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[Puffin Mama]

Hello lovely ladies
I have been reading various posts on here for weeks and have found this site immensely reassuring as one weird symptom after another appears - but I am now really worried that there is some other underlying problem and it is absolutely terrifying me.  One of my worst symptoms has been anxiety so worrying is not going to do me any favours  .... but I just feel so stressed and scared and would really appreciate hearing from any of you with similar symptoms.
A bit of background - I suspect I have been in perimenopause for well over a year as having always been very regular with my cycle,  my body decided it would be fun to have a period every 3 weeks and make it a very heavy one as well  !   That was my only symptom for a while but since last summer I have had:
Horrible anxiety, panic attacks and depression - my very nice male GP eventually persuaded me to start sertraline while waiting for an appt at the menopause clinic, which has taken the worst of this away but I now get patches of it through the month
Insomnia/fatigue - sounds like a contradiction, I know  but by around 10pm every night I am exhausted and can't stay awake but am then awake at 4am and can't get back to sleep - this is often when the anxiety kicks in, stomach in a knot, mind racing - I'm sure many of you will know what I mean!
Dreadful digestive problems - I have always been slightly prone to IBS-type symptoms but I can't believe how much hormones are playing havoc with my digestion.  Since Christmas, I have had heartburn and indigestion off the scale!! Can't take Omeprazole so am stuck with Gaviscon and peppermint capsules, gallons of fennel tea and a very careful diet (until I get really fed up and eat loads of chocolate!)
Joint pains and muscle aches - almost constant and feel like I have done a strenuous workout when I have done bugger all!  Have taken up yoga which is helping a bit but feel like an old lady!

My reason for posting now though rather than just lurking is that I have been getting a strange tingling feeling in my hands and often feet as well.  This started a few months ago, accompanied by occasional twitches in my index fingers.   Mentioned it to my GP, who suspected overuse of keyboard and possible touch of carpal tunnel.  He also said it could be anxiety, which might be making me overbreathe and that this can cause similar symptoms.   I did have a slight freakout about the tingling and my mind started throwing up all sorts of horrible things (not aided by my Googling my symptoms!) but I had just about managed to reassure myself that I did not have something dreadful.
For the last few weeks, on and off, I now have an awful blocked throat kind of feeling - like there is something there that I keep trying to swallow but doesn't go away.  Sometimes it feels like mucus (sorry!) and I am able to swallow it but then I get more, sometimes it just feels like a lump.   My glands are quite swollen and sore and I am also producing more saliva than normal and have a 'burnt tongue' feeling, which is driving me mad!   I can eat and drink normally but I am getting so scared about this being a sign of something neurological that I  think I am imagining that swallowing things feels weird, if you know what I mean.

I am a single parent with an 11 year old daughter and I am so scared of having something wrong with me that I am on the verge of tears a lot of the time at the moment and not coping well at all - I would be so grateful to hear whether anyone has similar symptoms?   If I could reassure myself that they are all hormonal then I would cope with them a lot better - I feel like I desperately need some reassurance that I am ok but will feel like such an idiot going back to my GP - who has been unendingly patient - and asking him if I might be developing something scary. 

Thank you all for reading - even writing this down has been a relief as I feel too stupid to tell anyone what is worrying me.   My mum has been quite supportive so far but she reckons she sailed through menopause (touch of rose-coloured glasses I suspect  ) and is very much of the 'just get on with it' school of thought and I don't think she believes how bad I feel at times.

Never realised how evil hormones could be  - it's like being on a rollercoaster that just keeps going round!

[Kathleen]

Hello Puffin Mama and welcome to the forum.

I am so sorry to hear that you are having a tough time and you have my sympathy. All your experiences sound menopause related to me and I'm sure other ladies will be along to offer detailed help and advice.  In my time I've sampled everything you have mentioned except indigestion and muscle aches. I have no idea why but I guess there's still time lol.
I am 58 now and on patches HRT but reading your post reminded me that about ten years ago I had a dry mouth and felt a lump in my throat that lasted for a few months before fading and it has never happened again. I wasn't clued up on the meno then but I now think that was probably an early symptom.

I wish you well and keep posting. The ladies here are fantastic and you are not alone.

K.

[Puffin Mama]

Hi Kathleen and thank you - it's my first post so I am thrilled to get a reply 
I like your comment of having 'sampled' most of my symptoms - shame that sometimes the sampling drags on for rather a long time!  Just when I think my body cannot possibly produce anything else strange, it proves me wrong 
The throat thing is really getting me down although it was good (not good at all but you know what I mean) to hear that you had the same thing and it disappeared.  I am sure it's making me more anxious, which then makes it worse.  Am due to be seeing GP again this week anyway just to check in so should I mention my fears or will I sound like a complete hypochondriac?

Should have said in first post,  I am 46 and have tried Evorel and Estrodot but didn't get on well with either.   Consultant at meno clinic now thinks I may be progesterone deficient and has prescribed Utrogestan, which I will be starting in a few days.

I would give almost anything just to feel normal again and I know many ladies on here have said the same thing.

[GeordieGirl]

Hi,
I really feel for you - I suspect many of us didn't know what horrors our hormones could throw at us when they start to decline, I thought the menopause was just about a few hot flushes, but oh no, they've far more in  store for us than that!

I'm 48 and have suffered from nothing worse than a cold /  flu for most of 47 years. Then all of a sudden in the last 4 months I've had a cyst, a colon polyps, insomnia, thinning hair, muscle ache, vaginal dryness, lack of concentration, a decline in my previously excellent eye sight and the most appalling memory fog that made me worry that I had Alzheimers. I've also just found out last week that my heart is in the red zone as it's beating too slow (oestrogen ?).  All coincidental? I suspect not (unless I'm talking to my GPs who really are clueless).  Just talking to a friend last night and she's had a sore throat for nearly 12 months with lots of tests with no conclusion, she's got other symptoms like yours too - perhaps the throat is yet another on the list?  I'm sure other posters may know more about this.

You've mentioned a number of symptoms that are classic menopausal so it's definitely worth going back  to your GP on this front - replacing those hormones can certainly help reduce the issues (though it may take a while to get the correct dosage /  combination).  It's worth reading through the site a little more to get armed, knowledge is power and you're less likely to be fobbed off.

GG x

P.S. I'm a single parent too, you really don't need this 'challenge' on top of everything else you're juggling x

[GeordieGirl]

it's definitely worth going back  to your GP on this front - replacing those hormones can certainly help reduce the issues (though it may take a while to get the correct dosage /  combination).  It's worth reading through the site a little more to get armed, knowledge is power and you're less likely to be fobbed off.

Aha, posted before I saw your response about already being on HRT. It's worth reading more of the forum as you'll get an idea on issues others have had - it looks like getting the right combination can work wonders but is a game of trial and error.

I'd definitely list your symptoms for the GP so nothing is overlooked - I've often come out then realised I'd forgotten to mention one of the main things I went in for !

GG x

[Puffin Mama]

Hi Geordie Girl
Thank you so much for reading my tale of woe and replying    .  I have been a single parent pretty much since I had my daughter and although it has its challenges,  I have never struggled as much as I have done in the last few months.  Doesn't help that my daughter's hormones are starting to change as well - as my best friend said recently, we can look forward to 'fireworks every day'    (although she is in exactly the same boat!). How old are yours?

That's good advice about making a list,  I will do that before my next appt.  I'm sure my GP is sick of the sight of me but he always listens and has been happy to let me try things out as long as they have no potential nasty side-effects so I am lucky there - he is not the most knowledgeable about menopause but does appear willing to learn and looks things up when he is not sure. (Big improvement on the female GP I was seeing before who informed me that she didn't think any of my symptoms were hormonal!!).

Am now sitting at my desk sucking boiled sweets to try and ignore my throat..........this is without doubt my worst symptom so far 

[dogdoc]

Hi puffin. Yes I get tingles. Tingling fingers. Tingling face. Tingling lips. Convinced I have ms. Or lupus.  Or some other God awful undiagnosable and fatal illness. I've had mris. Ct scans. Stress echoes. I'm normal. I think many many of us go through this and we're never fully reassured because so few gp's recognize meno symptoms.

Not just Gp's either but specialists. My neurologist told me its carpal tunnel ( it's not), the internal medicine specialist told me it was stress ( it's not) .

What I tell myself regularly ( particularly when I've convinced myself I'm dying of something else) is this: what is most likely? That I'm dying of some non diagnosable neurological and behavioural disease that no doctors recognize which doesn't show up on testing or I'm going through something common that most women will experience to one extent or another some time after 35?

Sometimes I don't believe myself but I try. I found one lovely women's health doctor who told me I was the poster child for perimenopause. She wasn't super clued in on hrt but I cried and cried when she told me she thought it was peri ( what I had thought) after about 8 other doctors including specialists telling me I was depressed or stressed.

You know what was making me stressed ?? Having no answers!!!!!

[Puffin Mama]

Hi dogdoc  (great name - are you a vet?)
Thanks so much for that - in the last few weeks I have diagnosed myself with cancer, MS, MND and god knows what else.   Like you,  I try to be logical and think what are the chances of any of those and as this weird throat has come along with all my other symptoms, it is far more likely to be hormonal as well.......but it's hard to remain logical when you feel scared.

If I could get some tests done to rule things out,  I think that would at least put my mind at rest to a certain extent but I suspect my GP will tell me it's anxiety - of course I'm anxious but the throat thing came before this particular bout of anxiety!

I know what you mean about the relief when someone believes you - I had to suggest to my GP that my symptoms might be perimenopause after my mum and an older friend had suggested it - it had never crossed my mind until then and GP was rather sceptical initially but was willing to let me trial HRT and refer me to the meno clinic when the HRT didn't suit me.  Even then,  the first doctor I saw there told me that digestive problems are not generally part of meno  - it was only when I saw the head consultant on my last visit  and mentioned digestive problems again and he started nodding vigorously that I felt they were taken seriously.  Sadly, I didn't mention my throat as it had worn off a bit at that point but has now come back - it would be good to know if any of you ladies have the same symptom?

[Hola Lolly]

Hello sweetie

I can so identify with everything you are going through.  I genuinely think I am dying half the time because of all the symptoms.  This string of posts has been fabulously reassuring, knowing that others are going through the same.  Life is so damned hard just now, but keep positive and it will get better. 
I had all the tests done privately for my throat, and was convinced they had missed something as it is so progressively uncomfortable.  Seems it's yet another menopause challenge, along with all the others.  Chin up.  Xx

[Poppyflower]

Hi Puffin Momma

Yes, I too have had the throat thing and I agree it is a scary feeling. In my case I think it was from anxiety, although i have never had anxiety before this whole perimenopause hell started. I also am not sure if our hormone imbalances make us feel anxious which gives us all the physical anxiety symptoms or if we get the physical symptoms and in turn get anxious about the whole thing and then get even more issues. All that I do know is that it sounds to me like all the things you are describing are menopause related, as I have had them all as well. I am in the process of trying to get my hormones all sorted out with trying birth control, however I think I am going to see about switching too HRT. I also know exactly how you feel in regards to just wanting some Doctor-any doctor to say that Yes this is all caused by hormones. No one would finally say this too me until I had a blood test for a hormone called anti muellerian (spelling?) hormone done, it is not widely used and i think it is up and coming. I wish for you too feel well soon and take care. This forum is a god send for me and has helped alot, so keep checking it out. 

Lori

[Puffin Mama]

Hi Hola Lolly and Poppyflower
Thank you both so much - it is so reassuring to hear that you have both had the same thing and it makes me feel slightly less like I am going mad.   I too have wondered whether the anxiety comes from hormones or whether we get all these horrible physical things and they set off the anxiety.......it's chicken and egg        So relieved you both think the throat thing is meno-related,  I have been completely freaked out by it and convinced it must be the first sign of something awful.   Have just given myself a little talking to and I'm sure I will come back and re-read this thread  many times just for reassurance.  Feeling so worn out most of the time doesn't help,  I feel sure that if I could just have a proper break with some sun, I would feel much better  .

I am so pleased I found this forum, it is a real lifeline and I was pleased to see my meno clinic putting the website address on their info leaflet.

[dazned]

Hi all 


You are in the right place now and not alone anymore. Lots of great info to be found here ,have a look at all the tabs above ,ask any question you like and you will find plenty of support.
Just for the record I too was convinced I must have something terminal as surely hormones couldn't possibly make me feel this bad ,could they,they could and do ! I 've had terrible panic attacks,palpitations,insomnia,awful anxiety,lost all my confidence,terrible nausea,horrendous! These Damn hormones 

Keep posting it helps.

[Annie0710]

Hi puffin mama

Your symptoms definitely sound meno related, my list is too long to mention but my most distressing (I'm sure meno ) are terrible gum recession that has cost me a lot of money and tears, I've just been diagnosed with a paralysed nerve in my eye giving me double vision, burning mouth syndrome where I get burns anywhere inside and it takes layers of skin off so eating is painful, dizziness, palpitations, nausea bladder probs, loss of libido, dryness.  My IBS came back bad a few years ago and nothing docs gave me helped, I buy pro 20 biotic and they are amazing !

My burning mouth condition, when it goes to near my throat mimics that I have a throat infection

I have all the aches pains and stiffness that the ladies here talk about, I've lost all my confidence over the last 3 years and have gone from a party animal to almost a recluse

3 years ago I had every test going and so know overall, medically I'm well, but these damn hormones make you feel like you've got a life shortening illness

Xx

[Puffin Mama]

Thanks so much, dazned, sparkle and Annie - your posts cheered me up no end when I read them late last night but I couldn't face trying to reply to them on my phone in bed! Annie, you've had a horrible time with your symptoms, how scary for you!   I know what you mean about not feeling like going out anywhere - I have days at the moment where I just want to hide under the duvet but as I work full time it's not really an option!!  Since last summer,  I have had tests for all sorts of things as well and all came back negative so I know there can't be anything serious wrong with me.
Sparkle,  I think I have read your acid reflux thread!  My GP reckons this may be causing some of my problems but I can't take any of the 'prazole' family as they make me feel very weird - I hope you get some info from your test results, it's so frustrating having all these symptoms and not being able to find the right thing to take to shift them  . How long has your throat thing been going on for, dare I ask?  Mine seems worse in the morning and I have the sore throat and the constant clearing it - I had no idea that it's a common symptom but that makes me feel quite reassured.   I have seen my acupuncturist for this a couple of times and that did start to shift it but can't really afford to go every week so need to manage it in between times.  I don't know if you have tried acupuncture but there is a thing called 'plum stone throat' which is quite common in trad Chinese medicine!   I am now trying Sudafed sinus relief in an attempt to shift the mucus-y aspect of it  .
Wish I knew how long all these bloody hormonal things would last for - nice to know I'm not alone with them so thank you, ladies xxx

[Hurdity]

Hi Puffin Mama

  from me too.

Sounds like you've had lots of helpful replies already.

Just to say I would be surprised if swollen glands were a symptoms of menopause as well - this might just be a coincidence - our glands swell when trying to fight off an infection, and of course it is that time of year. The throat thing could also be part if this infection, but also the swallowing thing can also be due to stress -  the muscles go into spasm. I sing a lot and it happened to me and even went to have tests but nothing was found to be wrong - but not due to menopause though.

If your periods have become closer together than you are probably not quite into peri-menopause which is when the periods begin to get further apart. There are subtle changes in some of the hormones at this time (when the periods become closer) which give rise to symptoms in some women. This explains why added oestrogen did not help - because it probably hasn't yet decreased (you will be able to try again later)! Also I am suprrised also that you have been given progesterone because again - that usually becomes deficient after periods are skipped due to cycles where you don't ovulate - although maybe oestrogen levels do sometimes get very high as the periods become closer together (I don't know much about what happens to the hormones at this stage as you can probably tell). You would be able to tell if your progesterone may be deficient though if your periods were not only becoming closer together but also heavier - and added progesterone may help to keep the lining thin. I don't think it is often given at this point though?

Personally I think there is more going on at this time than is generally recognised ie almost like a pre-peri-menopause - judging by the symptoms that you and others are reporting. I feel so glad actually that I knew nothing about it and ignored it all until I started getting hot flushes when my periods stopped for some time - I had no idea of the reasons for my symptoms and just put it down to life or other things (including all the crying!)!

There is an interesting article here about the stages in reproductive ageing - and the late reproductive stage is when the periods often become closer together:
http://www.imsociety.org/downloads/email_downloads/2012_02_16_1773491/straw10.pdf

I also want to say please do not worry about all the little things - but if there is anything that doesn't seem quite right that should be checked (for example persistent headaches) - always important to see a doctor - because it is also all too easy to blame everything on menopause when something serious could be missed. Better to be investigated and then be given the all clear I would say - that's what the health system is there for!

Hope this helps!

Hurdity x