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[Conolly]

Good morning, Focus

Hope you had some sleep, I didn't... long story.

The average menopause age is between 51-52, some women have premature, early or late menopause, but I think the heavy bleeding is definitely the sign that you are in the last couple of years before menopause, not necessarily beginning, probably in the middle of it, judging from your history. There's no such thing as 'too young for the menopause'. Actually you're not in menopause, you're in perimenopause and you are the exact age for that.

Conolly X

[dangermouse]

The eye of the storm is a good analogy Conolly!

I suspect the desperate feelings are a good sign we're about to see the light at the end of the tunnel otherwise without a peak we'd physically implode! Many take new action at this point and may assume that what they've taken has changed things but this can be a coincidence.

The pill is a really good way to control everything until you pass the peak though and if the POP doesn't work out then a year on the combined can be Plan B.

[Conolly]

Hello Dangermouse,

I agree, I was desperate at the end of the roller coaster and trialed HRT for 3 months. It didn't make any difference, obviously, because my oestrogen levels were fluctuating wildly. Once the worst is over, then it's more likely that HRT can make a difference. It's all about timing and having as much support as you can when peri is at its peak, awful stuff, a bit like a drug overdose/withdrawal, I suppose.

Conolly X

[suzieb]

I really feel for you Focus.  I too am perimenopausal and having horrendous periods.  I am on Norethisterone for a few months awaiting my second Mirena coil, the first one failed big time and I am very reluctant to try another but trying to be brave! 

I felt so happy and well on the Combined Pill (Gederel), I managed to stay on it through the GP until I was 50 but they won't prescribe it any more.  I am now 54.  Didn't take it back to back as could cope with the periods OK while I was on it.   Do you think it is safe to take after age 50 Dangermouse?  I'm, slim and not overweight, non smoker and no family history of strokes etc.  I think its just our NICE guidelines, maybe different countries have different regulations?  I would love to go back on it until my periods stop! 

Hope you get some relief from it all soon Focus.

[dangermouse]

My GP said it can be prescribed over 50 for perimenopause but will be down to the GP and it isn't much stronger than some HRTs, particularly Loestrin.

[Focus]

Thank you so, so much ladies for all your kind replies. Honestly, when I checked in again after my business weekend, I felt really touched that you'd been replying.

Where to start?

Totally amazing weekend for my work and business. It was everything I was hoping it would be, in terms of feedback and the way I felt about it all (and myself as well). I was like my old self in every way - physically and emotionally. I felt like I had my usual levels of energy and positivity, and felt more open and 'outward looking' than I have felt for a while. I feel like I've become very withdrawn and overly introspective and obsessive over the past few months. I mean, who even is that person? It's not me, for sure. I could also think clearly and didn't have any issues remembering stuff. I feel sharp again...what a relief that has been.

Of course, I was on 3 x 5mg of Norethisterone a day, and that stopped my period as well.

So, onto the weird symptoms.

I've always, always had really bad circulation and my hands and feet have always felt utterly freezing. I've also always had the 'cold in the core of my being' feeling. I spent a lot of time in a really hot country as a small child, so I think I just got used to 30-35 degree type of heat and have just ended up carrying that with me as an adult. I feel happy and relaxed in 28 degrees and above. Last summer was totally amazing for me.

Anyway, yes, always cold. My fiancé has Reynolds, and it's not that I have. My fingernails can turn dark blue/purple quite often because my hands feel so, so cold, but they don't go the waxy, creamy white that his fingers go.

On Friday I noticed that my toes were that weird waxy creamy white colour that my fiancé gets. I didn't even noticed that my toes had been getting cold. I had a hot bath to try and warm up, and it took a while for them to turn back their normal colour, even lying in the bath.

That could be because of lack of fuel in my body. But that's never happened before, even when I had my ED as a teenager/in my 20s.

This morning I noticed that I had the 'dessicated from the core of my being' type of dehydration. I drank a huge glass of water overnight (as I usually do). But I could easily have drunk another. It's weird, it doesn't feel like normal dehydration, but a much more profound kind, from the very core of my being.

I had my last Norethisterone last night, and going by the previous time I took them, I think my mood will be OK today and then start to deteriorate gradually again.

[Focus]

Good morning, Focus

Hope you had some sleep, I didn't... long story.

The average menopause age is between 51-52, some women have premature, early or late menopause, but I think the heavy bleeding is definitely the sign that you are in the last couple of years before menopause, not necessarily beginning, probably in the middle of it, judging from your history. There's no such thing as 'too young for the menopause'. Actually you're not in menopause, you're in perimenopause and you are the exact age for that.

Conolly X

Thank you Conolly. I hope you feel a bit better today.

Yup...I hadn't even heard of the permimenopause scenario until I found out for myself. The 'too young for the menopause' was the comment my GP made when I first went to see her. And the 'about the right age for the menopause' was the comment made my the doctor I saw in the hospital.

It was only when I started googling after the comment the doctor in the hospital made that I found out about the 'perimenopause'. So that was about the first week in November. And then things started making a little more sense.

And then it's only been in the last couple of weeks or so that I've been trying to work out where I am in the whole of all of this process and after that, when it might have started for me.

The pill might take 4 months to see how it works for me. I'm honestly not sure I can deal with 4 months of these crazy bleeds and horrendous mood swings. Even one week is pretty much unbearable. When I feel down, I really want to just end it all. And that could be a few times a day. That feeling leaves me totally shattered in myself, because I honestly don't know where that is coming from.

I just want to be able to think about other stuff. I feel like it's totally overtaken my entire life - the life that I had very carefully and consciously built for myself over the past three and a half years.  The physical symptoms are dominating my entire life, and it's all I think about.

I'm really not about any of this. And I'm very scared I've lost myself, and that I will never find myself. That I've lost myself forever.

[Focus]

Just read this:

'Unfortunately, sleeplessness is one of the most common symptoms of perimenopause. With the withdrawal of estrogen, the brain sometimes releases the chemicals responsible for the fight-or-flight response...'.

https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/women/menopause/perimenopause-am-i-there-yet2.htm

No wonder my PTSD feels like it's on overdrive. Because it is. And I can date that feeling too with regards perimenopause: October 2017.

Lol...I actually know how to deal with this side of things. I started suffering from PTSD in about 2007. It took about 2 or 3 years to understand what was going on and start to get a handle on it (being able to stop panic attacks, etc). It took 7 years in all for me to be able to sort my insomnia (I existed on 4 hours sleep a night for those 7 years. Sometimes less than 4 hours).

So I know what to do and I've done it before.

[Conolly]

Hello Focus,

Hope you're feeling better today. Thank you for the link, the lady certainly knows how to write, great posts.

I also like you comparing menopause to PSTD management, never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Being a woman, menopausal and aging is certainly stressful, add to that chemotherapy or surgical induced menopause, then is most definitely traumatic. Obviously there's no comparison between menopause and the horrors of PSTD sufferers, but the coping therapeutical strategies might be useful.

Conolly X

[Focus]

Less that 24 hours since I took my last Norethistone and it's coming back.

I had let up very slightly on the restricting and over the weekend and broadened the range of what I was eating - still only very small portions though.

Back to the two cans of soup a day (one for lunch, one for dinner) restriction.

[Conolly]

Hello Focus,

I'm confused. I thought you were taking 1 tablet 3 X/day? Why have you stopped it? Is it because you don't have more tablets? If you stop taking them the normal outcome is to bleed again, this is expected in the next 48 h, so yours is clearly not being controlled, but you're supposed to keep taking them 'One tablet twice daily, from days 19 to 26 of the two subsequent cycles, should be given to prevent recurrence of the condition'.

Conolly X

[Focus]

Conolly, I was only given enough to stop the bleeding for 10 days when I went to the hospital. So 30 tablets in all.

When they started working, back at the start of November, I only took them for a few days. I knew I had two big business events (one in January and one in February). So I decided to keep the rest for those, so that I could actually do the events.

By not taking any more now I have some left for my next event at the end of February.

If I can't do these events, I lose over £1,000 that I paid to take part, plus all the lost revenue from what I would have earned by being there. I *must* do them.

[Conolly]

Thank you for the explanation. I understand why you're doing it, but it will trigger more bleeding. I'm not sure your body can cope with restricting calories and heavy constant bleeding, you will run out of iron and other important nutrients.

You are entitled to get enough norethisterone to last for 10 days plus 2 cycles.

Conolly X

[dangermouse]

Why don't you switch to the Norethisterone mini pill (Micronor or Noriday) if you do well on Norethisterone? You can then take more than one a day to control bleeding if necessary, as my GP said this was fine for meno symptoms as then similar to the amount in HRTs that also contain it.

Glad you enjoyed your business trip!

[suzieb]

Dangermouse your GP sounds really brilliant and flexible, none in my practice will prescribe the Combination Pill to me at age 54, I've been round them all!  The last time I asked I was told the latest guidelines say the maximum age had been reduced to 40, reallly frustrating.

Focus stay strong you will get through it all. This forum is great to hear different perspectives and to know none of us are alone 😊 xx