ALL NEW TO ME! Need answers! Body aches! - Menopause Message Board

pizzaparty · 10-09-2003, 02:49 PM

I am brand new to all of this and could sure use some friendly support!

I've done some internet research and I strongly suspect that I am pre-menopausal. I'll be 37 years old in January and I know that's young. This past year my periods have been very irregular. I bleed heavy and long. My periods last from 10 days to 2 1/2 weeks. I frequently only get about a week and a half off a month. (had a D & C - everything "normal".)
Then about 3 months ago "it" hit!!! I've been in a whirlwind of symptoms and I don't know which way to turn. Each month seems to have a theme. The first month I became "***** woman"! Honest! My head started spinning and everything! I was crying, raging, depressed, the whole nine yards! My poor family was caught in the middle of my storms! My 4-year-old daughter and I have agreed to call it the "crazies". It's our code for "Oops! There goes mommy's hormones again! It's not you sweetheart, I love you and bear with me, I'll be back to normal soon!"
The next month I seemed to handle the emotions better but I had EXTREME fatigue! I have never had such fatigue except for a few weeks when I was pregnant with my son (now almost 2 years old

)It was so frusterating to need the energy for my young family and not have anything to give.
This third month the theme has been achiness. I feel like I have the flu all the time. I don't have a fever and I'm not sick but my muscles ache just as if I do have a high fever. Most nights I have to take Ibuprofen and a very hot bath just to be able to sleep. I know that anxiety is another symptom of premenoupause. I've been very anxious over the symptoms and keep researching the internet for answers. I even worried I had fibromyalgia but my achiness is just flu-like, it's not what I'd actually call pain. It's very frusterating and depressing to have it day after day and I keep saying "SURELY THIS CAN NOT BE NORMAL!!!" I don't feel normal! I'm tired of not feeling like myself! HOW LONG DOES ALL THIS LAST? I know there are no real answers and yet I desperately need answers!
Also, can you be perimenopausal and not have hot flashes or night sweats? I've not had either one of these and they seem to be the primary "initiation ritual" of the "Pre-Menopause Club". So many questions, needing so many answers! Thanks in advance for all your support!

Monday1954 · 10-09-2003, 03:37 PM

Welcome to the club, I still haven't had a hot flash and I am 49, I do have night sweats but they didn't start until around 42, maybe 43, it has been so long ago that I can't remember (memory starts going you know).

Looking back I think my perimenopause wymptoms started at around 39, not all of the usual ones, just terrible, terrible, horrible, kill people pms. Longer and heavier periods that started being closer together. When I was 45 is when the anxiety, doom, anger and all the other jazz started. I went to my doctor the next year and started whining. I got some Prempro and have been fairly happy ever since. Not everyone likes HRT, some people here in the early stages use birth control pills - I had my tubes tied in 1980 and smoke so I didn't even talk about those, plus they weren't offered.

One of the places to start is with your doctor, not all of them are willing to recognize perimenopausal symptoms. Do some back reading of this board and you will learn a lot.

pizzaparty · 10-09-2003, 04:47 PM

Thanks Monday! I've been spending all afternoon reading back through all the messages! I've seen several of yours and it looks like I've picked up a great friend! You have a lot of wisdom and a great sense of humor which is exactly what we need!!! It's nice to have a place to go to find understanding and answers! Hope to be chatting with you again in the future!

maddux417 · 10-09-2003, 04:49 PM

I am 48 (49 tomorrow but today until midnight I'm still 48, @$%#&*) and I have not had a hot flash yet...that sound you hear is me knocking on wood. But then again my Dr's. test say I'm not in peri either, I do have all but four of the 34 recognized symptoms so God help me when I do go into peri. I don't have much faith in my Dr's. test needless to say, but I wondered if you yourself have been to a Dr.? Many of your symptoms could be attributed to something else, even extreme P.M.S. can have many similar symptoms as peri and be as debilitating as peri. Just wondering.

shadepra · 10-09-2003, 08:02 PM

When I first read your post, I felt that your symptoms probably were not related to perimenopause. It does sound a lot like fibromyalgia, or perhaps chronic fatigue syndrome, both of which can cause flu-like fatigue and aches like you say you have. Then I remembered that I went through a phase about 2 years ago when I felt achy all over, especially in my shoulder muscles, and was very tired all the time. That went on for months, then finally stopped (though not completely). So, perhaps it is peri afterall.

You probably would benefit from seeing your doctor and getting a complete physical with all the bloodwork. With all the bleeding you've been having, you very well may be anemic, and that would explain much of the fatigue. Also, if you aren't taking vitamin supplements, that can really help, as well as regular exercise and LOTS of sleep. Hope you find some relief soon.

p.s. I have never had hot flashes or night sweats, yet I have many other symptoms of perimenopause. It varies so much from person to person.