So, its official, I am pretty much nuts with all of this.

To recap, I am 43, married, 3 kids, regular as rain until August when I missed a period. (chalked it up to stress, as I sent first child off to college). Then I missed Sept period. Went to OB, ran TSH, FSH, prolactin and pregnancy tests. He states all were normal (not pregnant) FSH was 41, which he said was normal, too young for menopause, relax, period will come.

Since then (actually since Aug) I have had racing heart off and on, what I would call "warm flashes" these are not as intense as what people describe as hot flashes. I pull up covers, get the warm flash, throw off covers, get cold, etc., but no sweating. Sex has been mildly uncomfortable (I have never had to use lubrication, but I would use it now) I have extreme anxiety (I am sure a lot of that is wondering what is going on) although the racing heart contributes to it. Then I had over a week of terrible nausea and dizziness, felt just like morning sickeness. Then that went away.

Then, a week ago, I had ovulation pain! On both sides. I always feel when I ovulate and I know that is what it was. Lasted a hour or so. Now last night I had extreme pain on the left side only, woke me up, lasted about an hour, today that side is sore but it is better. Did I ovulate again?!

I have started Celexa because I am a basket case. I am worried I have Ovarian Cancer which my grandmother died of, but she was in her late 70's when she got it. I am planning on going back to the dr. for a pap and pelvic exam but in the meantime i am pretty much losing it. Just needed to vent. Oh, and I am definitely grumpy and moody!

Forgot to add, the warm flashes have stopped since I felt the first round of ovulation pain, for what that is worth. The nausea and dizziness are pretty much gone too.

Dear 'Aymeee'

You are sure going through a difficult time and I completely understand and empathise.Doctors simply do not get it that women in their thirties can be peri-menopausal or fully menopausal as I was at 39.

With the help of Prozac,plus Zanax as needed and HRT I gradually began to get my life back again.I have had spotting,insomnia and many other symptoms so know how bad you are feeling

However there is a lot of help available but unfortunately you have to really fight for it.Certain Herbs,Vitamins and Supplements seem to help some ladies very well.Others ,like me,rely on Medications to cope but I make no apologies for that.

Fortunately so much of my Anxiety has lifted over the years that only need to use the Zanax after a period of great stress.I would like to taper off my ADs but have been unsuccessful twice.Am still on HRT and don't know if I will ever give them up..

I really hope that you find the help and right treatments for you as it makes me sad,and I mean this sincerely,to read what you are going through.But do not give up hope at least the nausea and diziness have abated so hopefully will other symptoms too

So please keep posting.You will get great advice and support on this Forum.I know that I did and still do.

God Bless
Elizabeth

P.S.Honey you are not insane!Just a very nice lady trying to cope with symptoms that most of us would never have guessed at.I honestly thought periods ended and that was that.I am certainly educating my daughter the way I never was

Thank you. You made me feel better.
Why DONT they tell people about this? I always thought the issues women had with menopause were all mental. I thought for most women periods just ended, but for some who say, never had kids and regret that, or who have big issues about aging, then they had some trouble with it. I can tell you, I have three kids (two teenagers!) and believe me I dont want more. I am in a very stable comfortable marriage, have a wonderful job I adore, nice house, I have finally gotten over the deaths of my parents several years ago, in short, my life is finally really really good. I was looking forward to coasting through my 40's and now this. This isnt mental, this is physical.

I really think the anxiety is tied to the racing heart rate. Then you get freaked out by it which adds to the anxiety. I am going to try to educate my daughter better too. My mother, however, always said that her periods just stopped at 46 and that was it. She claims she had no issues. I do remember her being extra grumpy around that time though. I though it was because I was getting married and she was stressed out about it, but who knows?

Aymeee, it definitely sounds like you are in perimenopause! I too wonder why the medical community and our society doesn't know more or tell us more about peri. It's just wrong! You are not too young, and there are plenty of ladies here who are younger than you and who are in the midst of peri. You might want to try taking calcium and magnesium to help with the fast heartbeat and also the anxiety. Hang in there, you are not alone!

This seems to be the prevailing 'wisdom' in society unfortunately. I thought the same!

Having said that, I was on a general message board a while ago - nothing to do with menopause - and someone posted a thread asking for tips to deal with hot flashes. The majority of the women who posted seemed to have had no trouble with menopause at all, apart from the odd hot flash - very different to here. It made me think we here might be a minority. I've seen the figure 25% mentioned here for the proportion of women who suffer with severe symptoms. I don't know if any research has been done on it.

Unfortunately I don't think this 'all in the mind' view of women who suffer problems at menopause does us any favours. It seems to be accepted that other hormonal events like puberty and pregnancy sometimes produce problems yet even some doctors seem to disbelieve us when it comes to menopause. I had one GP tell me in no uncertain terms that anxiety was NOT a symptom of menopause and offer to refer me to a psychiatrist. Strange then, how when I found a doctor specialising in the menopause and started bioidentical progesterone and other supplements the anxiety went. I think it was Dr. Lee who pointed out that trainee doctors spend a ridiculously short period of time learning about the female endocrine system. I know they're meant to keep abreast of research but I find the average GP not very well informed - in the UK I think they're too busy to keep abreast of research in all areas. I don't know how the system works in the US.

Aymeee,

When I was first in peri, before I even realized what was going on with me, I remember having really bad pains like you described. They acted the same as most of the other peri symptoms I've had. They were off and on for a few days and then they disappeared.

All of your symptoms sound like peri to me. You are young, but too young for menopause? As you're finding out here on PS, every woman is different, and 43, unfortunately, isn't too young.

I hope you feel better soon and that knowing so many of us understand what you're going through will help you feel better.

God bless,
Deb

Aymee,

I am losing my mind as well. I am 38 years old and have been experiencing these "symptoms" for about 3 years now, I just didn't know what was going on or that there was even a name for it. My gyn is a woman in her late 40's to early 50's and she totally blows me off when I try to talk to her about it...almost annoyed by my "whining". I posted this here before but when I tried talking with her she told me not to call her until my clots were the size of peaches and my flow was like turning on a faucet and walked out of the room! How's that for support and help? Needless to say, I left her office very distraught thinking I wasn't normal and something was wrong.

My mother was done with all of this by the age of 40...even so, my gyn won't acknowledge this or even run a hormone test for me...just deal with it, it's PMS is her attitude. As difficult as this time is for many of us, it could be so much easier if only our doctors would have a proactive approach and acknowledge our symptoms and educate us. My mother in law loves to tell me that she never experienced a symptom one, not even a hot flash, her transition was so smooth...great for her but that doesn't make me feel better about my situation!

I am currently suffering from extreme anxiety and my panic attacks have returned, I'm awaiting an appointment with a therapist. Xanax is my miracle drug, the thing that is keeping me going.

I don't know enough about all of this, but the women on this board have certainly helped me already. All I can say is hang in there, you're in good company and will gain so much insight from the experts on this board. With each new symptom I get, I completely freak out...I can't take much more and pray to the good Lord that I am normal, healthy and this ends soon.

Take good care.
Tracey

Tracey.

I feel so badly for you, and I know what you're going through. I think I'm nearing the end of this peri nightmare, but I have gone through the anxiety, too. It sometimes felt like I was in a literal nightmare and I didn't know what was happening to me. I am a Christian so I have prayed so much through this time. I also found PS when I needed it most and it's been a lifesaver for me. Hang in there and you'll get through this.

Take care,
Deb

So I am thinking that I am having perim issues. I am 40, take a boat load of meds for other health issues and was recently taken off birth control. After coming off the pill, I have had an array of issues that seem to be mental. For instance I am constantly worried that something bad is going to happen. I feel "funny" like I am off kilter a little and filled with an overwhelming sense of fear. I have a hard time talking myself down. It seems to be at its worse this week (just finished a period) so I am thinking maybe it is hormonal. I hate feeling this way. What do you ladies think? I took a benedryl to calm me down so I can sleep. It seems worse at night.

Hi Kammie Sue. I'm thinking that if you experienced these things only after stopping the Pill then it perhaps seems significant.

I took the Pill twice in my twenties and early thirties and stopped with no ill effect. When I took hormone supplementation in the form of HRT however in my late forties/early fifties having started perimenopause, and stopped it abruptly, boy did I get effects. I experienced severe menopause symptoms during the withdrawal period (anxiety, panic attacks, short episodes of depression, furnace like hot flushes, adrenaline surges, insomnia and palpitations). I'd never experienced anything like this in my life before, prior to perimenopause. I suspect that earlier in my life when stopping hormones provided by the pill, my body was still capable of producing its own high levels of estrogen and progesterone and so substituted its own hormones when I stopped the pill. Two and a half years into perimenopause however, when I stopped HRT, my body wasn't capable of picking up its own production to achieve the high levels formerly provided provided by HRT. My hormone levels went into freefall and I experienced severe symptoms.

Doctors may tell you that 40 is too young to begin peri menopause - many women here seem to have been told this despite suffering symptoms. However there are many women here who started peri in their late thirties and forties.

I recognise the emotional effects you're describing. That's how it was when I started peri, when my periods first stopped being regular. I found I felt frightened all the time for no good reason. That's why the doctor prescribed HRT in the first place.

I also had a friend who reacted to a birth control pill by becoming depressed without being in peri menopause, when still quite young. So hormones may affect people that way even when they're not menopausal.

If what you're experiencing is a withdrawal effect, it may get better once your hormones balance. If you're still having regular periods, you may not be in perimenopause, although there are women here who are having regular periods who are still having symptoms of peri.

Why not start a thread asking for people's input and advice? That way you may get a wider range of replies and experience, perhaps people who've experienced similar things to you. Sometimes queries get a bit lost on an existing thread.

You could always ask your doctor to test your hormone levels to see what that reveals, although if you're in a period of withdrawal from the Pill, a hormone panel might not be that revealing as your hormone levels would be changing.

***
Dear Aymeee:

You are not necessarily the correct age to be in menopause, but could be having premature ovarian failure, which can cause these pains and symptoms. Some also call it peri-menopause, with some PMS Symptoms. We have many women who start on low doses of natural hormones, and cycle the progesterone, to relieve the problems. While doing this at a young age (43), then you would have to practice other means of birth control, since the natural hormones could actually make you more fertile. Hope this helps you, and I am sure you do have early hormone imbalance.
Sincerely,
Pete Hueseman, R.Ph., P.D.

Aymeee, I too had a racing heart for a while. I wrote about this on another post. I would wake up in the middle of the night and check my pulse and it would be going much faster than normal (mine is normally really slow). I could actually feel my pulse. And would check it and it was racing. And that was me in the middle of the night at rest! Really freaked me out and I ended up in the E.R. convinced that I had hyperthyroidism. I got myself so scared and worked up that I was experiencing suidical ideation.

I want to tell you that I was taking flax seed oil supplements at the time to help with cramping and I do believe that it was a contributing factor. Had casually mentioned this to a friend and she told me to get off them immediately. She has gone through menopause and was on them for a while and they really ramped up her experience of anxiety.

(This same friend was the first person to suggest I was going through perimenopause. THANK GOD I talked to her. I thought I had broken something in my brain. That I was permanently altered and had lost my mind.)

Anyway, getting off those supplements did help. I still have anxiety but it's somewhat more manageable now. And it helps to have a name for all of this stuff: perimenopause. Prior to my friend suggesting this, like I said, I was really spiraling and in a somewhat dangerous way.

Try to just breathe and tell yourself that you know what is going on when the heart starts going.

For me, talking to someone else about it ALWAYS helps.

When I start panicking about this or that, I pick up the phone and talk to a WOMAN who has gone through this.

I woke up a little panicky today and came out here to the boards and wrote and shared and now I feel pretty normal.

My experience is that dwelling internally makes it worse.

Come on out here and chat or chat on the phone and see if that helps those feelings and experiences subside.

Best of luck to you.

Sukie

KammieSue:

I think it's very possible that getting off the pill is a contributing factor.

Get this: My friend has been on birth control for many, many years. She said that when she got on the pill, she read all these warnings for people who wear contacts. That the shape of your eye can change. You can get dry eyes. Etc, etc, etc. She never experienced any of that. But then she went off the pill many years later and had all sorts of eye problems. She had to get new contacts. She couldn't see. She had double-vision. Her eye doctor was mystified and she suggested that it was because she went off the pill. Of course, the doctor poo-pooed that. But she's convinced that's what happened.

She'd never EVER had eye problems until she went off the pill and I think her assessment was absolutely correct. But she was left to her own ingenuity to figure that out. TRUST YOUR BODY. If you're experiencing weirdness, it's probably real.

The good news is that after several months of adjustment to no hormones in her body, my friend's vision came back and all of her eye problems subsided.

You might just have an uncomfortable period of adjustment for a while. But knowing that's what it is can help, I think.

As for the anxiety, I experience this in spades. But again: once I understood what was happening, it made it a lot easier.

And I've learned over the course of several months that trying to talk myself down doesn't really work. I've tried it over and over and over again.

For me, the only thing that works is reaching out to others. It's as if others are a life line. I have to get outside of my own brain and this, "You're OK. No, actually you're not. There's something very wrong with you. Stop talking like that. You're fine. Get it together." ... this sort of chatter does nothing for me. I have to extend outward and talk to others and focus outside of myself to feel better.

Posting stuff on this board helps. Because you're pouring out instead of sucking in.

Same with spending time with people and phone conversations.

I don't know if that will be useful to you or not but it helped me immensely.

Don't beat yourself up over the feelings you're having. There are too many of us out here experiencing the same for this to be your very own personal issue.

Every woman has gone through it or is going through it or will go through it.

Sukie

Has anyone tried Lamcital for these feelings.........my doc wants me to try it......but wanted to see if anyone had tried it and if it helped....thanks