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[Kathleen]

Hello Ladies

I wonder if anyone can relate to the above? I'm beginning to wonder if my cold hands and toes are meno related.

I was told that I'm low in iron so I assumed that was the cause of my circulation problems but my levels are on the rise and my hands are still like blocks of ice lol.  I'm also experiencing disturbed sleep ( I swear that I'm becoming nocturnal ) and I noticed my hands and feet were cold in bed.

I'm post meno and using Oestrogel and Utrogestan vaginally but I still have some classic  meno symptoms including tender breasts, irritability and tearfulness. I just wondered if my poor circulation is a more unusual symptom or should I have my iron levels looked at again. Oh what fun!

Thanks for reading this ladies, I value your insight and look forward to reading any comments.

Wishing you all well.

K.

[CLKD]

R your feet actually cold?  I feel cold from mid-thighs downwards but when DH touches the skin, I am warm 'as normal' apparently  .  Even with thick socks I am aware that my feet feel cold.

Even in last year's heat: remember that!  : I had the electric blanket on at night as my legs were cold 

A GP or Practice Nurse can test your femoral    arteries by feeling the pulsation in the ankle region.  That tells if the blood flow is 'correct'. 

[Yorkshire Girl]

Since being post menopausal my hands have been colder than usual, I even get tingling in my fingertips and turn blue, my Dr said I suffer with Raynaulds syndrome.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

Thank you so much for your interesting comments.

 Annamuller -  It hadn't occurred to me that too much oestrogen may be the culprit. I also have tender breasts and wonder if that is also the result of high oestrogen even though I'm only using two pumps. The article on blood flow was also interesting so thank you for that.

Jaypo -  Yes it is a newish thing which is why I thought it was linked to my recent low iron levels. Amazing that blood flow can be normal but we can still feel discomfort.  I wonder if it's possible to have the right amount of blood present but containing weaker red cells so the flow is normal but the amount of oxygen available is reduced?

Stellajane - I can't remember the last time I had my Thyroid checked so I might mention it to my GP.  Perhaps weirdly sometimes my hands and feet are fine, and they warm up quickly. It's like a tap is turning the heat on and off during the day and night. Most peculiar.

Yorkshire Girl - annamuller's article is about Raynauds Syndrome and worth a read. I haven't noticed anything turning blue just yet but I'll keep an eye out!

Thanks again ladies for your very helpful replies. Much appreciated.

Take care.

K.

[CLKD]

DH and his Dad each had their L middle and ring fingers that would go white when cold.  Once the hand warmed through and colour returned, it was OK again.  Reynaurd's can be dangerous .......... they were advised to keep the neck and wrists extra warm so we bought thick cuffs which fastened with Velcro to stop draught up the sleeves.

[Sooze]

Kathleen,
How long have you been on your current regime?  For the first 3 months of Utrogestan & Sandrena my hands and feet went very cold 15mins after taking the Utrogestan - so bad  that I took to wearing bed socks! 

It seems to have stopped the past 3 weeks and I'm not sure it's just everything settling or because I'm now taking the Utrogestan orally rather that vaginally?
HTH

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies.

Thank you so much for your responses.

I admit that I'm panicking a bit today as I feel so fatigued and my hands and feet are frozen.

Sooze - interesting what you say about your HRT, I have also taken to wearing bedsocks! I haven't noticed a connection with the time I use the gel or Utrogestan but I will pay more attention now.

Birdy - I wondered if my sore breasts are due to excess oestrogen although I'm only using two pumps it could still be too much for me. I can't remember the last time my Thyroid was checked so I will definitely look into that, thank you.

I'm very grateful to you all for taking the time to post.

Wishing everyone well and take care.

K.

[Kathleen]

Hello anamuller.

Thank you so much for the link. It's reassuring to know that hormones can be to blame and I'm not necessarily suffering from a rare form of creeping anaemia ( cold hands and feet today, cold heart and brain tomorrow! ).

Take care.

K.

[GypsyRoseLee]

This is interesting. When my hormones are fluctuating I feel quite chilled all over even though I'm usually quite warm blooded.

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies.

Just a quick update. I've arranged to have another blood test to check my iron levels as this may be the reason for my cold hands and feet. Strangely my other meno symptoms seem to have quietened down recently but I don't want to jinx it by getting too excited. If I discover anything interesting I'll let you know.

Wishing you all well.

K.

[Jaylow]

Hi Kathleen, I realise you posted this a while ago now but I’m wondering if you solved the problem? Going through the same right now, hands and feet like ice, interfering with sleep etc 😴

[Kathleen]

Hello Jaylow.

I sort of solved the problem in that I was diagnosed with an underactive Thyroid in December last year.

From what I can remember my symptoms were :- feeling very cold, itchy and dry skin on my arms and legs, tiredness and sore and puffy eyes.  I had stopped taking HRT in July so I wondered if my issues were hormonal however in  November I had Glandular Fever which my GP thinks  caused Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I later had a chesty cough for weeks on end which probably didn't help matters.

At the end of December I began taking Levothyroxine and my puffy eyes soon disappeared. I still have cold hands and feet on occasion though this is likely due to the weather! I certainly don't have the extreme sensations I had last year and my thyroid  blood tests are now normal though I continue to take Levothyroxine.

I hope this helps you in  some way and perhaps ask your GP for a TSH blood test to rule out Thyroiditis.

Wishing you well.

K.

[Jaylow]

Thank you for replying. Glad to hear you’ve mainly sorted the problem.
My symptoms are very similar to what yours were and I suspect thyroid issues. My gp also did and I had bloods tested for this before I even started on hrt but I was told my results were ‘fine’. I didn’t push for more info as at the time I thought everything was peri related. Now , I’m not so sure.

[sheila99]

Check which thyroid tests they did. I can't remember the information exactly but I can do some digging if you need it. The nhs testing isn't a full test, might be antibodies it doesn't test for. I got the all clear from the nhs test but got a full test from medichecks which showed I had hashimoto's. There are other posts, try searching for thyroid, ts3 and ts4.

[Uptick]

Thank you for replying. Glad to hear you’ve mainly sorted the problem.
My symptoms are very similar to what yours were and I suspect thyroid issues. My gp also did and I had bloods tested for this before I even started on hrt but I was told my results were ‘fine’. I didn’t push for more info as at the time I thought everything was peri related. Now , I’m not so sure.

Hi Jaylow, if you had blood tests before starting HRT, maybe HRT has interfered with your thyroid hormone levels, which is an expected side effect that normally stabilises after some time, depending on individual variations. Do you have your tests results? If they are 'fine' but in the lower range of 'fine', estradiol can reduce the amount of thyroxine available by raising the amount of thyroxine binding globulin produced in the liver.
I had very cold hands and toes whilst having periods and that became really uncomfortable during peri-menopause. I'm 4 years post-menopause and I have exactly the opposite now, very warm hands and toes, so oestrogen (and maybe also progesterone?) seems to have an effect of its own as well, given that my thyroid blood tests results were always 'normal', but they can fluctuate a lot, so blood tests are not always reliable, unless you have been tested positive for antibodies, that's a quite definitive indication that you will need thyroid hormone replacement therapy.