Oh no...menopause!!!

[Baileyboy]

Is anyone out there willing to share their experiences with menopause and the relationship it has with MI, mine being ptsd?

Should I be scared?

Bb

Anyone?

[Change123]

Hi @Baileyboy

I have BPD so ptsd is a part of that, I'm going through it at the moment and it has me all over the place.  Last 2 years I have had 6 month break in my periods each time, just got them back 3 weeks ago after 8 months of not having them. Had them for 1 week had 1 week off and now have them again - oh joy oh bliss! I was getting a lot of fatigue, moods all over the place and feeling very foggy but found out vit D was the issue which has plummeted significantly (I spend a bit of time in the sun so this was surprising) but this was due to perimenopause.  You start to get a bit round around the belly like youare bloated constantly and get very sore boobs.  Vit D can make a difference with your mental health so I would get that checked with your gp along with iron and other things like thyroid. Best thing is ensure you have VIT D, keep up your calcium intake by eating dairy and green veges, get some sunshine and keep moving ie.e excercise or something.

Get very speedy at times which can be due to hormones - aagghh just want them to stop and be over with but the vit D so far has made a huge difference.

Goodluck but dont be scared its a natural process we all have to go through.

[utopia]

@Baileyboy. I started perimenopause last year. My hair is already thinning. Miss a period, then get a period, free for 3 days and then get another period.
I have Adjustment Disorder - depression and anxiety. I had PTSD, but am feeling like that's under control since my EMDR Therapy.
But my depression has increased to the point, that I took myself to hospital last Friday.
I really think there needs to be studies done on the links between menopause or hormones & how it affects those already living with Mental Illness.
I wonder whether @NikNik may know of any research that has been done on this, or even any current research into it.

[Change123]

@Baileyboy@utopia

Firstly @utopia I hope you are going ok and feeling better 

But I definitely agree, I'm starting to panic that the only reason I have done so good over the last 8 months is because I haven't had my periods but now after getting them 3 weeks ago I'm feeling very all over the place and as I said before very speedy.

When I had my medication review with a pyschiatrist I asked him about this and he said well yes if you have a MI of course menopause will contribute to it, it gives you more anxiety which is why I was so bad but after upping my meds it did help but I found I went really good when they stopped. Honestly sometimes I wish they would just rip my guts out so to speak so I could be done with it.  I often wonder just ow much it has to do with MI.  Since I was young I would always freak out around my peridos and was eventually diagnosed with pre menstrual dysphoric disorder.  Funny thing was when I went to DBT classes nearly 80% of the woman there had this diagnosis along with their MI.  My GP agrees and even stated in the "old days" peri menopausal women would be locked away as they thought they were just crazy. Maybe the problem is that men are involved in the research and no offence to any but they just dont understand, how can they it doesnt happen to them, they think we should be able to stop those feelings and dont understand how at the time our irrational thoughts seem totally logical.

[utopia]

@Change123. I think you said it perfectly. Even with more women now entering the area of research - the Board still needs to approve the study. And that is primarily men.
On the other hand maybe professional women don't want studies done on the link between hormones or menopause and mental health. As they may see it as another way for men to refuse women jobs or to keep under paying them. Sometimes women can be our own worse enemy.
When I went and told my gp about my symptoms she kept enforcing the point that I wasn't in Menopause - I was ONLY in peri-menopause. And she treated it as if there was nothing wrong. Even though I was already suffering from a dry and irritated vagina.
It's that same attitude for people who suffer bad period pains. It's not considered important because it's JUST a period. But pain is meant to be an indication that something is wrong. It shouldn't be normal for doctors to think that women should expect pain every month.
If they were to do research on hormones and menopause and their affects on mental health - I'd volunteer straight away.

[Former-Member]

Hello @Baileyboy, I think I'm going through menopause. I haven't had a period for a long time, could be a year or two - but I was never regular and it always effected my moods.

I get hot and cold a lot, I notice it more at night time, but it happens through the day as well. I think it has also effected my brain process, sometimes it feels like I'm losing my intelligence? I can't remember words or how to spell them (thank goodness for spell check!:) ) I can be in the middle of doing something and forget what it is I'm doing! I also think my skin is getting worse, drier maybe?

 I don't think there's any reason to be afraid, it is a completely natural process. I've just recently been told this can go on for years, which I found a little off-putting; but then I think if these hormones/chemicals were to just stop it would be a lot worse, so am glad it happens gradually.

I think it's strange women don't talk about this subject more, I have heard very little about it (but then I suppose I don't talk to many people at all). So I am going to be very interested in the experiences and knowledge shared on this thread. Thank you for starting it 🙂

[Baileyboy]

Thanks everyone @Former-Member@utopia@Change123 for trying to explain what I think might be going on. I will be turning 50 this year so the time is right, so to speak. I think the only lie my mother told me was that because I started my period so young, ie 9yrs, that they would end early.ha.

At the moment, as I was explaining to my gp I have a towel on the lounge, one in the kitchen and one on my bed. Yep, these swaeats/ hot flushes or whatever the hell they are are pretty bad. That is when my gp said " welcome to menopause ". The thing about my periods, though, which does confuse things is that I've been on the pill, not taking the sugar pills, so that I virtually never bleed...apparently not healthy, but the thought and smell of those monthly times and using 'women's things' used to bring on panic attacks and nightmares etc due to my childhood sexual abuse. You see 3 things happened when I turned 9...

1: my dad passed away.

2: I got my first period.

3: The sexual abuse became physical.

So all this adds to my dilemma. I don't know if I should go off the pill and see what's happening. My moods are all over the place and my memory too is waning..lists are very necessary. 

I realise this is natural, I guess, but I DON'T WANT IT. That's what I will call menopause...it.

So keep telling me it's going to be OK....OK. and Niknik might know of some studies about the relationship between MI and "it".

I'm scared my MI will get worse...can it?

Thanks for responding. I'll be interested to hear any more ideas!

Bb

[Change123]

@Baileyboy

My GP has advised me that being the pill helps menopausal symptoms, unfortunately I went off the pill and got my tubes done because side effects I was getting from the pill.  But the upside is that I have gotten use to my bodies signs telling me maybe a period coming on - I actually thought for a week prior to getting them after 8 months that they were coming.  Also not sure if anyone else has this but mine seem to revolve around the seasons, not sure if thats coincidence or not.  !st time I stopped having them in 2014 was In December and then they came back in April/ May, Last year they stopped earlier in September and again I get them back in April/ May?  Just a weird coincidence maybe.  

Look I dont want to say it will be like this for you but right now I'm struggling a bit after being really good with BPD for 8 months, it seems when my periods stop I get better mentally and then when they come back it turns my brain into mush again which is what I'm trying to fight at the moment. I too need lists my memory is shocking and I constantly forget things, walk into rooms thinking why the hell am I here.  I understand how this can all be triggering for you given your past events at that age.

This will make you laugh and I guess its part of crap I dealt with but I was always blamed for everything when young and when I got my first period I was probably about 10 or 11 and was at the beach in the water.  5 minutes after I got out and realised I had my first period there was a shark alarm and my father blamed and lectured me for it. 

Lets just keep using this thread as a way of learning from each other as its all new territory we are in.

[utopia]

@Baileyboy. It does seem to me reading peoples experiences that hormones do play havoc with our brain - eg poor memory etc.
After the birth of my child, who was a great little sleeper, I struggled with memory loss. The first 6 months were the worse. But it continued on for another year.
I put all that down to the hormones going a bit haywire after birth.
And I guess anything that can affect the brain, could affect our MI

[Former-Member]

Everything is going to be fine @Baileyboy 🙂 I'm so glad to hear other womens experiences are similar to mine - we're not crazy just female 🙂 I too believe that these changes would affect the processes in our brains, a very individual thing, so I guess each one of us will feel different things as well. I have heard that it may make you feel like your skin is sort of crawling? Luckily I haven't had that, but lots of itching which I put down to my skin being drier than it was.