I'm having symptoms pop out of no where during my PMS time and I'm also starting earlier. I could be feeling super for days, this last time it was 10 days straight, only to begin to crash yesterday morning and pretty quickly I might add. Still having cycles but they are very scanty and don't last long. I get headachy, crampy, lightheaded/dizzy, pressure feeling in the back of my head, crabby of course and my BP tends to go up for one day. What are your symptoms when your body is trying to move into your cycle?? I'm still peri. Thanks!!!!!

Hi Sheila,

I'm 46 and in peri too. The PMS symptoms intensify as I near my period, actually they begin to build right after ovulation. My periods are scantier and earlier too.

Some of my PMS symptoms are dizziness, internal trembling/buzzing worse, anxiety through the roof, irritable, etc. I don't feel any significant relief once I start either.

I'm using progesterone cream too but it doesn't help the PMS that much. It is helping the insomnia though.

This is the most difficult time of my life. Hope I can get through it.

suzy

I am 40 yrs. old and when my period is approaching,i definitely know.I get major anxiety,heart palpitations,internal shaking,major fatigue and very,very emotional.My blood pressure and pulse rate stay high and i can't stand to be around anybody.( i don't think anybody can stand to be around me either)....all of this increases so much the day before i start my period that i am SO relieved when i do start.The symptoms start gradually probably on the 7th or 8th day of my cycle and keep increasing until i start...then it all starts over again,so i don't have very many symptom-free days at all in a month.

I can really relate to the PMS symptoms everyone is talking about. I am about 3-5 days away from my period....assuming my period starts anywhere around 28 days. I am anxious, legs jiggling, muscle twitches, and I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin.
Seems to be getting worse the last six months or so. My ob/gyn just shakes her head and says, get used to it. It is difficult.
We are going on vacation next Thursday and we are flying to Montreal, 5 hours from LA. I'm dreading it. I get so flipped out about being trapped in a plane and feeling like I'm going to freak out. I make the whole thing miserable for my family. My family physician gave me Xanax for flying and the last time I flew I took it and I just got flush and felt like I had a fever. Haven't read that as a side effect, but I was so worried about that I was not sure which to freak out over, the Xanax reaction or the plane flight.
I feel like I should be feeling happy, but I just walk around feeling scared of all sorts of things that probably won't even happen. Spent the last few days pouring over the internet about neurological diseases because of the muscle twitches. As I read about those horrible diseases the twitches got even worse! I've just been staying with this site to ease my nerves and remember that hormone fluctuations can really impact the body.
Hope I don't sound too crazy. But it does help to write this stuff down to those who won't judge me.
Happy 4th ladies.
Dee

Dee,
I have experienced (or am experiencing) everything you are.....including thinking I had some horrible neurological disease. The muscle twitching does get worse if your anxiety level increases. If I were you, I would find something that works for your anxxiety, be it xanax or something else, before you get into a situation that you know you are going to have trouble with. I use xanax, and it works great for me. I would advise you to take a little before your anxiety is out of control as it will keep that from happening. Some of the girls on this site have used Ativan and say that works also. It's really hard to deal with all the physical symptoms and then the anxiety on top of that, espeically because the anxiety seems to exacerbate all the symptoms.

These boards are a great source of support. I just found them a couple of months ago and reading about and listening to others going through this has saved my sanity.

Thanks PixieGirl!
The supportive, calming words are so helpful. I will try the Xanax again, maybe this time before the plane ride just to get used to the effects. I need to realize that it's okay to take something when the going gets tough.
Thanks again,
Dee

Dee,
Just keep in mind that you might have trouble with situations that you have previously been comfortable in - it's kind of a new learning process. I took a flight from California to Florida last month, and found that I really had to keep myself occupied with either reading or watching the movie. Seems to be a feeling of not wanting to be in a confined area with lots of other people. Even movie theaters sometimes make me feel uncomfortable lately and I love going to the movies! But now when I am in these situations, I really have to keep my anxiety conciously under control by focusing my attention on something. Sometimes closing my eyes for a couple of minutes and breathing slowly and deeply helps calm me a bit. I have never had anything like this happen to me before, but I know it is just a phase of life I'm passing through, and I try and find ways to get through what I still want or need to do. We are leaving on vacation next weekend, another 5 hour flight, so you bet, I will be taking some xanax and bringing along a good book to focus on!

Hi Ladies!

About 10 days before my period, I am a mess. I am 48 yrs old and know that I am going through the change. Yeah, I get the anxiety, which is through the roof, trembling, moody, night sweats, hot flahes, you name it, seems I have it. Sometimes I don't know if I am going to make it through another period. And here I thought I was the only one going through this.

I am going to see a doctor today and see if she can recommend anything for me.
Not an OBGYN, but my regular physician. She is a woman. Don't know what she will tell me.

I dread when I ovulate again. And I mean that sincerely.

I am so glad there are other people who go through this.

Is there anything that helps besides "chill pills". Sometimes I think that is the only thing that will help me. Anti-depressants, yeah, I've been on those, same dosage for 4 yrs now and they aren't helping anymore, then the doctor tells me you need to up them. I probably should. It's not like I am on a high dosage. You know?

How do we survive this?


Donna

Donna,

I could have written your message! These days I know the exact moment when I ovulate...it's like my fallopian tubes are vibrating, trying to shake one last apple out of the tree...a few times I got to thinking that maybe I should go to the emergency room...and I dread the next 10-12 days because...well, for the same reasons you dread them.

Tell me if your doctor thinks up something to try. I tried birth control pills but had a bad reaction to them. I think I'm going to try another brand.

It's horrible, just horrible. Every month I wonder 'What new symptom is perimenopause going to hit me with this time?'

Man, I hope this ends soon....

Judy

Dee,

I am sooooo sorry you are going through this. I am one of the poor fools that has been to a gazillion docs to try to figure this out. My symptoms started with the muscle twitching and jerking and the extreme fatigue. My GP told me it was Chronic Fatigue and to get more sleep. Since then I have been tested out the wazoo and I really think its all anxiety from messed up hormones. If it will put your mind at ease, go to a neurologist to get your muscles tested, but I imagine your nerves are just shot right now. Another bit of advice that I wish I would have followed...don't try to diagnose yourself. I have literally made myself sick from searching the internet. I think PM symptoms are also symptoms to lots of diseases. I wish I had found this site sooner and not gone down the other path. Try to find one doctor that you trust and follow their advice....I've been to so many different ones, I don't know who to believe anymore.

Hope your trip was OK.
JP

Thanks JP,
My trip went very well. Of course I took Xanax on the plane, but the rest of the time the anxiety was down and I had a great time. I'm seeing a pattern though. I started my period before we left and so I felt better once I got there. I am, again, PMS and the anxiety is up, I wake up tense, the muslce twitches are going again, although much lighter with the magnesium, and I just feel uneasy. I hate this feeling. I realized I'm PMS again as my cycle now goes about 24 days, usually, but then again it can go up to 32 days. I'm so off right now, but the doc says that is right where I'm supposed to be. The inconsistancy is crazy.
Anyway, I feel better now that I've found this site. I hate the anxiety and the twitching, but I think it's getting better and I think that as long as I stick with you guys I can handle the peri symptoms.
Thanks to all for the support.
Dee

Hey Dee,

I am on my period right now and I can tell you the two days before and the first day of I really thought I was going to crazy. I worry more and start to think I'm dying again....now I'm more relaxed and have more of an "oh well" type of attitude. I'm sure I am worse right before and at the beginning of my cycle. I hate this feeling too and each month seems harder and harder. I think I'm really in the throughs of peri and I keep hoping I'm approaching the top of the hill.....never thought it would be this way...at least you have a gyno that will tell you it is peri. Many of us just have doctors that look at us like were crazy and tell us nothings wrong.....while peri is natural something is wrong/changed, and my body especially my nerves seem like they've gone hairwire.

Hi Dee, Teejay, JP,
I am skipping periods, last one four months ago (hoping it will never return.....). But this nice thing is that you don't have so much of the monthly cyclical ups and downs. I think it is making it easier for me to get myself stablized a bit, and to try different things and see how they affect me without having the monthly cycles come into play. I am actually starting to feel better than I did four months ago...I just hope that it lasts.

By the way, the magnesium is good for the twitching, and I also just added a mega multi vitamin that includes a "mega" B Complex. I have read a couple posts that indicated B Complex has helped some of those with muscle issues, so decided to add that to my regimen also. It's only been less than two weeks, but I do feel further improvement in both the muscle issues and in my anxiety level. In fact, I reduced my xanax by 1/3 this week which to me is nothing short of a miracle since I have been taking it religiously 3 times a day since February - right now I am doing okay on 2 doses, and almost feel like I could reduce further but I'm not going to rush into anything and throw my body back into a complete tizzy. I've learned that if I am going to make changes, to do it very SLOWLY......