Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Hopeful on July 05, 2021, 04:01:31 PM
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Hi
I am 59 and 5 years post menopause (2016), in 2017 I started HRT as had finally given up trying to cope with hot flushes/night sweats and terrible health anxiety heart palpatations and insomnia episodes.
I started on fem seven conti but when they were no longer available went on Everol conti these worked well,however I had some headaches and breast tingling after about 18months so cut down to half a patch which was still good.
Then last July (2020) I came off entirely and felt great for 2 months then health anxiety and heart palpatations started. Since then anxiety, insomnia and night sweats have increased dramatically, the anxiety is like a little nagging voice that isn’t me that stops me enjoying life.
I have asked to restart HRT which the doctor has agreed to.
My question do you think these symptoms are menopausal, I am beginning to think that maybe it isn’t.
Thank you for reading this, I am really struggling at the moment.
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I’m 63, long post-meno and have awful health anxiety. Every twinge is something serious and, l agree, it does stop you enjoying life. I think it’s probably a mixture of things, low oestrogen and we are conscious of our age, not getting any younger! I have no answer l’m afraid other than knowing you are far from alone. This forum is great for sharing our woes and l also have a number of friends who feel exactly the same.
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Sadly oestrogen deficiency is for life. Some people can stop hrt and get no symptoms but many find their symptoms return. Given your symptoms go when you're on hrt then return when you stop I'd say they're almost certainly caused by meno.
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Hi,
as Sheila 99 says, the symptoms such as night sweats and anxiety etc ar all classic meno symptoms. Your estrogen levels when you stopped gradually bottomed out. If you felt better on HRT, why not keep taking it? You are only replacing what you have lost naturally. We are all living much longer than years ago and it is quality of life.
Pepperminty xx
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Hi Hbhigg,
Sorry to hear that you're struggling again.
Some ladies may not agree with me here but I think all HRT doess is override your natural hormones to alleviate the symptoms you may have. HRT is artificial and it will not change the fact that our natural oestrogen declines and cannot be replaced naturally. So once you stop HRT, symptoms which were alleviated by it come back unless your hormones have settled down. But I strongly believe that the menopause is permanent but the symptoms shouldn't be.
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Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. I will restart the patches and hope they will help.
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Well I am now 3 weeks in on the patches and it’s been a rollercoaster. 1st week I felt much better but since it has been very up and down anxiety and sleep wise, flushes are however much better.
I have had some days when I feel my old self completely but it makes the bad days seem almost worse knowing that I can feel better.
The anxiety is coming more in waves now instead of constant but it is also more intense and especially at night.
I am back to waking at 3:30am this week and not really sleeping after that, last night anxiety was particularly bad had to wake my husband to reassure me.
Felt a bit better by about 7am and have been out for a run am having a bath before my on line Thai chi class so hope the rest of the day will be better.
Hoping this is just the patches settling in but will have to wait and see, I had no problems first time I went on HRT so this is new to me
Glad of this forum and all you lovley people on it :)
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Hi,
it can take 3 months to bed in. write a diary and if you stil feel bad after that , look into changing the type maybe? It is awful with the ups and downs. It is useally the progesterone. Hope you feel better soon.
PMXX
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It took 3 months on HRT for my anxiety and insomnia to go, it seems to need a build up of oestrogen. Just like yours mine was very up and down though I saw very little improvement at all until I was into the second month. It's going in the right direction so I think you need to give it more time.
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I’m so pleased I found this thread. I think I’m 7 years post menopause and have anxiety like nothing I’ve ever known, I’m a cry baby over the slightest thing, say the wrong thing so often, have no sex drive........I’m sorry, the menopause has left me a miserable old woman. HRT doesn’t help much (I’m sorry again to be such a moan). Apart from HRT plusses and minuses, how has the menopause left you?
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Hi Padine,
Were you having anxiety before the meno? 7 years postmeno is a long time to still have meno-related anxiety and it seems abnormal to me. Have you had a health check? There are some medical conditions that give meno-like symptoms so it's best to check.
Karine
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Thanks everyone for your replies. Today I still slept badly and had stomach pain/cramps like those I used to get before a period. I am feeling good now apart from super tired and chest jitters.
I hope this is the start of some stabilising but who knows?
Padine I’m 6 years (I think) post menopause and this anxiety is the worst I have suffered so really not sure it is all meno but how can you tell?
I had heavy periods and migraine in peri and manageable hot flushes/ night sweats it was only post menopause when the anxiety and palpitations set in and the flushes became unbearable.
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HBhigg, how soon after meno did your symptoms get worse? I haven't had a period for 17 months but my symptoms, which are mainly anxiety & low mood haven't got worse but they haven't improved either. I can only hope that it will get better, not worse. I am not on HRT btw.
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I think menopausal symptoms can run into postmenopausal and go on indefinitely for many if untreated or neglected. I've no idea how a line could ever be drawn to say "I'm through!" and put the flags up. It was known as The Change and we become changed as a result of it, some moreso than others. I'm so struck by the extensive range of symptoms due to oestrogen deficiency, especially. Many of the "conditions" of the more elderly I'm convinced can be attributed to it. We risk becoming somewhat marginalised as a postmenopausal group, but, hopefully, that is changing with an understood and treated entitlement to our best lives.
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Some ladies do get through it though and they are fine afterwards. I know a few of them. Maybe on this forum it's only the unlucky ones who are affect. As for some health conditions as we get older, it's because they are related to ageing and we can't always blame the menopause and thereby the lack of oestrogen for them. Nobody's immune to age-related conditions, even men can get them. If low oestrogen was the major culprit of our physical & mental health issues as we get older, then men wouldn't get a thing.
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Karine , I could be 6 years postmeno or 8, I had horrendous (just as bad as everyone else I suppose!) hot flushes, poor sleep, worries but all that coincided with son 2 finishing uni and unable to find a job, plus son 1 moving to London and Mr P being in the firing line all the time (he didn’t deserve that). My GP who had known me for years, suggested HRT when I was 51 and I didn’t come off till I was 57. Had no period again so after 13 months I was safely post menopause. My life has been very fraught in last 5 years hence feeling anxious. Maybe it’s not related to menopause at all? It’s getting the blame >:(.
I went back on HRT 3 years ago. Once the GPs can get back to normal, I’m due a review of HRT. Is there a Dummies book or leaflet about female hormones? I’m so confused by what does what and what to.
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As we age as women , when we enter menopause our risks of having a heart attack becomes the same as men - before menopause it is much lower. We were only designed to live to about 50 ish and did die around that age less than a hundred years ago. Men have a genetically different makeup.
I have seen may women in later life riddled with osteoporosis and heart condtions due to lack of estrogen. HRT is just replacing what we have lost, and is preventative for certain deseases , making the likelhood of getting them less, which has been proven.
Pod cast 039 link :https://www.newsonhealth.co.uk/resources/podcasts/039-oestrogen-matters-avrum-bluming-dr-louise-newson
Oestrogen Matters - Dr Avrum Bluming & Dr Louise Newson Avrum Bluming was a clinical professor of medical oncology at the University of Southern California and spent four years as a senior investigator for the National Cancer Institute. For more than two decades he has been studying the benefits and risks of hormone replacement therapy administered to women with a history of breast cancer. He is also the co-author of the book “Oestrogen Matters”. </p> <p>In this podcast, Dr Newson talks to Avrum about the numerous health benefits of oestrogen in women, including reducing future risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and dementia. It is a very sobering thought that as many women die from osteoporosis as breast cancer, yet so many women are denied oestrogen in HRT for the wrong reasons.
PMXX
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Pepperminty, this doesn't apply to every single woman. My MIL is over 80 and she doesn't have osteoporosis nor does she have heart disease or dementia. On this basis I still don't think low oestrogen automatically puts us in a category where we might get any or all of these diseases.
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Pepperminty, are there any statistics showing how many women get these low oestrogen-related diseases? If not, then how can we prove that low oestrogen is the culprit? Not every woman get these diseases and I believe it's the luck of draw.
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If you look on the alzheimer's.org.uk website under Hormones and Dementia it gives reasons why they believe low oestrogen can contribute to dementia. I haven't read it all.
Taz x
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Hi Taz2,
Yes the alzheimer's society gives some information and there is plenty out there on the internet regarding estrogen deficiency etc. And it is lovely being able to post and share and give and recieve positive support on the forum.
PMxx
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Hi, I am new to this forum as of yesterday!
I had to come off HRT..Kliofem, after 15 years due to a lesion found in my bowel this year which I've now been told was poor blood supply. Nothing to worry about but after 3 months off of it I am feeling the effects big time. Forgot to say I'm 65.
I can deal with flushes during the day, but night sweats, insomnia, anxiety, very teary and low mood which isn't me, fatigue, terrible joint pain on thumb and wrist, lower back, shoulders....the list goes on. I would go back on hrt right now if I coukd but can't. I know that this is what happens to a lot of women and I'm hoping in the next few months things will get better. Has anyone been taking any of the menapause supplements with effect? I'd love to hear if there is something good out there to take please
Love Julie xx
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Hello BA Julie and welcome to the forum.
I am almost 65 and also dealing with anxiety, tearfulness and low mood. I came off all HRT in 2019/2020 but restarted at the beginning of this year.
You are likely to get more responses if you also post in the The New Members Section and in the meantime you may want to check out the Alternatives Section for advice on supplements etc.
Wishing you well.
K.
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Once and for all, it would be nice to hear from soneone who's had a positive experience with postmeno and now feels fine emotionally. There is far too much negativeness on this forum, especially when it forces me to think that the menopause symptoms are a life sentence. This cannot possibly be true for every woman on the planet.
I sometimes get the impression that if I don't go the HRT route, I'll get all the horrible diseases that one might get when they are older. I'm just hoping that this will never be the case.
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Really feel for you. I have had really bad anxiety panic attacks and fast racing heart when I started to cut right down (albeit slowly) on my HRT due to the fact that the formulation has been changed and really does not suit me. I am now due to start on Lenzetto spray next week which I am praying will help as the past 5 months have been just horrendous. I have also been told it takes time for things to adjust re hormone levels it's not an overnight fix. My oestradiol level was low at 98 so guess it will take time to build up again. Hope so much you start to feel better soon. Sending love and empathy xxx
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Once and for all, it would be nice to hear from soneone who's had a positive experience with postmeno and now feels fine emotionally. There is far too much negativeness on this forum, especially when it forces me to think that the menopause symptoms are a life sentence. This cannot possibly be true for every woman on the planet.
I sometimes get the impression that if I don't go the HRT route, I'll get all the horrible diseases that one might get when they are older. I'm just hoping that this will never be the case.
Sorry you feel like this Karine but the members on here are only expressing how they feel and the things they have had to do to feel better and still manage to cope with jobs, family and to still enjoy life. Of course you may well be fine but if you do begin to experience menopause symptoms then you will know that you have a great resource here in which to get support or advice on the best way forward for you. The forum can give a biased view of menopause because most members are in need of help and they are not the ones who are "sailing through" with no problems. Women with no problems rarely even search for such a forum - why would they when they are feeling fine. Fingers crossed for you that you will be one of those. I think you did get some positive responses to your thread about being post meno?
Taz x
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Hi Karine,
Once and for all, it would be nice to hear from soneone who's had a positive experience with postmeno and now feels fine emotionally. There is far too much negativeness on this forum, especially when it forces me to think that the menopause symptoms are a life sentence. This cannot possibly be true for every woman on the planet.
I sometimes get the impression that if I don't go the HRT route, I'll get all the horrible diseases that one might get when they are older. I'm just hoping that this will never be the case.
Like Taz, I'm sorry to know you find the forum overly negative, but it's sadly a fact that menopause can bring very difficult symptoms for some women & this arena, judging by the relief & appreciation expressed by many members, provides an outlet for us all to speak honestly about our experiences, for support when we feel alone, need advice & don't know where to turn & to try to give help & support if we feel our knowledge or experience enables us to do this. I think it's a very valuable resource that lets us tell it like it is in a world where sadly menopause is still somewhat taboo, which can result in isolation & for some, considerable suffering. Surely it can only be a good & ultimately empowering thing that here there is a great deal of collective experience, knowledge, wisdom & kindness to help us all at this stage of our lives?
Lots of members come back only briefly with a query saying they have not felt the need to visit the forum for some time because they've been doing very well, so this is one example that illustrates the truth in what Taz says about the forum mostly being used by those who are experiencing problems. We don't know what proportion of women are lucky enough to find menopause so trouble-free that they have no need to come here, nor how many put up with various symptoms, whether mild or life-changing, but choose to live with those without ever joining.
You've told us you don't feel your symptoms are currently troublesome enough to want to try HRT & that you know several women who are well postmenopause without it, giving your MIL as a recent example. Could you maybe spend more time with these fortunate women to give you confidence that your future will not be as you fear? Or concentrate on pastimes that give you pleasure & distract you from your worries? If you find the forum distressing & feel you are managing OK then perhaps the answer for now is to take time away from it so you are not exposed to material that feeds your anxieties?
Whatever you decide, I still hope, as I've said before, that you will find you are among those who live contentedly long lives postmenopause without HRT, if this is your choice. Meanwhile there will be women whose circumstances & needs are different & who I hope will feel this is a safe place for them to speak openly about their experiences, negative, positive & all shades in between.
I wish you good health, contentment & peace of mind & hope you will find some comfort in the knowledge there will be support here should you need it.
Wx
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Once and for all, it would be nice to hear from soneone who's had a positive experience with postmeno and now feels fine emotionally. There is far too much negativeness on this forum, especially when it forces me to think that the menopause symptoms are a life sentence. This cannot possibly be true for every woman on the planet.
I sometimes get the impression that if I don't go the HRT route, I'll get all the horrible diseases that one might get when they are older. I'm just hoping that this will never be the case.
Hello Karine. If this is of any help to you, I am new to this forum, but find there is a lot of positivity within it - it is kind and helpful like an oasis for women who are struggling, or need more information in order to help with their path through regardless. I don't personally feel that symptoms must be a life sentence, but they can be made to go on longer where suitable help is not provided when it is needed. Finding the information I needed confirmed on this forum that I was recommended to visit, along with the information in the other website helped me to ask positive questions of my GP.
I might not have plain sailing, but I am better informed now. It makes me feel confident.
If any help for you, I have a friend who is almost 80 who said hand on heart that she sailed through peri and menopause with nothing more than few hot shivers when she was about 50. I know! But that is how it was for her.
I don't think she sings and dances about it, but she felt it hard to understand what her daughter was (was?) IS going through. I wonder if her daughter visits this forum?
With best wishes. I hope you find yourself on an easy path :)
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Taz2, Pippa52 & Wrensong,
Thanks for your support.
This meno thing can seem so troublesome at times and what worries me most it's the mental/psychological aspect of it. If there never was going to be an improvement, I would have to consider HRT. But for the moment, I'm hanging on to thought that things will get better, despite the fact that sometimes I feel discouraged.
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Thanks Gynaikeios for your support too. This goes to show that some women have no symptoms while others are riddled with them. It looks like it's not even to do with genetics, as my sister could have nothing but I could be affected. It's very strange that it affects some women but not others.
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For me, it's just about staying open to everything, remaining curious. Suffering comes in many, many forms and, on a forum, we simply cannot know the lives behind the words and yet a great deal of kindness has been offered to you here. As Wrensong suggests, if this medium is adding to your anxiety levels, perhaps focus on those very fortunate ladies around you instead. Some people are very sensitive to forum content, but, as everyone has said, it's always here for you unconditionally. Go well.
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Quite shocked at some of the responses on this thread. Up until now, the forums here have come across as full of kind and empathic ladies, something which I have been incredibly grateful for as any responses I've received have been helpful and reassuring.
I think the whole point of having a forum where people can find out information is that there will be a lot of 'negative' experiences that people need help with. Why else would you write on such a forum? I certainly wouldn't write to say how wonderful my post-menopause life is (which it isn't - sorry another negative on!) as I'd be out enjoying it. My point is that it's so important to think about what we write before we post it. I, too, struggle with huge health anxiety and this has increased since my surgical menopause 7 years ago. No, I know that realistically we are not all the same, however, we do need to validate how others feel and, if I had no anxieties, I would count my blessings that I am not in that position.
Thanks to all the ladies who are so helpful, often you give us hope to get on with life :-)