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[Elizabethrose]

Oh Sparkle, I wish I could offer some advice on that front but I really can't I'm afraid. Whilst I have always been very reactive to hormone change I have been really very very lucky that my moods have never been affected by hormones. Hopefully this will continue. My daughter struggles the week building up to a period when oestrogen really falls but I don't know the science behind this.

Years and years ago a neurologist tried me on Topomax as a prophylactic for the migraine. It is an epilepsy drug sometimes used to treat migraine. It was an absolute nightmare and I reacted to it very violently. It was the only time in my entire life that my mental state was affected alongside many other awful side effects. I don't think I've ever felt so unwell in my life.

Have a wonderful time, enjoy the little things and try and forget the pesky hormones for a couple of weeks.

[Elizabethrose]

Oh poor you. My husband suffers with that too and definitely finds stress and worry aggravate it. Hopefully it will ease in a relaxed, non stressful woodland dell!

Hope you have a lovely restful time x

[Machair]

Sparkle I wouldn't think it was low oestrogen as you are still having mucus which is made by the cervix in response to high levels. The night sweats come when oestrogen falls either from high to normal or from normal to low. I rarely have night sweats so I know I am still making oestrogen at a fairly consistent rate. After menopause - maybe 2 years the oestrogen levels flat line and the night sweats should diminish.

As far as I understand it this may be why some women do not feel better on HRT before menopause as they effectively are swimming in oestrogen when more is added.

Some articles I have read by endocrinologists state that often oestrogen levels in peri can be as great as pregnant ladies in their 20s and they are erratic like sun flares! We are also progesterone depleted which adds to the anxiety as progesterone is a relaxing hormone.

I think ladies like us who produce oestrogen well into their fifties may need to be careful with HRT until our own levels fall. Too much oestrogen can make us anxious and miserable - I tell my husband they are my sun flare days!

Have a wonderful holiday Sparkle. I am away at the moment in The Outer Hebrides. It is my favourite place on earth.

[linz57]

Oh hi Linz57

Just seen your post. Please don't worry about your procedure, honestly, it's a walk in the park with a GA. You'll wake and all will be done and dusted, not like my experience without anaesthetic!! 

Hope all goes well, I'm very sure it will x

Hi Elizabeth rose and thank you for your good wishes . So glad to hear all seems OK with your results, I'm sure if anything was untoward you would have heard quickly.
I had my hysteroscopy done and it's only today that I'm feeling awake enough to come on here again, the GA certainly knocked me out big time, I could do with a tiny dose of the stuff every other night to help with my insomnia haha.
Whilst under I also had a d and c, endometrial biopsies and an ablation so I'm hoping I'm clean and shiny as a new pin inside now! The doctor said all looked fine but I guess I will not totally relax until the histology results are back.
Sparkle, I do hope you manage to enjoy your holiday, I know how awful it feels to be worrying while you're away and everyone else around seems carefree. I went to Spain a couple of weeks ago and I really thought worrying about my hysteroscopy would spoil my holiday, but once there I went into that artificial bubble ( escaping from reality I call it) and managed to put it all to the back of my mind. Have a lovely time!🍹

[Elizabethrose]

Hi Linz57

I'm so pleased all went well, though I read your post about surgical stockings last night and I'm sad that you received such poor advice. Have to say the hospital care I received was very good and as far as the surgical stockings were concerned they were very insistent with instructions. I absolutely agree, a drop of GA to see me through the night would be very welcome: six night sweats last night - I feel utterly wiped out this morning!

Hopefully all will be well with your biopsy results, it's encouraging that your consultant felt that all looked well. I'm 31 days post procedure and still waiting - who would believe it?! But I agree, bad news tends to sneak through quickly and I have to say, I've given up worrying now. If something is amiss, worrying is certainly not going to help, we just have to manage the next step. I too was given a D and C whilst under because they couldn't get through the cervix but with your ablation too you must have the endometrial lining of an 18 year old!

Take it easy for a few days, the GA is sometimes slow to leave your system. Weirdly I felt more tired three days after!

I send you all good wishes x

[linz57]

I just wish they could have made my face and body back to that of an 18 year old too hahaha.
Yes it's amazing how long the anaesthetist  lingers in the body and I also think the relief of getting the procedure over with adds to the tiredness. I've been told to relax as I'm bleeding heavily yet I have to keep moving to avoid clots. Ah well, a bit of alternating methinks.
Thank you for your kind words Elizabethrose and I think you're doing the right thing . We have to keep on living our lives and not sitting around brooding about what may or may not happen. I'm sure after so long your results will be fine, I'm sending you positive vibes x

[Mary1962]

Have come to this thread a bit late but I'm 53 and started with problems in peri in late 2011/early 2012 so c.48/49.  Mainly gaps in my cycle leading to very heavy periods so lining was checked out with scans and then as it stayed overly thickened over 2-3 scans and they could see a fibroid and possibly polyps I then had a hysteroscopy and biopsy.  That showed all was OK, no polpys just thickened normal lining due to high oestrogen and this fibroid which was over 1cm.  No treatment was suggested.  Over this time and as my cycle extends and extends I get big swollen boobs for about 2 weeks some white staining and spotting and then also a proper period on occasion but don't think another one is going to come now.  I did have a blood test last year and another scan as was having heavy periods again.  Scan showed lining was fine but fibroid was nearly 3cms.  So I suspect because my oestrogen is still higher and not really fading away much?  I can't remember what my actual level results were from the blood test but doctor said to ensure I used contraception still as was still classified as fertile with the levels I had.

Am now in a not very pleasant phase of periods not coming but my body seems to think they are or should be!  I do worry a lot about what goes on inside if my oestrogen doesn't really start to drop away soon.  And as time goes on find the way my body is about it all and my moods and tiredness the worse part to deal with. Feel like a former shadow of myself at times but I do know this will all pass and will come out the other side again!  With a big smile on my face

[Elizabethrose]

Hello Mary

Oh it seems never ending doesn't it.

I've gone 176 days today without a period and whilst I know it's possible that they could sneak in anytime, like you, I somehow think they won't. However, the oestrogen peaks and troughs continue with amazing savagery. My flushes and night sweats suddenly stopped 4 days ago and the oestrogen soared. Sore breasts, copious cervical mucus and extreme bloating, it feels exactly like I'm mid cycle and would normally expect a period in about 14 days. These roller coaster hormone patterns don't allow the migraines to calm, I need a plateau.

Yesterday I went clothes shopping and was truly shocked at the size of me in the fitting room mirrors.  I've always been a tiny person, size 8/10 but I am so bloated that it is a struggle getting my clothes on and there is no doubt I've put on weight. I've put on weight only 3 times in my life; pregnancy about 3/4 stone each time; with a horrendous migraine drug called pizotifen which slowed my metabolism and would literally make me fall asleep at the kitchen table; and with HRT where all hell broke loose!

I eat really well, probably a third of what I once did, but my metabolism has clearly slowed right down again. My difficulty is that the migraine won't allow me to exercise at the moment. The only thing I can do is walk and I try to do that whenever I can. Geez, those fitting room mirrors rocked me to my core, and I'm not easily fazed!!

Anyway, to try to find a positive note, I'm 176 days today  :hapij and the break in night sweats is allowing me a proper nights sleep so I can at least refresh my energy levels. The total bliss of waking in the morning after an unbroken night is extraordinary!

Mary you can join our menopause party team! 

[clare663]

Hello everyone! Just wanted to add something to your discussion as it may or may not help! I am 49 and 5 years meno. My symptoms came back after a break from them for 3-4 yrs. The gp put me on Evorel conti patches 50mg. I was on it for 6 wks, afetr week 2 all symptoms gone and felt great (I had started on 1/3 of a patch) by wk4 low mood began to return (on 1/2 patch by this time) by wk 6 (full patch now) tearful, sore boobs,  low mood to the point I was suicidal so ripped the patch off. This was last sunday. I am now spotting and still slightly sore. My theory is that I had too much oestrogen running through me. I had this previously when I tried HRT during the peri, I went doolally within a week, and then tried when I was first meno and had 6 months where I got progressively worse and had the most painful and heaviest periods ever. (GP put me on a sequi to try and combat side effects). The peri stage can be very difficult to control as you are having constant highs and dips with your own hormones. I would get yourself clued up on the side effects of too much and too low oestrogen and go for an HRT that can be esily adjusted ie, gel or cutting of patches.

[Elizabethrose]

Hello Clare

Poor you, will you try another route now?

I'm afraid I can't do HRT, all routes exhausted there with disastrous side effects, so I'm trying to manage without. My oestrogen levels are constantly rising and falling despite no period for nearly 6 months but I understand this can continue for years after meno. One of the endocrinologists I saw suggested at 2 years post meno things start to calm and oestrogen levels start to plateau. I need this for my migraines to calm and they believe they will, so everything is crossed here!

Another day, another migraine - pesky hormones!!

Good luck to you, I hope you feel better.

[Mary1962]

It is the great support and sharing of experiences and problems on here that helps get you through I think. 

Elizabethrose - like  you I'm on the petite side normally but having weight gain swings in last year and look almost square in shape sometimes!  I am not a vain person but seriously...where do all those handles of flesh appear from seemingly overnight sometimes?!  The hormones seems to distribute it around me at will!  I am up a size now but can live with that if I can keep the extra of me that has appeared in shape!

[20032003]

Hrm.. I can sure relate to the weight gain. Since the beginning of the year I've gone from 60 kilos to 67 kilos. Everything I own is TIGHT and I don't seem to be able to loose the weight like I used to. To add to this, I often get bloated in the afternoons making me feel like a blimp.... Already tight clothes are bursting at the seams... Can anyone relate?

[Elizabethrose]

Haha Mary1962

I love your comment ' I am up a size now but can live with that if I can keep the extra of me that has appeared in shape!' Haha, trouble is that little bit of extra is never in shape! Mine's lingering over the top of my jeans as we speak. Oh woe!

[Machair]

I am wondering Elizabethrose do you feel like there is a similarity between the feelings of high levels of oestrogen and PMT? I know I have high oestrogen as I have copious cervical mucus at times, but in many ways I feel premenstrual as it causes the same bloated irritated feelings that come with that too?

[Elizabethrose]

Hi Machair, hope you are well.

Yes, the symptoms of my oestrogen highs (mid cycle) are very like those of PMS.

Before mid stage peri my symptoms of ovulation were always the same. Screaming migraine (at peak oestrogen levels), slight blood smear, pains in one or other ovary, copious cervical mucus for 2/3 days, front of breast tenderness, bloating.

Mid stage peri, same as above but if there was no blood smear and no viable follicle, the cervical mucus would continue rather than stop after a few days, breasts would swell and start to become very painful, bloating and weight gain would occur. This could go on for weeks. In Oct/Nov/Dec last year it continued through 2 anovulatory bleeds. Dec 15th oestrogen suddenly dived, all symptoms stopped, I had a major hot flush where I looked like a lollipop for about an hour and a half and then a period started 2 days later.

That was the last period I had so 179 days today. I had disastrous migraines throughout Christmas, Jan and Feb then hot flushes started and night sweats returned. They quickly built in frequency and intensity to flushes every 15-20 mins throughout the day and about 5/6 at night. Bit of a shock to the system!

Since then I've had 2 oestrogen highs where there was sudden cessation of flushes and sweats, serious bloating, nagging or continuous migraine, continuous copious cervical mucus, slight breast swelling and tenderness. I would also say I've put weight on, jeans are really tight (I am not someone who normally puts on weight). I have a high at the moment but am at least getting some sleep at night. I also just feel hot all of the time but no obvious flushes or sweats.

I think my body is desperately trying to continue a menstruation cycle because these two flares are sufficiently spaced apart to mimic a cycle. I understand this can continue for about 2 years or so after meno. These symptoms are exactly what I experienced with PMS before peri. I have always been very lucky not to experience mood swings with my hormone changes but I understand that high levels of oestrogen can affect your moods as they increase stress.

We are all so different, some of us experience all of this whilst others don't or are unaware as their bodies just don't react so much to the changes.