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[Sleepy123]

I am currently off work with stress and although it is partly work related, I think the anxiety is down to perimenopause?
I had fairly mild symptoms until I tried the Conti? HRT. It made me feel rubbish so I stopped, but it seems to have kickstarted the anxiety!
I have a constant tight feeling in my stomach like cortisol?
I have had enough!!! What does everyone else use for anxiety? Or is it just the usual exercise/diet etc  ... 

[sheila99]

Do you mean it's bad when you're on the progesterone phase? If so it might be best to try a different progesterone which may suit you better. What hrt are you on?

[CLKD]

Morning!  Without my Betablockas, anti-depressants and the emergency as necessary anti-anxiety medication I would be here.  I had my first panic attack at 3.

Use what ever works for you?   Rescue Remedy mouth spray or pastilles are good too.  As is relaxation.  Even though it is associated with hormones, anxiety is anxiety regardless of causation: regardless of what people might suggest ....... so if you find an 8-12 months course of anti-anxiety medication helps - I used 'valium' on an as necessary basis and it worked well; then why not? 

With any new medication I take it B4 I require it so that I am aware of how my body and brain react.  The current as necessary pill either knocks me out and I wake feeling better or eases me through the situation. 

[Sleepy123]

I was taking evorel sequin for about 6 weeks but it made me feel much worse so I stopped taking it.

My anxiety only seems to have started since I tried the HRT.

Im not sure if it is hormones or work giving me anxiety.

After doing lots of google searching! It appears that the cortisol ‘rush' is causing the problems.

I have never had anxiety before so I'm not sure how to control it. I'm in the process of trying various things. I might have to exercise a bit more, I am trying the herbal ‘kalms' Tablets, and I have ordered some cbd oil !!! 

When I get stressed about work my cortisol/adrenaline seems to go through the roof!

I'm thinking of trying acupuncture as I have heard that can help?

I also have a magnesium spray which seems to help with sleep.

I just want to feel normal again! 

[sheila99]

Not sure if this is your problem but my worst peri symptoms were anxiety and insomnia. I hadn't had either before. It took 3 months on HRT before it got better.

[CLKD]

Cortisol is the waking up hormone.  I would wake sudden around 3.45 in absolute terror.

Adrenalin - 4 me it feels like hot water rushing through my veins 

[Mogster71]

Poor you - I completely empathise.

I never had those cortisol/adrenaline rush kind of moments until I started on HRT. I've since stopped taking it, but my body seems to do that every so often now.

I think lots of things aren't normal, it's so hard to put your finger on exactly what feels weird but kind of everything feels "out of bonk". The first time I came on the forum and tried to explain how I felt, CLKD said "it's not called the change for nothing" and that's stuck with me!!

Perhaps a good thing to do would be to focus on feeling "well" (which it seems like you are trying anyway) rather than "normal". Worrying about being anxious will probably be making things worse, especially when you feel like you're on a deadline for feeling better for work. It has taken me a few months of sitting with these symptoms, which are scary when you don't expect them, and know that it's all part of it.

I think if I felt anxious rather than feeling adrenaline-like, if that makes sense, I would look at some meditation/breathing apps or calming apps. There are some free things you can look at on YT for example.

Take care Sleepy, we're in the same boat X

[Sleepy123]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. It's a bit of a minefield isn't it !!
I think like Sheila99 says, my worst problems are insomnia and anxiety.

I'm a bit reluctant to try the HRT again as it made me feel rubbish, but maybe I didn't try it long enough?

I have a constant feeling of anxiety in my stomach, like before you are about to take an exam. My doctors think it is mainly caused by work stress, but I think it's more hormonal? And the work stress is just making it worse.

I tried the rescue remedy today but not sure if it helped. I am also trying peppermint oil.

My employer is not the most understanding and I think it's just making me more anxious about going back.

Think I am peri? Not had a period for about 7 months.

Take care everyone. Hopefully we will all get through it !!!

[sheila99]

It's difficult as anxiety can have many causes but you know you're in peri so to my mind this would be a good place to start. I'd suggest you try a sequi hrt. You should have this anyway as you're not meno (12 month since last bleed) but for most people it's the progesterone that causes problems and this way you can see if you're bad only while you're on it. What we're you on last time? Might be worth trying one with a different prog.

[Ladybt28]

The thing about peri is we start off with the symptoms on a mild and random basis and they creep up on us and we leave it and leave it and then we decide to do something and get hrt.  Whilst we are "leaving it to see if it stops" our hormones are dropping further and as you move further into peri things progress more.  Once we get our hrt, I think it is probably trying to "balance" a bigger in-balance than when we first noticed the symptoms to start with and I think that this can make us think that the hrt is making it worse but it needs time to sort out the imbalance.

Peri is the gradual deterioration of the hormones until the in-balance in some people's hormones just "fall off the cliff" and cause absolute mayhem!  It is very hard to tell whether our hrt is "making us worse" in peri because our own homones could just be getting worse and worse without it - it may not be the hrt at all!   The other thing is there is such a lack of knowledge and GP's explanations (that's if you get one  ) are usually so sketchy as to what to expect that we get frightened in the first couple of weeks and think things are never going to be right and we might be doing ourselves some damage but hrt medication is not a quick fix, it is a slow adjustment or slow burn to balance the "out of bonk" levels and rthyms.

It really has to be a minimum of 3 months and sometimes we feel worse before we get better but I suppose the issue is, with our busy lives, we really don't have time for feeling "worse" and so maybe duck out? As I have written before my peri symptoms were horrendous and I couldn't get them balanced and when I got to post meno (hard to tell when that happened as I had been on hrt so long!) it took 7 months for my hrt to come right.

Its a tough one and I really feel for anyone with the surges, anxiety, paranoia, tempers and urgh...goes on and on but it is possible to get things right..just hang on in there. I couldn't take evorel of any kind, nor femeston, or provera progestone or Elleste patches - they all either made me feel sick, or gave me a headache and the provera...well..psycho is a good word to describe it!   -  This s**ts not easy

[Ladybt28]

so glad to hear Birdy that you are getting sleep.....sure you are a bit foggy and sluggish after so long without but are you feeling just a tiny bit better?? - baby steps and all that? x

[CLKD]

 . twice - however, the body requires sugar!!! it's a myth that cutting out sugars will improve the body. It won't.  Nor will cutting back on liquid intake or drinking 'too much'.

The Change is natural, however it throws up some awful symptoms for some.  I remember my Mum dropping on2 the sofa and going to sleep ....... she stopped what she was doing and wham, gone for a few hours 

I know that 'exam' anxiety in the gut too well  .  Don't think if 'rescue remedy' works/not; use it.  It won't do any harm and may help.  Breathing correctly is important as shallow breathing can exacerbate the anxiety.  As can not eating regularly. 

CBT etc. didn't work for me.  Medication is essential.  Medication doesn't after all have to be forever but can see us through patches when the body requires support.  Do you keep a mood/food/symptom diary Sleepy?

[CLKD]

Strange how you know better than my Consultant Psychiatrist in Sept. 1991 - cortisol is the waking hormone.  Adrenaline is from the adrenal glands. 

Sugar is essential for our bodies.

[CLKD]

Humans have been adding sugar to their diets for about 3-5,000 years BC.  From honey.  As do bears and other animals. 'Honey and Dust'. 

[Countrygirl]

Teresa you've just described exactly why I won't nap even when I've had a really bad night x