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[Zarozinia]

Hello everyone

I am 50 and visited my Dr over a year ago as I suspected PMDD, during the  week before my period starts I have had severe symptoms of severe low mood, irritability, extreme anxiety, major mood swings, poor sleep, overwhelming dark thoughts, struggling to control my moods and not to snap at people. It has been affecting relationships and is extremely distressing. I have experienced this in recent years but it got much worse in the last few years, I have always thought it just bad PMT and always got through it by reassuring myself that it will only last a few days. I had not heard of PMDD but as soon as I read about it I realised that is what I have. I kept a diary of all symptoms and my cycle which ironically was regular 29 days up until the month before I started documenting all this.

Unfortunately the PMDD diagnosis took a back seat as I was ill with M.E ( Ive had it 13 years but suddenly last year lost my mobility and became much worse), I was also experiencing two other " gynae" problems at the same time that were new to me and my Dr wanted to sort these first. One was an unpleasant odour - 2 lots of anti biotics cured vaginosis. Second was bleeding a lot of fresh blood immediately following intercourse or orgasm without penetration. - so once the vaginosis was sorted, a few tests later my Dr decided it probably isnt anything to worry about - I have cervical erosion which is a possible cause.  I had been concerned as 5-6 years ago I had CIN3 and had LOOP treatment which successfully removed the cells and have had clear tests since then.


Last month my Dr finally started treating me for PMDD, after saying I was peri menopausal. She suggested trying either continuous anti depressants ( as my cycle has become so erratic that its impossible to predict the week before a period) or HRT. In the past I have  tried anti depressants and could only tolerate one - Prozac - however there was one huge down side - I could not orgasm whilst taking it, so my entire sex life was ruined and I really dont wish to go down that route as I am in a fairly new relationship of 18 months and it is one of the few pleasurable aspects of my life that I can actually enjoy ( M.E is currently stopping me doing so much lately). I started Femoston. I am only into my 3rd week but I have experienced one of the heaviest bleeds of my life. Having bled lightly in the two weeks prior I stopped bleeding when I started taking it for a few days, then started lightly bleeding for a week. I stopped bleed then bled heavily for half a day following intercourse, stopped bleeding for a couple of days then suddenly bled so heavily for 3 days that I couldnt leave home and was having to change the heaviest duty tampons and pads available every 35-60 minutes, literally non stop for the whole 3 days then it moved to changing every 2-3 hours, today it has reduced. 
I do have one heavy bleeding day most cycles but this was so extreme -  I must add that Im an ex nurse ( worked 15 years in rheumatology - but had to stop working 13 years ago) and I am not exaggerating regarding amount of bleeding.

Is this normal on Femoston? Or is it possibly something to do with being perimonpausal or possibly something to do with whatever is causing bleeding following sex?

I am obviously keen to work out the best treatment for the PMDD, but concerned that the Femoston has possibly caused this excessive bleeding which has lead to me being even more drained than usual with the M.E. I am not well read nor up to date regarding the peri monopause, PMDD, gynae problems and treatments, as I tire so easily and even half an hour on the computer can leave me feeling shattered. Hence joining this forum for advice.

Thanks to anyone that has actually read the whole post - I know its a long and complicated one

[jillydoll]

Hi Zarozinia. 

Sorry, I can't help with your questions, but I'm sure someone will post pretty soon.
Just didn't want you to feel you've been left hanging....

Jd xx

[Zarozinia]

Thank you 

[Hurdity]

Hi Zarozinia

 

Sorry to hear about all your problems.

I presume you've had other blood tests to rule out causes for your ME eg thyroid function, vitamins, minerals etc or other hormonal tests? Also that your diet is as good as it can possibly be so that you are not deficient in vital nutrients and especially iron if you are bleeding heavily?

Re your sudden heavy bleeding following starting Femoston. Depending how irregular your periods have been recently ( if you've skipped cycles for example) - sometimes there can be anovulatory  cycles where the eggs start to develop but don't reach maturity - so some oestrogen is produced. Because there is no ovulation then the womb lining (stiumlated by the oestrogen) is not shed and can build up - so that it either comes away spontaneously as an abnormal oestrogen breakthrough bleed, or if you start a progestogen this can lead to normal bleeding but due to the thickness of the lining it can be heavy. In other words it is not the Femoston per se causing the heavy bleeding (in such a short time), but could be what has precipitated the shedding of your lining (possibly thickened) already there?

There is an article here on peri-menopause which explains it better:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/magazine/pdf/Article%20-%20Perils%20of%20the%20Perimenopause.pdf

 You have also mentioned previous bleeding after sex but I wouldn't have thought it could be this heavy. However I would most definitely discuss this with your doctor because although heavy bleeding can be common during peri-menopause, this should be checked out. Here are some of the causes and treatments for heavy bleeding:

https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/heavyperiods.php
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/investigations.php
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/periodtreatments.php

Also other pages....

Once you have been to your doc for investigations we can then advise on HRT - but it could be that you would benefit from a Mriena coil which lessens the bleeding and eventually stops it, and then you can add oestrogen at a level where you feel better.

Hope this helps and keep is updated about the outcome and how you feel?

Hurdity x

[Tc]

Hi zarozinia. I just wanted to welcome you to the forum.
I think hurdity has covered everything very eloquently as always and has provided some very helpful links.

I would just add that I have experienced the sexual side effect you mention with prozac in the past . But I havent been on it for a while and had a sudden menopause last August and have experienced the same issue which happened totally in conjunction with the immediate  hormone drop.  Easteogen and testosterone are low in my case which I'm at the early stage of trying to sort out. So a hormone imbalance can cause these sexual side effects.

Sorry you are suffering so much especially with the ME on top. . I had it in my twenties and that was the first time I was given anti depressants.

But ADS are not recommended as a first line treatment for menopause symptoms in ladies who can and/or want to take HRT. For those symptoms.

I would suggest you ask to see a gynae or ask for your doc to do some tests/scans. And then maybe yoy will have clearer picture of how to proceed with the HRT.

I wish you all the best. Please post as much as you want. There is a wealth of knowledge, experience and support on here.
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