Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: CrispyChick on November 15, 2024, 10:36:00 AM
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So, after years and years and lots of trials, I van finally say, with some certainty that hormonal shifts make me feel really quite unwell.
It's a difficult to describe feeling. I can only think to describe it as feeling ill. Poisioned. Vile.
This is shifts up and down.
I have so many symptoms. But the majority are 'normal' and on the lists.
But feeling ill and poisoned is not.
Is there anyone else out there??? It is so debilitating. I'm in later peri now, so the shifts are horrific.
It would greatly help to feel it's more 'normal'. The medical consensus so far is, I've had it so long, and nothing shows in bloods and I've not died from it, so 'hey ho'.
???
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Are you sure it's hormonal? Is there a pattern or do you feel like this constantly. Have you had tests for other stuff like lactose intolerance or coeliac?
I've not heard of feeling like being poisoned as a meno symptom although we do get a lot of digestive issues when getting older and things like anxiety can also cause these problems.
Are you on HRT and have you had your thyroid tested?
Sorry can't be more help.
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Thanks for the reply.
Honest answer is, no, I'm not 100% sure it's hormonal. But I'm pretty sure. I'm currently trialling chemical menopause for it. Which is the most brutal thing possible. And, as hormones declined, I got iller and iller.
Now I'm adding in Hrt add back and today I feel poisoned. So it's looking quite conclusive.
I'm just trying to get to the right dose of hrt, hope that I tolerate (because I also have sooo many sensitivities). And ride for stability to prove it one way or another.
But this alone has been a very lonely, hideous journey. And, as I feel poisoned adding the hormones back in, I thought I'd see if anyone else dies feel the changes like this.
Yes, when on nothing there is a pattern. I feel ill every day, but things really ramp up pre period and, worse in early follicular. Like day 4/5 are my worst.
I'm not celiac. I currently eat gluten free as I have stomach issues. No help whatsoever. I tried dairy free. It's definitely not diet related.
Thyroid been tested numerous times. Although I am going to ask for re test.
So, I think I just got unlucky with my hormonal sensitivities. >:(
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When peri hit me I can honestly say that I felt very ill ! I couldn’t explain how I felt and no one knew what was wrong with me. My life came to a halt. I had so many horrific symptoms .
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Thank you dotty. I think we've spoken before.
And how did you get out of the hell???
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Hi crispy chick ,
I can 100% say I felt absolutely dreadful in peri I had so many symptoms mine were every day but would switch from one symptom to another but the same things came round in phases I felt like I was dying the physical symptoms caused me to suffer horrendous health anxiety and the cycle just kept on and on because I was 38 at the time I didn’t make the connection for a long time had no idea I was peri , got on hrt at 40 but it didn’t help me it actually made me worse, 13 long years and at 51 I’m finally feeling settled, but yes I felt so bad during those years I was housebound for a while , I can’t really even describe how I felt just like I was going crazy and dying of some awful disease, it was ultimately going on ADs that enabled me to actually get my life back, hang in there it’s a very long and tough road for some of us but it does get better eventually x
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Omg. Asher. Thank you so do much. :o
I'm so sorry you went through that for such a long time. And you're certainly helping me feel like I'm not going crazy.
Yip. Same here. Symptoms every day. Now getting more 'normal' peri ones on top. But I'm 48 now.
And yes. I tried hrt a few years ago. It made me worse!!! Just adding hormones to the already fluctuating hormones.
So. Dare I ask what's happened to change it? Are you post meno now? Did things settle?
Interesting about the AD. I have a thread up about that. Because if this drastic chemical meno doesn't work, I'm just going on AD. In the hope that I stop caring as much. Because yes, the health anxiety. It's all taking over. The fixation, the researching, the always looking for answers.
Xxxx
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R U able to explain 'chemical menopause'?
My biggest problems in the my late 30s/40s were sudden attacks of intense nausea, I knew where every waste bin was in every store that I went into! In hindsight it was probably peri but didn't connect symptoms. I was advised by the national association for premenstrual syndrome [NAPS] to eat every 3 hours 24/7. To spread out my intake so that my body was never hungry, lacking energy.
It has certainly helped over the years.
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Sure - chemical menopause is monthly or 3 monthly injections to shut down the ovaries. So like surgical menopause, only not permenant.
So it takes all your hormones down to zero. :)
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Hi CrispyChick….i finally realised that all my horrendous symptoms were due to hormones, but it took about 5 years of hell! Just like Asher says, I thought I was going mad and nobody believed I could be so ill.
HRT solved my problems but it took a while and my GPs were useless. I finally saw a wonderful doctor privately who assured me that I wasn’t going mad and that all of my symptoms were due to menopause. I could have hugged him and cried at the same time. This was 3 years post meno. I finally got my life back but I’m sure I have a form of PTSD and the fear of going back there is always with me . xxx
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Omg. Asher. Thank you so do much. :o
I'm so sorry you went through that for such a long time. And you're certainly helping me feel like I'm not going crazy.
Yip. Same here. Symptoms every day. Now getting more 'normal' peri ones on top. But I'm 48 now.
And yes. I tried hrt a few years ago. It made me worse!!! Just adding hormones to the already fluctuating hormones.
So. Dare I ask what's happened to change it? Are you post meno now? Did things settle?
Interesting about the AD. I have a thread up about that. Because if this drastic chemical meno doesn't work, I'm just going on AD. In the hope that I stop caring as much. Because yes, the health anxiety. It's all taking over. The fixation, the researching, the always looking for answers.
Xxxx
I am post meno now and was still having symptoms all be not so bad , I think the wild fluctuations have slowed right down for me now up until may this year I was on quite a high dose of estrogen because doctors kept saying because I was young for menopause I needed more estrogen absolutely wasn’t the case for me I reduced it myself on a low dose of estrogel , AD and I had talking therapy and although I get some symptoms still it doesn’t interfere with my daily life anymore. The AD and therapy was the key thing for me because so much of my brain was hard wired into this physical symptoms thing that I literally couldn’t switch my brain of from it , I went to bed feeling and expecting to feel crap and woke up feeling the same way , it was a cycle I couldn’t break the AD allowed the obsessive thinking to stop which in turn stopped so many of the physical symptoms, I honestly never believed I would ever feel normal again but slowly I did , the AD is definitely what improved things , I was the same as you fixated on my symptoms forever searching for answers repeatedly having tests done at the doctors and hospital the key was breaking the obsessive thoughts.
Stay strong and don’t be afraid to get on a AD , I had it rough on start up but it was so worth it to get out of my own head.
Really hope you find a way to feel better, the good days will come again x
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Asher…I can relate to everything you’ve said x
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Thank you so much ladies.
I've already got my bad lined up. But having tried it years ago, and finding it didn't take the physical stuff away, I reduced it back down.
I've been on a tiny dose for years. Does nothing. So I definitely want to increase. For exactly the reasons you say Asher, to switch my brain off, and get out of my head.
Unfortunately, having been on them before, I know I get a rough time to start with. So I'm biding my time until I rule this severe hormonal trial in/out. Then I'm getting on them.
Thanks for this. You've made me feel more normal. Even my specialist gynae doesn't believe she can help me. :(
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So mayB see a Dr in a dedicated menopause clnic? If she doesn't feel she can help, what does the gynae suggest ? :-\
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She's a gynae who specialises in meno clkd.
The NHS meno clinic told me to try the pill. I did. Every single one of them!
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Going round in circles then :-\ :(
How many more cycles of 'lockdown' will you trial?
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Until I decide if this add back hrt calms my symptoms. I've come this far. Shutting down was brutal. I'll never ever do it again. So need to see if through. :-\
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Hello CrispyChick.
My NHS nurse tells me that Pregabalin can be used either on its own or alongside an AD to treat the emotional symptoms of the menopause, apparently it has a calming effect on the nervous system.
You may not want to add any more drugs into the mix but it may be worth keeping in mind.
I truly hope you find a resolution soon, hormonal turmoil is exhausting.
Wishing you well and sending hugs.
K.
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So sorry you are feeling like this. I started having peri symptoms about 5 months ago (I’m 37) and I understand what you’re saying. When it first happened to me I just felt completely ill but didn’t know what was wrong with me. Symptom after symptom yet no tests could find anything wrong. My hormones must have dropped at first to feel so crap but then went back up again as I felt reasonably ok for about 6 weeks then it’s gone downhill again. For me it’s more the physical side than mental side, aches/pains, feeling “dry” everywhere, itchy, hair loss, so tired all the time. I feel like I’m running on a low battery version of my former self. Hopefully HRT can help you feel some normality again xx
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LittleClaire - as oestrogen levels drop the body may become dry: inside and out; skin, scalp, deep in the ears, eyes, vagina, insteps. And muscles may become lax = aches and pains. U may benefit from HRT - have U had blood tests to check for VitD and thyroid function because these can be affected in peri.
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Hey, yes I’ve had my thyroid levels checked twice by my GP and I also paid for a home testing kit for thyroid which the results all came back normal. I’ve had vitamin d checked too when I had deficiency tests taken. I know these can change though so may be worth getting checked again. I am currently waiting results on hormone blood testing which I will get on Tuesday when I’m back at the doctors. They are testing FSH and oestrogen levels. I’m half expecting them to come back normal and they tell me nothing is wrong. It’s so frustrating when you know something IS wrong …
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So, after years and years and lots of trials, I van finally say, with some certainty that hormonal shifts make me feel really quite unwell.
It's a difficult to describe feeling. I can only think to describe it as feeling ill. Poisioned. Vile.
This is shifts up and down.
I have so many symptoms. But the majority are 'normal' and on the lists.
But feeling ill and poisoned is not.
Is there anyone else out there??? It is so debilitating. I'm in later peri now, so the shifts are horrific.
It would greatly help to feel it's more 'normal'. The medical consensus so far is, I've had it so long, and nothing shows in bloods and I've not died from it, so 'hey ho'.
???
I know what you mean.
The symptoms feel "systemic"
Dr Louise Newson said on one of her videos, in peri she felt drugged.