange buzzing feeling in my head and felt a bit light headed.  I managed to get back to sleep but the next day I felt absolutely awful, I had no energy at all even though I had slept longer than I normally do - I think that was down to the beta blockers.  I then read the potential side effects and scared myself so I decided not to take one for the next few nights.  I then woke up each night feeling hot with my heart pounding and on one of the nights it started to race really fast and I went to the bathroom in a panic, splashed myself with cold water and then went back to bed and tried to calm down but it took a while for my heart to back to normal.

The next night I decided to try a beta blocker again but woke up again feeling really hot with a horrible buzzing feeling in my head, a bit like tinnitus.  However, again my heart wasn't pounding but I felt really weird and spaced out and in a way the anxiety is more intense when my heart isn't pounding along with it.  The next day I felt absolutely awful, I had no energy and basically felt like a slug!

I'm really not happy about taking the beta blockers, I'm too busy to feel like a zombie all day and I don't like the way they make me feel dizzy with my head buzzing everytime I move it!  I am just wondering whether the fact that I'm still waking up boiling hot and sweaty even when taking the beta blockers means  that I am having perimeno symptoms rather than just pure anxiety.  The beta blockers are just stopping the symptoms that are being caused by something and I think I am having perimeno night sweats, just like my mum did - she didn't get any hot flushes during the day it was all happening at night!

I am supposed to be going back to the doctors in a couple of weeks to say how I've been getting on with the beta blockers and it is going to be embarrassing to say that I've only taken 2 but they just make me feel so awful!  She did say that I could try some HRT in a low dose to see if it helps but I have to admit that I'm worried about the potential side effects of those too.  It is true that I am wrung out at the moment, it is a stressful time for me with a son who is doing A levels and preparing to start university and another son who is poorly with M.E.  I am really hoping that my blood test results are going to show a change in my hormone levels because I will find all this a lot easier to cope with if I know what is causing my distressing night time symptoms.

I was just wondering whether anyone else has had trouble taking beta blockers and ended up with some nasty side effects from them?  I'm really not sure if I want to take anymore of them