Hi girls,

I've had hormone blood tests done and the results for progesterone, estrogen and testosterone came back normal. I said to the doctor that I understood that hormone testing isn't always accurate as hormones fluctuate all the time. He said that no, I am not in peri or menopause. Then what's the matter with me????

I've been in contact with my PS pals for a while and can relate to so many feelings and symptoms that are peri but now with these results I don't know what to do with myself. I've come back to work following my appointment and I'm crying and feeling that having a definitive diagnosis of being in peri would be something I could certainly live with and be able to manage. But the blood and saliva tests tell me different so what's the matter with me? Palipations, headaches, anxiety, aches and pains, hot one minute, cold the next, dizzy and the list goes on......... where do I go now? What do I do now?

I'm really tied up with work and the kids at the moment so I haven't got a lot of me time to look through previous posts to see if anyone's had or having the same experience so forgive me if I ask, but could you give me some advice? I'm so upset at the moment that I think I must be nuts or geting close to it, having all these symptoms and not knowing why.

Can you help me out?
Love to all
Gabby

Hi Gabby,
Just to let you know.. my DR kept telling me i was to young to be "menopausing" when I was 41... maybe he was right..I was not "menopausing" I was "PERIMENOPAUSING". You are right to say that hormones fluctuate too much for blood tests to be acurate. Some Dr.s just dont't know what to do with us when we get to this stage of our lives. I love my GP for a sniffle or a rash but he is cluesless to what I need now! Even my GYNO is from the old school. Again I love her dearly for a yearly Pap..... but I am not taking the horse urine pills that she tries to give me when I compalin about peri symptoms. For now I am doing a lot of research on my own... toying with the idea of BHRT ( and posibbely seeking a specialist) ...I am taking supplements that support hormonal imbalance and praying a lot!
I do not trust all Drs. I always do my homework and get more than one opinion. It amazes me that some DR's do not even know what I mean when I say Perimenopausal. When i explain ... they say "Oh okay you are entering menopause .... take the PREMARIN (AKA horse urine pills)" <<<<NOT DOING THAT!!!
It is a tough road.... I never expected any of this..... NO one warned me!!!
Hope you can find an answer to your problem soon!
Carolyn

Did you get a copy of the results? If not, you need one. Your Dr. probably means that your levels are in a 'normal range' That doesn't mean they are normal for you, only that which is considered normal for a female capable of getting pregnant. Peri for me lasted about 8 years... actually probably longer, I just didn't know it.

I keep copies of all my blood test results so I can compare them. Note the date and then start keeping a record of your symptoms on a calendar. Choose a different cycle time for your next blood test and then compare the results. But if you feel like you are in peri then you probably are.

gbrowne - when you have time call your doc and ask for a copy of your results - post them and i am sure someone will be able to interpret them for you. Many ps sisters have been told that their results are "normal" but have many of the symptoms you describe. Hang in there g - post your results and go from there.

Hugs,

pookish

Gabby:

How old are you? I am afraid some of us believe we are in perimenopause when we are in fact suffering from an anxiety disorder or depression. I am not saying you are not in peri, I am just saying that the symptoms you mentioned are also related to anxiety and depression and you should at least consider that.

There is nothing wrong with having either of these. For many years I thought this was a weakness. I now know that my low seratonin levels were causing my problems.

Just something to consider. Hope you feel better soon!

Shakin'

gbrowne: You are not a collection of test results; you are a human being who knows what is giong on with her body better than any laboratory. Your story is all-too familiar; we feel one thing, and the guys/gals in the white coats tell us something different.

They're wrong, plain and simple. Blood and saliva tests show reveal a snapshot of you for one day; you woud need continuous testing (maybe set up a little tent and sleeping bag at the lab? ) to find out what is really happening. I was told I was "completely post menopausal" and all my symptoms would go away. They did. For exactly 8 weeks. Now I'm having a resurgence. Hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and yesterday, a lovely 4 hour window in which I had intense period-like cramping. (No bleeding though.) When I ask my gyn about it, she literally shrugs and says "Anything is possible; your bloodwork says you are all done. Some things we just don't know." At least she is wise enough to admit that she doens't have all the answers.

I'm tempted to end this post here, but I've just got to share one story with you, because it exemplifies how dead-wrong the medical profession can be, and how important it is to believe what our bodies are telling us:

When I was 23 year old (my God I'm twice that age now, how did that happen?) I started getting awful cramps in my lower left pelvic area. They didn't go away with my period; and they grew worse each day, each week, each month. My gynecologist did a thorough pelvic exam and told me there was abosultely nothing wrong with me. So off I went to see a gastroenterologist...who did not one, but TWO colonoscopies---both 'normal.' Off to a urologist, then an endocrinoligist...well, you get the idea. This was back in the heyday of HMO's and the one I belonged to had ALL the speciliaties in one building, so I basically was seen by every department.

Their conclusion: Nothing wrong with me. Totally normal. All in my head. It was recommended by 4 different doctors, from different specialisties, that I seek a psychiatric consultation, to find out why I "insisted on stating these symptoms existed." Talk about not be validated. The pain got so bad I couldn't lift my left leg to put on my underwear, or climb any stairs. I thought I was going crazy. Remember, I was 23 years old and not as aggressive as I am now. I left doctor after doctor in tears...afraid to speak up for myself.

Until.

On a hunch, I made an appointment with a gynecologist outside of the HMO. I pretended it was my first time seeking help for my symptoms--basically I lied. AND...I gave myself 3 enemas before the pelvic exam and ate nothing for 2 days...so the new doctor could really get a good 'feel'. And guess what he found? An 9 cm tumor on my left ovary that was retro-peritoneal (it was sticking into my body, which is why it was so hard to detect on previous pelvic exams.) It was growing and interfering with my bowels, my muscles, everything. I was scheduled for surgery 3 days later and had it, and half my ovary, removed. I remember so keenly being wheeled into the operating room and the surgeon bending over me and telling me that "if it looks like cancer, I'm just doing to sew you back and up and we'll have a talk." Luckily, everything was benign.

So much for needing a psychiatrist. I felt so angry and betrayed at all those so-called professionals who told me that there was nothing wrong with me when I knew perfectly well that something was VERY wrong. My husband, at the time, was a doctor at the HMO, and several months after my surgery, we were at some function of some kind. I saw the gastroenterologist who had done the 2 colonscopies...she had been particularly condescending to me---in fact, she had given me this long speech about how young wives, especially doctor's wives, feel neglected and less important than their husbands, so they feel the need to make up dramatic medical symptoms. I marched over to her and told her that she had been wrong; that I had indeed had a tumour, and that I had undergone surgery for it. Her reaction? She looked at me cooley and said "I don't recall your case." And then walked away. GRRRRR!!!!!

You are going to have to take your own health into your own hands...I believe you are in peri-menopause, no matter what the blood tests say. Hang in there, have faith. Luckily, and hopefully, this journey ends at some point...

Thanks for letting me vent...

-Robin

I had the same my results are fine normal, and like you have the lot, i am being treated for a hormone imbalance?

Wow! This is all too familiar to me! I've been thru the same sets of agonies dealing with condescending doctors, office help and nurses. Some have talked to me like I was a 3 year old who had to be repremanded. Their treatment of me thru the years has been uncalled for, demeaning and just plain RUDE. Today was the capper. I went in to see my GP because I've had swelling ankles, HBP, and my heart has been racing on and off. I knew if I saw my OB/GYN, he's tell me to see my GP first to rule out any basic problems. So that's where I went. My BP was fine but my heart was pounding. FINALLY after a few years of telling me "you are normal, maybe you need to see a psychologist blah blah blah" he looks in my chart and sees I am not up to date on my bloodwork. It's been 2 years. *lightbulb moment for Doctor* He sent me to get bloodwork for thyroid, (DUH!! he's ignored my concerns about this in the past by saying I'm normal from old bloodwork results).....and I'm also being tested for hormone levels. FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to get by the rude and demeaning front office staff first. What's WITH our health care people these days?
I finally told her to stop talking to me so rudely. And don't you hate it when they call you "honey?"
Back off!!!!!!!!!!!
So....thanks for that vent. So now I'll get the results Thursday. But my point is, I've been trying to get this doctor to understand that I have legimate health problems! And I'm not an emotional female hypocondriac looking to get attention! ANOTHER pet peeve of doctors. There are so many out there who are all cut from the same "demeaning" cloth. I would give anything to have a nice, understanding INTELLIGENT doctor.
Anyway, Thanks for relaying your story. I could go on, but suffice it to say in my experience I almost lost my life to a ruptured gall bladder after being sent home with Vicodin for my gallbladder pain. That's the state of our medical care these days. Scary. And unacceptable.
Thanks you guys for letting me vent.
I really feel for all of you because I'm in there with ya....I'm going thru it, too.
Thanks for listening and please accept many hugs and know we'll get thru this.
I dont' know what I'd do without Power Surge!!

Guitarplayer Sue

Gabby, please get copies of your test results as the others recommended. I agree we do have to be our own advocates. Do research, ask questions, search the internet but try to arm yourself with as much information as you can. I wish you all the best.

Hugs to you,
Guitarplayer Sue

gabby, i so understand what you are feeling. i thought for sure that once i asked for blood tests to measure my hormones it would confirm that i was in fact peri & not suffering from some debilitating disease. after 3 tests at different points in my cycle - early/middle/end - the only thing abnormal was way too high estrogen on day 4!

my pcp says that all these symptoms point to peri & that the blood work are just snapshots of time & thus not entirely reliable. she thinks the wild fluctuations would account for the high abnormal reading. she also admits, at least, that there is so much that the med profession doesn't understand about this for a number of reasons. one reason that she mentioned was the tremendous individual variation.

so hugs to you - i wish you would have gotten some concrete confirmation. i still have too many days where i doubt what all this is & think that i really must be dying & they just haven't found the cause yet. in the last year i have just submitted to being addled by symptoms constantly & have done my best to just focus on each moment. many others have had success with various treatment options - i hope that may be the case for you.

thinking of you & wishing you well,
xo,
ellen