I'll make this as brief as I can. I'm 51 and a little over 2 years ago, out of the blue, I started having exteme anxiety for the first time in my life. I went to my family Dr. sure that there was something terrible wrong. She tried me on a couple of different anti-anxiety and depression drugs unit we found something I could tolerate. Did ok for a couple of years with the Effexor. With a change in jobs and insurance, I decided to wean myself off it. Lo and behold 2 months go by and I have my first period in 6 months. The anxiety kicked in with all the bells and whistles. I was drepressed and exhausted and sure this was that precursor to a massive heart attack or something.....Then I found this message board and realized that this is perimenopause and that I'm probably not dying or crazy, just hormonal. I went to a new gyno and she checked my thyroid to rule that out and said based on my age and symptons I need hrt. I have been on it for 1 week and feel 90% better. I've taken the occasional 1/2 of a .5 mg lorazepam to get me thru (left over from 2 yrs ago). I've also tried some homeopathic stuff that seems to help but makes me a litte drowsy, and last but not least I prayed alot! My main point here is to say thank you to all of you who have shared your stories. I've read and reread them everday and I had to register with the site so I could tell you all how much you have helped me. I'll continue to read the new postings with the hope that I can help someone too.
rayel: Welcome to the boards. They are a load of information. You're lucky you have a gyno that was willing to test your hormones. Alot won't. Have your Vit B12 levels checked because alot of times if you're low in B12 it can mimic depression. It helps with the nervous system. I read once that your body gets rid of any excess B vitamins that it doesn't need so you don't have to worry about overdosing on any of them.
If you can, pick up Dr. John Lee's books "What your doctor won't tell you about menopause" and there's one on premenopause too. They're a load of info and a woman's bible for menopause. Take care.
Wow, I am impressed that HRT took such a short time to start working. If it wasn't for the fact that my sister died from breast cancer 13 yrs. ago, I probably would have tried it a few years ago.
Congrats on finding something that has helped this "terrible condition".
So glad you found relief for your meno symptoms!! I know the anxiety is the worst for me during this time too. It's so good to know that all of us gals seem to have alot of the same symptoms and that we can find relief in just sharing our stories. Thanks for sharing yours.
So glad you found relief for your meno symptoms!! I know the anxiety is the worst for me during this time too. It's so good to know that all of us gals seem to have alot of the same symptoms and that we can find relief in just sharing our stories. Thanks for sharing yours.
Take care and hang in there!
Missy
Thanks Missy and everyone else for your kind words. Just when I felt confident enough to brag about how well I was doing, had kind of a rough day yesterday anxiety wise. I know I've only been on the hrt a short time and wonder if anyone has any experience on continued improvement the longer you're on it.......
Thank heaven I found this site 
