Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: linz57 on November 29, 2016, 08:38:03 PM
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Out of the blue, just over 4 weeks ago I started to experience an occasional bout of slight queasiness after drinking coffee or wine.( I had upped my Conti patch dose, then reduced it, then upped it slightly again ) After that came gnawing hunger pangs, usually around 15minutes to an hour after eating. I can eat a decent amount but still get these feelings of hunger/ queasiness after eating.
I realise these can be symptoms of acid/gastritis/ ulcer but I was wondering whether long term stress and anxiety can also cause this. I have had an extremely stressful and anxious year due to various reasons and it's got to have had some effect on my adrenals surely.
I've had blood tests and they're all normal. I am not deficient in vitamins, neither am I hypoglycaemic.
I realise I won't know for certain unless I see my GP again and maybe get tested but I just thought I'd see if any others on here had felt these symptoms.t
One more thing, I've found if I am occupied I don't notice it so much, but when I bring my attention to my stomach I can feel the symptoms . Anxiety then sets in and the sensations in my gut continue. :-\
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Coffee does that for me. I often crave a cup when we are out and about but it gives me similar sensations - sudden hunger and then intense nausea. So I gave it up. Symtpoms went.
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I'd given up the coffee but I tried one today and was fine. However, it does vary, what makes me queasy one day can be OK the next. Some days even water makes me feel slightly queasy. I'm puzzled.
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Eat more regularly even in the night. During hormone upheavals one needs to keep sugar levels even as a drop can cause anxiety surges. For me that causes intense nausea. Grazing on slow release food stuffs, i.e. start with a good breakfast like porridge :sick02: :-X …….. I use dried fruits and nuts, bananas, egg custards ………. anything that can be eaten slowly without my realising that I'm eating ::)
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Meno and hormones have destroyed my ability to drink wine especially red which I loved :'( It started around 3 years ago, had a few glasses one night and went to bed very late and felt fine but as soon as I laid down felt sick as, fidgety and was sick a couple of hours later. Then it happened again a while later and slowly over time I'm lucky if I can have one glass now without a disturbed night. Bubbles are better and I'm not keen on white as I find it too acidic. Spirits seem to be okay so must be something in wine that doesn't go with my altered state, sob sob... Some friends who are in their 40's and starting on the peri journey have also mentioned they can't do so much red wine now so our altered hormones must be having some effect on our consumption of certain foods and alcohol, such a pain as if you need a glass of wine at any time in your life it's now!
I've been on decaf coffee since I had all the anxiety attacks just to be on the safe side. I love my coffee so don't want to give up that pleasure! My hubby was getting the queasies after coffee so is also on decaf now and is fine, so maybe it's not all hormonal and some of it is down to how your body reacts to caffeine as we get older?
Try and distract the mind and support your adrenals. The mind is a powerful thing and I find it's quite easy to conjure up anxiety if I start thinking about it especially when I'm low and tired, bit scary! Take care!
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The thing is, I'm 59 and 6 years post meno. Been on systemic hrt for two years so I don't know where all my symptoms have come from ......unless altering my dose up, down, leaving off altogether for 2 weeks then going back up to medium dose has somehow tricked my body into thinking I'm in peri again.
You are so right wombat, right now I could happily sit here and quaff two or three glasses of Rioja.... Maybe my stomach enzymes are reducing and I'm unable to enjoy certain things anymore. Why the hell is it always the good stuff this happens with ? Why can't it happen with liver or boiled potatoes? Haha
CLKD, I start every day with either a bowl of porridge with blueberries, followed by a banana or two hard boiled eggs and toast.
I've started munching on protein bars inbetween meals in a bid to stave off the hunger but I'm finding some days it works, others it doesn't.
I really thought I'd be over all this malarkey by now but it appears it's here to stay awhile longer yet. Trying to make sense of it all is like trying to plait sand :-\
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Red wine is often the first food item that causes gut upheaval. Didn't for me as I don't drink ;)
Maybe eat the banana mid-morning? I too use energy bars I have looked in the pro-cycling shops for ideas. If it's good enough for Wiggo ………
Dextrose tablets are a good standby too, we use them when walking/cycling. Also dried fruits and nuts to graze on.
Make sure that to you eat regularly, stay hydrated and have biscuits by the bed 4 when you wake in th enight. The trick for me is to eat B4 I feel hungry to stave off that nausea.
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Yes, I've taken to carrying Dextrosol, small pouches of nuts and seeds and protein bars around with me. I feel like a hamster with all the seeds I'm stuffing away!
The funny thing is, it seems to be eating that brings the hunger on. Right now I haven't eaten since around 10pm last night and I'm fine. However, about an hour after eating breakfast the hunger pangs will start. Maybe it's an ulcer? :-\
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Ulcers can be painful. Where is the hunger, for me it's below the belly button :-\
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Mine is below the belly button too and I can't say it's painful , although I've been taking Omeprazole for the last two weeks. I knew the first thing the GP would suggest would be to try that so I thought I'd give it a month and then if no better I'd go see her.
Could be gastritis I suppose? Back in Seotember I had two weeks of high strength anti inflammatories ( plus co dydramol) for my trapped nerve/ left shoulder pain, then I went on holiday and enjoyed my nightly large gin and tonics, then I brought a litre bottle home! ::). Maybe that's caused the problem, God knows, as usual with me, nothing is ever clear cut.
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OH you would know if it was gastritis!!!
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God knows what this is then. Ah well, onwards and upwards.
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Thanks Sparkle ………
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Thanks sparkle, I'm not getting pain, more gurgling and feelings of hunger shortly after eating. I'll give it about a month on Omeprazole to see how it goes. As we discussed the other evening, the 2 weeks of painkillers and anti inflammatories followed by 10 nights of Spanish measures of gin could have set this off 😀although I didn't get symptoms until a couple of weeks after finishing the gin
It's my health anxiety kicking in that's got me worrying now ......
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59 years old and still no sense on holiday..... :beat:
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I don't know about you sparkle, but it really bugs me that one of my few pleasures is being taken away. As if meno isn't punishment enough we now can't even enjoy a glass of something at Christmas. Bland food, no drinkies, might as well hibernate until spring haha
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Oh I had a hot chocolate yesterday and felt nauseous about five minutes afterwards.....damn! This just gets worse and worse.....
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I make decaff then tip it down the sink, missing out the middle woman ;D.
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Haha, best place for it CLKD and sparkle, I could do with losing a few pounds so it might do me some good.
Right now I'm sat here waiting to ring my dentist at 9am, I was in agony all yesterday and last night, it feels like an abcess is forming . Great, antibiotics, that will just about put the icing on the cake.
I often wonder if I was a total swine in another life , I can't go a month without a doctors or dentist visit . This is my punishment 😬😄
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Thank you, just got home and yes, I have an infection under my tooth so it's a course of antibiotics ..... Then probably swiftly followed by antifungals ( they always give me thrush) and all this plus two extractions on Monday morning! All this and I can't have a proper drink argh!! Need wine!!😄
Yes, it does sounds as though most of us on here spend more time at the medics than at home sparkle. I was thinking of donating my body to medical science but I can imagine no one will want it, they'll say " ugh, take it away NOW!!" 😂😂
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Bless you chick and thank you x
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Just a quick update. Today I have eaten no fat, drunk no milky coffees or hot choccy and I haven't had the gnawing hunger pangs and nausea. Just had fresh salmon, broccoli and new potatoes for dinner so we shall see what happens.
Still doesn't pin point what is going on I know but it's made me decide to keep a food diary. I know CLKD suggests this and it's a great idea.
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Yes I do still have my gallbladder sparkle. Funny thing is, when I had my bloods done recently they were all fine except the liver enzymes were slightly raised. I've been thinking this could have been due to the Ibuprofen and gin or it could also indicate gallbladder trouble looming. Now I've found that leaving out fat helps me I've got alarm bells ringing. Hmmm, it could still be gastritis but I think I'll try and get to see my GP next week. I have read that hrt can cause gallbladder troubles so it may well be connected.
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I will do and thank you for the advice, it's greatly appreciated.
Have you have yours removed since starting peri?
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Hello again....gallbladder expert here!
As Sparkle said not all gb problems are caused by stones, it can be sludgy bile, inflammation which causes the wall to thicken and therefore not squeeze the bile out so well. A lot of lady gb problems are caused by hormones, it's very common in pregnancy. Hrt does also play a part.
When mine started playing up I drastically cut my fat and then after a massive attack I cut it down to 5-6grms per meal. It's a sliver of avocado, a third of a salmon portion (it's good for you but fat content is high even if you don't eat the skin), a small fillet steak. I still had coffee but always had a small skinny one. I measured out everything to exactly how much yoghurt I could have on my brekki. The massive attack came from a restaurant meal which had some hidden very naughty stuff in it. I had asked the waiter which dish to choose but there was something on the plate which I thought was innocent and turns out not...
See how you go with cutting fat down but it's all fat whether good or bad. I thought I'd be ok with good fats but my gastroman said all fat is fat and cut it out! When we eat fat a hormone is triggered which sets off the digestion process in the duodenum and alterts the gb to get squirting.
Maybe you could try and get an ultrasound to see the state of the gb, it can tell whether the walls are thickened but won't show stones under a certain size. I had one huge one but it got some friends which only showed up on an MRI. If you don't have stones there is another test they can do to measure the gb function.
Trouble is a dodgy gb can affect your overall health so it maybe causing other issues as well. Don't laugh (well you can!) but just before my first attack I started getting an itchy behind (blushes) and went on for months until they removed the offending organ! As soon as it had gone no more itching, I had read it was one of the symptoms!
Hope this info helps but I had an awful 6 months until it came out so I just hope my experience can help others try and prevent an attack. I haven't had kids but a lot of ladies on forums reckon it was worse than childbirth! The funny thing is I had no other indications apart from the attacks other than I found in the months leading up to the first one I felt very sick if I had a big meal or something rich and then of course there was the wine thing but I don't know if that was connected :'(
Emotional upset can also add to the problems. I did look up the gallbladder in Chinese medicine and a lot of what was going on at the time mine started playing up fitted the description!
Let us know how you go with cutting down on the fat.
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Yes thank you wombat, it's an excellent, informative post and I will take heed of what you have said.
I think at the moment I'm feeling like I'm flailing about somewhat as I haven't had any tests and don't even really know what route to start going down. It all feels so overwhelming and exhausting just thinking about it all right now. Maybe an ultrasound would be a good place to start and then take it from there. I just need to sort these damned teeth out next week first 😢
Glad you like the avatar, it's just a bit of much needed light hearted fun haha.it will probably change on a daily basis though!
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Re the caffeine.
This is my friend right now as it calms my migraines as caffeine constricts blood vessels (like progesterone does) as my high oestrogen levels are dilating them too much. (My positive reaction to caffeine was one of the ways my migraines were diagnosed).
So if you have low oestrogen the veins are already too constricted so it makes sense that it will make you much worse.
Wine still makes me feel good and relaxes me but if I have too much my heart pounds the whole of the next day.
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That's interesting about the caffeine dangermouse, I had never thought about its connection to estrogen levels before. It's just a shame this kind of knowledge isn't more widespread, a lot of suffering could be alleviated if it was. I'm glad you can enjoy a glass of wine too, a few simple pleasures can make things more bearable.
Sadly the antibiotics haven't kicked in yet sparkle but I've only taken one says supply as yet. I'm allergic to penicillin and the one I take is a bit slower acting but I'm hoping it starts to work today.
I did have an abdominal scan a couple of years back and I remember the radiographer saying about not been able to see the stomach. Things couldn't be that simple for us could they?
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Wow, how do the medics find it then? It sounds painful too. God, our bodies certainly know how to complicate matters :(
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Re the caffeine.
This is my friend right now as it calms my migraines as caffeine constricts blood vessels (like progesterone does) as my high oestrogen levels are dilating them too much. (My positive reaction to caffeine was one of the ways my migraines were diagnosed).
So if you have low oestrogen the veins are already too constricted so it makes sense that it will make you much worse.
Wine still makes me feel good and relaxes me but if I have too much my heart pounds the whole of the next day.
Not sure I quite understand what you are saying?
Caffeine is a component of a lot of pain medication because it seems to enhance their effects (eg with paracetamol) and especially for migraines. However progestogens including progesterone also cause headaches and migraines in some women, as does low oestrogen (as well as the changing levels of either/both hormones). I understood that increasing oestrogen, provided it is stable, can alleviate and prevent too many headaches (notwithstanding the effect of surges and fluctuations).
Hurdity x
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Dehydration can cause headaches too, as can sleeping too deeply or too long ………
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I don't have headaches so not sure about pain control, my migraines are gastric and triggered by high oestrogen. I always thought caffeine was just in cold medications to give you energy but I never take pain killers so really don't know.
The endocrinologist said I have too much fluid in my cells (from oestrogen, a vasodilator, dilating the blood vessels and letting fluid in) and caffeine and progesterone are vasoconstrictors (sounds like a snake!) that constrict the blood vessels to squeeze the fluid back out.
So it would make sense that if caffeine constricts the blood vessels when you don't have the high oestrogen / fluid retention, then it won't make you feel good as you may lose too many fluids.
It's so interesting to me as caffeine is like someone clicking their fingers and suddenly I'm ok, I thought for the last few years that I was imagining it and then that I was addicted (even though I don't have that much). However, I didn't have any for 4 months and I was worse than ever and now I know why.
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Just a quick update, I haven't been around much recently as I've been struggling with a dental abcess followed by tooth extractions and a partial denture fitting ( badly fitting I might add)
Anyway, I ended up going to the doctors this morning as last night I had started experiencing weird pain under my right shoulder and in the front upper right quadrant. He seems to think it is gallbladder and that I may have gallstones so, he's arranging an ultrasound as a first step.
Looks like being a low fat, non goodie Christmas for me then 😢
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OUCH! Dental pain is the PITS! Was the abcess present prior to extraction, my Dentist wouldn't remove the tooth without anti-biotic cover which also helps pain relief.
Nowt wrong with a low fat diet if it helps ease symptoms!
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Yes the abcess was there prior to extraction and I had a course of antibiotics to clear it up.Dental pain always turns me into a right old grump . I could have grumped and groused for England.
Any other time of the year and I wouldn't be too bothered about the low fat diet but Christmas? Just after I've stocked with goodies, including Bailey's. Oh well, I shall play the martyr .... ;D
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Will do sparkle and thanks for the advice . I just hope this doesn't take weeks and weeks to sort out as I'm nervous about increasing pain. Some of the accounts I've read on various websites sound horrific!