Hello,
I recently saw a menopause specialist. In the letter she sent to my GP afterwards, she started it with 'I saw this very pleasant but rather unfortunate young 35 year old'. That just about summed it up for me.
Let me share a bit about me. I am 35, married to a lovely husband and I have a 3 year old daughter. When I was 15, I had a large ovarian cyst which required surgery. I was put on the pill afterwards to control my periods and cysts. Eventually I was taken off the pill when I was 22 (the doctor had tried to take me off the pill previously, but I grew more cysts). During the next few months, I had permanent stomach pain, especially low on my left hand side. It would wake me at night. I also started to have allergic reactions to food. One night, when I was at home with my parents, I had a glass of wine and went into anaphylactic shock. I saw a number of doctors and consultants following this. I saw a dietician, who put me on a no sugar, no yeast diet. I was diagnosed with asthma. I had allergy tests. Out of 40 allergens I was tested for, I was allergic to 27 including some nuts, wheat, lactose, shell fish and alcohol. I basically live on rice, potato, meat, fish, some vegetables and fruit. I have various other intolerances too, mainly due to IBS. I cook everything at home from scratch. People wonder how I manage. I have done now for over 10 years. It is not easy sometimes, especially when I go out with friends for a meal who point out everything I can't have
When I was pregnant, I felt in the best health I had been for years. I had to have an emergency c-section (my baby was breech) which no-one wanted to carry out because my allergies (I had a complete anesthetic plan in place as my allergies include some medication, latex and sweetners which can be found in medicines) Within 5 days of having my beautiful daughter, I was back in hospital. I had breast feeding anaphylaxis (yes, I really was allergic to my own breast milk). The staff had to google it to diagnose it as there are so few reported cases. It was a very stressful and emotional time. I had to stop breast feeding or end up in intensive care or worse. I also could not go near my daughter for a few days, as everytime she cried, I started to go into shock
Within the first year of her life, I had awful night sweats and mood swings. I saw my gp (he is fantastic) who sent me for blood tests. My hormone levels were consistent with menopause. I saw a specialist who confirmed I was in perimenopause the day after my 34th birthday. I was started on a low dose of HRT (Femostan). For the first few months, I felt amazing. I could cope again.
In August this year, both myself and my husband were made redundant from the same company. He now has a job in London, leaving the house at 7am and getting home at 8pm. I have taken a job as a carer (which I love), working some evenings and Saturday morning, so I can care for our daughter. Financially, we are worse off so this has been a worry. After Christmas though, my daughter will be at nursery more as she will have funded hours. I am applying for a part time job so I can earn additional money whilst she is at nursery.
Since being made redundant and being at home all day, I am struggling. My HRT is not controlling my menopause at all. Since August, the number of bleeds I am having a month has increased from one to three. As soon as I finish one, a few days later, another one starts. I have horrendous night sweats, I am tearful all the time and mega moody
The menopause specialist has given me a higher dose of Femostan but I cannot start this until the end of the pack i'm on. She also prescribed Testosterone Gel because of my lack of energy and fatigue, but I cannot use this because it is 96% alcohol
I am trying to go out with my daughter for more playdates and activities, but these are full of mums either pregnant or trying to get pregnant who ask when I am going to have another
I am trying to remain positive but it can be so hard