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[honorsmum]

I will admit, I am confused.
Having had a horrible time that started quietly last summer and peaked in January, I am now feeling much better. It has been a gradual thing over the last 5 weeks or so. I don't feel so unlike me in the same way as I did, I'm sleeping well, I'm eating ok, I'm slowly feeling more motivated and have more energy (although I still can't imagine going back to running) and the anxiety has diminished to a bit of a surge most mornings and a low hum at other times. I'm still getting a racing heart randomly, still have to pace myself, still have dry skin, hair and nails, still having night sweats a couple of times a week, still getting irregular cycles, spots, low libido etc.

I'm due to see Annie Evans on Friday, but I feel a bit like a fraud - maybe I'm not in perimenopause after all??

Is it normal for peri to involved bad periods and periods of feeling "ok"?

[dazned]

I certainly know they can come and go sometimes within hours in my case never mind days ! 

One day I think oh don't feel bad at all ,next day I'm terrible ! It's like snakes and ladders !

Can see why it could be like that in peri but not supposedly post at age 55 when there shouldn't be that much fluctuation in hormones ! I'm beginning to think this latest downward trend started after my best friend had a very traumatic event happen to her and 4 days later I went into full blown panic and anxiety ,palpitations,etc.
Could it be excessive adrenaline chiming in messing with my hrt or maybe I'm clutching at straws, I'm very good at that ! 

At to hear you are not in a good place either 

Honorsmum hopefully you will get some answers Friday,please let us know how you get on xx

[dazned]

Got a double appointment booked tomorrow at doctors,to discuss the possibilities of having low dose propropanol at night to see if she thinks that might help ! Bet she suggests AD but that ain't happening ! 

[honorsmum]

Thanks Sparkle and Dazned - reassuring to know you've experienced it too.
I was considering cancelling my appointment with Annie, but my husband has suggested that I would regret not going the next time I feel awful - and she is in such demand, I would struggle to get an appointment when I needed one.

[Dancinggirl]

honorsmum
The point of seeing Annie is to discuss your options.  Symptoms definitely come and go and the peri stage can last a long time.  As your hormones decline you may find the symptoms increase and/or happen more often.
Chatting with Annie will hopefully help you to find a good way forward - I'm sure she won't push you towards HRT unless she feels it's really right for you and you don't have to use anything yet - perhaps have the prescription in the drawer if you feel you want to try them in the near future.
DG x 

[honorsmum]

Thank you, DG.
I'm suffering from imposter syndrome, thinking maybe I've just been through a "funny patch" and have wrongly blamed it on hormones. 
I feel so much better than I did. Maybe it's because the supplements and self help stuff I've been doing are helping?

[Hurdity]

Hi honorsmum

If you are having irregular cycles -and missing periods, then your hormones are definitely beginning to go haywire. As the others have said if you are hitting a good patch then your oestrogen has probably increased again - so that's great - but it probably won't be too long before it falls too!

Why not look back at the posts you made when you were feeling rough to see what you were experiencing and write this down to tell Dr Evans. I agree don't cancel your appointment - she is an expert gynae after all!

Anything you can do to improve your diet, lifestyle, exercise and reducing stress, can only be of benefit to you as you enter this new phase of your life 

Hurdity x

[honorsmum]

Thank you, Hurdity.
I haven't actually missed any periods, but they are fluctuating anywhere between 21 and 28 days, never the  same length cycle twice. I've looked back over 2013 and 2014, and my cycles were irregular both years but more so last year and now.

I'll see Annie and see what she says - you're right about reminding myself how bad the bad days have been!

[Briony]

Absolutely. In fact, my doctor said it's often the first 'clue' she gets that's someone's issues are hormonal rather than something else, especially when the symptoms are atypical like mine were (ie no hot flushes, no dryness, no anxiety initially). I am sure, if more doctors recognised this, it would save the NHS thousands - hate to think how many unnecessary MRIs, blood tests and consultants visits I have had (plus all the fear and stress each caused me). x

[Kathleen]

Hello honorsmum.

I am post meno, using patches HRT and my symptoms change like the weather! I have been feeling horrible for weeks and then about 10 am today all the tension lifted and I felt calm. The irritability is creeping back now but is manageable.

In her book, Dr Miriam Stoppard talks about the roller coaster ride that characterises the menopause and she isn't wrong. I have never experienced such physical and emotional extremes and if I did during puberty I don't recall it.

I can sympathise with your dilemma because when I feel okay ( see above ) I honestly wonder what all the fuss is about and can't imagine feeling rotten ever again.  However when my mood etc changes ( see above ) I panic that I'll never know another normal moment as long as I live!

I agree with the other ladies and suggest that you keep your appointment with Dr Evans, it can only help you, if not today then maybe sometime soon.

Wishing you well and let us know how it goes.

Take care.

K.

[BrightLight]

What have you got to loose keeping your appointment?  Nothing   It's great you are on an upward swing.  You are certainly not an imposter x

[Hurdity]

honorsmum - I'm going to do a separate post about stages of menopause and cycles 

Hurdity x

[wombat62]

Definitely! I'm post and on HRT and I'll have a good patch and then crash and then feel good again and then round and round we go.

Just before Xmas I was having a good run, loads of energy, feeling slimmer and stupidly wondered if I could cut down on HRT then over Xmas crashed and night sweats back, the odd flush, no energy, bloating, emotional....Arghhh! Gradually getting better but any upset/worries etc seems to drag you down again.

You totally get fed up with it all! I wouldn't mind so much but had no hormonal probs as a teen or in latter years but jeez making up for it now!

[Dancinggirl]

I don't think we should discount the effect that viral infections have.  I was congratulating myself on getting through the winter so well since I went back on HRT 3 months ago. Then a couple of weeks ago I started to feel rough - woke in the night feeling sweaty and developed a nasty headache that lasted for several days. My joints started to ache and I realised my neck was sore, which I assume was because my glands were up. I feel wiped out now and I'm pretty sure that I've had a an insidious virus.
I was always a skeptic about post viral fatigue but I do find if takes me longer to recover from things these days.
My brother-in-law, who is a very eminent gastroenterologist, is convinced that fatigue following a virus is more common than was first thought and there are many low grade viruses that will hit us and bring this nasty fatigue.
If I had had this virus in the first few weeks of taking HRT I would have blamed the HRT !

Looking back over the year without HRT I realise I felt as though I had a virus most of the time. The constant flushes and night sweats, feeling tired and headachy much of the time would make it impossible to know whether one had a virus or not.
I do think that whether you use HRT or not, through your 50s and into your 60s we should pace ourselves and accept that these viral bugs may knock us sideways a bit more than they used to.
I don't think we should blame hormones for everything - getting older is a………...  .  DG x

[Kristy]

This is an all too familiar scenario for me as well.
I have been going through perimeno for 2 years and it seems to follow a pattern: 2 to 3 months of hot flushes, interrupted sleep, irritability, dull complexion, no periods. Then I get a surge of oestrogen, feel better for a couple of weeks, complexion looks brighter, sleep improves, hot flushes disappear, periods come back.
However, after this last period and after a couple of good weeks of oestrogen in my system, my mood has crashed and I now feel quite anxious, depressed and really don't want to get out of bed in the morning and face the day (have to force myself to do it).
But i'm sure like all my other symptoms, this phase will pass and move on to something else.... It really is a rollercoaster