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[NorahNutmeg]

Hi All,
New to the forum but have had a good lurk. I'm 42, have PCOS, T2 diabetes and am already on Sertraline for depression and anxiety (the anxiety isn't new, I have GAD and have since I was about 17yrs- just didn't take anything for it until 2 years ago, which in hindsight, was a mistake).

I very strongly suspect I'm perimenopausal. I don't have periods (thanks PCOS) the majority of the time but am on the mini pill so for nearly a decade didn't have any until last year when I had a 3.5week nasty one. Then nothing until a few months ago which was just a show. Because of the PCOS the "lack of periods" tick box is a bit of a non-starter. The other symptoms, itchy skin, fatigue (so bad), the brain fog (this is no joke), hot flashes/flushes, night sweats, sneaky weight gain etc all point in the same direction. I mention it to my diabetic DR (who interestingly is head of Women's Health) and while they ran bloods etc the result was "You need iron tablets and document your symptoms, come back if it gets worse". It hasn't got worse. It is consistently crap.

I have a call with my preferred GP in an hour (she listens and is proactive) so I'm hoping for some kind of way forward. Does anyone else feel they are treated as "parts" not as a whole? I'm not diabetic, or have pcos, or this, or that. I'm one woman, experience all of it on a daily basis and so need that to be recognised and a plan to be a whole one. I hope I'm not being too optimistic about this call 

Looking forward to getting to know more about you and your journeys.

[bombsh3ll]

Hello and welcome.

Your age and symptoms are typical of perimenopause.

Hopefully you will have spoken to your GP by now and they will have gone through some treatment options with you, ideally including transdermal estradiol and a suitable progestogen such as micronised progesterone.

Hormone blood tests are not helpful in diagnosing perimenopause, and should never be used to either delay or deny treatment, however they may recommend other general blood tests for example to check for anemia, cholesterol, thyroid etc. which equally should not delay or preclude treatment for your perimenopause

How did you get on?

[NorahNutmeg]

Thanks for answering!

She was bloody marvellous. I'd written a spiel of things I wanted to tell her and discuss and she started the call with, "I find that it's easier with these appointments for you to just talk and tell me what you want me to know and I'll take notes and ask questions afterwards". Perfect.

I've got to drop in and get my BP done and make an appointment for other bloods (thyroid, iron etc as a base line as these are out of date).
As soon as my BP is in and ok (never had a problem) then she's prescribing Ustrogestan 100mg at night and 2 pumps of oestrogen gel to get me started.

I cried when I came off the phone as felt "heard" and was so grateful with how she handled it.

It's a start and a good one.

[Ayesha]

A great and positive post 
Hope the treatment goes well for you!

[CLKD]

    good on your GP, don't share her details or she will have a long queue ;-)

Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use to chart progress.  Thyroid function and VitD levels are important .  Let us know how you get on?

[NorahNutmeg]

I've done that for the past year so it'll be interesting to see any changes that happen (hopefully) after a few months.

I'm going to be reading the boards with interest. I've been flying solo for the past year so am very grateful to have found Menopause Matters. 

[NorahNutmeg]

A great and positive post 
Hope the treatment goes well for you!

Thanks Ayesha - I was very pleasantly surprised.
The difference having the right doctor is huge, isn't it?

[sheila99]

Can I have her phone number?    (or can I kidnap her and install her at my surgery)

[CLKD]

Form an orderly queue Ladies 

[NorahNutmeg]

You can both poke off. Finders keepers 

[common-lime]

I'm so glad your doctor listened to you! I'm in a similar position - 40, with endometriosis so irregular periods are my normal. I'm pretty sure I don't ovulate most months these days, but I thought I had last month when I got bloods done (typical), and everything showed up normal so I had no evidence other than a list of symptoms. My GP was also really good when I spoke to her yesterday, and I've got progesterone and estrodiol spray to trial for three months. So nice to be taken seriously I hope you get on well with HRT!

[NorahNutmeg]

Good luck to us both! Looking forward to (hopefully) seeing some positive change.

[CLKD]

Do let us know ......... all experiences shared will help!