Hi everyone,

I have just discovered this wonderful site. So many people seem to be experiencing the same things; it is so reassuring to know I am not alone. Here's my story:

I am 42 and live in the UK. I have 2 boys aged 11 and 8. About 5 years ago I started experiencing really frequent migraines. I thought this was a bit strange, never having had them before. Then 2 years ago I suddenly started having panic attacks and really awful anxiety that made me feel so fearful all the time for no reason. Some days I really struggled to get out of bed; it is worse in the mornings. I also developed severe gastritis at the same time and for about a week when this all started I experienced frequent palpitations at bedtime. I was terrified. My GP told me not to worry about the palps and put all these symptoms down to a delayed reaction to the stress of my mother-in-law's death and my husbands redundancy, both which had happened the previous year but from which we had moved on.

One day I was walking along the street feeling so bad; I started bawling my eyes out in despair and threw myself in the doors of a nearby therapy clinic and begged them to tell me if they had anyone who dealt with anxiety. I saw a wonderful acupuncturist who explained these symptoms could all be linked. I had 5 treatments and as a result my symptoms improved somewhat and I am coping with them better. At the time the palps stopped after my first treatment, presumably because I had relaxed.

I read about perimenopause in a magazine about 4 months ago, and wondered if these symptoms could be due to that. Then I promptly forgot all about the article. Then 9 weeks ago I started having really horrible palpitations (ectopics) every day, all day long. Some days they are every 7 heartbeats or so for most of the day. I was on holiday in Italy when they started and was so scared.

I saw my GP when I got home and had an ECG & thyroid tests. I am told everything is fine. I am due to have a 24 hour monitor just to see exactly which part of the heart is causing them and if treatment can be suggested, but have been told they are definitely benign anyway and nothing to worry about. (Betablockers were suggested but I can't take them as I tried them for the anxiety and they made me feel tight across the chest. However, it is strange that migraine, anxiety and palps are all supposedly helped by the same drug Propanol - doesn't this show a link between the symptoms?)

The only thing to worry about I have been told is that if the palps become very frequent there is a slight chance my heart will go into AF or SVM. This won't kill me but I would need medical intervention I'm told, otherwise it could lead to a stroke if the situation went on for some length of time. I find this a very scary thought.

I am convinced all my symptoms must be perimenopause though my GP said this can only occur up to 3 years prior to the menopause. However, I have read elsewhere (including this site) that it can be 10 years prior.

I have read hot weather can make palps worse, and also sugary foods. (We have had a heatwave in the UK the last 7 weeks and the palps are worse after I eat, particularly sugary foods). I have given up all caffeine and alchohol and have been told not to exercise strenuously as the adrenaline can make the palps worse. I feel all my enjoyments in life are gradualy being taken away. Does anyone have any other suggestions of how to minimise the frequency of these palpitations?

Does anyone have experience of these symptoms actually going once menopause is over?

hi... and i am only 32 with the anxiety and the palps... ijust stared all this about 7 months ago... i have yet to find a dr. to help me so i have been helping myself... they also wanted to put me on beta blockers and i refused.... since bp was always good it scared me.... oh how they love to try and give you the magic pill.... i have a drawer full of birthcontrol pills.... i really cant see the point oin taking them if i am not ovulating.... any ways... keep reading here you will be surprised how many women are just like you... it helps to not feel as alone... i have no one to talk to and this has been a blessing for me..... panic attacks has ben my most horrible thing... i get pressure headches as well.... but the fear is consuming.... i am unsure however after menopause what happens.... but there are threads for that.... just keep reading and relax.... denise

Thanks Denise. This forum is great! It is such a relief to talk to others that understand and are suffering the same. I can't go on about how I'm feeling to the locals here too much - I'm sure they would think me a hypochondriac. Many people who haven't had it think anxiety is the same as worry ... and everybody has worries so why is it a problem for me to cope... after all they have worries too. They don't understand that the fear and panic attacks are not necessarily linked with a specific worry; that they come out of the blue and you can't control them. It's the same with the palpitations. Loads of people I know have had the odd one and wonder what all the fuss is about - but when they're frequent it is soooo scary. I felt like crying with relief when I found this forum; that I am not alone and it is likely due to my hormones! However, I'm quite depressed that I might have to be like this now for 10 years. Do people who've experienced this have any days without any at all?

oh my yes are there good days.... i notice that about 2 weeks out of the month i feel pretty good!!! i love this time except the anxiety sometimes kicks in . i think i do this to myself though because i will feel fine and think wow!!!! and then i think about feeling bad and the panic attacks and wham!!!!!! i make myself sick!!! its weird though because usually i feel awful so when a good day comes i cant just enjoy it sometimes... i am always looking or expeting it to turn bad.... go figure... i am gettig better with this though... i only now have the problem of not wanting to go certain places because i have had panic attacks there.... strange so my husband says but i do this... i refuse to go back to walmart in my town... i ahd 2 attacks there. so..... no going there for me. i am getting better... i dont cry as much as i did a few months ago and i am learning to let the panic just come and try to keep doing whatever it is i am doing at the time... use to i would let it take over me and fulll blown panic would set in leaving me feel sick for days.... the not knowing what is wrong and all of that.... i went to get a haircut the other day and could feel the anxiety atarting to build up while i was sitting there letting her cut my hair... normally iwould of gotten up and ran out of there and upset myself... now i just sat there and kept talking to her about hair... i could feel my heart beatinmg but i didnt let it consume me to much... it passed within a few minutes and no one knew it happened but me.... i call this a surge... and boy sometimes they can be powerful!!!! i have never yaken any meds and i refuse... dr wanted to put me on beta blockers for anxiety but i refused..... i said i can fight this... heck... igave birth naturally to a almost 10 pound baby girl 11 years ago i can do this..... we are all here.. maybe not form the same walk of life but we are here together... all of us diffrent yet " freakishly linked". i like knowing that.. it helps me now to understand women that i meet in the store etc. if they smile and speak they must be having a good day... if they dont then i think they must be having a bad day... i now know what good days and bad days are..... we all will get through this and i love that!!!! i have so much more respect and patience that i never knew i could have.... its hard cause alot times i want to snap off someones head and feed it to there neck... but i have to be calm and know in a few minutes that powerful surge will be gone!!!!! thank goodness.... lol denise

You are so right about understanding other people's bad days. How can we know what problems are going on with them when they are grumpy & mean to us.

Well, these palps are my biggest challenge these days as I have only had them 9 weeks and they scare me senseless when they are frequent in case I go into AF or SVM. I don't know how I'm gonna get used to them. Do you get them every day? How frequently?

With the anxiety I have come a long way over the last 18 months since it started. I still get the fear in the mornings some days but I am no longer afraid of it as I know it can't hurt me. I can now function about 90%. However, it has instead manifested itself as a specific condition called health anxiety for which I am due to start CBT therapy in September to help me put health issues out of my mind. (Health anxiety means I find it hard not to imagine the worst if I or anyone close to me gets anything wrong with them, however minor, and then I can't stop thinking about it (to the exclusion of everything else) & worry about it all day. I never used to be like this until the anxiety 18 m ago).

My panic attacks are also improved and are less frequent these days, but this makes them harder to recognise when they come & I get scared.

Like you, I had a time when I couldn't face the supermarket or was afraid to drive the car even. At one point I struggled to get the kids up in the morning & my husband had to work from home for about a fortnight so he could take the kids to school & collect them. Then I started to manage gradually: I would get off the bed and have a bath, then have to lie down for 5 mins to gather strength, then get off the bed & call to my kids to get up, lie down again, repeat get up instruction, lie down again, etc etc until I somehow had the kids breakfasted and ready for school. I would have about 3 camomile teas to give me strength and then walk the kids 10 mins to school, but still often I was quietly crying the whole way under my sunglasses. When I got home I would lie in the bath for a couple of hours as it feels like one big hug to me. I have at least moved forward from there - I'm sure you will too. I read a great book by Dr Claire Weekes called "self-help for your nerves" written back in the 60's/70's but with great advice about "floating" through those tasks that you find impossible rather than fighting them. I would recommend it as it was a bestseller worldwide and still in print and it helped me immensely not to be afraid of the anxiety and fear.

Great to hear from you again.... You seem to be getting better at staying calm... at least your post is calming to read. I was in the same situstion as far as not getting out of bed.... terrified of some horrible disease... I do believe that i have the health anxiety now.... I live in a small town too where everyone knows everyone and it is hard when so many people that I know are sick or going to the dr. for something. I am always on the internet trying to self diagnose myself.... bad but its there. I have to tell this story .... I have been only eating veggies and fruits and grains etc. for awhile now... i gave up all red meat 5 months ago... I would occasonally have a piece of turkey or chicken brest but decided a few weeks ago to give that up too.... any ways I ate dinner ate a freinds house Tues. evening and my friends brother was in town form Indiana... my friend was telling him how I have lost so much weight and gave up all meat etc. He then tells me that I need to eat some meat... like turkey because Vegetarians dont live long... oh boy did thi throw me into panic... but I worked through it and had a lovely evening. Well guess what I did.... I decided to eat Turkey at least 2 times a week.... I cant get what he said out of my mind.... He kept talking about this dr. that he listens too I think on the radio and how vegetatrians need meat... so now I am thinking about this.... something else to add to my anxiety I guess... I ate turkey a little while ago wit some snowpeas and carrots.... see I too worry about health. The palptions arent frequent for me.... usually when my body is ovulating or trying too and then after my period ends I have them.... The heat like lying in the sun seem to provoke them as well. I get that nervous shakey feel with them like I am panicky without full blown panic... any ways I have learned that If I drink grape juice... about a glass they subside and go away... dont know why grape juice does this but it works.... I dont take any meds... nor natural things either... no vitamins either... I have hardly any headaches any more also...... try the juice though... I buy welches grape... I ifgure its more expensive but I deserve it.... I read about the juice but I am unsure where... but I know that I have had them off and on for a few days... but the juice nips them in the bud as Barney Fiffe would say. I have read that peri only lasts 2-10 years.... I hope I am in the 2 year bracket.... because I have been like this for 7 months...... I dont know that its peri... I just know that I hve all the symptoms and then some and everything else has been ruled out. I never had any health problems except gall bladder removed about 6 years ago.... I dveloped stones when I was pregenat... but I have read most women do.... see our bodies are just like a car... constantly running and sometimes forcefully in a hurry... hardley ever do we get to take that sunday drive so to speak.... eventually I think we need a tuneup.... but then why bother when there are so many other models out there..... S o we just keep plugging along until we need someone to come along and restore us back to our origanal state..... inside and out.... like and old camaro or mustang...... I hope this is how it works...... lol denise

Denise,

Don't panic too much over your no-meat diet - you have enough other issues to deal with. I was eating a really limited choice of food - see your stomach ache thread - for months because of my gastritis. My Gp said it wouldn't harm me for a few months. Vegetables are so important in the diet, cutting out meat for a while if you want to won't harm you. Make sure you get plenty of protein from pulses etc. Look at the Japenese. Traditionally they eat fish, not meat, and rice. They are said to have one of the healthiest diets in the world. Now they have discovered meat, they have discovered heart disease which was previously unheard of. I am not veggi but I don't eat meat every day.

I think health anxiety is more widespread than people realise!

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Hi to all. I am new to this board. Seems like a wonderful place to lose yourself and just surf and read alot of information! A bit about myself.

I am 35, 2 kids.... a 12 yr old and an almost 2 1/2 yr old. After the birth of my youngest, the dr's put me on the birthcontrol patch. I am still on it, even though i've read ALOT of alarming facts. The dr's don't seem ready to put me on anything else yet. I got pregnant both times while being on the pill, and i was taking it correctly. It just seemed that after a certain amount of time, it just stopped working. I had alot of break thru bleeding and other things going on and ended up preggers.

Anyway, lately, (ever since the birth of son, from what my hubby says) I've been moody, tired all the time, confrontational, depressed, etc. I also had break thru bleeding again, and headaches. I went to the doctor asking to be put on something to help my anxiety and stress and to possibly be taken off the patch since i feel that is what is contributing to my symptoms.

The doctor did put me on Effexor xr, and did blood work. My testosterone level registers ZERO! I have NO testosterone in my body. SO....... he contacted an endocrinologist and this is the latest thing the doctor told me.......

The doctor had contacted a local endo whose only recommendations was a trial of DHEA. However, my dr also learned of a specialist who is using oral testosterone replacement therapy.

DHEA is rarely considered to be effective in my current dr's past attempts with other patients. The local endo didn't want to get involved with the "THR" therapy because of a lack of guidelines for females.
However, the specialist received special training in this area. The problem is insurance coverage for the visit/and or the treatment. The insurance may deny one ot the other.

If i don't want to do above, or if insurance denies it, the only other option is the DHEA along with Lo-Estrin. I believe i would be taken off the patch then.

I wonder now what exactly to do, and my current symptoms are quite puzzling. I think i am starting peri.
I have night sweats now, i am hot and sweaty almost all the time, my effexor does not seem to be working. The doctor says...i'm not starting peri, and has NOT tested me for any other things as far as seeing if any underlying disease may be problem to testosterone being nothing. I also wonder if my testosterone has always been "nothing" therefore thats why i've always had problems with cycles, and the bc pills i was on and thats why they were not effective??? My estrogin, and progesterine were NOT tested as far as i know??? The dr never commented on them.

Any suggestions, comments, or help is appreciated! I am quite dumb when it comes to all this stuff.
I thank you all in advance, as well as i thank everyone for this wonderful board!!

My palps started in Feb 2005. I've tried soy, magnesium, cutting out caffeine and the only thing that has affected my palps has been going to the gym and working out for over an hour at a time. I was working out 2 times a week before, just walking 30 mins on the treadmill but once I increased the frequency and intensity of my exercise my palps went down to 2 days a month from 7-15 days or so. The palps are so fleeting now and very, very light and of short duration, maybe a few mins.

Hi All,

Most of my symptom connections to peri have been in retrospect. It took me some time to "connect the dots". I am 45 years old with 6 children. It took 4+ years for me to conceive my last child. I was 35 when I finally got pregnant with him. I had never had any trouble getting pregnant before. Looking back now, I realize this is probably when it all started. Just prior to finally getting pregnant , I started have anxiety/panic attacks, along with palpitations and other heart "symptoms". After several trips to the emergency room for "heart attack" symptoms and all the usual tests, it was determined that I had panic disorder. Prior to this, anxiety wasn't even in my vocabulary.

Again, not realizing any connection, I also noticed my periods were changing. I had always been like clockwork every 28 days. Then it changed to sometimes sooner, sometimes later, occassionally every 16 days. They also got much heavier than in the past. I started having occasional night sweats. Things seemed to "level out" for a couple of years after the birth of my son. Then when he was 2 and I was 38 - BAM - it started all over again, only this time it seemed to come back with a vengance. Keeping in mind that I still hadn't considered nor had any doc mentioned peri/menopause. This time the palps and anxiety were off the charts. I started to have major chest pain episodes, IBS, couldn't leave my house, dizziness, faintness, shaking, health anxiety, etc. I am sure you all know what I mean. Anyway, by that time I was firmly convinced that I was dying! Oh, and losing my mind as well. I went from doctor to doctor trying to find answers. Not one had an answer. All tests results continued to be - OK!

Then I started having migraine headaches the day before my periods started. Next was nausea...random...spontaneous...but only a couple of weeks each month. Still, I didn't connect all these symptoms. What finally turned on the proverbial "light bulb" (seemed more like lightening striking-Ha!) was when I had a period that lasted 29 days total. That sent me running to the gyn office at warp speed. Of course, he proceeded to scare me half to death with talk of cancer etc. Naturally, he ran all the usual tests and again everything - NORMAL! Now, at this point I had started to become very frightened and depressed. How could I feel so bad, have all these odd things happening to my physical self and yet be
"FINE"? It just didn't make sense. Then while searching the internet looking for answers, I came across this site. What a GOD send. I can't emphasize how paramount this site is/has been in me keeping my sanity. I finally KNEW what was going on. I was so relieved that I found myself crying like a baby. I stayed on this site, the first time, til the wee hours of the morning. It's almost comical, as I not only felt relief, but I almost felt justified, as friends & family and even doctors were starting to treat me like a hypochondriac. I have to admit that I even considered that myself at one point. Nowadays, before I "freak out" when something new hits, the first place I look is here!

I have had various odd and some unnerving symptoms since this all started. Some come and go, some have been around a while, some are still here but have either gotten better or I am just getting better at accepting them. My list is rather long, but to name a few....periods unpredictable...migraines (except last month - keeping my fingers crossed) odd muscle twitching and pain...ear ringing (very annoying)...tummy troubles 2 weeks out of the month..."warm" flashes...night sweats...fatigue...palps (much better now)...anxiety (also, much better now)...occasional chest pains (more like twinges, now) heart racing (usually a day or 2 prior to period and if and when I ovulate)...a strange intensely itchy patch of skin on my left upper arm (at first it lasted forever-then changed arms) now only a day or 2 prior to period...mood swings (not too bad)...crying jags....occasional but severe breast tenderness...sleep troubles...brain fogginess...memory disturbances...and a few other things I can't recall right now.

The good news is, some it has gotten gradually better over time and it seems that the anxiety and palps were the first to ease up. I still struggle with some symptoms, but at least I am out and about living life as opposed to barricading myself in my bedroom unable to eat, sleep or cope. Now, when I have panic attacks, for example at the grocery store, I just relax as best I can, use breathing techniques to calm myself and chant over and over in my head that this can't hurt me, that it is caused by fluctuating hormones and that it won't kill me. The same goes for the palps and racing heart/pulse. This works 99.99999% of the time. They pass rather quickly now. It seems to only come on when I am overly tired or fatigued. You also have to take the time to give YOURSELF some TLC. Most of us have or are raising a family, work outside the home, haven taken care of aging parents, etc. We have spent most of our lives tending to everyone else and putting ourselves last. Now, the time has come to start tending to our needs. This is a wake-up call to slow down. I finally figured out that life isn't a RACE to get to the END!

I hope this story (umm, I mean novel) helps someone else who is just coming on board this roller coaster. My best advice is to hang on....cuz you are in for the ride of your life! Hugs to all.

Your sister in Peri land,
Susan

Susan,

I just read your "novel"...i mean post. i just wanted to thank you for describing my symptoms and attributing them to peri. I don't know what is wrong with doctors. Why don't they know all this and why are we informed ahead of time so that when these symptoms hit they don't produce full blown panic. We'd be more ready for them.

I notice that if you have any other emotional issues in your life such as the loss of a loved one the doctors will attribute everything to that. I tried to deal for months with the panic and depression. It was every day. Sometimes all day. I could barely function. I walked around just to try to keep moving. Laying down was worse. I finally opted for medication because it stopped mattering to me what the cause was. I am managing it now.

Thanks again.

Lisa

Lisa,

I'm with you. I'm convinced that my problems are from perimeonpause, but at this point, I'm opting for the medication because it makes it where I can function. I'm using xanax (.25). Would you mind sharing what is working for you.

Good Luck and I'm glad you are feeling better.

anxiouslady

Hi Susan,

I have so many of the same symptoms as you. I am so glad that you have had some of them ease up recently. It certain;y helps to read your post abd know this is all supposedly "normal"!!

Hi googiesmom

Thanks for that positive bit of advice about the exercise. Little tips that work for someone, like this, give us all hope!

Hi Squiggle,

I am so glad I found this board about 2 weeks ago. Your posts in particular - and many others - are describing exactly what has been happening to me. I am 45 (46 in Nov), with two teenage children. I have always had 'problems' with hormones - at puberty, after both births - and went for 7 years without a period.

Last year, I had ECG and echocardiogram because of bad palpitations, but although my heartbeat was irregular, the condition was benign. This has since improved, but four months ago, my IBS went berserk - now have indigestion, abdominal pain, bloating, nausea nearly every day & certainly for 3 weeks out of 4. Only relief is when my (irregular) period comes. Two doctors have done thorough check & say nothing serious, just gastritis and IBS (made worse by an extra loop of colon and surgical adhesions). Also have started the same morning anxiety that has plagued me at other times when hormones haywire, panic attacks - and the almost constant fear that I have some terrible illness that no one has picked up. What a relief to find this board! It seems that even my fear of all this is a symptom of perimenopause!

My doctor dismissed menopause testing, as he said that I was still menstruating. But when I did two home tests during the last two weeks, they were negative ( they were FSH detectors). Would you say that is is likely that I feel this lousy because I am actually in peri if not yet full-blown menopause?


I feel so much better to talk to people who understand how I'm feeling. I feel like I'm turning into a hypochondriac - except I really do have all these symptoms. Here in the UK, you don't really talk much about these things, it seems - or not where I'm from!

Thanks again,

Rio[font=Arial]

Good morning Anxiouslady,

That should be my name. I can't over emphasize how bad my panic attacks were. I could barely take my daughter to school and pick her up afterward. They were every day...sometimes all day. Herbal did nothing for me. I got very depressed. My doctor prescribed zoloft and lorazapem to help me with the anxiety and any initial side effects of zoloft. I felt better the very first day. I still have anxiety but not full blown panic. I am only on 50mg of zoloft but have been able to start weaning off the lorazapem. My doctor said that if I increase the zoloft to 100mg than my anxiety should subside completely and will help with sleep. I also take Ambien for sleep. The goal is to be on zoloft only and have the lorazapem only if I really need it. I went from being curled up in a ball most days to functional. Even started a job this week. My most anxious times are when I am in bed esp. first thing in the morning but some days are better than others.

Why suffer if you don't have to? It has become quite managable with the medication.

Hope this helps.

Lisa