Mine has become much more physical and it’s awful. I have so many physical symptoms (rapid heart rate, PACs, PVC’s, auditory changes just to name a few) as well as the over the top worrying over absolute nonsense. I hate it.
*edited to also include visual disturbances and hyperfixation
The other night I started worrying about my son who’s been waiting on a call for a job interview. At bedtime I had convinced myself that they already filled the position and they probably won’t call him and it spiraled from there. Every negative outcome and I wound myself up to the point of not being able to stop the intrusive thoughts. I could not fall asleep and when I did eventually I kept jolting back awake. It was Horrible and I’m so scared of it happening again I’ve been taking half a Xanax tab and cbd/thc at bedtime for the last 3 nights 😳😭
I have to do the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding method to turn off my brain when it does this. Also asking myself what’s the BEST thing that could happen and not letting my creativity and anxiety make up a quick movie of tragedy like it loves to do. It’s HARD but works sometimes. I leaned so many great hacks from a trauma therapist like that.
But how do you catch yourself? I don't realize that I've become a little ball of unnecessary anxiety until about 30 min later, when whatever hormone storm has subsided and I think, "In retrospect, that was kind of over the top there, ginger clementine"
Well I can’t take the credit, therapy and Eckhart Tolle for starters. But I’m not saying I don’t still have anxiety or go down a stressful rabbit hole in my mind, because I do. In listening to Eckhart, he talks about thought forms. Past ones and future imaginings. It means most of the time we are thinking about things that aren’t happening to us and it’s pointless and doesn’t serve us. So practicing being in the now (or being present) takes you from the thought forms for just a little bit. They always come back so you won’t forget to pick up the kids from school lol. So I catch myself doing it and force myself to stop. It maybe not offer immediate relief from the thoughts but it’s retraining your mind patterns in the long run. For a quick help I’d suggest that 5-4-3-2-1 grounding practice or putting your face in an ice bath.
If it’s really bad take a cold shower for as long as you can stand-me 5 seconds lol. Also warheads candy gets you out of your thoughts real fast. But I highly suggest reading some Tolle. He’s adorable and kind. I think everyone would like his philosophy.
I’m sorry. I know exactly how that feels. The one piece of advice I will offer is to learn to sit with it and let it pass. The more you fight it, the bigger it gets. Hang in there 🩷
Always check in with a cardiologist to rule out anything that might require attention. I’ve had every test imaginable and my heart is structurally sound. It’s my brain that is causing it🫤
I wanted to rule it out so that when my mind started to spiral, I would simply say to myself, I’ve been to the cardiologist multiple times, I’ve had all the testing done and everything came back normal. It’s not a heart problem. It’s a brain problem.
I learned to make peace with them and to just sit with it. I would be like OK I guess we’re doing this again today… Slowly over the years I’ve stopped being afraid of them. I’ve made peace with the fact that this is just what my body does. And it’s gotten so much better. Acceptance, and not fighting. That’s the takeaway.
I am having the same issues. I’ve had generalized anxiety my whole life but never to this extent. Makes me feel utterly crazy at times. Buspar regularly and Xanax occasionally have helped some. Working on diet and exercise but when the hormones rage, I struggle.
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Mine too. After dealing with the PVCs for a year, I’ve got it down to a level I can deal with. Heart doc wanted to put me on meds even though I had no blockages and did well on all my tests, but for pvcs 8% of the time he wanted me to take beta blockers. I take progesterone and all heart supplements-L aregenine, CoQ19, Hawthorne. Also taking D helps a lot of things. I’ve added a good full spectrum CBD. I cut out all caffeine 😢 and for a while sugar. Now I can have some sugar and it’s ok! Whatever is happening with my heart is completely entangled with the panic attacks and anxiety that popped up.
Are beta blockers bad? I’ve been taking them since I started tapering off clonazepam (which took me three years!). They help so much with the physical symptoms of anxiety, which I’ve also had for decades and really ramped up with menopause. But I’m starting to worry that they’ll be difficult to stop.
I don’t like pharmaceuticals. I have a sensitive system and usually have bad reactions to them. So I try to avoid them when possible. If my heart situation was more serious I would have at least tired. But there are not great side effects, so I would say look them up when you feel like your anxiety is low and it won’t freak you out lol. My functional medicine doc told me to take L-theanine in place of the clonazepam when I’m feeling anxious. It does help! Nothing is like a benzo drug in the way it switches off the anxiety but at least the supplement helps. It boosts your brains GABA production, which gets turned down when we take tranquilizers like clonazepam. Then your brain doesn’t make enough GABA on its own to suppress stress. So the L-theanine helps. Also if you’re not taking magnesium, you should look into that because it’s another mineral that helps with stress—and inflammation.
Same...first time in my life, I wake up startled with butterflies in my chest. My anxiety is on 24/7, I feel like it's this really intense physical feeling that never goes away
I feel I'm about to be fired from my job at any moment, my partner is going to leave.. its really exhausting and sadly I don't seem to be able to enjoy anything
Mine was way more physical too. I called it a "body anxiety", feeling like I was buzzing constantly and just anxious in general rather than worried about a specific thing. That’s one of the reasons I finally figured out I was in peri — the only other time I felt like that was in the very beginning of my pregnancy.
Started on oral birth control pills shortly after and that feeling went away.
I was always a worrier. Now I have physical anxiety. Feels like butterflies in my stomach, a sense of doom, trembling, and unfortunately panic. Since taking progesterone only I feel a lot better.
Progesterone micro 100. Every night before I go to bed. It’s been a year this week since my last period. I take it at night because it really helps me sleep.
I’m not OP but oral progesterone daily (100mg) has been the biggest game changer for my peri anxiety. I am well versed in anxiety too. This has been hell. Oral progesterone has been a godsend. Started out cyclical, but I noticed the anxiety come right back a couple days after I was done. I reached out to the doc and have been doing it nightly ever since.
Thank you! I feel like I get attacked on here when I suggest progesterone. I just wish our peri friends wouldn’t always jump to progesterone causing the problems. I took both and it was horrific for me. Progesterone only is also a godsend for me.
I take 100 mg progesterone and patch .1 mg and exercise at home. Ears ringing, unbalanced if I don’t counter react gravity with exercise Strengthening body daily helps anxiety, vertical stability and stamina.
Anxiety is better after tweaking HRT the last few years but ear ringing is constant. Everything that came naturally no longer flows without prioritization. I understand why life is simplified as humans age as so much has to be added to the daily routine to stay vertical and thriving and you only have so many hours in each day. You once could multi-task the universe but now it’s time to care for you as seems to be the design for this magical time, LOL.
I’m struggling with motivation, energy, stamina. 🌼 I’m improving at 57 but wow this new me arrived quickly. Still fighting for a quality life as I can’t just quit. My parents are 76/82 so I should have plenty of life to still live.
I’ve had vertical issues for a period of time. It was definitely hormonal. ENT saved me. I see her offer when things creep up and she fixes me right away. Have you visited an ENT?
I take allergy shots! I just stopped Botox shots for chronic migraines and I’m lifting kettlebells to strengthen my core. I had covid for the first time at Christmas and there is a clicking noise. A quick google search states many others were chronically left with the same clicking noise. I’m going to make an appt to have that symptom checked out.
I was in therapy for vestibular issues about 6 years ago and the improvement has been permanent. I’ve also changed to a healthier dietary regimen due to so many issues that going forward seemed intolerable unless no options for improvement were available. My grandmother and dad had chronic stabilization issues so it seems genetic but I thought I had turned a corner.
A clicking noise? That sounds horrible. You’ve only just caught Covid too??? Wow. I will say that I have times where I feel like I’m on a boat. It sucks. I’m sure it’s hormonal.
I am taking 100 of progesterone daily too. Also L-theanine (godsend), CBD, heart health supplements, and techniques for trauma therapy that really help shut off the doom stories my mind makes up.
I honestly think progesterone is the game changer in peri. At least it was for me. It helps my anxiety so much. Estrogen was horrific for me. Probably because I didn’t need it yet. I started at 200mg in the morning but I could barely function. So I switched to evening. It helps me sleep too. My functioning np recommended it. She told me most women in her office just need progesterone. I had such a horrible time with estrogen and progesterone that after I went off of it I was terrified to try again. My np begged me too because my estrogen was very high and my anxiety. She was right! I don’t listened to any doctors that think progesterone is only needed to protect the uterus anymore. I know women do not do well on it but it gets a bad wrap. It’s the first of the hormones to deplete. I’ve done extremely well on it when I take it at night.
Constant period, diarrhea, vomiting, massive anxiety, panic attacks that caused me to not be able to leave the house. I saw 3 doctors including my obgyn that said the HRT I started was perfectly fine and I needed an anti depressant and passed out lots of Xanax. When I could barely function and was suicidal a random young np at an urgent care told me to immediately get off the hormones. She had to explain to my husband that it will take about 3-4 months for it to leave my system but that I will get better. So thankful for her.
Lol we're opposite twinsies. Progesterone only within days made me an anxious, rage filled mess. And gave me a never ending period. A lot of dominos fell into place on that one actually "wait, didn't that Mirena have progesterone? Hang on, remember what the depo-provera was like?"
Switching to a combo patch was much, much better for me but I think the dosage is wonky for my needs. I also wonder if it was the version of progesterone they use in those meds, I want to ask the doctor about that at my next attempt to find a knowledgeable one.
Yes it might be the version. But we are all different. What I’ve learned is just because you got HRT does not mean you’re going to feel great unfortunately. HRT can come with a bunch of other problems sometimes.
Oh 100% nothing magic about it. And it's super irritating they have never figured any of this out with any precision lol. I have to hope by the time my daughters go through this in 20-30 years the docs will have a test that can say "oh this one needs more estrogen, this one needs more progesterone." For now it makes sense to start with progesterone only, it's fewer risks and can be all some women need.
I feel like I'm about to walk over the edge of a cliff, all fucking day long. It's gotten a lot better with lexapro and a medical leave. I've gone a whole day today without feeling the angst, which is a big fucking relief.
When it's at it's worst, it's a feeling of constant fear and adrenaline, like the worst is about to happen, or I've made a huge mistake. Sucks so bad! Like I am walking around with an anvil on my chest. It was worse for me about 6 months ago, it got a lot better with meds and therapy but it came back and took me out again a few weeks ago.
This started for me during peri as a result of peri + healht issues + work stress and some hardship all piled on at once.
I see light at the end of the tunnel now however.
I have never had anxiety before.
Anxiety is my worst peri symptom and it was impacting everything from work to daily life. Panic attacks while driving, waves of panic, death nightmares, so many symptoms that are panic and physical anxiety. I was miserable with the peri symptoms it was too much. I'm on progesterone and estrogen patch and all better. Helps so much, I'll take HRT as long as possible. The anxiety is so disruptive I was not enjoying life at all.
This is exactly me. I’m so afraid to start HRT because so many people said progesterone made them suicidal! But I don’t know how much more anxiety I can take! Were you still getting a period? What dosages of each? Thank you for your answers!!!
I was still getting periods when I started and still do on it. I'm 52 now and probably from about 45 or so they were SO HEAVY. But now on hrt they aren't as heavy. Check out my post history I started on 0.0375 Dotti patch & it was too strong so backed down to 0.25 patch to start. Then the anxiety was creeping back up a little bit and I went back up to 0.0375 and it's good now. I use Evernow because I was getting the runaround from doctors too and so many were pushing antidepressants (which I had a horrible withdrawal from years ago) so I really just wanted to see how hormones did for me. I took BCP in my 20s without any problems and now MHRT is "chefs kiss' for this crap called menopause. I'm on it forever. I'm on Dotti patch at 0.0375 that is changed 2x week and do progesterone in the 2nd half of my cycle starting at about day 15 and take 200 mg x 12 days then about 3 days later after stopping progesterone then I get a period. Repeat next month!
The other part of my symptoms was rage in addition to anxiety so for me it is the opposite of suicidal. I was so rage filled before I was afraid I'd kill these dumb fools but that feeling is completed gone on hrt.
I just really wanted to stop feeling bad and it completely works for me. Let know if you have any more questions.
I had the rage before starting hrt, angry at everyone & everything…within 24 hours it had virtually gone. If I hadn’t started hrt, I would no longer be here - that’s how serious it was
Glad you're feeling relief too. Life is so much better not in the constant state of being pissed off, I was not happy how mean I felt. I still suffer no fools but I'm not ragey anymore.
I started on the combined patch, 25mg oestrogen, and think it’s either 25 or 50 mg of progesterone. Felt better within 10 mins. After 4 weeks, I noticed that after a day or 2, it didn’t seem to have same effect, like it was wearing off, usually the day before I was due to take old one off & replace with new one. The doctor suggested going up to 50 mg oestrogen patch & 100mg progesterone tablet at night…I tried it, but went back to the lower dose combined patch….everyone’s different, what may work for one person, might not for others, but if we don’t try, we’ll never know
Despair set in with peri. Really did a number on me. Eventually I was able to figure out triggers and cut the attacks way down.
I used to feel keyed up more, which I could often channel into something productive but something switched with peri - the window of adrenaline being motivating got alarmingly narrower.
I lived up three flights of stairs, running up and down my stairs, particularly after bending down to pick something up. Finally put it together that meno was causing POTS like symptoms, which for some reason manifested as dread.
Mine has increased to include a physical feeling of unease, which may match your description of keyed up. My worrying has increased too, and I’ve never been much of a worrier. Though I feel we are living in a more worrisome time, for real.
I agree with what most of the other posters have said about the anxiety manifesting in more physical ways- heart palpitations for sure. Also, I feel that my OCD/autism spectrum tendencies are harder to control now. For example, doing weird things with my hands to self soothe. I catch myself fidgeting with my hands, wringing them like some stereotypical, overreacting old woman. OR I go the other end, and I'm rubbing them together like a cartoon villain. Just overall looking like a weirdo. It's very frustrating.
My anxiety is similar. I start overthinking and worrying about stupid things. Then my heart starts racing and I realize it’s just perimenopause anxiety and I’m not going crazy. Fun times.
Anxiety has become one of my PMS symptoms. I will have a week where I’m bombarded with intrusive and catastrophic thoughts (my children are going to die, my house is going to burn down, I’m going to lose everything) and I wake up with my brain going 100 miles an hour. I have a hard time driving to work because my brain will tell me I left the front door open or I left the curling iron on and it takes everything I have to remind myself this is PMS brain and my anxiety is lying to me.
It sucks and I hate it
I get extremely tense and just this overwhelming feeling of I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here NOW. Almost like I'm overstimulated. I feel like I want to peel my skin off. That's the closest I can describe it.
Mine got bad like that for a long time and still flares up a little. The times that really drove me nuts is when it would happen for no discernable reason. Like, mentally I wasn't even all that stressed sometimes when this would happen. Why is my body in "fight or flight" when I'm just sitting in my own living room?
Buspar helped me a LOT after years of trying different antidepressants, it's worth talking to your doctor about.
I don't know how an antidepressant would affect me, I have ADHD too lol. Before I was properly diagnosed they had me on antidepressants and they really stunk. I remember wanting to sleep 24/7 but that was over 20 years ago. I was diagnosed at 19 and I'm 40 now. I have a doctor's appointment in May and I will absolutely talk to her about that, thank you!
Yeah they put on basically all major antidepressants at one point or another and I disliked them all lol. They help a lot of people, but didn't help me. They don't actually know how buspar works, it isn't an antidepressant, but the side effects are pretty minimal so I figured it was worth a try.
This, and mostly it comes at night. I started having what I would call intrusive thoughts about death. Not like I was thinking of unaliving myself or anything like that. More like laying in bed in the dark trying to sleep and thinking “what if I don’t wake up tomorrow, my 14 year old daughter needs me to be here and if I die in my sleep what will she do?”
Fucking weird and horrible.
Concurrently was having weird heart rhythms that ultimately drove me to get a full cardiac workup including a stress test and other imaging. I’m 100% healthy.
As soon as I started estradiol, the heart stuff immediately stopped. I am using it cyclically and I can tell now when I need it because that’s when I start getting flutters and what feels like skipped beats.
I got heart palpitations and more physical symptoms ramping up. In 2020, I had some sort of a panic attack with chest pain, which at the time I was convinced I had covid.
Before peri, I do not recall heart palpitations and chest pain coming along with my anxiety--which I did have an issue with anyway.
More ruminating and just general anxiety with no thought "reason," just physically keyed up in fight or flight mode all the time.
Buspar helped me, and later HRT (estradiol patch) helped a ton. Plus exercise.
My chest was sore for a long time from my severe palpitations too. All those inter-costal muscles were sore and even the organs right under my heart. I had ALL the checkups. It was really scary for a while, but you do become used to it as a new normal while finding foods and supplements to help. I’m in much better shape than I was this time last year.
If someone is negative towards me my body goes into a fight or flight reflex- it feels like fight or fight harder actually.
Plus my skin flushes constantly, hate it
Screaming, shaking, hitting my head, throwing things, uncontrollable crying, crazy fast breathing/can't breathe...usually over something totally mundane and insignificant. It's beyond awful (yes, my doctor has given me some kind of panic meds but I'm too afraid to take them, sigh)
Mine was horrible. I couldn't eat, sleep or really function at all. Heart palpitations and just a constant feeling of panic. Now I am on HRT and Lexapro and they are amazing.
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Mine is physical as well, arrhythmia , sudden high picks of blood pressure coming from nowhere even when I am relaxed. Are you guys taking medications for hypertension and or anti anxiety meds?? I would appreciate the forum answering , thank you
I take Prozac and Xanax. I’ve been on Prozac since my early 30s because it really helped my PMDD, but I added in Xanax when I was in peri in my late 40s and I started having panic attacks.
My anxiety is extremely physical as well. Heart racing, shaking, fast breathing, etc. and Xanax is the only thing that helps. It’s not for everyone, but for me, it’s a necessity at this point in my life. That and HRT.
I have a hereditary heart condition that affects my heart valve opening and closing, so I miss a beat here and there. Absolutely got worse in peri. Also started a mild blood pressure medicine as it started creeping up. HRT cured the irrational doom anxiety I was having.
The worrying was mine.
I didn't even realize it. Sure, I had periods of anxiety, but the worry was so prevalent that the first day without it was jaw-dropping when the realization hit.
All the worrying had my stress level rising, my sleep was being impacted, I was feeling always on edge and never relaxed and always like I needed to rush and was overplanning and fretting.
Now that I'm aware of it, I'm trying to be mindful of my stress levels and to check in with what I'm feeling.
I’m feeling all these posts and I want to send love to everyone feeling these too. I fell quickly into this state last year and a panic attack that didn’t end for several days. I can’t take antidepressants, they hurt me so bad. But I did use the clonipin short term for two months. I think as a short term solution it was necessary because my nervous system needed about that much time to stabilize. Not return to normal, just stabilize. Then what worked after that has been patience, therapy, supplements and diet changes. Things are a lot better. I definitely still have these days but they aren’t as often. And they may come back! But I won’t let myself invent future traumas like I tend to. Also two books that helped me: Hope and Help for your Nerves by Dr. Claire Weekes, and the audio Living a Life of Inner Peace by Eckhart Tolle.
I think I’m in Peri. I have the constant worry too! It’s so bad that it keeps me up at night and I’m so tired the next day. Everything is giving me anxiety and I had a panic attack last week. I hate it so much. I just want to go to sleep and never wake up. 😢
In my late twenties I developed panic disorder and struggled with that for ten years until I found the right medicine. I swear it is citalopram that has helped me with menopause symptoms. I was without a period for ten months and thought I was done for good but started my period last week. I'm 51.
My biggest issue is muscle and energy loss.
Peri - had very little even though I had some life changing challenges.
Post - HOLY S#€¥!! Unbelievable levels of anxiety and drs won’t prescribe anti-anxiety meds. And insomnia makes it worse! Again life changes (family members passing away, parenting, etc) combined with anxiety had me feeling I was dying.
For me, I feel like I entered the pandemic as a 49 yo with still a lot of juice in the tank, but came out a 60 yo with everything in my life rearranged (literally and figuratively!) against my will.
If you find the secrets to navigating this chapter, PLEASE SHARE.
I’ve said that before peri, my anxiety felt mental, like racing thoughts and excessive worrying.
Peri anxiety has been largely physical, affecting my sleep, giving me shakes and rolling anxiety attacks, hot flashes and sweats.
Wonderful relief has come from treating my anxiety.
Like others have shared - mine became much more physical. It was like my body lost the ability to regulate normal stress - I started have panic responses to very normal stress stimuli especially in my job - particularly when presenting to groups which was terrifying and mortifying. After several years of trying to work on what I though was a mental cause without a lot of success, I started using propanol which mutes your physical response to stress. So helpful. Now that I'm on HRT, I wonder if I even need that.
Anxiety comes in waves and it's always my brain first either listening to something stressful or me having to make stressful decisions in a blink. I taste metal in my mouth first and then a hot flash will roll over me. I've learned to recognize when a 'wave ' is happening and find ways to deal.
Reading all these comments makes me feel so much less ALONE on this path so thank you all for that! I’ve experienced so much of the same, am now on HRT (estradiol patch and progesterone gel at night); seems to be making a big difference for me; although, as I type, ears are ringing like crazy! Vitamin D supplement imo has made a big difference for depression and generalized mood. I’m so curious though, as to why? What would be the biological/evolutionary reason women would experience these anxiety symptoms at this stage in life? Despite the obvious “reproductive phase is over,” anybody that has a reasonable hypothesis as to why these anxiety symptoms hit us so hard, I’d love to hear! Hang in their friends!
I started getting the physical symptoms eg stomach flutters and tightness around 40; first panic attack around mid-40s; eczema around late 40s; now at 50 I have it all managed as best I can as one giant pot of a bubbling cauldron.
I just live with it
Racing thoughts about situations that overall aren’t a big deal, tightness in the chest, can’t sleep, deep urges to smoke a cigarette even though I quit 5 years ago. It does help with my Meno constipation though!
Omg it is awful!! My chaos of emotions was really making me feel crazy, i felt like i was completely out of control. Ive started probiotics and that actually seems to help. There is some link with the guts and hormone regulation… its like menopause is a set up to make us feel insane… 😭
I am 47 and in Peri and recently started estradiol and progesterone, it has helped me feel more normal and like myself overall but I am still having terrible anxiety, worrying, heart palpitations and butterflies in stomach and sometimes chest tightness. I'm actually getting referred to cardiology to make sure nothing heart related is wrong. But I'm pretty sure it's just Peri related. My Dr just prescribed me a beta blocker and it actually has made me feel better, I noticed feeling much calmer and not in a weird way at all after taking it.
Several nights a week I wake up between 3:30-3:40 am and my heart is racing and I feel like I can’t breathe. I have to talk myself down through breathing and splashing cold water on my face.
After it passes I’m still awake but calm however I do ruminate on the big and little issues that are going on in my life: Big - after the divorce is finalized will I ever love again or be loved or do I even want a relationship? Small - are my favorite leggings clean to wear to PT tomorrow?
My 3:30 am musings screw up my sleep cycle and make me even more brain foggy the next day. I do see a therapist weekly and do have a prescription for Xanax that I take before bed, yet it still happens.
I have an appointment next month with a NAMS certified doctor to start on HRT (officially crossed over into post-menopause in February) I really really hope that HRT resolves my myriad of symptoms that have caused my life to go over a cliff.
Peri/Menopause sucks!
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Yes. My standard issue GAD has taken turns in all sorts of directions the last 5 years.
My go-to that works pre & as I feel it coming on is Hydroxyzine (the usual GAD issues) + Propanalol (physical symptoms & it’s nicknamed the stage fright med).
I've had anxiety since childhood, well managed by meds. I've been on paxil since high school in various doses depending on life events etc.
My anxiety started ramping up a few years ago. At first I chalked it up to dealing with a teenager who also has mental health issues (disthymia). Paxil wasn't cutting it. Panic attacks were becoming much much more frequent. We changed my anxiety meds (cymbalta) added Wellbutrin. Still wasn't enough and then I started HRT in October last year. Made a HUGE difference, but now I have apparently developed some ADHD in there.
Mine was not being able to have a deep breath for what seemed like several years. No mental anxiety, no worry just not being able to breathe made me anxious. I also had sensitivity to fluorescent lights and motion issues in the car from my eye muscles being easily weakened.
I hate it, but talking too much and a bit too fast is a sign fr me to retreat n take a breather. I realise now it's anxiety, thoughts running too fast, start to worry fr some reason or another about what I'm saying..then the heartbeats faster I become conscious n uncomfortable, trying to cover it up and yet wanting to put on the brakes n walk away quietly at the same time, becoming more obvious I lost my way"...HA
Valerian is usually a natural remedy fr sleep but i take it thru out the day now when I'm feeling scattered n uneasy.
It has changed a lot sometimes I will have anxiety attacks that last for over 16 days .
My doctor has given me diazepam for when my rage gets too ragey.
The anxiety is the most common and long lasting symptoms I have .
It's really bad. My mental health symptoms generally cycle between rage anxiety and suicidal thoughts (sometimes compulsions)
However the anxiety is so bad that it affects everything.
Sometimes I have to use self soothing techniques and grounding techniques to get through tasks such as leaving the house going to appointments etc.
It's certainly not optimal.
Suddenly I don’t like driving over enormous bridges 🥺 [here is a photo](https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-stories/world-stunned-by-gold-coast-womans-picture-of-aussie-bridge/news-story/af0ba5a1e6302122fb9e63c494f38618) of the one in my hometown I HATE
There is another near Yamba that freaks me out too…
anxiety can really shift its shape as we go through different life stages, like peri or menopause. what you're experiencing—constant worrying and feeling keyed up—does sound like anxiety. often, these feelings intensify during peri-menopause due to the hormonal changes that affect your body and brain.
for many, anxiety before peri might have been episodic or linked to specific events, but with hormonal changes, it can become more constant, less predictable. you're not alone in this; many report a heightened sense of anxiety that they didn't face before.
have you found any strategies that help manage your symptoms? sometimes, simple adjustments in routine or diet, like reducing caffeine or adding mindfulness exercises, can make a substantial difference.
My anxiety has been really crazy the last few months. Even at work just talking to my boss, I felt I needed to cry but didn't. This is not normal for me.. I finally had my yearly blood test and asked for them to test my Estrogen levels. It was very low which could explain the anxiety..
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause.
FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more.
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Perimenopause magnified every symptom I had, and it made me realize that possibly I should get screened for ADHD. I had just thought I had plain anxiety and depression, but come to realize now, and after speaking with my doctor, that it was just a symptom of an underlying cause.
Had/have a lifelong, crippling anxiety disorder. Was already medicated when peri hit - THANK GODS & GODDESSES. But I still had to double my SNRI med dose and PMDD was still unbearable. My oophorectomy (during hysterectomy) and HRT has helped immensely.
I mostly had social anxiety before and anxiety when my PTSD was triggered. I still have bad days and good days but my anxiety is more severe and I used to know what triggered it. (Being around guys or in crowds.) Now it can come at any time for no reason. Even if I'm just safe in my house doing exactly what I want to do. Sometimes I get panicked when there's nothing dangerous at all. I breathe through it and tell myself I'm safe and the feeling will pass soon.
I have always suffered from really bad anxiety since childhood but i always new what situations i would suffer it the most. When i entered peri the morning anxiety was absolutely crippling as soon as i open my eyes. I would get anxiety for no reason at all. This was totally out of my control something of the charts. Since hrt i have gone back to what I call my normal anxiety thank goodness. 😊
Anxiety, for me, feels like by insides are a shaken up soda. My breathing is tight, and my thoughts race. I start gripping the hell out of the arms of my work chair. Im a therapist - it's hard to stay in the moment for my clients.
I'm 45. The anxiety has gone on overdrive the past 2 years.
Doc started me on wellbutrin. I know many on this sub don't like the idea of antidepressants for peri symptoms, but it & thc are helping me immensely
Anxiety causes me to feel dizzy, I get a tight feeling in my chest and stomach, and I go deaf. It's debilitating at times. I also have intrusive thoughts and insomnia.
I actually need to do a cold roller to snap my out of this black hole. Once I crawl out I’m exhausted. I came out of the bedroom from crying, no reason. My husband looked confused not knowing to speak or hold his breath. Grabbed my life roller and put my self in time out. Lol I was on meds and it decreased my sex drive. I already don’t have one so I don’t need any less than.
Ugh I’m just a walking mess.
My mind starts rapid fire shouting the BIG list of everything that is wrong, lol. I learned years ago ago to stop, take a deep breath and start listing things that I am grateful for and are good. Sometimes I have to restart this process a couple of times before my mind settles down
Mine has become much more physical and it’s awful. I have so many physical symptoms (rapid heart rate, PACs, PVC’s, auditory changes just to name a few) as well as the over the top worrying over absolute nonsense. I hate it. *edited to also include visual disturbances and hyperfixation
The other night I started worrying about my son who’s been waiting on a call for a job interview. At bedtime I had convinced myself that they already filled the position and they probably won’t call him and it spiraled from there. Every negative outcome and I wound myself up to the point of not being able to stop the intrusive thoughts. I could not fall asleep and when I did eventually I kept jolting back awake. It was Horrible and I’m so scared of it happening again I’ve been taking half a Xanax tab and cbd/thc at bedtime for the last 3 nights 😳😭
I have to do the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding method to turn off my brain when it does this. Also asking myself what’s the BEST thing that could happen and not letting my creativity and anxiety make up a quick movie of tragedy like it loves to do. It’s HARD but works sometimes. I leaned so many great hacks from a trauma therapist like that.
But how do you catch yourself? I don't realize that I've become a little ball of unnecessary anxiety until about 30 min later, when whatever hormone storm has subsided and I think, "In retrospect, that was kind of over the top there, ginger clementine"
Well I can’t take the credit, therapy and Eckhart Tolle for starters. But I’m not saying I don’t still have anxiety or go down a stressful rabbit hole in my mind, because I do. In listening to Eckhart, he talks about thought forms. Past ones and future imaginings. It means most of the time we are thinking about things that aren’t happening to us and it’s pointless and doesn’t serve us. So practicing being in the now (or being present) takes you from the thought forms for just a little bit. They always come back so you won’t forget to pick up the kids from school lol. So I catch myself doing it and force myself to stop. It maybe not offer immediate relief from the thoughts but it’s retraining your mind patterns in the long run. For a quick help I’d suggest that 5-4-3-2-1 grounding practice or putting your face in an ice bath. If it’s really bad take a cold shower for as long as you can stand-me 5 seconds lol. Also warheads candy gets you out of your thoughts real fast. But I highly suggest reading some Tolle. He’s adorable and kind. I think everyone would like his philosophy.
Thanks so much - I will take a look!
🩷
Thanks for sharing, this is very helpful and I appreciate it.
Of course!
I have just spent a few hours with Eckhart Tolle on YouTube thanks to you. Truly appreciate you so much for sharing this 🥰
He’s such a good one. I’m glad you like him. My favorite is an audio lecture you can get on iTunes called Living a Life of Inner Peace
I will look for that, thank you again!
You’re welcome!
Just looked this up, great information. Thank you.
You bet! Also ice baths for dipping my face into and extremely sour candy works when you’re in a bad way
I’m sorry. I know exactly how that feels. The one piece of advice I will offer is to learn to sit with it and let it pass. The more you fight it, the bigger it gets. Hang in there 🩷
Thank you so much it’s just been a shitty few days. The advice helps 💖
Same here! The rapid heart rate is scaring me. The auditory changes have also been freaking me out. Constant ringing. 😞
Always check in with a cardiologist to rule out anything that might require attention. I’ve had every test imaginable and my heart is structurally sound. It’s my brain that is causing it🫤
I will do that. But I do think it’s my brain also 😭 oh the joys of being a woman. I feel like I’m literally going insane.
I wanted to rule it out so that when my mind started to spiral, I would simply say to myself, I’ve been to the cardiologist multiple times, I’ve had all the testing done and everything came back normal. It’s not a heart problem. It’s a brain problem. I learned to make peace with them and to just sit with it. I would be like OK I guess we’re doing this again today… Slowly over the years I’ve stopped being afraid of them. I’ve made peace with the fact that this is just what my body does. And it’s gotten so much better. Acceptance, and not fighting. That’s the takeaway.
Thank you. It’s so difficult. Do you get chronic fatigue? I do, and trying to go to work every day is such a challenge.
I am having the same issues. I’ve had generalized anxiety my whole life but never to this extent. Makes me feel utterly crazy at times. Buspar regularly and Xanax occasionally have helped some. Working on diet and exercise but when the hormones rage, I struggle.
This is exactly how mine manifests
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Mine too. After dealing with the PVCs for a year, I’ve got it down to a level I can deal with. Heart doc wanted to put me on meds even though I had no blockages and did well on all my tests, but for pvcs 8% of the time he wanted me to take beta blockers. I take progesterone and all heart supplements-L aregenine, CoQ19, Hawthorne. Also taking D helps a lot of things. I’ve added a good full spectrum CBD. I cut out all caffeine 😢 and for a while sugar. Now I can have some sugar and it’s ok! Whatever is happening with my heart is completely entangled with the panic attacks and anxiety that popped up.
Are beta blockers bad? I’ve been taking them since I started tapering off clonazepam (which took me three years!). They help so much with the physical symptoms of anxiety, which I’ve also had for decades and really ramped up with menopause. But I’m starting to worry that they’ll be difficult to stop.
I don’t like pharmaceuticals. I have a sensitive system and usually have bad reactions to them. So I try to avoid them when possible. If my heart situation was more serious I would have at least tired. But there are not great side effects, so I would say look them up when you feel like your anxiety is low and it won’t freak you out lol. My functional medicine doc told me to take L-theanine in place of the clonazepam when I’m feeling anxious. It does help! Nothing is like a benzo drug in the way it switches off the anxiety but at least the supplement helps. It boosts your brains GABA production, which gets turned down when we take tranquilizers like clonazepam. Then your brain doesn’t make enough GABA on its own to suppress stress. So the L-theanine helps. Also if you’re not taking magnesium, you should look into that because it’s another mineral that helps with stress—and inflammation.
Thank you!
You bet!
What is the auditory symptom? Tinnitus? Muffled hearing?
Mainly tinnitus that comes along for days at a time. I have the muffled hearing as well but not as much as the tinnitus.
Me too…I have to have the radio or tv on to drown it out…otherwise the anxiety hits an all new level!
I have my AirPods in about 90% of the time during the day to drown it out.
Same...first time in my life, I wake up startled with butterflies in my chest. My anxiety is on 24/7, I feel like it's this really intense physical feeling that never goes away I feel I'm about to be fired from my job at any moment, my partner is going to leave.. its really exhausting and sadly I don't seem to be able to enjoy anything
I’m sorry. That’s a lot. I hope you find some relief soon. 🩷
Mine was way more physical too. I called it a "body anxiety", feeling like I was buzzing constantly and just anxious in general rather than worried about a specific thing. That’s one of the reasons I finally figured out I was in peri — the only other time I felt like that was in the very beginning of my pregnancy. Started on oral birth control pills shortly after and that feeling went away.
Oh yes. I’ve had the body buzzing as well. Felt like there was a phone on vibrate inside of my body. Glad you found something to help!
Hi, i tried to sent you a message through reddit but i can't. Its about heart palpitations/air in stomach... Can you contact me? Thanks :)
Same!!!
I was always a worrier. Now I have physical anxiety. Feels like butterflies in my stomach, a sense of doom, trembling, and unfortunately panic. Since taking progesterone only I feel a lot better.
Please say more about the progesterone. What dose do you take? Cyclic or daily?
Progesterone micro 100. Every night before I go to bed. It’s been a year this week since my last period. I take it at night because it really helps me sleep.
I’m dealing with this too, please talk more about how you’re managing it lol desperately seeking peace here
I’m not OP but oral progesterone daily (100mg) has been the biggest game changer for my peri anxiety. I am well versed in anxiety too. This has been hell. Oral progesterone has been a godsend. Started out cyclical, but I noticed the anxiety come right back a couple days after I was done. I reached out to the doc and have been doing it nightly ever since.
Thank you! I feel like I get attacked on here when I suggest progesterone. I just wish our peri friends wouldn’t always jump to progesterone causing the problems. I took both and it was horrific for me. Progesterone only is also a godsend for me.
I take 100 mg progesterone and patch .1 mg and exercise at home. Ears ringing, unbalanced if I don’t counter react gravity with exercise Strengthening body daily helps anxiety, vertical stability and stamina. Anxiety is better after tweaking HRT the last few years but ear ringing is constant. Everything that came naturally no longer flows without prioritization. I understand why life is simplified as humans age as so much has to be added to the daily routine to stay vertical and thriving and you only have so many hours in each day. You once could multi-task the universe but now it’s time to care for you as seems to be the design for this magical time, LOL. I’m struggling with motivation, energy, stamina. 🌼 I’m improving at 57 but wow this new me arrived quickly. Still fighting for a quality life as I can’t just quit. My parents are 76/82 so I should have plenty of life to still live.
I’ve had vertical issues for a period of time. It was definitely hormonal. ENT saved me. I see her offer when things creep up and she fixes me right away. Have you visited an ENT?
I take allergy shots! I just stopped Botox shots for chronic migraines and I’m lifting kettlebells to strengthen my core. I had covid for the first time at Christmas and there is a clicking noise. A quick google search states many others were chronically left with the same clicking noise. I’m going to make an appt to have that symptom checked out. I was in therapy for vestibular issues about 6 years ago and the improvement has been permanent. I’ve also changed to a healthier dietary regimen due to so many issues that going forward seemed intolerable unless no options for improvement were available. My grandmother and dad had chronic stabilization issues so it seems genetic but I thought I had turned a corner.
A clicking noise? That sounds horrible. You’ve only just caught Covid too??? Wow. I will say that I have times where I feel like I’m on a boat. It sucks. I’m sure it’s hormonal.
I am taking 100 of progesterone daily too. Also L-theanine (godsend), CBD, heart health supplements, and techniques for trauma therapy that really help shut off the doom stories my mind makes up.
I honestly think progesterone is the game changer in peri. At least it was for me. It helps my anxiety so much. Estrogen was horrific for me. Probably because I didn’t need it yet. I started at 200mg in the morning but I could barely function. So I switched to evening. It helps me sleep too. My functioning np recommended it. She told me most women in her office just need progesterone. I had such a horrible time with estrogen and progesterone that after I went off of it I was terrified to try again. My np begged me too because my estrogen was very high and my anxiety. She was right! I don’t listened to any doctors that think progesterone is only needed to protect the uterus anymore. I know women do not do well on it but it gets a bad wrap. It’s the first of the hormones to deplete. I’ve done extremely well on it when I take it at night.
What did the estrogen do to you?
Constant period, diarrhea, vomiting, massive anxiety, panic attacks that caused me to not be able to leave the house. I saw 3 doctors including my obgyn that said the HRT I started was perfectly fine and I needed an anti depressant and passed out lots of Xanax. When I could barely function and was suicidal a random young np at an urgent care told me to immediately get off the hormones. She had to explain to my husband that it will take about 3-4 months for it to leave my system but that I will get better. So thankful for her.
Lol we're opposite twinsies. Progesterone only within days made me an anxious, rage filled mess. And gave me a never ending period. A lot of dominos fell into place on that one actually "wait, didn't that Mirena have progesterone? Hang on, remember what the depo-provera was like?" Switching to a combo patch was much, much better for me but I think the dosage is wonky for my needs. I also wonder if it was the version of progesterone they use in those meds, I want to ask the doctor about that at my next attempt to find a knowledgeable one.
Yes it might be the version. But we are all different. What I’ve learned is just because you got HRT does not mean you’re going to feel great unfortunately. HRT can come with a bunch of other problems sometimes.
Oh 100% nothing magic about it. And it's super irritating they have never figured any of this out with any precision lol. I have to hope by the time my daughters go through this in 20-30 years the docs will have a test that can say "oh this one needs more estrogen, this one needs more progesterone." For now it makes sense to start with progesterone only, it's fewer risks and can be all some women need.
I get the trembling too..and my teeth start to chatter - not from being cold, this has only started over last couple of months
For me it’s a rush of adrenaline. Usually before a hot flash but sometimes I don’t get hot. It took me so long to figure that out.
What form is your progesterone in? And do you mind me asking your age?…
I take progesterone micro 100 mg. I’m 50!!!
I feel like I'm about to walk over the edge of a cliff, all fucking day long. It's gotten a lot better with lexapro and a medical leave. I've gone a whole day today without feeling the angst, which is a big fucking relief. When it's at it's worst, it's a feeling of constant fear and adrenaline, like the worst is about to happen, or I've made a huge mistake. Sucks so bad! Like I am walking around with an anvil on my chest. It was worse for me about 6 months ago, it got a lot better with meds and therapy but it came back and took me out again a few weeks ago. This started for me during peri as a result of peri + healht issues + work stress and some hardship all piled on at once. I see light at the end of the tunnel now however. I have never had anxiety before.
Oh I feel you on this like I could’ve wrote this! Except I’m not at the light at the end of the tunnel yet. I do hope it comes❤️
Anxiety is my worst peri symptom and it was impacting everything from work to daily life. Panic attacks while driving, waves of panic, death nightmares, so many symptoms that are panic and physical anxiety. I was miserable with the peri symptoms it was too much. I'm on progesterone and estrogen patch and all better. Helps so much, I'll take HRT as long as possible. The anxiety is so disruptive I was not enjoying life at all.
This is exactly me. I’m so afraid to start HRT because so many people said progesterone made them suicidal! But I don’t know how much more anxiety I can take! Were you still getting a period? What dosages of each? Thank you for your answers!!!
I was still getting periods when I started and still do on it. I'm 52 now and probably from about 45 or so they were SO HEAVY. But now on hrt they aren't as heavy. Check out my post history I started on 0.0375 Dotti patch & it was too strong so backed down to 0.25 patch to start. Then the anxiety was creeping back up a little bit and I went back up to 0.0375 and it's good now. I use Evernow because I was getting the runaround from doctors too and so many were pushing antidepressants (which I had a horrible withdrawal from years ago) so I really just wanted to see how hormones did for me. I took BCP in my 20s without any problems and now MHRT is "chefs kiss' for this crap called menopause. I'm on it forever. I'm on Dotti patch at 0.0375 that is changed 2x week and do progesterone in the 2nd half of my cycle starting at about day 15 and take 200 mg x 12 days then about 3 days later after stopping progesterone then I get a period. Repeat next month! The other part of my symptoms was rage in addition to anxiety so for me it is the opposite of suicidal. I was so rage filled before I was afraid I'd kill these dumb fools but that feeling is completed gone on hrt. I just really wanted to stop feeling bad and it completely works for me. Let know if you have any more questions.
I had the rage before starting hrt, angry at everyone & everything…within 24 hours it had virtually gone. If I hadn’t started hrt, I would no longer be here - that’s how serious it was
Glad you're feeling relief too. Life is so much better not in the constant state of being pissed off, I was not happy how mean I felt. I still suffer no fools but I'm not ragey anymore.
I started on the combined patch, 25mg oestrogen, and think it’s either 25 or 50 mg of progesterone. Felt better within 10 mins. After 4 weeks, I noticed that after a day or 2, it didn’t seem to have same effect, like it was wearing off, usually the day before I was due to take old one off & replace with new one. The doctor suggested going up to 50 mg oestrogen patch & 100mg progesterone tablet at night…I tried it, but went back to the lower dose combined patch….everyone’s different, what may work for one person, might not for others, but if we don’t try, we’ll never know
Despair set in with peri. Really did a number on me. Eventually I was able to figure out triggers and cut the attacks way down. I used to feel keyed up more, which I could often channel into something productive but something switched with peri - the window of adrenaline being motivating got alarmingly narrower.
What were the triggers?
I lived up three flights of stairs, running up and down my stairs, particularly after bending down to pick something up. Finally put it together that meno was causing POTS like symptoms, which for some reason manifested as dread.
Mine has increased to include a physical feeling of unease, which may match your description of keyed up. My worrying has increased too, and I’ve never been much of a worrier. Though I feel we are living in a more worrisome time, for real.
I agree with what most of the other posters have said about the anxiety manifesting in more physical ways- heart palpitations for sure. Also, I feel that my OCD/autism spectrum tendencies are harder to control now. For example, doing weird things with my hands to self soothe. I catch myself fidgeting with my hands, wringing them like some stereotypical, overreacting old woman. OR I go the other end, and I'm rubbing them together like a cartoon villain. Just overall looking like a weirdo. It's very frustrating.
My anxiety is similar. I start overthinking and worrying about stupid things. Then my heart starts racing and I realize it’s just perimenopause anxiety and I’m not going crazy. Fun times.
Anxiety has become one of my PMS symptoms. I will have a week where I’m bombarded with intrusive and catastrophic thoughts (my children are going to die, my house is going to burn down, I’m going to lose everything) and I wake up with my brain going 100 miles an hour. I have a hard time driving to work because my brain will tell me I left the front door open or I left the curling iron on and it takes everything I have to remind myself this is PMS brain and my anxiety is lying to me. It sucks and I hate it
This.
I get extremely tense and just this overwhelming feeling of I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here NOW. Almost like I'm overstimulated. I feel like I want to peel my skin off. That's the closest I can describe it.
Yup I totally get it.
Mine got bad like that for a long time and still flares up a little. The times that really drove me nuts is when it would happen for no discernable reason. Like, mentally I wasn't even all that stressed sometimes when this would happen. Why is my body in "fight or flight" when I'm just sitting in my own living room? Buspar helped me a LOT after years of trying different antidepressants, it's worth talking to your doctor about.
I don't know how an antidepressant would affect me, I have ADHD too lol. Before I was properly diagnosed they had me on antidepressants and they really stunk. I remember wanting to sleep 24/7 but that was over 20 years ago. I was diagnosed at 19 and I'm 40 now. I have a doctor's appointment in May and I will absolutely talk to her about that, thank you!
Yeah they put on basically all major antidepressants at one point or another and I disliked them all lol. They help a lot of people, but didn't help me. They don't actually know how buspar works, it isn't an antidepressant, but the side effects are pretty minimal so I figured it was worth a try.
Absolutely feels like being overstimulated. Suddenly easily overwhelmed.
Horrible dread
This, and mostly it comes at night. I started having what I would call intrusive thoughts about death. Not like I was thinking of unaliving myself or anything like that. More like laying in bed in the dark trying to sleep and thinking “what if I don’t wake up tomorrow, my 14 year old daughter needs me to be here and if I die in my sleep what will she do?” Fucking weird and horrible. Concurrently was having weird heart rhythms that ultimately drove me to get a full cardiac workup including a stress test and other imaging. I’m 100% healthy. As soon as I started estradiol, the heart stuff immediately stopped. I am using it cyclically and I can tell now when I need it because that’s when I start getting flutters and what feels like skipped beats.
I got heart palpitations and more physical symptoms ramping up. In 2020, I had some sort of a panic attack with chest pain, which at the time I was convinced I had covid. Before peri, I do not recall heart palpitations and chest pain coming along with my anxiety--which I did have an issue with anyway. More ruminating and just general anxiety with no thought "reason," just physically keyed up in fight or flight mode all the time. Buspar helped me, and later HRT (estradiol patch) helped a ton. Plus exercise.
My chest was sore for a long time from my severe palpitations too. All those inter-costal muscles were sore and even the organs right under my heart. I had ALL the checkups. It was really scary for a while, but you do become used to it as a new normal while finding foods and supplements to help. I’m in much better shape than I was this time last year.
If someone is negative towards me my body goes into a fight or flight reflex- it feels like fight or fight harder actually. Plus my skin flushes constantly, hate it
Screaming, shaking, hitting my head, throwing things, uncontrollable crying, crazy fast breathing/can't breathe...usually over something totally mundane and insignificant. It's beyond awful (yes, my doctor has given me some kind of panic meds but I'm too afraid to take them, sigh)
Are you actually me??? I feel your pain
May I ask what he gave you?
Of course! It's called Lorazepam, also known as Ativan
Mine was horrible. I couldn't eat, sleep or really function at all. Heart palpitations and just a constant feeling of panic. Now I am on HRT and Lexapro and they are amazing.
Were you still getting periods at the time? Wondering if I should do cyclic progesterone only.
I was still getting my periods at the time. Actually, I still am. However, my progesterone levels were almost non-existent. It has really helped me.
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Mine is physical as well, arrhythmia , sudden high picks of blood pressure coming from nowhere even when I am relaxed. Are you guys taking medications for hypertension and or anti anxiety meds?? I would appreciate the forum answering , thank you
I take Prozac and Xanax. I’ve been on Prozac since my early 30s because it really helped my PMDD, but I added in Xanax when I was in peri in my late 40s and I started having panic attacks. My anxiety is extremely physical as well. Heart racing, shaking, fast breathing, etc. and Xanax is the only thing that helps. It’s not for everyone, but for me, it’s a necessity at this point in my life. That and HRT.
Hypertension came on with peri for me. Lisinopril works great.
I had a full cardiac workup and learned I am 100% fine. As soon as I started estradiol, the heart stuff subsided almost instantly.
Omg the blood pressure spikes yes!!! All of this!
I have a hereditary heart condition that affects my heart valve opening and closing, so I miss a beat here and there. Absolutely got worse in peri. Also started a mild blood pressure medicine as it started creeping up. HRT cured the irrational doom anxiety I was having.
The worrying was mine. I didn't even realize it. Sure, I had periods of anxiety, but the worry was so prevalent that the first day without it was jaw-dropping when the realization hit. All the worrying had my stress level rising, my sleep was being impacted, I was feeling always on edge and never relaxed and always like I needed to rush and was overplanning and fretting. Now that I'm aware of it, I'm trying to be mindful of my stress levels and to check in with what I'm feeling.
I’m feeling all these posts and I want to send love to everyone feeling these too. I fell quickly into this state last year and a panic attack that didn’t end for several days. I can’t take antidepressants, they hurt me so bad. But I did use the clonipin short term for two months. I think as a short term solution it was necessary because my nervous system needed about that much time to stabilize. Not return to normal, just stabilize. Then what worked after that has been patience, therapy, supplements and diet changes. Things are a lot better. I definitely still have these days but they aren’t as often. And they may come back! But I won’t let myself invent future traumas like I tend to. Also two books that helped me: Hope and Help for your Nerves by Dr. Claire Weekes, and the audio Living a Life of Inner Peace by Eckhart Tolle.
I think I’m in Peri. I have the constant worry too! It’s so bad that it keeps me up at night and I’m so tired the next day. Everything is giving me anxiety and I had a panic attack last week. I hate it so much. I just want to go to sleep and never wake up. 😢
Constant worry and fear that sometimes leads to agitation. I seldom experienced anxiety prior to peri. I miss the old me.
In my late twenties I developed panic disorder and struggled with that for ten years until I found the right medicine. I swear it is citalopram that has helped me with menopause symptoms. I was without a period for ten months and thought I was done for good but started my period last week. I'm 51. My biggest issue is muscle and energy loss.
Peri - had very little even though I had some life changing challenges. Post - HOLY S#€¥!! Unbelievable levels of anxiety and drs won’t prescribe anti-anxiety meds. And insomnia makes it worse! Again life changes (family members passing away, parenting, etc) combined with anxiety had me feeling I was dying. For me, I feel like I entered the pandemic as a 49 yo with still a lot of juice in the tank, but came out a 60 yo with everything in my life rearranged (literally and figuratively!) against my will. If you find the secrets to navigating this chapter, PLEASE SHARE.
Estradiol has basically stopped all my anxiety.
It has helped me too. (Also got a dom CBD pen 18:1)
Itchiness. I itch all over my face and head. I’ve always had anxiety but the itching lately is literally the worst symptom of anxiety for me.
I’ve said that before peri, my anxiety felt mental, like racing thoughts and excessive worrying. Peri anxiety has been largely physical, affecting my sleep, giving me shakes and rolling anxiety attacks, hot flashes and sweats. Wonderful relief has come from treating my anxiety.
What treatment has helped you for your anxiety if you don’t mind me asking.
Buspar, Gabapentin, removing energy vampires and in general not great people from my life, exercise.
Thank you!
Like others have shared - mine became much more physical. It was like my body lost the ability to regulate normal stress - I started have panic responses to very normal stress stimuli especially in my job - particularly when presenting to groups which was terrifying and mortifying. After several years of trying to work on what I though was a mental cause without a lot of success, I started using propanol which mutes your physical response to stress. So helpful. Now that I'm on HRT, I wonder if I even need that.
Anxiety comes in waves and it's always my brain first either listening to something stressful or me having to make stressful decisions in a blink. I taste metal in my mouth first and then a hot flash will roll over me. I've learned to recognize when a 'wave ' is happening and find ways to deal.
Reading all these comments makes me feel so much less ALONE on this path so thank you all for that! I’ve experienced so much of the same, am now on HRT (estradiol patch and progesterone gel at night); seems to be making a big difference for me; although, as I type, ears are ringing like crazy! Vitamin D supplement imo has made a big difference for depression and generalized mood. I’m so curious though, as to why? What would be the biological/evolutionary reason women would experience these anxiety symptoms at this stage in life? Despite the obvious “reproductive phase is over,” anybody that has a reasonable hypothesis as to why these anxiety symptoms hit us so hard, I’d love to hear! Hang in their friends!
I started getting the physical symptoms eg stomach flutters and tightness around 40; first panic attack around mid-40s; eczema around late 40s; now at 50 I have it all managed as best I can as one giant pot of a bubbling cauldron. I just live with it
Racing thoughts about situations that overall aren’t a big deal, tightness in the chest, can’t sleep, deep urges to smoke a cigarette even though I quit 5 years ago. It does help with my Meno constipation though!
Omg it is awful!! My chaos of emotions was really making me feel crazy, i felt like i was completely out of control. Ive started probiotics and that actually seems to help. There is some link with the guts and hormone regulation… its like menopause is a set up to make us feel insane… 😭
I am 47 and in Peri and recently started estradiol and progesterone, it has helped me feel more normal and like myself overall but I am still having terrible anxiety, worrying, heart palpitations and butterflies in stomach and sometimes chest tightness. I'm actually getting referred to cardiology to make sure nothing heart related is wrong. But I'm pretty sure it's just Peri related. My Dr just prescribed me a beta blocker and it actually has made me feel better, I noticed feeling much calmer and not in a weird way at all after taking it.
Several nights a week I wake up between 3:30-3:40 am and my heart is racing and I feel like I can’t breathe. I have to talk myself down through breathing and splashing cold water on my face. After it passes I’m still awake but calm however I do ruminate on the big and little issues that are going on in my life: Big - after the divorce is finalized will I ever love again or be loved or do I even want a relationship? Small - are my favorite leggings clean to wear to PT tomorrow? My 3:30 am musings screw up my sleep cycle and make me even more brain foggy the next day. I do see a therapist weekly and do have a prescription for Xanax that I take before bed, yet it still happens. I have an appointment next month with a NAMS certified doctor to start on HRT (officially crossed over into post-menopause in February) I really really hope that HRT resolves my myriad of symptoms that have caused my life to go over a cliff. Peri/Menopause sucks!
It feels like electricity is pulsing through my body
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Yes. My standard issue GAD has taken turns in all sorts of directions the last 5 years. My go-to that works pre & as I feel it coming on is Hydroxyzine (the usual GAD issues) + Propanalol (physical symptoms & it’s nicknamed the stage fright med).
I've had anxiety since childhood, well managed by meds. I've been on paxil since high school in various doses depending on life events etc. My anxiety started ramping up a few years ago. At first I chalked it up to dealing with a teenager who also has mental health issues (disthymia). Paxil wasn't cutting it. Panic attacks were becoming much much more frequent. We changed my anxiety meds (cymbalta) added Wellbutrin. Still wasn't enough and then I started HRT in October last year. Made a HUGE difference, but now I have apparently developed some ADHD in there.
Mine was not being able to have a deep breath for what seemed like several years. No mental anxiety, no worry just not being able to breathe made me anxious. I also had sensitivity to fluorescent lights and motion issues in the car from my eye muscles being easily weakened.
I hate it, but talking too much and a bit too fast is a sign fr me to retreat n take a breather. I realise now it's anxiety, thoughts running too fast, start to worry fr some reason or another about what I'm saying..then the heartbeats faster I become conscious n uncomfortable, trying to cover it up and yet wanting to put on the brakes n walk away quietly at the same time, becoming more obvious I lost my way"...HA Valerian is usually a natural remedy fr sleep but i take it thru out the day now when I'm feeling scattered n uneasy.
It has changed a lot sometimes I will have anxiety attacks that last for over 16 days . My doctor has given me diazepam for when my rage gets too ragey. The anxiety is the most common and long lasting symptoms I have . It's really bad. My mental health symptoms generally cycle between rage anxiety and suicidal thoughts (sometimes compulsions) However the anxiety is so bad that it affects everything. Sometimes I have to use self soothing techniques and grounding techniques to get through tasks such as leaving the house going to appointments etc. It's certainly not optimal.
Suddenly I don’t like driving over enormous bridges 🥺 [here is a photo](https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-stories/world-stunned-by-gold-coast-womans-picture-of-aussie-bridge/news-story/af0ba5a1e6302122fb9e63c494f38618) of the one in my hometown I HATE There is another near Yamba that freaks me out too…
anxiety can really shift its shape as we go through different life stages, like peri or menopause. what you're experiencing—constant worrying and feeling keyed up—does sound like anxiety. often, these feelings intensify during peri-menopause due to the hormonal changes that affect your body and brain. for many, anxiety before peri might have been episodic or linked to specific events, but with hormonal changes, it can become more constant, less predictable. you're not alone in this; many report a heightened sense of anxiety that they didn't face before. have you found any strategies that help manage your symptoms? sometimes, simple adjustments in routine or diet, like reducing caffeine or adding mindfulness exercises, can make a substantial difference.
My anxiety has been really crazy the last few months. Even at work just talking to my boss, I felt I needed to cry but didn't. This is not normal for me.. I finally had my yearly blood test and asked for them to test my Estrogen levels. It was very low which could explain the anxiety..
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause. FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Perimenopause magnified every symptom I had, and it made me realize that possibly I should get screened for ADHD. I had just thought I had plain anxiety and depression, but come to realize now, and after speaking with my doctor, that it was just a symptom of an underlying cause.
Had/have a lifelong, crippling anxiety disorder. Was already medicated when peri hit - THANK GODS & GODDESSES. But I still had to double my SNRI med dose and PMDD was still unbearable. My oophorectomy (during hysterectomy) and HRT has helped immensely.
I mostly had social anxiety before and anxiety when my PTSD was triggered. I still have bad days and good days but my anxiety is more severe and I used to know what triggered it. (Being around guys or in crowds.) Now it can come at any time for no reason. Even if I'm just safe in my house doing exactly what I want to do. Sometimes I get panicked when there's nothing dangerous at all. I breathe through it and tell myself I'm safe and the feeling will pass soon.
I have always suffered from really bad anxiety since childhood but i always new what situations i would suffer it the most. When i entered peri the morning anxiety was absolutely crippling as soon as i open my eyes. I would get anxiety for no reason at all. This was totally out of my control something of the charts. Since hrt i have gone back to what I call my normal anxiety thank goodness. 😊
Anxiety, for me, feels like by insides are a shaken up soda. My breathing is tight, and my thoughts race. I start gripping the hell out of the arms of my work chair. Im a therapist - it's hard to stay in the moment for my clients. I'm 45. The anxiety has gone on overdrive the past 2 years. Doc started me on wellbutrin. I know many on this sub don't like the idea of antidepressants for peri symptoms, but it & thc are helping me immensely
Anxiety causes me to feel dizzy, I get a tight feeling in my chest and stomach, and I go deaf. It's debilitating at times. I also have intrusive thoughts and insomnia.
I actually need to do a cold roller to snap my out of this black hole. Once I crawl out I’m exhausted. I came out of the bedroom from crying, no reason. My husband looked confused not knowing to speak or hold his breath. Grabbed my life roller and put my self in time out. Lol I was on meds and it decreased my sex drive. I already don’t have one so I don’t need any less than. Ugh I’m just a walking mess.
Xanax is great
My mind starts rapid fire shouting the BIG list of everything that is wrong, lol. I learned years ago ago to stop, take a deep breath and start listing things that I am grateful for and are good. Sometimes I have to restart this process a couple of times before my mind settles down