Can anyone else please relate to this. Anytime I feel the slightest stress my stomach muscles tighten and I start feeling weird. My heart pounds and I'm all spacey and just so uncomfortable. When it starts no amount of relaxed stomach breathing helps. My daughter visited last weekend and I had this the whole time she was over. Noone would know it. Why would I feel stressed with my own daughter though?? My mom who is 76 says that I never look like I'm anxious but inside I am not enjoying anything. When my daughter and husband leave it takes about an hour by myself to stop the stupid chest breathing and then my stomach muscles relax, heart palpitations stop and I feel "normal" again. This really happens now when ever someone is over and I feel like I have to be "on". How do I get over this . NOw even when I THINK of how I feel when I get this I start getting the same symptoms. I just rather have an all out fast panic attack then this. I am 50 and still get regular heavy periods. My gyno said there would be no reason for any symptoms since I'm not in meno because I have never skipped a period. I am totally fine when I'm just by myself reading or on the computer. Even my husband makes me anxious. I got laid off from my job and can't even imagine working now even if I could find another job at this point. Coujld my gyno be wrong about not being hormonal related??? Thank you all for any advice.

Just wanted to add that I had this the whole time at my daughter's wedding in May. I couldn't handle all the stimulation. It's so heartbreaking to look at the wedding pictures and know I couldn't enjoy it because of the high chest breathing causing all the symptoms it causes. I also have been on paxil for over 10 years. It worked wonders when I had outright panic attacks . Not doing anything for me now. My husband told me to take a xanax. But I always hold out because then if it doesn't work I have no safety net to rely on . Stupid thinking I know. Ugg.

Sometimes even a scary tv show can make my anxiety start.My advice is to realize what situations are causing this and start breathing before the tigthness sets in.Leave the room for a moment if need be.Your dr is wrong,still having periods does not exclude you from peri.I am only 32,and still bleeding.I have been having these problems since I was 29!! Take magnesium and maybe some b vitamins,they are wonderful for peri problems and stress.GOD bless

I understand that "weird" feeling. It is hard to describe, but it is there and it is real. My anxiety has been heightened lately too I I can figure out why. It is so frustrating. today, it started with my knees and ankles hurting. My lover bak too. Then my left side around the waist and part got tingly, like a rush of some sort and whew, that did me in. I finally took a xanax and it is taking two hours to feel better. It did help alot but I am not totally calm. If any of you figure out what to do, let me know too.

Feel better everyone.

Hi Pattimay
I can totally relate to everything your saying. I'm 50 also and having occ. periods and my Gyn thinks I'm in perimenopause. I have the same chronic anxiety you describe about every little thing that happens in my life. The knot in my stomach, the chest breathing, and the shaky feeling creeps up all the time. I have 2 sons in college that I love more than life itself...but recently I am so anxious when they come home to visit I almost dread it. How can I dread seeing my own children?? It makes no sense. I am also constantly nervous at work, a job I've had for years and I can't even think about how to deal with the holidays.
I know it has to be hormonal but it's hard to live with sometimes. I take ativan when it gets really bad, but then I'm tired. These forums will give you encouragement and info. So read old posts. Also try to find a good MD. I'm still searching for one who understands women and menopause, no luck yet as I live in a small town. Come here to vent, these women will listen without judgement. Most of us are having having ups and downs. (lots of them) What I miss most is feeling joy. I hope it comes back when menopause is over. Keep posting
Cindy

I have been where you guys are. I couldn't handle having even family come over for a visit without going into a horrible anxiety attack and having to hide in the bathroom. It was awful, I always have loved having family over!

Have any of you tried L-Theanine? It is very helpful, without leaving you tired the way Ativan or Xanax can leave you. Granted it isn't as strong, either, but it really can help take the edge off. While the benzo's have their place, for sure, sometimes just having the edge taken off is enough to allow you to relax.

For me, the worst of all the symptoms was the sudden onset of anxiety and panic. I had never had panic before in my life, and only normal anxiety. It left me totally agoraphobic, I lost 25 pounds in short order and was a total wreck. I am a lot better now. I do use BHRT and Paxil, but I needed it so badly. I used the L-theanine for several weeks with great results. I still take it occasionally.

I feel for all of us who suffer with the anxiety, it feels like we have totally lost control of our minds and our bodies, and that is a very frightening experience.

Hi Pattimay!

I know EXACTLY how you feel!! And whether you're still having periods or not, you may still be in perimenopause. I have been battling this for about 3 years now. It is SO frustrating when you've never had nerve or anxiety problems. I didn't even know what a panic attack was!! I posted about anxiety over my son's visit a month or so ago, so please check out that post and read the replies to that. You will realize you're not alone!! I have been on estrogen and progestin for about 3 years and have to take high blood pressure medicine now. I also took Lexapro for anxiety, but have recently been switched to paxil. I also take Ativan daily for the nervousness and anxiety as needed. I finally went to an internal medicine specialist and she has helped me a lot!! It's a lady doctor too and that helps!! I'm feeling better than I did, but I still hardly go anywhere, except to church, but I'm hoping that will change when the paxil kicks in more! Good luck and hang in there!! You are not alone!!
Joette

Wow, I can so relate to the two sons in college and their visits and have the same concerns as you about the holidays, especially in this economy!! At least I know I'm not alone cause sometimes it really feels like it!! But then you come here and somebody's going through exactly the same thing!! And it is so frustrating when it "makes no sense" like you said! My doctor tells me though that it makes perfect sense, with the changing hormones, which affect everything else, it's no wonder we're constantly nervous - it's like our body's at war with itself sometimes!! Peri sure does stink and I'll be glad when it's over!! Whenever that is!!!
Joette

Thank you all for responding. I felt more relaxed just reading your posts that I'm not alone. I even showed my husband so he knows that this is what perimenopause can cause and it's just not me. Got mad at him last night because I'm sitting on couch staring into space with extreme heart palpitations, jelly legs and he's not even noticing my expression. Just continued to talk to me like normal inbetween typing on computer. So I called my mom who always helps to talk me down a little. She even asked me if I'm close to my period and reminded me that every month I get very bad with the anxiety before period. I'm okay if I don't think about it but whenever I feel really relaxed I get the passing thought of getting that rush again and boom I'm in flight or fight mode for hours. Thank god my son is going to a local college and living at home still. At least I don't have to go through him visiting me and getting anxious like with my daughter. I think I just become so sensitive to their feelings and want to be the mom they grew up with that when she visitis I try too hard and my mind and body feel the pressure. I don't consciously do this but itj's just weird her coming to "visit" now instead of just always being here. Everything has to be condensed in a short visit because she also has to go to his mom's house. They live in NJ because of jobs and I live in ny so it's not like they could just pop by anytime and I could do the same. So it's this once a month visit and I feel like I have to be all energetic and "normal".
Surgette could you please let me know if when going from Lexapro to Paxil if you had to get off Lexapro entirely before you went to the Paxil. I want to do the opposite. Everytime I try to wean off the paxil I get the brain zaps and all. But at the same time it's not helping me. I went to a therapist all summer and he wasn't much help. Just talk and talk and no tricks on what to do when anxiety hits. He says it's best to try to ignore anxiety symptoms and they will pass. Just wondering also if the lexapro did not help you . Also if one ssri stopped working after being on it too long will another ever work?

Hi again!
I was on the 10 mg. of lexapro for about 3 years. I just went from taking the lexapro one morning to 20 mg. of paxil the next night. The Lexapro did seem to help at first, but I think it had started causing me to be nervous after a while (maybe 2 years or so). I think my body had built up an immunity to it. Tried to increase the dose, but just made me more jittery. Paxil and lexapro are in the same family, but what works for one may not work for another. It's a trial and error thing, so lexapro may work well for you. Like my husband told me, "If nothing changes, then nothing changes"! I was really scared to death to switch because I didn't want to have a bad reaction like I did to Zoloft! But it was okay. Try not to psych yourself out about it. And doesn't the therapist know that if we could just "ignore" the symptoms and it would go away, we would!!!!! Obviously they've never had the problem!!!! I quit going to the therapist and psychiatrist recommended by my gynecologist, because talk is not going to fix a physical problem!! Not knocking anybody that they've helped, but my internist has been doing a great job with that part of it because she knows it's hormonal. Hope this helps to encourage you!! Hang in there!

As far as I'm concerned, I am the expert on what is hormonal with my mind and body - not my gyno. Again, I can't believe the ignorance of many of our doctors. If it's not in a text book in black and white, then it doesn't exist. We know more about menopause than most gyno's.

Trust your instincts. If I had looked to my doctors to inform me on any significant level about menopause, I would have been hospitalized for emotional problems by now because I would have become convinced I was crazy.

Rule No1: You are not crazy or overreacting. Hormones dictate how your brain and body works. It's real and starts well before your periods end.

I am so glad to have read these posts today! I am 45 in peri and have never experienced anxiety before this stage of my life. It is almost impossible to describe to someone who has never had that "something not right" feeling. Last night it hit me out of the blue--as it usually does. But I am approx. 5 days from my period starting. It seems like the same thing happened last month. All my peri symptoms seemed to be heightened during PMS. Has anyone ever experienced that? Do you notice things being worse during PMS? I also get really clumsy at that time. It is a joke in my house "mom broke another glass---we know what that means'!!!