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[Elliemay]

Hi, I ended up in A&E for 5 hours last night, on my own, thoroughly fed up. I've had anxiety for a long time and know how to cope with it, but meno has exacerbated it. I keep  getting pelvic pain on lower left side, all the nerves round the lady bits tingle in the most unpleasant way, there is a burning sensation internally. I also get a feeling like someone has my abdomen in a vice and is squeezing it, or like a really tight belt round the abdomen. It will then trigger a huge wave of panic, chest pain & these attacks make it feel impossible to cope a second longer. I usually try & distract from it & use cbt or mindfulness but it doesn't seem to help much. Another symptom has appeared, like a cold feeling and a sense of dread down both arms which is all new and very distressing. They put that down to anxiety too.

I went to A&E because i was actually scared of getting through the night. Bear in mind that i am used to coping with bad anxiety attacks and have done for 20 years, only been to A&E around 3 times in my life with it.

I'm satisfied that nothing deadly is wrong with me but am so fed up of managing this. As stated before, i do have a medication phobia and take nothing at all for the anxiety.

I can take things like paracetomol & ibuprofen,  asthma inhalers etc but rarely do. The dr at A&E was understanding and suggested propanolol, as it is not psychoactive he thought it may be easier to get around the phobia. He is right about that bit, but i have some propanolol in the drawer that a gp gave me last year (untouched) you're not supposed to take it with asthma.

He suggested that I go to a sexual health clinic to see whether i had any sti tthat's been grumbling away for years. that is a possibility that i hadn't considered so i will get checked out there.

this also made me wonder whether any of the tingling and pain could be due to VA?

I do have that & it's untreated as it was way down the list of unpleasant symptoms.

Sorry for waffling, 2 hours sleep & so fed up of feeling ill such a lot.

any ideas or insight would really help. 

and even worse,  the hospital coffee machine took £1.50 off me and gave me nothing :-(

[Maryjane]

I have all this , I have something called Pudendal neuralgia , I admin a support group for pelvic pain  if you want to chat with lots of ladies with the same.

[Elliemay]

I have all this , I have something called Pudendal neuralgia , I admin a support group for pelvic pain  if you want to chat with lots of ladies with the same.

whimpers "yes please"

[CLKD]

Take the medication?  What's the worst that could happen?  You take Paracetamol which can be dangerous taken in quantity  . I would like to see it on prescription only.  As for going to a clinic for STIs, I think you probably have vaginal atrophy which can be treated with localised HRT ointment.

VA mimics repeated urine infection-type feelings.  For me it was like razor blades up there  .  Those feelings down your arms could be adrenaline surges.  For me it's like hot water through my veins, my hot flushes were cold ones. 

Some people react opposite to Propranolol than what it is designed for.  However, I take 20mg night and morning without problems.  We are all different. 

I have a phobia ..........but nowt bad has happened to me so far and I bet that I'm older than you 

[Elliemay]

:-) thanks, i defo do have vaginal atrophy. I also have a torn hip labrum that cant be repaired, i think these things irritate the nerve.

Ive just been prescribed herbal meds including st johns wort.. no propanolol with that either. although ive not even plucked up the courage to take that yet!

[Elliemay]

aw thankyou ladies, not used to support with this and it's really helpful. I too have Vagifem in the drawer :-D
amazing how one bad experience with an SSRI did this to me, but it was absolutely horrendous.

[Elliemay]

This herbal blend from an experienced medical herbalist has allsorts in it to calm down the nervous system & help the depression (depression caused by unrelenting physical symptoms) but im scared of the SJW because of serotonin syndrome which is i think what happened with the seroxat that started the phobia. SJW is nothing like seroxat but there is a small chance of it so it's scared me! i want to kick myself up the backside for sabotaging my own recovery. Phobias are so annoying!!

[Dee46]

Elliemay I also had a bad experience from an ssri & still on one, have never felt the same since, the only I take now haso made me feel no better I wish I had never taken them & would love to come off this but scared of the withdrawal  this meno stuff is so scarey

[Elliemay]

I find that some doctors are so blase about trying new meds on people. They just think if it doesn't suit you then stop it and try something else. they don't realise what a nightmare it can trigger, that you are totally on your own with. when i had the bad reaction, the emergency doctor spoke to me on the phone. i was in the most distress ive been in in my life and she laughed! "oh yeah, it'll be the tablet, youll have to wait for it to get out of your system" that one tablet caused me to be scared to leave the house for a week and kicked off a whole new anxiety disorder & multiple phobias.And I'm being daft? :-o

And another thing, it was right at the time we were going to try for a baby. The anxiety prevented me from going ahead & I never had any children. they haven't a clue!

[Annie0710]

A phobia is nasty for the sufferer.  Anyone who doesn't suffer from your particular one  can easily say "what's the harm?"  Even you probably know you'll be fine but that doesn't help the fear.  I think you need to talk about your fears and learn how to change your thoughts.  I suffer social anxiety, no it hasn't killed me going down the pub but that doesn't change the fact I'm a wreck leading up to it and during it x

Re the VA, please get it sorted if you can pluck the courage up, it's a nasty thing and really make you miserable x

[Elliemay]

Thanks Annie, over the years i did improve it massively through talking therapies and cbt type work but meno has really kicked it off badly. plus the depression made me less able to cope with it,  it's like everything went on me at once!

Im 6 years post meno and the VA didnt start til a few years in. And I had just started a new relationship so it was soo embarrassing and pretty devastating. so sinking into the gloom I let treatment for it slide.

I still have a lot of cbt to do! sigh

[Dee46]

I agree they say oh here's an AD it will take 2 weeks to work, I was on pregrablin for nerve pain & they put me straight onto sertraline, I was having massive panic attacks put into this dark place, nightsweats & insomnia & again all I got was continue taking it, i was shaking constantly going to work in this deep depression due to the tablet, it set off this anxiety I have never had that with the hormones I haven't felt right in 18 months constant panic attacks & i don't like being away from home now either, no you are not being daft at all thelse ADs should not be dished out willy nilly, I have been to counselling so know how to deal with theses feelings I know mine are hormones but the AD has scared me

[Maryjane]

If you message me your email address I will tell you how to find the group.

[TinaOptimist]

Hi Elliemay,
I can relate to your fears. I had a UTI followed by thrush which after a delay in treatment caused me to suffer from vulvadynia with so much pelvic pain it was scary. I couldn't handle it and ended up in A&E twice on the same night with panic attacks both times. I have never had a panic attack before in my life and didn't even know I was having one until the second time. My arms and LEDs tingled so much I couldn't even walk. They gave me paracetamol intravenously and it all calmed down. I begged them to help with the pain but the gynaecologist sent me home anyway saying I would get referred to the vulval pain clinic and they would help me live with chronic pain. I was even more scared.
Anyway I did a lot of self help and research and got other therapists on board. Initially I distracted myself by glossing all the doors. I used a hot water bottle to calm my tight stomach muscles. I got my hubby to hug me a lot. I talked to friends and didn't keep it all to myself. I stayed at home and did a lot of housework as well as painting. I found acupuncture helped calm me. I went to a physio for extra support. Pilates really helped too. I read amitriptyline can be helpful for pelvic pain and anxiety and I took a small dose for several months. It really did help and stopped me shaking. I just take it once or twice a week now as it helps me have a lovely deep sleep. I found breathing exercise apps really helpful. I also used relax plus app which is great for getting more positive. It has lots of different downloads such as stop overthinking and quiet mind. I listen at night when I tend to feel sorry for myself.
I am sure you have tried some of these before but they all helped calm me right down again. I feel so much better than I did. My hubby probably won't ever get over having to wheel me into A&E with a blanket over my head because I felt so weird but so embarrassed to be screaming and scared witless! So out of character for me. I am the controlled sort normally.
Hope any of this helps. I agree with the others about medication. It can be so helpful. I have never taken medication regularly before but I was shaking like a leaf and couldn't eat either so sometimes needs must. Be kind to yourself and do whatever you need to start mending

[TinaOptimist]

Obviously I meant legs in my post above. Also I didn't mention the many visits to my doctors as I was so anxious about what was going on. They tried to help and suggested various medication including HRT and Vagifem, which I still may try. But I settled on being prescribed amitriptyline just to get myself calmed down. I have tried almost every vaginal lubricant and moisturiser going, which 6 months ago I didn't even know existed. I now have some which suit me and don't increase the pelvic pain, which has now mostly calmed down. It's my bladder/urethra which is a bit whines these days. I have settled on SYLK, Sweet Almond Oil, pjur med Premium glide or Yes WB for vagina/vulva lubrication or moisturising.All trial and error.
Let us know how you get on.