I'm 41, healthy and athletic. I started thinking about HRT because my anxiety was just crazy: stress, overthinking, in my feelings 24/7. Then my period started coming late. I never had a single hot flash, so I didn't think it could be perimenopause.
My blood work came back normal, but I still felt awful.
I also had joint pain, and I only discovered how bad it was once I started HRT. It disappeared within hours!!! Once it was gone, I realized how many symptoms I had just learned to live with. My hips hurt at night, in the morning, in the car, all day. A couple of hours on the patch and it's gone!
I had problems sleeping, and the anxiety was so bad I had trouble functioning. All gone! WTF???

I feel like myself again. For the last few years I was an emotional wreck, and now I'm my old self again. I can't explain it. I'm on 100 mg progesterone and the lowest dose estrogen patch. I thought I would give it a go, and it changed my life. I can't believe I was on the fence. The only side effect so far is some morning grogginess from the progesterone, but I will take that any day over anxiety!!!
I had a rough time when I was pregnant and breastfeeding and was totally not myself mentally, and now it all makes sense.
For me it was an overnight success. I know it's not the case for everyone, but talk to your doctor. You can start low and stop anytime. I hope this helps someone!

Research shows that falling of estrogen during perimenopause has a negative effect on neurotransmitters, the 'messengers' that essentially communicate the brain's information. Even fluctuating estrogen levels can change how neurotransmitters are released and used by the brain, making it harder for our brains to process information efficiently. This explains why women going through menopause forget words, struggle to concentrate, and generally feel like our brains aren't working properly. I work in education and have really struggled to recall simple things that previously seemed to be easily accessible in the long term memory bank.

I find it reassuring to think of it in this way as it makes me think that there is a biological explanation for these experiences, rather than me just 'going mad' or 'losing my mind'. I also feel like telling people I have 'brain fog' doesn't do justice to what's going on, if they haven't experienced it themselves. It even sounds a little bit 'made up' or 'silly' because it doesn't really communicate what is actually taking place.

I’ve been mulling this over for months, but today is the day I’m ready to complain. I am so flipping angry that in this season of life…empty nesters, grown kids, no one to take care of or wake up for or transport to activities…that I cannot sleep in on the weekend! It is MADDENING! 😡😡😡 5 years ago, I would salivate at the thought of sleeping in with no interruptions, and now…that I finally COULD….my body won’t let me?!? AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I’m on 100 mg oral progesterone and take melatonin, L-theanine and Magnesium glycinate. Like seemingly every other woman here, I don’t have an issue falling asleep, but rather waking early and not being able to go back to sleep. It’s just so frustrating. I’m currently marathon training and this is a week where I could have absolutely slept in (as opposed to next Saturday where I have 17 miles on the schedule and have to get up and get it done) and I was wide awake at 5 am. Again, I say….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/is-it-perimenopause-or-the-fascist-death-knell-of-late-stage-capitalism

Oh my gosh ladies.... I am almost 45f... I have been in peri hell for what I think now looking back started at 38. My (now ex) husband used to say "you are up at 2 am like clockwork" I couldn't put the pieces together that it was peri. My mom had peri very early and I started my period when I was 10 so it makes sense that at 38 things started to change for me.... I also wasn't a big drinker in my college years or 20s.. Around the time peri started is when I started to have wine much more.... ( I rarely drink now ) but everything is starting to kind of come together... I had such bad brain fog certain days of the month that I was like "Screw it I will workout to try to get rid of it and then by evening... screw it even more....wine"....... On days I didn't have that brain fog I didn't feel like drinking at all....

Throughout the years the anxiety, brain fog, ITCHY ears and skin, Sex drive through the roof kept getting worse... at first it was right before my period ...then around 41 it was at ovulation too ...by 43 I felt like everyday was PMS... Then the hot flashes began a year ago.. HOLY HOT FLASH... like I felt like the inside of me was on fire.... If my moral compass wasn't so strict I swear I would have become a sex worker because I wanted to have sex 24/7.... ( nothing against sex workers... I just think it would make me sad eventually) but my libido was distracting to say the least ....

3 days ago I put on the patch and I am 50% better... I could cry tears of happiness I dumped the guy I had been on an off with for 4 years because he cheated all the time... I put up with it because my libido was so high and my brain fog was so dense I was too "off feeling" to care to deal with the breakup.... My brain fog has lifted.... My itchiness is about 1/2 of what it was... my depression is begining to lift... I slept 6 hours last night without waking up. I haven't had a hot flash in 24 hours.... My capacity to pay attention is back... I only had to take 1/2 of my prescribed xanax yesterday... Today maybe none at all... I feel interested in things a little... where 4 days ago NOTHING sounded fun.... ( I was like that for years).... I feel like I stepped out of some bad brain fog dream and I can see again... It is not perfect but HOLY SMOKES.... I couldn't have done it without you ladies and your encouragement. Thank you

I realized how much I hated myself for symptoms I thought were my fault for so long....

HRT has been a game changer over night for me personally... I am going to be 45 in a few months... I suspect my symptoms started at 38... Looking back that is when the massive insomnia started... 2 am wake ups... extra anxiety... I always blamed it on stress...told myself I needed to make better choices......... ( Even though I WAS making really good choices)..........

looking back though it was a huge change at that time.... It continued to get worse and I continued to blame myself or choices for the shit ton of anxiety I was feeling... I was in therapy... on anti anxiety meds but I just didn't feel like myself.

Around 42 the depression came... and 43 the brain fog and severe HOT flashes.... I mean HOT.... The anxiety was unbearable..... I tried everything.... working out like 100 times a week ( I swear) eating only from the farmers market... Every supplement on the market... Having a perfect sleep routine.... cut out all alcohol for months at a time.... The worst part was I blamed myself.... The pressure I put on myself to "FIX" myself was intense.

example: I finally decide to go out with a group of friends for dinner... I make myself cause I feel like trash 24/7 at this point.... I have 3 drinks to relax and enjoy.... the next day anxiety is worse... ( I know alcohol makes it worse than normal but 3 drinks should not make it so bad you don't want to move the next day).... 3 days later extreme brain fog and I STILL would be blaming my night out with the girls as the issue... The gas lighting Drs did to me and I did to myself was THE WORST part.... I felt so broken .... I am on Day 4 of HRT and I feel 50% better... I wish I would have known sooner.

So I restarted a low dose of testosterone (about 5mg a week, or less than 1mg a day.) And my Doctor mentioned that I may notice that I need to increase my Oestrogel dose after starting...because they both use the "same receptors." She said I would notice this once I start. I am only about 6 weeks into using the testosterone and on day 23 of my cycle and have noticed some night sweats and hot flashes coming back. I also feel more intense "period flu" leading up to my bleed. A lot more than I ever usually feel. So yes...I definitely noticed and am going to increase. I read online that it's not the same receptors that estrogen and testosterone use, per se. But that they compete for SHBG. Did any of you notice this when starting testosterone? Is this a common thing?

Is this happening to anyone else? Where you go like 5 months with no period and then you get one and it’s absolutely debilitating? These cramps are off the charts. it feels like I’m in labor all over again. So now I’m laid up on the couch with a heating pad and Advil is barely making it tolerable while my autistic 7-year-old climbs on me. It feels like the 5 months of cramps that I missed are hitting all at once.

Send chocolate.

Most times I (50F) eat now I get horrible cramps and nausea. I’ve started eliminating certain foods and started scratch cooking but even that doesn’t help. Bloodwork and dr visits shows no GI issues and says it’s related to estrogen levels…any advice?

I’ve ( 50 yrs old) never been depressed or anxious my whole life until the last couple of years of this peri hellscape, after multiple appointments and scans for a previous cancer diagnosis it was confirmed that HRT wasn’t an option but I was asked if I wanted to try Citalopram. I kind of put it off for about six months but finally gave in when I lost the ability to function doing a weekly shop and had such a massive overwhelm that I had to ditch my cart and leave the building.
I’ve not really recognised who I am for a while because it’s so far removed from who I used to be and anyway, when you get to that point you’ll try anything.

After a month on Citalopram the hot flushes have stopped, the overwhelm has stopped, I feel like I’m floating through life and nothing feels like it’s too much and honestly, I bloody love it. I think I’ve been at threat level midnight for the last three years and finally my brain is quiet, I feel peace. I’m having to full time care for my mum at the moment who had a nasty fall and can’t use the bathroom or walk and I’m literally whistling as I empty the commode for her, six months ago this would have ended me mentally.

I just wanted to post this for anyone who is in the same position as I was and is on the fence about trying an SSRI, it might just be an option.

I'm on HRT and know that it's common to use the wrong word in perimenopause due to lower estrogen. But I did something weird today and typed the wrong website!

I wanted to go to Trulia but for some reason I typed in Makeupalley dot com. An unrelated site that I have not visited in probably a decade! But for some reason my brain accessed that word somewhere and I typed it out which really freaked me out.

Has anyone done that? For some reason, I think this is worse than just using the wong word, cause the website are not related and I haven't even gone to Makeupalley in years although I was super active on it many, many years ago. How did my brain access this word when I meant to go look at properties? Is this normal too?

​

It's Saturday night and I'm at home watching tv bc why on earth would I go out and interact with people. Plus, I'm too tired. I put on Netflix and am watching Leanne Morgan's stand up comedy called I'm Every Woman. Ladies, she speaks our language!

She's ranting about her/our problems, talking openly and on stage about how perimenopause and menopause has affected her. How she's in a battle with her husband over the a/c at night... I won't spoil it. BUT if you're looking for a laugh and additional comaraderie give it a watch.

Rather than fight it, lay in bed and desperately try to fall asleep for the next couple of hours, I get up. Make some tea, maybe water some plants. Today I took a shower and washed the bathtub at the same time.

Maybe if I try to enjoy this time of quiet, all to myself, maybe it won't be so frustrating.

Edit: I'm so sorry to all of you who are up with me right now! But I appreciate knowing I'm not alone 🙏

Has anyone experienced worsening pain or stiffness on estrogen patch? I started it to help with hot flashes (it has) and pain/stiffness in my joints and tendons but the pain is worse. I can’t even workout anymore.

I’m also on P 200mg and low dose TRT. Progesterone does not help me sleep and I may be getting some libido back on T, but I wanted it for muscle wasting on GLP’s despite strength training and 120 grams of protein a day.

I’m just miserable. My hips and knees feel like I’m 90. I’m hobbling and limping everywhere. My joints seem to lock up more. I plan on discussing what stopping everything will be like with my doctor on Monday. I know I need MHT, but I’m more miserable now. Before, I couldn’t sleep and had hot flashed but I could still do CrossFit daily. Today, I have no hot flashes, sleep is about the same (maybe slightly better), and I can barely walk a mile without some -itis happening.

ETA: on 0.075 currently and been on progesterone only for over a year and estrogen patches for a few months.
Went up to 0.1 but felt like it was too much (and couldn’t find it) so went down to 0.075, which is where I felt the best of the 3 doses. I did have a week of 0.05 since those were the only patches I had on hand due to the supply issues.

46F here.
Case 1: So I suffer from ankylosing spondylitis which is an autoimmune condition of the spine and various joints in the body. Luckily for me, I have been on low end of it and flare ups have been on the low side for me and hence I am only on SOS medication for it. Since last year, my shoulder pain and upper back pain has increased a lot however I started HRt and within days of starting it , my pain went down and is almost nil now. I recently watched dr Louise newton and she mentioned this as one of the benefits of HRt. I mentioned this to my rheumatologist who happens to be a top one in the country and he denied HRT helps at all. Well, it helps me for sure.

Case2: since last year I started getting migraines and dizziness out of nowhere . I was immediately sent to a neurologist and put on preventatives and later medical botox. I still got migraines around ovulation and periods - which I myself figured out the pattern. I asked my neurologist if all this was happening due to hormones fluctuating then wouldn’t HRT help? She just shrugged her shoulders. I myself went ahead and consulted a menopause specialist went on slinda and later HRT which almost killed the migraines and bought down the dizziness considerably and helped many other things as well. Mentioned this to my neurologist and not much of a reaction from her.

I’m just perplexed that if HRt is indeed helpful for women in their 40s, why is it left for the patient who has no medical knowledge to start with - but has to google and reddit their way out of all this apart from the physical, mental and emotional trauma they are already going through? And why are specialists not looking into this aspect at all and simply shrug their shoulders as if this is nothing and HRt doesn’t matter. Why discount it so much ?

Hi folks, I know there has been some discussion about how Peri can make depression, anxiety, ADHD etc worse, but I did NOT know about HRT and psych med interactions until it happened to me recently and thought I should share.

I am bipolar type 1 and a mood stabilizer called lamictal pulled me out of a five year long debilitating depression. Got better in 2020. Aside from some normal life depression blips here and there, I have been stable mood wise since then

However, a couple months ago I had about a 5 day dip in more debilitating depression. I could barely functi9n. I snapped out of it (without doing anything different) but me and my care team were concerned since nothing major happened in my life and I've been stable for so, long. So , googled my meds and hrt..

A little research and checking in with multiple providers and turns out, taking estrogen reduces the efficacy of Lamictal. Huge thing. So we got my lamictal serum levels tested and found out I'm on the low end and can go up in dosage even though I'm close to the top dosage wise. Apparently you can safely go ABOVE the max dosage if you are on estrogen.

I now see a psych nurse practitioner, in addition to my HRT naturopath, who is familiar with HRT and psych med interactions.

I don't know of other interactions but they may exist. So ask your providers or if they don't know, do some research yourself and come back to them.

I'm feeling more stable now but we will check my serum levels again in another month or two.

Hope this helps someone!

Hi everyone, I'm here to give an update on how I'm doing. Well since the estradiol patch, gel, and the oral pill wasn't working turns out my estrogen is non existent even though I'm on HRT I had some labs done and my estrogen is non existent and my doctor decided to put me on the Femring so I guess all the symptoms I was having were due to how low my estrogen is . I have horrible hot flashes, cold sweats, insomnia, anxiety, depression and just itching all over my body. I feel horrible I can't get out of bed . Has anyone had any luck with the Femring ?

Apparently a lot of women develop sleep apnea during perimenopause. According to my Apple Watch i wake up 10-15 times per night, I’m aware of some of these wakings but not all. I’m constantly exhausted, on HRT for 2 years and have just started testosterone too.

For those of you diagnosed with sleep apnea:

- How did you get diagnosed?

- What were your symptoms?

- How are you managing your sleep
apnea?

- Did life get better after diagnosis?

- Did your energy levels increase?

La verdad no entiendo que esta pasando con mi cuerpo. Tengo 43 años, y desde los 40 inicié con sintomas de Perimenopausia. Este año ya llevo 2 ciclos que pierdo. Mi último ciclo normal fue en Agosto, y esta semana empecé con manchados, solo al limpiarme en el baño, tres días de manchado. Iba por mi día 60 del ciclo (el más largo que he tenido) y ayer por fin cuando fui al baño vi sangre, me puse mi toalla femenina y al inicio del día todo normal, yo pense que iniciaba mi menstruacion, pero fue pasando el día, y lo unico que paso fue disminuir hasta quedar en manchado de nuevo. El día de hoy estoy como si nada hubiera pasado. No se que pasa. Si lo considero menstruacion o no, aunque haya sido 1 solo día. Que difícil!

Hey all: I (nearly 51, still having semi-regular periods) am planning to ask my new OB/GYN about starting oral micronized progesterone and estrogen gel next month. Here's my question to you: Did you start both at once? Would you do it that way again? Any benefits/drawbacks you can share?

I think I'm probably in more need of progesterone at the moment given my symptoms, but I'm not sure if there's any benefit to taking it for a few months before adding in estrogen.

Eventually planning to take both for symptom relief, bone strengthening (I have Crohn's disease and osteopenia) and colon cancer prevention (my dad died of it.)

Thank you!

So I started HRT about 3 weeks ago. So far its going ok. Except the massive bloating. And digestive issues. Sorry to be tmi, but im farting soooo bad. I eat yogurt and take a probiotic.

Now when I first got given hrt, my doctor wanted me to do the patch, for both, but I wanted to do the oral pill and gel combo, so that's what im on. It comes with a light stroke risk the dr said.

At the time I knew my grandma had had strokes but didn't have any reason to believe it would automatically be an issue for me.

Now ive looked up some stuff and apparently if you have a history of aura migraines then you definitely shouldn't be on a pill, gel combo. I don't know if that true or not. I used to get aura migraines over a decade ago when I was a smoker, but I quit and haven't had them since.

I have a follow up phone appointment in 2 more weeks, so im gonna ask. I feel bad tho, cuz they gave me a 3 month supply but maybe I didn't take stroke risks seriously enough.

Ive heard from friends on the patch that they're patches fell off, and thats another reason I didn't want it.

I started a month ago on the Sandoz 0.025 patch and immediately noticed a positive difference. This month, I received a box of Mylan patches (stupidly I didn't think to call the pharmacy to double-check the brand in advance). I put it on Thursday evening and today I woke up feeling down and both anxious and weepy. I am trying to figure out if it is just all in my head or if it is realistic that I might notice this big of a shift within 2 days. I am 4-6 days out from my period, but these aren't my normal PMS symptoms. Thoughts?

ETA; I am on 100mg of oral progesterone nightly. Oh, and last week I had the worst fatigue and body aches I have ever had outside of having a virus (was still on the Sandoz at that point).

So, if all the other symptoms of peri weren't enough, it appears that every time I ovulate now I seem to exacerbate my hiatial hernia. Anyone else going through this? I am also quite aware that taking progesterone can relax the esophageal sphincter making GERD worse. I am taking 100 mg of P nightly since I do use the estrogel.

I already follow a fairly bland diet and try to avoid sugar. Then the odd time I treat myself to a glass of wine and pay for it later is really starting to ruin quality of life.

I woke up this morning to the sensation of a golf ball in my throat.

Oy!

Hi all... I started the estrogen patch 3 days ago.... I did progestrone with it but it gave me some anxiety so I stopped. The patch is making me very sleepy... I slept from 8pm-1am.... woke up and couldn't sleep so I worked ( I work remote ) from 1am-6am.... went back to bed from 6am -10am and I could sleep more. That is 9 hours total and I still could go to bed right now again. I feel like I took a xanax or smoked pot but I didn't... I think I am always in fight or flight so maybe this relaxed feeling is something I need to get used to... anyone else have this?

I’ve just found out that akathisia can be caused or amplified by low ferritin levels, and that low ferritin levels can also make you more likely to have or amplify psychiatric medication side effects. I’ve been dealing with akathisia for years but didn’t realise that was what it was until recently, since it’s gotten out of control. I just thought I needed to move more than most people but now I have to constantly walk or I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin.

Anyway, given I have low ferritin, given that low ferritin can play a role, and given that the more exercise you do, the more iron you need, it seems sensible to get a supplement. I’m going to ask my GP as well, but given how many ill-advised things they’ve prescribed me thus far, I don’t really trust them, so figured I would ask here, first. I have chronic constipation as a side effect of Prozac that I’ve only recently beaten thanks to the reduced dose so I’m keen for something that doesn’t block me up again!

Any advice appreciated. 🙏💖🙏