Well I am soon to be 40 (in August) and feel I am going crazy!! It all started with horrid heartburn last July. After horrible experience with Nexium, a negative EGD, negative ultrasound of my gallbladder, + semi-low ejection fraction during a HIDA Scan, I had my gallbladder removed September 27. After surgery I developed heart palpations and shortness of breath which my doctor thought could be pain meds. I felt some anxiety might be mixed in there as well. I started feeling better and got rather free with my eating and enjoying foods again (I had lost about 10 pounds--yea!). Anyway in December I started developing the heartburn/chest pain again along with anxiety/heart palpations. The doctor put me on Lexapro which caused terrible headaches and did an EKG which he said was negative. He then put me on Prozac. I had terrible side effects everything from tingling on my spine and head to dizziness. I was hooked up to a Holter monitor that showed I was having PVC's. I ended up in the ER one day thinking I was having a heart attack. My blood pressure was 142/93 (typically not high). I had another EKG in the ER and was basically told it was probably the Prozac and to continue taking it unless symptoms continued. Which I quit taking. My doctor has now put me on Zoloft which doesn't seem to be helping either. Some days I can't deal with the heart palps and feeling like I am shaking inside. The shaking is like a feeling of being really chilled only there isn't any visible shaking or it can feel sorta like butterflies in your chest. Somehow I found this website. I started puting 2 and 2 together. Maybe it is perimenopause. I have other symptoms like dryness, headaches and lighter/shorter periods. Sometimes I have night sweats but I just figured that was because of warm nights or the antidepressants. I have had my TSH checked twice and it was normal. Could I be peri? The thing that makes my GYN think it isn't a hormone thing is because I have and still have very regular periods. I haven't really asked my mother exactly when she experienced menopause. Although she told me that things sorta fell apart at 40 for her.

I just feel lost. I am glad I found this place maybe it will help. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Stephanie

Hi scase,

Welcome to the club. I started at 38 with anxiety and hotflashes, heart palps. The Dr. started me off with Effexor which really helped then I felt to good and went off of it. Now at 43 I started with all over again. Dr. put me back on effexor which made me feel worse went to Zoloft that didn't help either Now I am on Lexapro and also Dr. put me on a estrogen patch because my blood result showed that I was low in estrogen
This site is a wonderful place to be. There are so many beautiful people here that will show you that you are not alone. Take care

mel24

Newbie,

I'm 50 in about three weeks time and I still get regular periods. Using your doctor's logic does that also mean I'm not going through peri menopause either??? Cos I darn well know different. Grrrrr. it makes me so mad when doctors say that. Like your periods are the only marker to this. Utter Rubbish!

Peri menopause can last for a decade up to the date when your period's actually stop, and it is during that period that the bulk of the symptoms manifest. For some their periods will stay regular right up till the point that they stop. A friend of mine menstruated regularly right up to the age of 55, and then stopped, just like that. Ok, for others the periods will become erratic, longer, shorter, more often, less often ... but it isn't a hard and fast rule for everyone and to use your periods as a reason for your current symptoms not being 'hormonal' is just ridiculous. For heaven's sake when will the medical profession get to grips with this!!! A 40 year old woman, comes in with all the symptoms you describe - classic peri symptoms most of them, and your doc, says 'oh it can't be that, cos you are still getting regular periods'. It makes me want to spit!

This is from a fantastic book I am reading called 'The Change before the Change' by Dr. Laura E. Corio:

'Serious hormone fluctuations take place long before you stop bleeding, that can cause a multitude of often debilitating symptoms. In fact, most women find their symptoms are at their worst during perimenopause. After menopause theybegin to feel better.

When yo think about it, this makes perfect sense. The human body isn't like a light switch that turns on and off at a flick. It's a complex organism that changes over time. Perimenopause is the period in which your ovarian function winds down, and your hormones readjst to meet the needs of your post reproductive life.

Losing your period is one of the LAST signs that this transition has taken place. Most of the other elements of menopause - physical, sexual and psychological kick in several years earlier. It can occur as eary as 35 or as late as 55. Now I've made it routine to introduce the topic of perimenopause with all my patients over the age of 35. I ask whether they have experienced any of the typical symptoms. More often than not .... the answer is, 'Why yes I have. But I figured it was just stress or middle age....'.

x

Hi Stephanie and Welcome to Power Surge ...

You will find this place very informative and helpful..I know I did...This place is my second home. I always thought the symptoms I was having was only happening to just me until I came here and found out that was not the case...Sooooooooo many women here have had a symptom I have..or are experiencing a symptom I am having...And everyone here is great and there is ALWAYS someone here who can give you some very good advice or just be there to listen when you need it...

Again,Welcome to Power Surge...

(((Hugs)))
Christina

Thanks so much for all the info. Today I plan on starting a new day--if only this darn headache will go away!! LOL Anyway, today I purched some Slo-Mag that will hopefully help the heart palps. It does make me mad the way doctors are. I know my body better than they do. When you don't feel normal it is hard to explain to a doctor why. I feel like I am just complaining. Both my Family Practice doctor and GYN are men and I am convinced if they had to experience this there would be more help out there. Sometimes I don't think they take me serious because I really don't look my age. I look much younger than 39.

Anyone else out there that is infertle? My husband and I have unexplained infertility and I went through just over a year of talking those terrible fertility drugs. I wonder if that has totally screwed my system up. It has been probably 12 years ago though so I don't know if that makes a difference.

Anyway thanks for the help.

Stephanie

scase, if the anti-depressants aren't agreeing with you or aren't working for you, then don't take them. It seems to me that doctors love to hand out ADs like they were candy. "Oh, you are having symptoms I can't explain cuz I don't know about menopause? Here, take an AD!"

You need to do some research on your own, here at PS, on the web, reading books, etc. and figure out for yourself how you want to deal with menopause. You could try vitamins, supplements, natural bioidentical hormone replacement, etc. There are lots of options. Some women do benefit from ADs or low-dose birth control pills. Others choose to go the all-natural route.

Glad you found PS! You will learn a lot here, and there are lots of caring women here to support you.

Hi! I'm a newbie too. I just wanted to say that I was diagnosed with acid reflux a couple of years ago and got the heart palpitations and chest pains with it and anxiety. I've found that the only thing that helps me is diet. I hope you can get this worked out. The Internet has been a wonderful tool for me to research my medical conditions.