Hi everyone! I am a 37 year old who's wondering if I'm starting peri or not. Here's a little history...

I started feeling not so good in August and then in Sept I went to the ER with heart palpitations and racing heart...got all the usual tests (ekg, holter monitor, chest xray, etc) and everything was fine. Now for the past few months these are the symptoms I've been experiencing - palpitations, racing heart (these two symtoms are especially bad during the night...sometimes I get very sweaty when they happen...and sometimes it feels like an adrenaline surge going through my body), insomnia, very dry eyes, hair loss, brain fog, anxiety, loss of libido, leg cramps and "internal shaking/trembling" and I seem to cry for no reason whatsoever. I've also been tested for thyroid and adrenal problems and they were negative.

I've been on the bcp (Alesse) for the last 8 years (since my kids were born) and for 10 years on another bcp before that. My period has always been light (3 days) and very predictible - never suffered from pms. Since this started in Sept. my period didn't come one month, the next month it was about 12 hours long and this month it has been 4 days so far. I also had spotting one month (never had this before). Oh, and I have PCOS.

My question is: 1) Can I go into peri so young? 2) Can you go into peri when you are on the bcp? From what I've read Alesse is a very low dose pill.

My Dr. insists I'm too young to start peri and it couldn't be possible anyways because I'm on the bcp. I insisted on testing and am getting my fsh tested today, but as I've read on here, that might not be a very accurate test. I won't get my results till next Tuesday though. I stopped taking my bcp because I thought it was causing my problems but it's not seeming to work. Maybe I need to go on a "stronger" bcp???? My dr. keeps saying it's anxiety/stress and keeps telling me to relax and it will go away, and then prescribes Ativan (which I tried and did NOT like how I felt on it so I stopped taking it). Now he wants me to go back on heart medication (even though it made me sicker when I tried it in Sept).

Help!!
Beth

My symptoms started around 35 years of age and I am 43 now and with each year my symptoms get worse. I really dont listen to the doctors when they say oh you are too young because nobody knows your body better than you. It is definitely possible you are going through it and you have come to the right place. My mom was 45 when she went into meno, that was her last period and the symptoms went on and on even after that.

(((b1791)))

I've been on the menocoaster for a while and I can't imagine sitting across from someone telling me to "just relax and it will go away." Uh huh, yeh right.

Everything you are going through seems to point to peri. You may have to search for a doctor that is more knowledgeable and understanding about the symptoms of peri. Make a list of your symptoms and take them with you to your appointment.

Take care.

(((HUGS)))

Bella

Hi Beth! Welcome to Power Surge! There is a ton of helpful information on this site, I encourage you to explore it all! You might want to start at http://www.power-surge.com/educate.htm

I too started peri at 36, but it took me a few years to figure out what it was. ALL the doctors I went to said the same thing as yours. I was too young. Yeah, right... Peri usually lasts anywhere from 10 to 15 years before menopause actually happens (periods stopping) so 36 is right in the ballpark!

Take a deep breath, and empower yourself with knowledge. The ride can be long, and bumpy so the more you know the better understanding you'll have.

The ladies here are a Godsend. You'll never meet a better group of people. All doing the samething you are, looking for understanding and guidance.

Hang in there, and come back often!


XOXOXOXOXOXOX

I want to ditto what many of the ladies have already written. I have been on this meno ride for about ten years now starting around age 38. After all that I've been through I have zero tolerance for doctors ignoring my symptoms and basically just writing me off. I thank God for PS and other sites like this because this is where I first learned the word "perimenopause."

Hello!
I have had all the same symptoms as you! Every one plus I get the very annoying body jolts while at rest or trying to sleep.. my heart pounds it seems all the time. I am going to be 42 soon... soooo I do think we are in the right range for peri even if docs say NO.. I also get cold flashes, not so much hot ones but some nights I wake up clammy all over and I never sleep well even with a Lunesta. I just know the past 6 months I have not been myself, my anxiety is off the charts (Zoloft is helping a bit now) panic attacks etc... my eyes itch and burn every morning and I am also on Alesse... and see that is what I wasnt sure of.. if we still experience peri symptoms if ON the pill.. hmm.

Talk soon!

My doctor keeps telling me all my symptoms are stress and to relax and they will get better. I havet totally been there when you are trying to tell yourself to just relax but your heart is pounding out of your chest and you feel like you are going to die! It is very hard to convince yourself that nothing is wrong with you when you can't imagine feeling any worse. The antidepressants have helped with the adrenaline surges but now I have a constant headache. Anyway I have the same amount of stress today and maybe even less but two years ago, I felt fine and on top of the world, so I don't buy the whole stress thing. I do know that I get stressed and have a healthy amount of it but don't think it is causing all of my problems.

That is what my doctor and debate about....and I love my doctor, he is very patient, kind, understanding, knowledgable, etc. BUT he and I differ about the birth control pills causing anxiety and other symptoms of perimenopause. He SWEARS there is no way that is not how the pill operates, blah, blah, blah. The pill is "supposed" to EVEN all that out. Well I say no way....I started all of this fun at 40. After having been on the pill (strictly for birth control reasons) for 2 years. Anxiety out of the blue.....spotting in week 3 of the pill.....crying jags, you get the story.

So anyway he and I agree to disagree....I still beleive you can enter peri while on the pill and know it.......I have gotten alot better with the anxiety by using cognitive beavioral stuff, but I still say my changing body has something to do with it!!!!!!!

I would love to hear if anyone else has similar or different opinions!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement I have been feeling so down for the last few months and no one, except for you ladies, seem to know how I feel. And it's affecting my marriage and my kids, and that just makes it feel worse

Just curious, has anyone experienced a decrease in symptoms by switching to a different bcp? I am currently on Alesse, which is considered a "very low dose" bcp and was wondering if maybe switching to a stronger bcp might help??? My symptoms originally started last April when the pharmacist switched me to a generic version of Alesse (Aviane) but 2 months ago I switched back to Alesse.

Thanks!
Beth

Dear Beth

A great big welcome to this wonderful Forum.I see that many of the great ladies have already given you their thoughts so am jumping in too.I was not Peri at 39 but fully Menopausal.Ovaries had completely shut down and there was even some vaginal atrophy.

My Gyno,a very understanding Egyptian Doctor discovered all this and put me on to synthetic HRT and it was a God send.It took about six weeks to kick in and certainly helped alleviate most of the annoying problems.

So,my dear,listen well to your own body and be proactive in seeking the necessary help.A good Gyno with an understanding of Menopause is a must.you need a full check up and don't forget your Thyroid as this can play up too.

Keep Posting
And I wish you lots of luck
Elizabeth

I'm just not understanding why the docs are so ignorant about peri ! If "normal" menopause occurs between ages of 40 and 60 and peri exists for 5, 10, or more years prior, why would a doc think that 37 is too young ?

Hi Beth,
I was on a very low dose bcp (YAZ) when I first started having peri symptoms. It worked for awhile,and then I started having symptoms again. I switched to a bcp that had 35 mcg of estrogen (Ortho Novum 1/35) and felt better with that for awhile too. It could be that a different higher estrogen dose bcp would work for you too. A FSH test while you are on the bcp would not be very accurate, but if it is high even on the bcp it would certainly be an indication that you are in peri. Nighttime anxiety, insomnia, and "adreneline surges" are exactly what I experienced when my hormones went haywire. That was an awful time! Hope you are feeling better.

I am on Alesse which only has 20mcg of estrogen (the same as Yaz)...so I may try one with a higher mcg. Are you still on bcp?

I was off the bcp for a week before I had the fsh test so hopefully it will give a bit more accurate reading

Beth

Even when I went to a woman Dr. she also didn't believe I was old enough...but agreed to some testing anyways.

Hello all!

Ok I have heard so much about -adrenaline surges-... so what exactly do they feel like... I think I get them!! eek!

Thanks!!

For me, they feel like a bolt of energy that rushes through your body and then immediately after my heart starts racing and beating hard.

Hi Beth:

Welcome!

You are not too young. I started at age 35 and am 45 now. I keep thinking I am getting close to the end of this awful and stopping these ridiculously unpredictable periods.

Doctors know nothing about real people only what they read in a book or what some other "doctor" tells them. UGH!!!

Hugs to you,
Jeaninne

Hi Beth,
Relax? That's what you were told? Well, i have heard that many times and I want to say, don't you think I want to relax? When you are in peri, your body just doesn't always do what it did before. It can be miserable. Every day I wonder what symptom will I feel next. I am on a tri-cycle bcp and I know my hormones sometimes override them. I get spotting about the 8th week on for the next three weeks every cycle. then first 8 weeks, nothing, then it hits a little. My anxiety comes and goes too, so I know this is what causes it.

I hope you feel better and coming here and talking you will know you are not alone. Keep talking to us and it will help sooo much. Goodluck

Looks like I'm not in peri...fsh was 9. Dr. gave me a stronger bcp to see if it helps with my symptoms. The absolute worst symptom is the nocturnal panic attacks just as I'm drifting off to sleep

Beth

Hi Beth..
well my FSH was 5.0 and I am not convinced that I am not in *some sort* of Peri..ha.ha.. I am almost 42. I have so many symptoms and I am also on Alesse. I hear that the FSH isnt always reliable.... Hang in there, we will get through this!

~L