This is a new one for me (not the insomnia but something different)...First off, I am 35, mother to a 4 year old and 2 1/2 year old and just started having weird problems out of the blue in June. I suspect my perimenopause problems started a fw years ago but went unnoticed as I started skipping every other period religiously after my daughter was born. That year, I also experienced profound exhaustion, foggy thinking, etc...basically all of the hypo type symptoms but my labs kept coming up right in the middle for thyroid. Finally this March, my general practitioner put me on a low dose of Synthroid which did wonders but I wanted something more natural and was switched to Armour in April. All was well until I had some weird incident at the end of June...adrenaline overload, extreme heart rate, elevated blood pressure out of nowhere and anxiety. I wound up in the ER where they patted my head, said "Panic Attack" gave me an ativan and sent me home. Then it happened again four weeks later to the day in July, and again at the end of August. After checking me for all sorts of scary disease (pheo tumor, carcinoid) and coming through a cardiac work-up looking good with no other explanations I started looking for an alternative practitioner for help. I already thought it was somehow connected to my cycle as it was happening every four weeks on the nose. At the time (up to mid-August) I was also taking oral progesterone at 100 mg a day no breaks to keep me shedding the uterine lining per my gyne. At the end of August was taken off all meds as doctors tried to figure out what was wrong. The naturopath had me change my diet and also start eating every 3 hours and take some supplements. This seemed to help a bit but I still wake up in the middle of the night in the 2 to 3AM range....then wake for good at 6 to 6:20AM with a pounding heart. I got thru "hell week" as I am now calling it for this month and no ER or hospital visit was able to manage the attack better when it happened and it was not as severe...BUT I have now started having what I think are hot flashes and tonight I went to bed early (8pm) only to wake a few hours later with this weird zapping/burning sensation in my head. This went on for awhile like something was cycling and I have not been able to go back to sleep tonight *grrrr*. Yesterday, I was driving when I got this odd warm tingle in my upper back and then my face felt like it was on fire...cheeks bright red, until it subsided. I just finished reading Ann Louis Gittelman's book on Perimenopause (Before the Change; Taking Charge of your Perimenopause) and also Dr. John Lee's book (What Your Doctor May Not Tell you about Premenopause) and have been trying to incorporate their advice on vitamins/minerals in the past few days. But tonight threw me for a loop at first the usual wave of anxiety had me thinking "Great...now I am going to have an aneurysm!" But once it subsided (after an hour or more) I simply find myself wide awake with no hope of sleep. Would topical progesterone help with this? Is this all going to get better? I am so frustrated and frightened by all of this and feel so out of control of my own body that I don't know what to do...

Hi there! I'm a newbie also and as you can see am up in the middle of the night, as I'm sure are a lot of others. I have the same problem with the waking up in the middle of the night and the racing heart. I also have thyroid problems and am on levothyroxine...have been for years since I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid by my primary care physician. I first started waking up between 1-3 a.m. last year I think. I discussed this with my ob/gyn and with other symptoms I have he prescribed a progesterone cream for me to use daily except during my period as well as a dose of Dong Quai. Just to let you know, after reading a lot of articles on a lot of different sites, there seems to be a consensus that the waking up around that time with anxiety and racing heart are symptoms of perimenopause. While the progesterone cream helped, I'm still not sleeping through each and every night, but I can tell you that I am having fewer episodes. I ended up in the ER as you did at one time and went through the whole heart workup since heart problems do run in my family. However, I have the added problem of intermittent atrial fibrillation, which, according to the cardiologist, can be caused/exacerbated by hormones. Oh joy. *insert disgusted face here* lol

Anyway, just wanted you to know that you're not alone. And while you seem to be on the lower end of the perimenopause age scale, I myself am 45, by no means does it make it any easier...especially since you are probably running after your 4-yr. old a lot of the time and must be exhausted at the end of the day keeping up. lol I'll post more as I learn more about what helps. I know that diet and exercise Do make a difference and I have to applaud you for being so pro-active about supplements and looking into alternative reading material. I've found a lot of articles on here Very helpful and have even recommended this site to another friend of mine who is just starting to have some of the same symptoms.

I can tell you one thing funny though. We just got our power back last Fri. after being without for 2 weeks. Now you'd think with all the stress of that and going through Ike that things would be worse symptom-wise. Yes, I did wake up some during the night many times. It was a little on the warm side with no air or air circulation at those times the temps were in the 80s, but I never noticed waking up with the racing heart then. I only woke up because I was hot. I don't have problems, that I know of, with hot flashes yet. *knocks wood* In fact, I have the opposite problem. I wake up freezing and can't get warm. I thought I was going crazy to begin with, but apparently this too is yet another symptom of perimenopause. Leave it to me to be in the minority and get the opposite of hot flashes. lol

Please do post if you find other things that help, but in the meantime know this: you're not alone. So when you wake up with one of these "episodes" (I prefer that term to attack, lol)...just think that there's probably someone else somewhere, maybe not even too far from you, experiencing the very same thing. I checked into the chatroom on the off chance that someone might be there because of that very thing, but no such luck. Doesn't mean someone won't be there, but it might help to chat with someone. I find that playing an online game or doing research helps to calm me.

Keep up the pro-active approach and please share anything that works for you. I know I'm always happy to find new things which might help to discuss with my health professional! Take care and hang in there, Cas

HI

I too am 45 and went through several months of similar symptoms. Jerking awake in the middle of the night, sometimes not managing to get to sleep at all as every time I started to drop off I'd jerk awake. Frequently waking up with racing heart and sometimes arythmia. Hot flushes on waking up. I've had several episodes of this but then it would subside. I'm not sleeping brilliantly at the moment but it's much better than it has been. I've had so many symptoms of peri - including terrible internal shaking for months - which if I hadnt found the info on this site goodness knows where I would have been as the GP had never heard of it.

I have had symptoms for about 3 years now and although you are a lot younger - it certainly isnt unheard of to start with symptoms in your 30s.

Best wishes

Tracey

Thanks ladies! This has been so frustrating and trying to figure out what was going on (without thinking I had cancer or something equally awful!) has been a test of my will for sure. I appreciate the responses! I will definitely keep posting how things are going...I just want to feel manageable, not perfect just functional.

I feel for you.I am 32,my troubles started a few years ago after a horrible stressful period in my life.I have woke in the middle of the night just like you describe and it can be terrifying.I have found that sugar makes this happen to me even worse,so maybe try to cut most of the sugar from your diet and see if this helps.Hang in there and GOD bless