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[Lesley66]

Hi All, This is my first post. I'm a health anxiety sufferer and I've had a great few years until recently.

I had my last period in September 2015, followed by about 14 months of hot flashes. These finished in about Nov of last year, followed be a few weeks of feeling relieved that the worst was now over! Wrong! The health anxiety that hit me so badly early in peri started to hit in December, when I felt a slight tingling in my right big toe. Stupidly I googled and hit on peripheral neuropathy. Not being diabetic I fixated on the fact that it can be caused by alcohol abuse. I'm partial as are a lot of people to a few glasses of wine during the weekends but I'm far from being an alcoholic, in fact I've only recently in the last couple of years started having the odd glass of wine after years of not drinking! I know it's stupid but health anxiety makes you fixate on what dr google tells you for whatever stupid reason! After much fretting a trip to my GP several weeks ago tells me the tingling is due to a irritated nerve in the top of my foot. Mind at rest? No ...

My muscles ache in my arms (probably meno). We just had to take the cat to be rehomed as it's weeing all over the house (major stress and upset). Teaching secondary in a deprived area academy with kids who don't want to know and bring accountable for their results, and the latest .... well I thought I had a tummy bug (wind, belching, gripping lower abdominal pain, bit like period pain, began last Sunday, manifested in diarrea on Tuesday-Thursday, poor appetite, fine Friday and yesterday but back today) googled again and now terrified I have ovarian cancer. Symptoms also match ibs, which I have suffered from undiagnosed I suspect in the past. I'm at my wits end, I'm 50 but have an 8 year old. I've been on ssri meds in the past which helped greatly and have a gp appointment this coming Tuesday but when does this all end? Does anyone else have this crippling anxiety?

[CLKD]

Join The Club - every ache becomes cancer and every headache a brain tumour    - you'll fit right in!

As oestrogen levels drop apparently muscles may become lax = aches and pains which can be eased by over the counter pain relief.  Also the body may dry out: deep in the ears, nostrils, skin, vagina  (we have threads on the latter  )

Anxiety seems to catch ladies un-awares and can become quite distressing.  usually caused by hormonal upheavals, HRT can ease symptoms as can some anti-depressant medication and/or anti-anxiety drugs.  I take a beta-blocka as well as ADs plus an emergency pill for when anxiety floors me.

Browse round.  Make notes!

[MicheleMaBelle]

Poor you Lesley66- it floors you doesn't it? Think you are going absolutely tonto and Mr Google can make things so much worse. I have a bruise on my big toe ( dropped a full bottle of gin on it. The bottle didn't break. if it had I think it would have been more upset about that than breaking my toe )
It was painful but didn't really think anything of it until I went for a pedicure and it was pointed out to me (my toenails are always painted ). Of course, Mr Google tells me I've got a melanoma even although it looked nothing like it. So that's me clocked up another sleepless night. Even although your head is telling you something else, the shadows just keep getting bigger until they resemble a monster. Well, welcome to the Menopause!

Your job sounds stressful and your son is still young so you've got a lot on your plate and stress makes the symptoms worse.
Have you considered HRT- have a read of the stuff on the site and go and see your GP. Might be worth a try but as CLKD rightly says, different strokes for different folks. You're on a journey and just need to find the right path which can take time as trial and error to find what works for you.
I suffer from IBS- sounds like you've got some digestive issues- again common in menopause or maybe just a plain old tummy bug this time round?
Hope you start to feel better soon- keep us posted xx

[CLKD]

"Floors you" is EXACTLY that - hence my need for an emergency pill 

How are you this morning Lesley66?

[Lesley66]

Hi, Thanks for all your replies. It is good to hear from people who understand my struggles.

Still feeling rubbish, pain in mid left abdomen which is common for me when I'm stressed, some lower pelvic pain relieved by passing wind, no appetite (probably worry), feeling tearful, feeling like a poor parent/wife, terrified that I have something sinister .... the list goes on.

On a positive note there's been a lot of kids off with tummy bugs today, but I can't believe a tummy bug would go then return.

While I'm worrying like this I have no quality of life. So fed up with myself, thanks for listening xxx

[CLKD]

You would know if it was a tummy 'bug' ........

When I am full of wind I can chart it's movement because my belly moves  - a gentle prodding gets it moving can't remember whether it's clockwise or not  .  Generally works, especially when I'm in a warm bath 

There are emergency pills for acute anxiety, some of us find relief with Rescue Remedy too. 

[Megamind]

Hi Lesley,
Just to try to reassure you, I had your stomach symptoms last week. Now I do suffer from IBS but this was definitely a stomach bug and I had the same pain in mid left abdomen and lower pelvic pain relieved by passing wind. I had a very uncomfortable week. It lasted most of the week and then Saturday my period arrived (even earlier this month and very heavy). If you do have IBS and you are stressed, stress exacerbates IBS.

I too have aching arms which the physio put down to poor posture causing my muscles to tighten.

I have a family member with anxiety so I know it is very debilitating and hard to overcome, so I wish you well.

[Lesley66]

Again, Thankyou for your kindness and support - it really means a lot!

One thing I have been told I do when I am anxious is swallow a lot, which could account for the wind (swallowing air) I guess there's not much I can do now until I see my GP tomorrow who will have a fix on whether there is some tummy lurgy circulating and maybe laugh me out of the surgery, or send me for a battery of tests on my suspected 'ovarian cancer' symptoms. Either way I am confident that I need some medication to calm me. I was on a low dose of sertraline a few years back which was a really happy and settled period, funnily enough this came about as I was back and forth to my GP with some of the same left sided stitch type pain I'm currently experiencing - husband was doing consultancy work away from home at the time and I was left holding the fort and my then 5 year old, with HA going haywire! I'd give anything to feel like that again at present even though I know that the first few weeks of taking an AD is tough!
 
Megamind -  I have very poor posture too, I'd not thought to relate that to the achy arms, and thankyou for sharing your tummy bug experience, its very helpful. I remember the early, heavy periods well, they're draining aren't they!

CLKD - I've not heard of rescue remedy, I will google it now and see if I can pick any up on my way home. DD is at a friend's this evening so I have some free time.

Lesley x

[babyjane]

Yep, I know.  At the moment I have Trigeminal neuralgia!!!!! (aka sinusitis)    I also have heart disease  (ectopic heartbeats caused by anxiety no less!!  ) and Labyrinthitis (aka mild tinnitus and wax build up.

Anxiety/health anxiety is the pits and will not listen to reason once it really gets going.

My latest outburst has coincided with my husband being away for a few days, so heightening my overall anxiety which is usually under a certain degree of control following a year's psychotherapy.

You will find a lot of reassurance here.

[CLKD]

I can assure you BJ that neuralgia [OUCH!] ain't nowt like sinusitis!  However, when I get acute indigestion it's obviously a potential heart attack even though it usually happens at the 'same' time in the night 

[babyjane]

Daft innit, how the anxiety overrules the common sense processes and sits there whispering lies into our ears until we believe them 

[CLKD]

Singing loudly can help breath correctly 

[Hurdity]

Hi Lesley66

 

You might be one of the lucky ones in having only a relatively short time of hot flushes. However there are other long term consequences of oestrogen deficiency of which low mood is a very important one! Following the last period - average oestrogen levels fall overall roughly for the next couple of years until they reach their lowest level - so even though your flushes have stopped - it could be the effects of the low oestrogen you are experiencing.

If this is the case as Michellemabelle pointed out down the thread, HRT might be worth a try. Unfortunately as edleweiss pointed out, in in the absence of the classic symptoms of flushes and sweats, some unenlightened docs will reach for the anti-depressants at this point so do try to resist these if you feel your symptoms are hormonal.

The other alternative is that your oestrogen could have risen - hence the absence of hot flushes - although this would not explain the low mood - so may there is still a bit of follicular activity going on - just not enough to stimulate ovulation. Your mood would reflect the fall in hormones and the fluctuations - if they are still present.  As you are not much longer than a year since last period and only 50 - you may yet have another - a possibility?

Hurdity x

[Lesley66]

I've also thought low estrogen may be a problem as the new symptoms seem to have started since my flashes finished. The suggestions from everyone have been most welcome and calming so thank you all! I've bought some rescue remedy this evening and some windeze and peppermint oil capsules, and have spent the evening relaxing in bed. I'm trying to deep breathe and not swallow so much. I'll report back after seeing my GP tomorrow, thank you all so much again, it's great to have had a line of communication with other ladies who understand! My lovely work colleagues are all decidedly under 40 and happily oblivious to my woes xxx

[GypsyRoseLee]

Edelweiss - you say that anxiety is a sign of low oestrogen (but can also be a sign of high oestrogen too, which is frustrating, as how are you meant to know which is which/) do you know if aching joints and an upset stomach are signs of low oestrogen, too?