OK I have pretty much experience every peri symptoms. Over the years one will stand out and control my life for months or even longer! I may have many other symptoms going on at the same time but that one just takes over thn it goes away!
I won't be able to think of anything else. It's like my body has to make one symptoms a major one!

It has been horrible headaches-depression-anxiety etc (you name it). Now it's heart palpations! I had a stress test last Nov, which was normal, at the time I was just so out of breathe and having chest pains. No palpations at that time. So hard to tell if my chest is hurting again or it's just my breasts which hurt all the freating time!
All I can do is keep myself from running to the ER! I fright the urge almost everyday, I have a appointment next Friday with my GP. I just can't keep running to the hospital..
Only thing that takes the palpations away is ativan, so is anxiety the casue?

Hi Snow, sorry you are having a hard time with the palps! I am quite sure they are caused by hormones, as it's on the list of 34 symptoms, and so many of us have them!

If your stress test was normal, I'm sure you don't have anything to worry about. Do you have something called "urgent care" where you live? It's a clinic that will take walk-ins if you have something urgent, and it's a lot less expensive than ER. Chances are they would tell you the palps are harmless, and to not worry about it.

Have you tried taking calcium and magnesium? They have really helped me with palps and racing heart. Maybe give it a try?

I notice with my skipped beats that when I do have them, when I get anxious about them and tighten up, I have them more. When I think about them all the time I have them more. When I take a xanax after about a half hour to an hour they calm down. So yes, I think that they are hormonal but the anxiety about them make them worse. Hope you feel better, they are the most irritating symptom I have.

Susie

Snow -

I am the same. I find my latest symptom completely freaks me out, then I finally adjust to it & it reduces to a more bearable level, only to be replaced soon after by another.

I also developed the all day, every day palps about 4 months ago & I have finally accepted them after having months of stress and fear. I went through much as you describe. In return for my acceptance, they seem to have lessened a bit during the day (I have even had a few days with none at all - but they have returned again). This unbearable peak and then lower copeable level was the same pattern with my anxiety, migraines and other symptoms.

Well I am really fighting the health anxiety itself right now and along with it some worries over irregularities my optician recently found at the back of my eye. (Could be peri-related - who knows?) But the Health Anxiety definitely is.

I so need a break from all this worry & I sympathise with you Snowmoon, greatly!

Snow - I know exactly how you feel! With me, my symptoms morph into brand new ones and/or I get a rehash of old symptoms in clusters. If I had to answer to what my top symptoms, it's the freaking anxiety. The heart pounding out of chest in the middle of the night. The shower of doom in the morning. The hand wringing, running my fingers through my hair while having business meetings in the morning. It's horrible. If I had to say number two: It's the debilitating "I feel like I'm dying" fatigue and joint pain.

Snow - I hope you feel better

Strange as it may sound I am suffering from excess saliva. Anxiety, muscle pains, blurry vision, headaches and all but this excess saliva has me and my doctors baffled. Am having alot of dental work too but none of them think it is from that. I'm wondering after all these months if it could be like when you are pregnant and hormones are raging and I was gagging on saliva during morning sickness? Anyone else have this STRANGE thing happening?

I am 50, and in the last 6 years I too have had all of the symptoms you've mentioned. Just when one goes away, another one starts. The anxiety this time was more than I could bear, so I went to my psychiatrist, who changed my antidepressant from Prozac (on 20 years) to Lexapro, and added 1/2 mg daily of klonopin to the mix. I'm also taking .625 of Premarin and 500 mg of magnesium daily. Yup, I'm heavily medicated butcha know what....I am feeling better...lots better. Not back to normal, but much more manageable...and I'll take that for now. My advice is to be persistent...don't stop until you find something that gives you some relief. Trust me, there's a solution and sooner or later, you'll find it. :

At last I have found someone else who has this weird saliva thing.
I dont know what causes it but it is obviously hormonal.
I had it worse before my hysterectomy when my ovaries were also removed and I am now in instant menopause The hot flushes are dying down a bit now and so are the saliva rushes thankfully!
janet c

YOU ARE KIDDING RIGHT? Someone else actually has this. When and how did youget it to subside. Thank you so much for making me feel "normal"

No I'm not kidding. It used to drive me nuts!
It would be like a sudden gush as if I was thinking about food- even when I wasn't.
I didnt do anything to get it to subside. As I said I had to have a hysterectomy (in March actually), and because I am 54 they also removed my ovaries. I am not allowed hormone replacement because I had uterine cancer so basically I have no hormones left at all. So since the op it seems to have reduced a bit.
I am having acupuncture and the therapist told me the saliva rushes are all to do with the body being sent into a spin with the hormone ups and downs. She is also a gynacologist so she should know!
Dont worry it will pass along with everything else eventually.
janet c

I cannot thank you enough. Sorry for all your probs and hope you feel better. I hope to let you know in the near future that mine too subsided when hormones got regulated. I have been to oral surgeon, periodontist and two dentist who all thought I was nuts. You have just brightened my world.

snowmoon, i saw your post on heart palpitations and i too suffered from them. it is very hormonal. i would get them so bad, that it would wake me up at night. i also suffered from severe, and i mean severe depression and anxiety. all my test showed low estrogen and progestrone, and my thyroid test were normal. but finally i was given the right blood test for my thyroid, and i have throid disease. once i was started on t3, my anxiety and depression has lifted, and my hormones are a little better. i am going to add some bio-identicals to the mix, as i believe they will be the last pieces to this nightmare puzzle. i don't know if you've had your thyroid checked, but it wasn't until they checked my antibodies that the disease was diagnosed. i am still not myself, but i am soooooo much better from that little thyroid pill i take everyday. also the heart palpitations stopped after starting thyroid treatment. don't give up, you will find the right mix!!

Hi Squiggle,

I hadn't put it down to peri,., just getting on a bit, but I too have been having eye problems, my presciption has changed twice in a year and also in the flashing pin prick test my reaction/movement in the eyes is slower.

Optician who I saw this weekend thinks it is related to HRT as this can cause ageing type stuff in the eyes and I have just come off this cos of bleeding problems, so it could be I suppose. What I didn't ask was if it reverted to less ageing eyes when you stop the HRT. Duh!

Hope your problems with yours sorts itself out okay.

Amanda

Janet - sorry to be a pain but am driving myself crazy trying to alleviate this saliva thing. Was yours constant, daily or only once in a while. Yesterday and today, it just won't seem to subside. Thanks for your help.

Hi Amanda,

Well I seem to have developed drusen (uneven pigment/fatty deposits) at the back of my eye and they have got worse in one eye over the past year. I have to see a specialist to find the cause, but it could mean my central vision will gradually diminish. Normally this happens in the over 60's but i am just 42, so the high street optician (optomotrst) was a bit confused.

I know everything isn't due to peri, but it is just another weird and not so wonderful symptom for me to deal with - who knows?

I think the more you focus on it the worse it gets. Have you ever heard of the "Pavlovs dogs" response which proved that certain mental stimuli would provoke a salivation response in his dogs even when no food was present?
I can still increase my saliva flow now if I think about it.
That is not to say that it is not real but I am sure dwelling on it can cause it to happen more. In fact now that I come to mention it-its gushing away as I type!
Unfortunately peri is a time for worrying excessively and obsessively about one's health. Please dont worry. If it was anything serious the doctors would know about it.
All I do is chew sugar free gum or s*ck a mint. That seems to help a bit.
Its such a nusiance I know

palp's are one of my, if not the worst, symptom for me also. I hate them, they are scary and unpredictable. I know the feeling of your breasts being sooo sore and enlarged constantly...mine can get so sore the pain does radiate into others parts of my chest. I am also out of breath recently, like I can't get a good breath, however I just went through allergy testing and found that I'm allergic to a few things that I have in my home so I am hoping that once I rid my home of these things the stuffiness problem will diminish. HUGS Mikki

Sunflower,

I get the scary palps too (started 4 months ago) & also have had the deep breath thing too this summer. Until recently, they were my worst symptom, but now i am worrying about my eyes instead. There is always something, isn't ther?

OMG! I had that during pregnancy! It was horrible. I'd have to have a towel near me to get rid of it. It was one of the worst symptoms of pregnancy for me. It's called ptyalism.

I really don't know why doctors are so baffled by you having this because obviously it's hormonal, just like during pregnancy.
Not many ladies I know have had that during their morning sickness, so I'll bet I have that symptom to look forward to in my peri "career" too unfortunately.
Good luck and I really would love to hear if you get some relief from this symptom.
I truly do feel for you because I remember how awful it was for me during my pregnancies.

OMG> I had this during pregnancy too! Thanks for giving it a name. I had to keep towels with me to spit and it was kind of embarrassing. So do we have this to look forward to? Gyn's should know this is hormonal!!!
Robbie

I have yet to experience the saliva problem, but mine right now is my calves , thighs and chest aching like crazy! The calves and thighs are the worse though because if I am out walking I feel them tightening up and it feels that I cannot walk anymore. Also palpitations are there but not as bad as before since I have been taking mag/cal, which I heard of from the message board. All I have got to say is Thank God for this board and the people that respond to it because it has helped me tremendously in more way than one!

Okay, I've been reading this thread with much interest. I upon occaision wake up with the palps, but when I turn over onto my right side, it helps to alleviate them. Is that weird?

No saliva thing for me, that just sounds like the (s)pits.

For me, hands down it's the tingling thing. The scratchy between the skin and muscle thing, and the face numbness and tingling thing. Ugh.

Since finding this site, I am much better, but after working on the yard and garage all day today, I felt fatigued like never before. It just stinks.

My question is this: How much mag/cal do you guys take to help with your anxiety et al? Right now I'm taking a multi w/ 1000mg cal, and 250mg of mag, also I'm taking another supplement of 250 mag, and another 1000mcg b12. Do you think I am on the right track?

Thanks for advice and listening. Much appreciated.

Peace and Love,
Bonnie

I just started having this symptom about 3 months ago. I was worried I was pregnant! as this was a symptom I had with my pregnancies. I have had all kinds of other perimenopause symtoms and now this. I have found that the saliva is elevated during ovulation and pre-menstrual parts of my cycle. I have also found that it increases after eating certain foods likes sweets or fats. the only thing that significantly helps is progesterone cream. the saliva production greatly diminishes within an hour of putting on the cream. I can tell when I need to put it on again at night as I start producing more saliva. If I actually have my ovulation pangs signaling I ovulated, I have about 10 days where i am normal. and usually normal a few days after my period starts as well. If I don't ovulate, then I have the problem virtually the whole month. I think it is TOO MUCH ESTROGEN. Hopefully this symptom won't last too long!

Probably this is not a factor for you, but too much iodine can cause excess saliva.

Wow! Fascinating symptom of excess estrogen. It sounds like you are paying close attention to your body. I, too, hope it doesn't last for long!

Best Wishes...

TJ

I am really glad I found this thing about saliva because I honestly thought I was going nuts. I was scared that I was pregnant, yikes! It's really driving me crazy. Some days it's better than others though, thank goodness. Now I don't have to worry that something is really wrong; I will get through this and be a better person when it's all done.

Hi sweet,

I was taken to ER about a year ago for sinus tachycardia due to thyrotoxicosis.........I was given a litre of intravenous fluid and 4mg of intravenous diazepam.....so the benzo's have their place!! It took 6 hours to get my heart rate back to 100 bpm but it worked.......then I was put on beta blockers.

I don't take the betas anymore.......but still take diazepam for my palps if I need to.......deep breathing helps me........and Mg as someone else mentioned.....

I find that extremities come and go.......one day it will be terrible fatigue, then a couple of days of horror guts, then something else.......but I do tend to focus on the more extreme......just to bring myself some relief......

Take good care, babe.......

Michah

This is an old post so I don't know if Amanda is still on the boards but the thread came up in todays posts and I was reading back. Has anyone heard of this problem with HRT and eyes?

I agree that the symptoms keep overriding each other! My worst would be depression/irritability, closely followed by horrible vulvar itching and of course lack of sex drive.

Yes, a lot of women have the problem with floaters and night vision problems when going into peri or meno...

TJ

oh wow, my first is anxiety that leads to horrific hot flashes, insomnia, fibryomyalgia...........i'm just suffering thru life, not living it!

Anxiety was the worst for me before I got help. Fatigue seems to be my constant companion now. I'm learning to live with it. Anxiety I could NOT live with.

Boohoo...have you ever tried any natural healing for the fibromyalgia... I know someone who had great success with a nutritionall approach.

Good luck!

TJ

the persistent, relentless, never ending, morning ,noon and night hot flashes and sweats have proved to be the
most annoying(to say the least)physical symptom i endured.I have been having these "hot" episodes for 13yrs now and
I am 5yrs into postmeno....I must say that lately the hots are a little better(I probably just jinxed it by saying that). I
did experience all kinds of other physical symptoms that for the most part are gone or not as intense...

Emotionally the most persistent symptom has been this terrible grief/depression that I just can't seem
to sake. I do an awful lot of crying and I have overwhelming feelings of loneliness that are not
appropriate and caused by my own reclusiveness. I cannot control the crying jigs that come out of nowhere over just about anything.
In fact they are often coordinated to my flashes....I get that feeling that something horrible is about to happen then the flash comes then
I burst into tears....(best to just stay home when you're a crackpot like this)lol. This symptom has gotten so bad that
I was forced to take early retirement from my job.
I have tried and taken many many remedies that have taken the edge off for awhile but in the long term I think only time will
make all of this better. I still don't give up though and I am always looking for ways to improve my lot even if they are temporary...
It really bumms be out over all the years I have lost because of this "nonillness"(i wonder who actually decided that) it is just too late
for so many things.....I have to go now and get a kleenex I'm on the pity pot again....(lol)

be well

this is an easy question
anxiety/ deppression

It's the same for me as it is with you and snow. What a nightmare isn't it! I often get a f"eel like i'm dying" time when the symptoms are raging and I'm becoming more and more anxious....and always during the night when I can't really do anything except try to stay calm and get some much needed sleep.

Hope we all feel better soon

Hi Snow .................. ok ,for me.....the worst of the worst has GOT TO BE health anxiety!!!!!! That's the worst!

Yeah, I'm LOADED with other symptoms, but the fear and worry about what "it could be", takes the cake! That really does take over your life for sure , and you can't think of anything else ...... you're positive your dying! I think the fear of what it might be, is worse than the actual symptom itself.............

DITTO...
And, I'd like to know why this is. What is going on in our bodies/minds to create this "perfect storm" of feelings. Is it the fact that we are getting older? Is it a hormone issue?
I'm going for my yearly physical this morning and I can just tell that I'm going to lose it when my doctor asks me how I'm feeling.
This is a dangerous question for me right now.....

My worst symptom....Hands Down: pressure on my bladder and bloating. It is tolerable, and often (but not always) with me. I have just about every other peri symptom, but this is the one I obsess on. Hard not to. It has run my life for 1.5 years now.

I know this is an old thread, but it came up on a Google search for "excess saliva menopause". I thought I was nuts when I started having excess salivation, but I figure with as crazy as my cycle has been, it has to be meno related. It's almost like you get before you vomit, but I never do. I'm drinking more water, but that doesn't seem to help. Blech - I really don't like meno right now (or ever, really ).

Right now for the past hour and for the past month-anxiety-but right now I am really having alot of chest/breast plate tightness and pain. I think it is acid reflux and I know I should start taking the nexium my doctor gave me but trying to relax and ride this out. Took half xanax. Just don't want to be too looped in case I need to call for help.
seg

Anxiety which I detest. Fortunately the hormones have helped but it is vile and parilyses me
Jacks

Dear Sene...

I saw your post regarding acid reflux and wanted to mention that generally it is a result of too little acid in the stomach. Apple cider vinegar should help with this...Braggs...and the reflux meds don't really address the "actual" cause. Please feel free to check out earthclinic.com for more addition. The anxiety could also be related to adrenal issues.

Best Wishes,

TJ

I also have GERD/AR. Had it diagnosed a number of years back by a barium swallow. It is very common in women our age as hormones cause the esophageal sphincter to relax to the point of allowing stomach acid to come back into the esophagus. If it's not treated, it can cause ulcers in the esophagus.
The pain you feel around your heart and/or back is caused by the vagus nerve which lays along side your esophagus and when it's irritated by acid, the vagus nerve is affected also.
There is no cure for GERD/AR but you can lessen some symptoms by changing your diet, avoid eating late at night (laying down with a full stomach is a no no).
I have been taking medication for it and it works really well.
Before I knew what was happening I was positive I was dying of some sort of heart disease, the pain was so bad in that area so I know your anxiety about these symptoms.

Try the Nexium.....;-)

Thanks Manyboys, I did try the nexium this morning and I am slowly but surely realizing I am going to have to make the lifestyle changes. My eating habits are bad. My health anxiety is bad. But I have started to do a few things differently and hope to see some sort of improvement. Even though I lost those lbs, I still have a pouch of stomach and I'm a sloucher, trying to be more aware of these things so I can stop doing it. lol
Something else I have noticed that aggravates my symptoms is toothpaste. I use baking soda now until I can remember to get the toothpaste that is 'flavorless'??
I read it has something to do with the flouride. whoops getting off track here
senecaguns

my number one, biggest "symptom", that absolutley takes over my life, is HEALTH ANXIETY! that's it .... all the other physical symptoms, as BAD as they are, don't come close to the actual outright FEAR that comes from fretting if this new symptom is a "killer" or not! OK, wait..............did that make sense?

I totally understood! Cuz I am going through the same thing! it's horrible. I have a new fear of everything, it seems. Which was never in my mindset before peri. I would try anything once and lived life to the fullest..now I am a basketcase about going on a trip, having a new symptom, the mortality of my family or husband, there seems to always be a new fear lurking behind the corner, waiting to come out!

Having lived through peri the past few years I would have to say my most overwhelming symptom has to be the mood swings. I can be happy and laughing but it doesn't take much to send me down a completely different road. I can go from happy to sad to mad (and I mean this in the truest sense...MAD...complete rage) to dispair and depression. Somehow I always bounce back but it's awful while it's happening. I'm sure there are situational aspects to it but I really think the extreme ranges are hormonal in nature. I've never been like this before and now it's a constant battle to stay "normal" so I won't lose my mind. I've noticed too that it's cyclical with my periods so clearly it's hormonal. Can't wait to get on BHRT and see if it helps! Anything has to be better than this.

Oh excuse me, I think I stumbled back into the High School Lounge. Whatever works for you...earthclinic is a terrific site full of useful information regarding natural healing remedies. Perhaps someone else will find it useful!

P.S. They also have cures for constipation!


Best Wishes,

TJ

Worst symptom ANXIETY, ANXIETY, ANXIETY! Why don't the doctors recognize this as a peri symtom? I think about all the poor women out there, that haven't yet found this site and still think they're losing their minds. The anxiety leads to heart racing, vibrating/shaking, sleepless nights, dizzyness, panic attacks, depression and muscle tension. Then those symptoms lead to other problems, fatigue, IBS, muscle pain, ect. Thank god for Ativan and PS!