update from premenopause poster child

RE: saw the doctor today

Again, I understand your pain. I suffered from bouts with anxiety that went from severe panic attacks to a generalized anxiety. I went through this for years. Mine stemmed more from an extremely unhappy first marraige that I tried to keep together. Counseling and behavioral therapy worked to tide me over. I finally divorced the SOB after my daughter got married and low and behold, I was cured. I did suffer all the symptoms you described. I isolated myself and I did have phobias about hurting myself. It was awful. I thought I was losing my mind. The cognitive behavioral therapy helped me in the sense that I could get a handle on the negative thoughts that seemed to come out of nowhere and everywhere. For a time I wouldn't even leave my house except to go to work and take me daughter where she needed to go. I had to force myself to do it. This is also something, that unless you have experienced it yourself, is almost impossible to understand.

I was horrified when starting to experience similar symptoms on the onset of premenopause. The PCP I had at the time actually did suggest it could be premenopause and told me to consult my Gyn. Like I said, as soon as I started the Alesse, I was better. I have since switched to Mircette because of skin problems.

Your words tell me you're an extremely strong woman and you will win the battle. Keep fighting the good fight. Doing this will keep you going until you get relief.

In the meantime, have you tried a mild tranquilizer? I took something called Ativan for a brief period when I was younger and it helped quiet my mind. I was very careful with it and actually only took half of the prescribed dose because it can be addictive. Just a thought.
 
RE: saw the doctor today

Thanks Angela and everyone else. I'll have to look into this. I guess when I went through the nursing problems...they didn't even suspect it was anything hormonal and I never looked into that until this last pregnancy/birth.

My periods also Angela were also very unpredictable. When I was young I would get one sometimes once or twice per year and when they finally did get come a little more often (and this is bizarre) if there was something coming up and I didn't want to get my period, I could concentrated and make myself "not get it". So tell me...are hormones controlled in the mind as well....now that's a question.

Briee
 
RE: saw the doctor today

Well, I know that horses can control the time they go into labor, but I've never heard of humans having mental control over their hormones... :D

The only things I've heard are related to cycles of the moon and also that if you're living in a household with other females, your cycles will tend to synchronize over time. That's kinda bizarre...
 
RE: saw the doctor today

I know that females will synchronize over time. It always happened in college, within a few months my roommates and I would cycle together, one big happy family!!!

Also, do to our breeding English Mastiff occassionally, our females will always cycle together or bring each other into heat. I think hormones are much more complex than we all realize and affected by many outer influences as well.

As I look back I still think it's weird though that I could just "not" have a period if I really didn't want one, wish we could understand everything huh?

Briee
 
RE: saw the doctor today

And, unfortunately, those of us who have experienced anorexia and other causes of low estrogen are, I believe, at greater risk for osteoporosis in later life than others. The old adage that you can never be too rich or too thin is obviously not true. Don't forget to get your bone density scans ladies!
 
RE: saw the doctor today

Yep, that's one of the supposed benefits of low dose bc pills - protection agains bone loss. I've already got osteopenia - the precursor to osteoporosis - due to a coupla stints on prednisone to get my UC under control. 'Course, I was already "at risk" being a small-boned, white female...

Angela

P.S., Clare, any updates for us? I've requested the "Screaming to be Heard..." book from my library.
 
RE: saw the doctor today

Hi Angela:

Only that I contacted the gynecologist's office to whom my PCP referred me and did my own research. I managed to find a female gynecologist who can see me in April, no waiting til June!

Also, I tried to come off my antidepressant medication, but after five days I had just returned to the horrid state of ill health I had "enjoyed" back in November when it all hit me: constant dizzinesss, faintness, muscle weakness, unable to go for a walk and walk in a straight line, etc. So, I am having to take the medication again.

I think my problem is a confused blend of unabated stress for so many years that my body went into nervous breakdown last Fall, but my brain affects my hormones too, so it shows up as physical symptoms first, horrendous PMDD, all the dizziness, chronic fatigue, palpitations, that then lead to panic attacks once my nervous system got to work on it all and i thought I was dying. It is a complex combo of stress, a burnt out nervous system that throws the hormones out of control. A vicious cycle.

Things are much improved with antidepressant medication, but I am hoping to not be on them forever, to try and get my hormones under control and stabilize my health so I can come off the medication and enjoy quality of life, which I yearn for. I was so healthy in June and July. I am a shadow of myself right now, and I hate that. I am reduced to just walks and yoga right now for exercise, I haven't the wellness or energy for anything else.

Oh well, there must be answers out there, and I will find them. Thanks for asking

Clare
 
RE: saw the doctor today

It's a fascinating phenomenon. If we knew what caused that it might explain a lot of things in the world generally..
 
RE: saw the doctor today

Hello Clare,
Please excuse the interuption, I've been reading this as it has progressed, and I'm wondering...
Before the bottom fell out on you last Nov, were you excersing hard for a long time? I mean, cathe 6 days per week for months and months? -not trying to suggest anything for your case, just wondering. I'm having problems also and have just about given up.
 
Clare...

I'm so glad to hear you've been able to get an appointment in April! I know you'll be counting the days.

I may be way off base here, but since you mentioned chronic fatigue, muscle weakness, etc., have you considered a candida element? I can recommend an excellent book, if you haven't explored this yet.

Some of this sounds very familiar. I, too, was super stressed, battling TMJ, IBD, fatigue, mood swings, memory lapses, and they had me on an anti-anxiety med for a while.

Angela
 
RE: saw the doctor today

Stargazer:

It's like this: I had been doing Cathe for 4 or 5 days a week, but always hitting it hard. I always give my all. And those days were doubles up in the sense that I would do a CTX cardio and some weight training afterwards. My fave workout was Circuit mAx which I was doing once per week.

But, I got very down and depressed in August and barely worked out at all. Neither did I work out in Spetember because I had already gone through the hormone drop. It happened in August-Spetember. It affected me through mood. That's my weak spot. That's why I was so depressed for inexplicable reason. ALso, it's like I woke up one day in Spetember, looked in the mirror and suddently saw so many lines that had crept on overnight, and so much hair was missing. I has been sudenly losing hair and it had all thinned. I was shocked.

THen I had had enough of not working out, so in October I started back again, and immediately sensed someting was not right. I could not complete workouts without nearly keeling over with faintness and dizziness, and this was way beyond the symptoms of normal over-exertion for someone starting back. I know what those symptoms are, this was not it, this was on a way different scale. I decided to keep working out, lowering my expectations for myself, but within 30 minutes of starting every workout, whether weights or cardio, I would nearly fall over, feel chronic fatigue, have palpitations and feel hot, dizzy, outside of myself. On one particular day, after dong PS legs, I showered, could not stand up in the kitchen to prepare the kids' dinners, slumped on the couch and was comatose for an hour. Walked around like an old lady for the rest of the day.

THen it began to become panic attacks as my mind got to work on the physical symptoms.

From my research, my diagnosis is that although I have a propensity for depression, a sudden drop in my estrogen levels (I had blood tests, the levels were half what they had been the previous year) was messing around with my brain chemicals, serotonin largely, and creating a whole array of physical and emotional symptoms. My brain was and is in distress as a combo of depression, on-going stress, and now hormonal fluctuation.

I am currently reading a fabulous book which is making all this completely clear to me. It is called:

"Women's Moods. What Every Woman Must Know AboutHOrmones, the Brain, and Emotional Health," by Deborah Sichel, MD., and Jeanne Watson Driscoll, MS, RN, CS. Paperback, $14.95, Quill, Harper Collins.

I also recommend the book I referred to earlier on this thread called "Screaming to be Heard."

Both are in my local Borders bookstore, both will be widely available on Amazon.com, and try your local library.

I am so glad that I am not a freak, not just a psyche basket case that therapists and my PCP want to write me off as, but a woman whose brain is in distress and hormones are a big culprit. It is good to find yourself in the pages of some book.

Stargazer: what is your story? Email me if you'd rather keep it private. I posted mine here, and it may help other women, like you.

Clare
 
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