Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Rachlou88 on December 29, 2022, 01:07:46 PM
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Hi I'm 34 and for past 12 months I've been experiencing some strange symptoms I am on desogestrel I started fine 12 months of no periods, then all of a sudden every 8-10 weeks I have brown spotting lasting from 3 days to over 10 days....I also have dry mouth, body aches, pins and needles,insomnia, no full periods, hot flashes, headaches,breast tenderness, brain fog, itchy hands and feet,dizzy spells I have been previously about the bleeding was told not to worry unless it's really heavy or clotty my question is could this be perimenopause anyone else experience this kind of bleeding?
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Hello Rachlou88. Welcome to the forum. Your symptoms sound classic peri to me. I too was on destogestal and experienced peri symptoms so destogestal does not stop them sadly.
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Hi. Welcome. Your symptoms sound 'within normal limits for peri-menopause' from where I'm sitting ::) and yep, I do far too much sitting around Note to Self ;)
Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use. Your HRT may well have kicked your own hormones into action, which will account for the brown staining. Do be aware of vaginal atrophy : which mimics urine infection-type symptoms really, really well. Appropriate localised treatment can ease symptoms, many use 'vagifem' successfully and I find that 'ovestin' suits me. Some occasionally require extra moisturiser - 'yes', 'ovestin' or :name escapes me: round the outer labia. It's a bit Trial and Error!
We have a thread: doing stupid things: so you'll fit right in ;-)
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Haha thank you for the reply I have a doctors appointment on the 19th I've been keeping track of the odd spotting etc and symptoms everyone seems to think I'm too young for peri which scares me into thinking the bleeding is something more sinister damn anxiety lol
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Hi Rachlou88,
Just to let you know that I have been on the same POP (Cerazette) as you for three years. I sometimes get spotting and sometimes low-grade cramps with it but take it continuously so no real periods.
Two years ago I started to get hot flushes at night, then in March my peri symptoms cranked up big time. So, like Flossieteacake I also have (very debilitating) peri symptoms on this pill.
I'm only a newbie to this game but I would say, stand your ground about your symptoms and as CLKD (I think it was you CLKD!) says don't let anyone say you are too young to be in peri. There are quite a few ladies who had very early peri.
All the best and keep us posted.
xxx
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No woman is ever 'too young'. Girls can have 1 period then no one, very rarely girls never menstruate. At the other end of the scale, women can begin missing periods from their 30s. So any medic that says a woman is 'too young', needs their head putting into the loo and the flush pushing!
Probably Keep on Swimming ....... it was me. It makes me wild to hear that medics continue to roll out the 'too young' idea. Instead of actually listening!
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It's madness I never thought anything of it but some times it can be slightly heavier and other months barely anything always mostly brown sometimes light red mixed in driving me mad already lol
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It's The Change - does what it says on the tin ::)
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For what it’s worth sounds like it, if I had realised I think I was peri 36 to 40, but only realised at 40
…… do all the bloods and get it checked out …, once you have DM me…. And say yes to HRT, a year in and I feel better.,,but there are other meds that will help
With morning anxiety and insomnia that I can recommend …
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Oh that's brilliant I do have a doc appointment on the 19th I've written everything down I just get worried when I bleed out of no where n sometimes it can be sorry for tmi but like stringy clots of brown/dark red I just eat answers now I am on medication for anxiety sertraline 100mg
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Nothing is too much information on here so do not worry. I can understand worrying when you bleed. It is such a common symptom on here. I am glad you are on sertraline. I hope it helps take the edge of the anxiety.
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It has helped me loads hopefully I can get some more answers soon 🙏
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No you're not too young....i think my symptoms started in my 30s, but I was put on the combined pill to even out my erratic periods, which effectively masked the peri symptoms until they reared their head again in the form of night sweats and anxiety in my early 40s. Convinced a doctor would not take me seriously, I had a private blood test done through a website company called Medichecks - they do an 'Advanced Female Hormone Blood Test'. You get a little finger prick blood test through the post. Anyway, it came back and my hormone levels were shocking, so I went to the dr armed with my results.
Not sure if that helps at all, but just to let you know you're not alone.
Sarah x
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I've just finished spotting brown after 2 weeks last time it was 3 days I'm trying not to worry but is this a peri thing can it do this
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I've just finished spotting brown after 2 weeks last time it was 3 days I'm trying not to worry but is this a peri thing can it do this
Yes it can. Peri usually makes periods very erratic. I am sorry you feel worried. It is hard having all these new symptoms. If you browse the forum you will find many threads saying the same thing. :)
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It's just so odd because I didn't have a period for 12 months on the mini pill then all.of a sudden this spotting started to happen and with health anxiety I was thinking it was something sinister
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So I had my phone call appointment with the doctors she seems to think it's my pill making me bleed like this I mentioned peri menopause and she said its highly unlikely she is going to do an exam and some swabs to rule things out
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So I had my phone call appointment with the doctors she seems to think it's my pill making me bleed like this I mentioned peri menopause and she said its highly unlikely she is going to do an exam and some swabs to rule things out
I would not say it is highly unlikely you are going through peri. How can the DR possibly know that. I guess it could be the pill causing the bleeding. It is just a shame when they are so quick to rule out peri without any reason. In my opinion the pill would not be causing the hot flashes and brain fog.
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This was my thought too, plus forster 12 months on this pill I had no periods at all still none really just get this brown stringy spotting
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This was my thought too, plus forster 12 months on this pill I had no periods at all still none really just get this brown stringy spotting
It really frustrates me when GPs are so quick to dismiss peri. It is like ignore all the symptoms we have.
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Hi Rachlou88
While peri-menopause cannot be dismissed - nor can it be indicated while you are on the mini-pill as I understand - though I guess menopausal symptoms may eventually show through. Also blood tests (for FSH) won't show anything. The only way to tell if you are anywhere near peri-menopause, I would say, is to stop the mini-pill and wait for your normal cycles to resume - which can take some time.
It is known that desogestrel pills (Cerazette) cause depression of oestrogen levels so theoretically may lead to some menopausal symptoms. Here is what it says in the product info:
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/1698/smpc#gref
"Treatment with Cerazette leads to decreased estradiol serum levels, to a level corresponding with the early follicular phase. It is as yet unknown whether the decrease has any clinically relevant effect on bone mineral density."
Also some info here about bleeding:
"4.8 Undesirable effects
The most commonly reported undesirable effect in the clinical trials is bleeding irregularity. Some kind of bleeding irregularity has been reported in up to 50% of women using Cerazette. Since Cerazette causes ovulation inhibition close to 100%, in contrast to other progestogen-only pills, irregular bleeding is more common than with other progestogen-only pills. In 20 - 30% of the women, bleeding may become more frequent, whereas in another 20% bleeding may become less frequent or totally absent. Vaginal bleeding may also be of longer duration. After a couple of months of treatment, bleedings tend to become less frequent. Information, counselling, and a bleeding diary can improve the woman's acceptance of the bleeding pattern."
Personally at your age I wouldn't want to be on a tablet like this long term because of the reduction in oestrogen levels.
It's good that any abnornal bleeding is checked out, but if you like to take hormonal contraception in tablet form I would consider one of thse modern combined pills that also contain oestrogen - like Qlaira or Zoely. I think Qlaira is higher dose. That way you would be getting more estradiol that would be expected for a women of your age.
One guide to when you might expect to become menopausal is when your mother went through menppause, if you know this.
Hope this helps
Hurdity x
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Thank you for this info unfortunately due to my weight and age I can not go on combined pill, and I'm not sure about my mum as she had to have a hysterectomy at 40 due to prolapse so she never really knew what was going on before that but thank you for the info just confused me abit as I was on it with no periods for 12 months then started with this odd spotting still no proper periods I will update once doc has seen me but I suppose it cam happen on this pill