Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[AgathaC]

Thanks everyone xx
I've eaten and drunk and kept busy but it's still there. Aaargh. I haven't slept well for days which doesn't help but which doesn't cause it (I think).
Definitely feel overwhelmed at times and definitely get a feeling of exhaustion and being wrung out when the panic subsides.
I'm sure it's hormonal because I get (what I call) boob surges at the same time.
I've got so many symptoms that I feel like I'm going nuts xx

[Miabella]

I too believe there is nothing I can do to prevent anxiety or make it go. Lying down, however strong the urge, seems to make it worse, but I have no control over when it comes or goes, or how severe it is. It is the worst thing I have ever experienced. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but sometimes I wish those around me could me feel how it is just for a couple of hours and then they'd understand how awful I feel.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I can sympathise with you all as I often have this horrible panicky feeling for absolutely no logical reason. I've posted before about suddenly feeling afraid of something inanimate or ridiculous. I've even had it about an upcoming event that I'm not involved with at all. Scared of something that someone else is doing is bizarre I think you'll agree lol!

My trusty meno book talks about feelings of dread and being overwhelmed by tasks that we used to  handle easily and that resonates with me. Weirdly when I'm calm ( and yes, it does happen occasionally ) nothing seems to bother me and I feel upbeat and optimistic. I just wish these episodes would last longer than they do atm.

At my recent appointment with my consultant I mentioned the above and  she said that it indicated that my ovaries were still producing some oestrogen of  their own, despite me being nearly 62 and post meno since age 55.

So far I have yet to find a successful strategy for dealing with these awful symptoms. I will keep trying though!

Wishing everyone well and sending hugs.

K.

[Mustard1]

HI there,  Agghhhhhh - anxiety - it is hellish.  I did not suffer anxiety before and now have it really bad and it is a "fear" type feeling - I can feel it in my stomach and chest.  It is also completely irrational and happens around 9ish in the morning and can last all day but rarely at night!!!!  However, it is overwhelming and is actually stopping me from doing what I would normally love doing.  I read a post on here that oestrogen does help so my Meno DR has upped me to another 1/2 pump of oestrogel.  I totally sympathise - it is the worth symptom I have and is normally followed with depression.  I am definitely coming back as a male!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I would also say that I have tried every therapy going including hypnosis, CBT, breathing, diet and nothing moves it.  M xxx

[racjen]

I just don't know how on earth I'm expected to work while all this is going on. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of a partner who can support me, I don't own a house and am currently paying a ridiculous amount of rent as both my daughters still live with me and have mental health problems of their own. I'm terrified that I won't be able to get back to work (have been off for 9 months now) and will end up having to jump through all the hoops to claim sickness benefit. Even if I do qualify it's nothing like enough to live on. How do others manage? Is everyone else on here who's had to give up work being supported by a partner?

[Kathleen]

Hello. Me again.

Mustard1 - I could've written your post! I don't always wake up with the horrible feelings but they usually arrive during the morning. I also feel better at night. I've also tried deep breathing techniques, dietary changes and sampled hypnotherapy, all without success. I am currently increasing my Oestrogel but no joy as yet. I think some people are beginning to doubt me when I say that it's hormonal, even though I'm sure that it is. You say that you did not suffer anxiety before and certainly  any  anxiety I've experienced in the past has felt very different to this.

  racjen -  I'm so sorry that your financial situation is adding to your worries. I think women who need to work should qualify for sufficient and effective treatment as  a right. The only reason I held off HRT for as long as I did was because my children had left home and I didn't need to work so I tried to tough it out. Hopefully any ladies in a similar position will be along soon to advise you.

Take care.

K.


 

[CLKD]

It was however, Dr Dalton of NAPS that recommended eating every 3 hours to stop that sudden feeling of hunger when hormones bounced up and/or down.  That's every 3 hours, 24/7.  Not when 1 thinks about it.  Something to do with keeping sugar levels even, if they drop anxiety can hit.  It took a while for me to get into the habit, now I try to eat B4 my body requires energy and have biscuits by the bed.  So it can help with hormonally upheaval. 

Recommended was: dry biscuits; slow release food stuffs at breakfast; sandwiches the idea being not to increase what one eats but to spread out food during 24 hours.  I added dried fruits and nuts, bananas, full fat 'coke', toast and pancakes ready when necessary.

[racjen]

So you're supposed to set your alarm clock to wake you every 3 hours during the night to eat? Sounds a bit counter-productive to me, if I manage to sleep for more than 3 hours on the trot I certainly don't want to have to be woken up to eat a banana. And before you ask, yes I have tried eating when I happen to be awake in the middle of the night and that doesn't work either. Sorry but I just don't think it's that simple.

[Tempest]

You're actually right, Racjen - unless you have a condition called reactive hypoglycemia which has been formally diagnosed, no one needs to eat in the middle of the night. In fact - I have been formally diagnosed with this by my endocrinologist and by working on my diet to modify my drops with my dietician, I definitely do not have to eat in the night. And spiking with anything sugary is a huge no no for me!

It's pretty unhealthy to eat at night, which is when the stomach is in It's 'rest and digest' phase. The feelings of 'low blood sugar' that women experience are probably more likely cortisol spikes or pulses of norepinephrine which can be felt more keenly in menopause due to the erratic ups and downs of hormones, or by women with PMDD who are unusually sensitive to the normal cyclical variation of hormones.  Dr. Elizabeth Vliet writes extensively about this in her book, 'Screaming To Be Heard'.

If anyone is waking at 4am absolutely jumping out of their skin with their heart racing - then that's cortisol's favourite little party trick during perimenopause. Cortisol starts rising from 4am onward, and it doesn't place nicely during the transition - just as other hormones don't. If you then feed it a banana - which contains fructose or heaven forbid dried fruit or a glass of coke, you are adding fuel to the bonfire as sugar is the last thing you need to add to a nasty release of stress hormones.

This is such blinkin' hard work, isn't it?😮😮 xxxx

[Miabella]

I just wish they would find something that gets rid of it! Here I am again facing another day feeling awful, worrying if I'll manage to get through work, with no idea when the anxiety will lift. Thanks to everyone else who has shared on this thread. It really really helps to know I'm not alone x

[loveydovey]

I have this to but im post meno 

[Miabella]

I am post meno too. It only started after my last period had stopped. I find myself looking at other women who look around my age, who look fine, (though I probably look fine too), wondering why I have to feel this way. Anyone else ever do that?

[AgathaC]

Thanks, CLKD, always for your wonderful and caring tips. You are absolutely right that unless we eat and drink correctly and regularly, it can exacerbate already horrid symptoms. I will be sure to keep hydrated.
I've had a good and busy morning at home and the anxiety arrived like a bullet as I was peeling vegetables. No rhyme or reason, accompanied by feeling awful all over, red face, nausea. It's very odd and very disturbing.
Racjen - I'm sorry that your work and financial pressures add to your burdens at this time, and you also mentioned your daughters. For me, the reason why I'm positive this is hormonal is that I don't really have anything to be anxious about - yet, I'm ruining so much time with all this overthinking and worrying and “what if's”. Racjen - you also ask about how other people cope with employment. I used to have a high profile public job which I could not be doing at the moment. So now I'm an employer working for myself and I'm very sympathetic to any personal health issues. But not everyone is and I realise that some people actually cannot work at all (when this hits me at work, I have to leave/go to my car/go home - none of which would have been possible in my prior role). I often wonder, yes, if other ladies feel this way. I've started looking at ladies my age and older than me very differently and with great admiration!

[Florence69]

Racjen I've been unable to work for a year now and will probably have to retire due to ill health at the age of 49
I don't have anyone support me so I have to survive on universal credit and I'm waiting for my PIP appeal. If I'd been born 100 years ago I would be in the poorhouse or the lunatic asylum !!
X
Flo

[Roseneath]

I thought I had shifted the anxiety a I went to a concert on Saturday and out of the blue my heart started hammering like the clappers and I felt dizzy.   I had to really focus and get a grip of myself as I couldn't leave. Went for some fresh air at half time and better.  Had a rubbish sleep night last night and my heart seemed to be vibrating like a phone. Queue panic attack. Stupidly got out of bed and Googled it like an idiot so that was me shaking and in a state until 6:30am. I had an episode like this last year so my hubby is just worried his fruit cake wife is returning again. I tried to make a GP appointment but soonest is 3 weeks away or telephone appointment 8 days! In my agitated state I will be dead & buried by then! It's the up and down of this that kills me. One week I feel 'better' then boom it hits.