Hi all,

I've posted some, but for the most part have enjoyed and learned greatly from this forum. Thanks..

Now considering I used to work as a biller in an OB/gyn office you would think I would be up on this stuff,,but nope. There too, think it has to be black or white for them to say anything. No gray in-between.

I've had blood tests done. One time several years ago my estrogen showed post menopausal..I was not post-meno..I had a baby 2 years later. Recently had blood work done,,all normal range, except dhea was in very low normal range.

I experience tachycardia which even with wearing an event monitor they can not find anything that causes it. Just shows sinus tachycardia. Great that it is nothing serious but dealing with this sometimes daily is not great.

Some days I am just in knots all days, stomach turns, feels like my heart will race any minute. Sometimes I feel a rush of heat and maybe my heart will race for a second or two. Other times the feelings are there but my heart rate stays pretty low.

I get ovulation pain most every month, I could even tell most months where I am ovulating from, but then again I was told I was anovulatory too,,so who knows. I had a pelvic ultrasound in Dec. and that showed a parovarian cyst and some follicular cysts on my ovaries.

I can feel fine for a few days, then bam, the symptoms are back. Sometimes they peak right to the day I start my period then ease up a bit but other times it seems that they start right at my period and keep going till mid-cycle. I wonder sometimes what my hormones are doing.


To get to my question,

Does anyone know what the hormones are doing through peri-meno? Is it just a day to day chance on them being at the right level. Is there any pattern? What happens right after we start of menses? Is it now that our levels are either not going up properly that we can have symptoms?

I'm searching the archives..I know most Dr's are pretty clueless on this, unfortunately. If I listed all my symptoms,,forget it..

I'm 40, and think I will scream all the way through this!

Thanks for listening to the vent!

Oops, did not figure out how to edit my own posts.

Wanted to add,, do many of you just decide for yourselves that you are going through peri, after exhausting visits with Dr's, negative blood work, is it that we have to diagnose ourselves?

That is what I am doing.

Hi mom4cem

I think what we all have discovered here is there is no explaining peri meno Every women experiences it differently. There is no set pattern. Blood tests in peri are basically useless in my opinion (and many others here) Hormone levels change daily during peri so blood tests can't tell the story. Dearest has put together the symptoms of peri and meno but remember you may or may not be experiencing all of them. Here's a link to the list:

http://www.power-surge.com/educate/34symptoms.htm


Yes I think many of us finally come to the conclusion after many Dr visits that we are not dying or nuts. Its peri meno

Good luck and take care
Cathy

Mom4cem, other than a different name, that could have been me posting those experiences. I have to say that until I realized and came to terms with the reality of perimenopause, there were far more bad days than good. At the beginning, I had no idea what was happening to me. I've always been a social, outgoing person, with a great job and wonderful family. Then seemingly overnight, I was terrifed to go out at times, I'd have anxiety while food shopping, suffer tachycardia, internal shakiness, minor hot flashes and a sense of foreboding. Added to the fact, that all of a sudden, I feel like a complete idiot. When I talk, I have trouble finding the most simple words, I can go into a room and completely forget why I'm there. It can be so discouraging to feel that you're not in control of your life. The worst part is that you can go days or weeks feeling great and then the hammer falls and you have a spell of some really bad days.

Since finding this site and doing as much research on the subject as possible, the first most heartening thing I found, was that we're not alone. The second best piece of news, was that I'm not in fact dying. Something I was very close to convincing myself of. Hormones are crazy little buggers and right now, they are not my best friend.

I've talked to my husband at lengths and even my two older kids (20 and 16). I find that this truly helps alot and they understand completely why there are some days when it's just hard for me to function. I was definitely feeling guilt on top of everything else, that I was somehow letting them down, by not feeling up to cooking a big dinner or whatever. On those days, they chip in and help me out and my husband gives me an extra hug.

My symptons are still there, but armed with knowledge, they're somehow more manageable now and I feel like I'm slowly gaining back some control. When I feel the anxiety or that apprehension coming on, I don't let it take over. I try to turn my mind towards something constructive and even getting on the computer seems to take the edge off and I can regain control a little faster.

Keep your chin up.

Mom4cem

I had no clue what was going on with me even though I should have. I mean I was 49 but had no symptoms up until then and they all seemed to start overnight. I searched the internet for every disease known and thought everyday that I had one of them. Then the clue came that I might be in perimenopause...I missed a period and then another. I went to my GP who did all the hormonal blood work. He said that it showed that my readings were post menopausal. He told me to throw out all my fem hygiene products. Thankfully I didn't because since then I have had 7 more periods. So they don't know everything and the blood tests are not always accurate.
We all know our own bodies better than anyone and if you are having any of those symptoms on the list, then you are having peri symptoms. I only wish I had found this site before I drove myself crazy. It is always good of course if you have any concerns about the symptoms to have them checked out. I finally went to a gyn and he was extremely helpful, much more than my GP was. That was the key for me was to find a caring and knowledgeable doctor.
My hormones are crazy too. I have gone months without periods or cramps etc and then all of the sudden I have one. I had night sweats for 3 months and that was over a year ago and haven't had any since. So yes, it is a crazy time and symptoms come and go and come back again. Just reading everything here from all the women who experience all these things should give you some piece of mind that you can indeed be having peri symptoms.
Kim