Anon, I'm 51 and have dealt with everything you are dealing with over the last few years. Your story sounds very, very familiar to me. And yes, it's possible that the symptoms are all connected to the hormonal changes that come with perimenopause or menopause.
Two things, first of all: Do you have a good relationship with your ob/gyn or general doctor? Is she or he versed in issues surrounding menopause and hormones? I am suspecting so, since you've had your hormones tested; that's an important step and I'm glad you had it done.
Are you dealing with one doctor, or more? Meaning, one doctor for the physical issues, and/or another doctor dealing with the depression or sleep medicine? I ask because if so, it may be that a psychiatric doctor is primarily dealing with the depression and that the cause of the depression is perimenopause, which they may not be well-versed in.
Are you still having menstrual periods? Have they gotten irregular?
Have your symptoms been relieved at all by the medications you're on? You mentioned side effects being troublesome, but I am wondering if you feel like you've gotten some help from the medicine as well.
For now, don't worry about whether the medications you are on are going to make you dependent. For now, it sounds like it's more important for you to get to the bottom of what's making you feel this way.
Here's a page that talks about levels of hormones in menopause (do you know what day of your cycle you were on when you were tested?):
http://www.earlymenopause.com/tests.htm
Here's a good page from the Merck Manuals on menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms and treatments:
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec22/ch243/ch243a.html
I'll be interested to see what our expert says. Hang in there with us.
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Anon, I'm 51 and have dealt with everything you are dealing with over the last few years. Your story sounds very, very familiar to me. And yes, it's possible that the symptoms are all connected to the hormonal changes that come with perimenopause or menopause.
Two things, first of all: Do you have a good relationship with your ob/gyn or general doctor? Is she or he versed in issues surrounding menopause and hormones? I am suspecting so, since you've had your hormones tested; that's an important step and I'm glad you had it done.
Are you dealing with one doctor, or more? Meaning, one doctor for the physical issues, and/or another doctor dealing with the depression or sleep medicine? I ask because if so, it may be that a psychiatric doctor is primarily dealing with the depression and that the cause of the depression is perimenopause, which they may not be well-versed in.
Are you still having menstrual periods? Have they gotten irregular?
Have your symptoms been relieved at all by the medications you're on? You mentioned side effects being troublesome, but I am wondering if you feel like you've gotten some help from the medicine as well.
For now, don't worry about whether the medications you are on are going to make you dependent. For now, it sounds like it's more important for you to get to the bottom of what's making you feel this way.
Here's a page that talks about levels of hormones in menopause (do you know what day of your cycle you were on when you were tested?):
http://www.earlymenopause.com/tests.htm
Here's a good page from the Merck Manuals on menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms and treatments:
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec22/ch243/ch243a.html
I'll be interested to see what our expert says. Hang in there with us.
January 21, 2009 - 10:01amThis Comment
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