CFS, PMS and Perimenopause

[sickness]

Yes, I take progesterone. It helped straighten out my cycle, but it did nothing for migraines or the other one million symptoms.

Bummer, I was hoping that taking some progesterone might help with my migraines!

Apparently my Testosterone, DHEA, and Oestraliol are all low. So guess what? More tests!! Geez, that never gets old

Oh yeah, I also have an overgrowth of Strep in my gut. Add it to the list, lol.

take care, ness

 

[Misfit Toy]

Progesterone helps many with migraines, but not me. And, that seems to also be the norm. Imitrex has been helping me. They are the worst and I am expecting one any day now, due to it being that time of month. My migraines are so bad, I can't do anything other than lay down in a dark room with no noise or light.

 

[sickness]

Two medications which have helped me are Naramig (naratriptan) and Maxalt (rizatriptan). They are the only things to ever help with the pain. Unfortunately, here is Oz they are quite expensive. About $7 per pill!! Not so great when you usually have migraines for 1 out of every 4 weeks! Still they have been magic for me, and given me some relief.

take care, ness

 

[Misfit Toy]

Hey, to whoever recommended Power Surge on Meno...thank you!! I looked it up again tonight and I could totally relate. You were right. These women are really ill from meno and perimeno. I feel so much better now. In some ways, I can relate more to that board than I can to this one. My CFS or ME became unbearable after going into perimenopause. I don't mean to scare anyone, but if you haven't gone into it yet, get ready. It really is something no one ever told me about, prepared me for, etc. I feel like a shell of myself. I felt that way with the CFS, but with lack of hormones...HOLY COW. I went from being social to introverted and it seems many do with this thing. I feel so much better after having read peoples experiences. PRAISE THE LORD.

One woman mentioned how she can't talk on the phone...I am like that. I was never like that for 20 years of having CFS. Now, I am a dead duck. Exhausted and I can't stand people. It's true!

 

[Mij]

Hey, to whoever recommended Power Surge on Meno...thank you!! I looked it up again tonight and I could totally relate. You were right. These women are really ill from meno and perimeno. I feel so much better now. In some ways, I can relate more to that board than I can to this one. My CFS or ME became unbearable after going into perimenopause. I don't mean to scare anyone, but if you haven't gone into it yet, get ready. It really is something no one ever told me about, prepared me for, etc. I feel like a shell of myself. I felt that way with the CFS, but with lack of hormones...HOLY COW. I went from being social to introverted and it seems many do with this thing. I feel so much better after having read peoples experiences. PRAISE THE LORD.

One woman mentioned how she can't talk on the phone...I am like that. I was never like that for 20 years of having CFS. Now, I am a dead duck. Exhausted and I can't stand people. It's true!

Spitfire, I'm glad this comforts you to know that you are not going crazy. I've had this illness for 20 years and perimenopause started for me around 4 yrs ago but I didn't realize for years that this is why my symptoms were getting worse, especially with adrenal fatigue.

 

[cansado]

I suffer from PMS as well although you can't call it PMS I think.. Once my ovulation starts I feel extremely bad, and then during my menstruation I am an even bigger mess.

I am not able to find anything against it for now. Only against my migraines I am on a low histamine diet and that seems to do the trick with me. I am planning to go on the SCD diet October 1st to see if that does anything. Try to look in your diet, any food allergies might trick it. I get horrible headaches from milk.

Dr. DeMeirleir prescribed me the Seasonal pill which is a progestrone pill. I have only been on it since 2 weeks, and I do feel gradually more tired. But I will give it a try. I can't stand the estrogen pill as it gives me more migraines.

When I was in Europe I tried medical marijuana oil and that did the trick with me. I still felt bad but not as bad. It also cleared up my sinus problem significantly. I wish I had access to it here.

Hang in there!!!

 

[TheMoonIsBlue]

I'm still quite a few years away from perio-meno, based on age and recent hormonal tests (although with this disease who knows what could change!) but I have HORRENDOUS PMS and Periods.

Like You said Cansado, I'm not sure I can call it PMS since it continues right through menstruation! My crazy mood swings let up usually with the start of menstruation but my physical symptoms get worse. Sweating, bloating, muscle pains, insomnia, drop dead fatigue, etc. It SUCKS!!

When you say Dr DeMeirlier prescribed you the Seasonal pill, do you mean Seasonique? I'm not sure what county you live in, brand names are different all over. There is also a pill called LoSeasonique. They both give you your period only every 3 months I think?

Seriously, when I hear about women who have no PMS, and then get through menopause without any problems, I think perhaps they are aliens from another planet?

 

[cansado]

That is the pill I am talking about. You get your period every 3 months. Seasonique.

What do you do to get some relief? Meditation gives me relief in better dealing with the illness at that specific time.. But I do eat a lot of tylenol and that gets me into troubles as well..

The brainfog is terrible, tiredness, weird sleep, often crazy pains... I am also not able to talk over the phone. And it begins 10days before my menstruation starts so I am basically out of this world for 17 days..

Do you think it will get better once we would be in menopause? I hope so but I am also quite a few years away, and by then we must feel better.

 

[ixchelkali]

I am due for my period on Sunday. Last night I started with extreme nausea and now I have a migraine. Ever since I went into perimeno my life has been turned upside down. This is how it goes, migraine before period and nausea. Plus, I feel like I am crawling out of my skin. Nobody talks much about this on here, but it is my biggest problem. Hormones have always been my issue.

This week has been awful. I took either biofilm or a new 50 billion probiotic and had an allergic reaction like no other. No matter what I took, Benadryl, Zyrtec, etc. it didn't touch the itching and now chronic insomnia. I am sick as a dog.

I am so sick of being sick. I could say something like, "it's just not fair", but what for. The week before last I had a bladder infection, in June I hurt my back and ever since then I have been 10X worse. It just keeps switching all around for me. My life is constantly in unstable mode. My symptoms are all over the place. It's awful. I am constantly dealing with an emergency.

How does anyone deal with ever changing symptoms, every week it changes and just feeling EFFING nuts? If it's not one thing, it's something else.

Also, in the past year, my hair went from being poker straight to curly?? I was told this is hormones. It's so bizarre. All of my life I have straight hair and now I have ringlets.

Also, I started seeing a therapist who I like. I might be meeting a guy from an online site. We only talked once and it went super well. Anyway, she told me, "Don't tell him anything until a couple of months in about the extent of your illness. Guys don't need to know too much info and it could scare him off. You want to make sure you like him and he likes you." My problem with that is, I am too sick to hide it. I am anxious because I don't know if I can pull that off.

I am a mess.

Please don't suggest hormone supplements for me. They made me much much worse and bioidenticals too. I was so sick, I cried all of the time, etc. I don't do well on hormones. Also, I can't afford anymore alternative treatments. Acupuncture is too expensive. I spend at least $1,000 a month on out of pocket expenses. It's nuts.

I just want to wrap my arms around you and say "There, there, it'll be alright." Going through menopause with ME/CFS was hell. I'd be having hot flashes from the menopause and chills from the pseudo-fever, and it seemed like they switched back and forth every 10 minutes. Migraines before my period, yes. Even the changes in hair: mine had been baby-fine all my life, and became courser, with a decided wave. And I was so crabby I could hardly stand it (my poor husband!). All the usual ME/CFS were there, but magnified, plus all the menopause symptoms, and my emotions were such a wreck it was hard to cope with either. It was awful.

But it gets better. This, too, shall pass. Honest. I'm glad you've found a therapist you like, because it's helpful to have an objective perspective.

When the time comes, reusable flexible ice packs between the pillow and the pillowcase, or google chillow. Also, google "hot flash pajamas." Nighttime hot flashes can interfere with sleep for anyone, but it's worse for us, because of the sleep issues we already have. We can use all the help we can get.

 

[Misfit Toy]

I knew back in 2008 that I had some hormonal issues. This was before I was diagnosed. I always did...but I was standing in my room and I had this heat come over me like a ghost had come into my body and possessed me. It was awful. Then, I got my period, and then I got it again two weeks later. I knew something was up and sure enough, I was diagnosed right away. I was sick and have been from then on. This needs to be spoken for other women. No one talks of this. It's worse than CFS. CFS has been awful, endometriosis for me was awful but this takes the cake.

I am exhausted, have no sex drive and want to be alone about 80% of the time. I never felt that way before. I like quiet and not going out....never was that way before. I am moody, I change my mind all of the time...wasn't that way before. I feel like a nut. I have to sleep alone, I have the WORST insomnia ever.

UGh.

Thank you for the hug!! Seriously. I have my period right now. The first day I had it, I wanted to die. Cramps and nightsweats the whole week before. GOOD TIMESS!!!

 

[cansado]

I am like you Spitfire and all the others. Remember that you are not suffering alone if this is any consulation......
.

 

[rydra_wong]

Hi again,

Like any other topic, there's a lot of conflicting advice when it comes to copper toxicity or overload, but for the most part the main thing to do is to decrease the amount of copper-rich foods, and also other exposures to copper -- and increase foods high in zinc and sulfur, slowly but surely. I've been emailing with a gentleman in the UK about this and he believes a big part of my ME/CFS could be due to high copper (I was prescribed copper supps several times by different doctors, and also zinc/copper supps) and for the last 5+ years have inadvertently been eating a pretty low-zinc and high copper diet. And who knows what was in the water I was drinking...

Also it's apparently important to make sure you have good bile flow -- that your gallbladder is doing it's job -- as that's the main way that copper (and other heavy metalsare excreted from the liver) -- in the bile. If one has eaten a very low fat diet for years, that can lead to so-called 'fat intolerance' (which I have), kind of a vicious cycle. But certain herbs and/or digestive enzymes/ox bile extract -- and the LEMON JUICE that Jenbooks mentions -- can help stimulate bile flow and improve gallbladder function.

High copper can cause low zinc (and low zinc is NOT good when you have ME/CFS, adrenal exhaustion, etc). An easy, cheap, but reliable test to see if you're zinc deficient is to get a liquid zinc supp called "Zinc Tally". You take a spoonful and if you have enough zinc then you'll experience a strong metallic taste -- if you're deficient, then nothing. When I did it, it tasted like water. A month later, I'm getting a little bit of a metallic taste. My sister tried it, got a strong reaction.

Here's a video on youtube that gives a general list of symptoms -- he doesn't mention severe CFS -- but just about everything else, especially RACING MIND, ADRENAL EXHAUSTION, SEVERE PMS Symptoms or "pms-like" symptoms, etc:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tomlsxtuadg

Another description:

http://www.alive.com/465a2a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=8

The thing to remember if that it takes time to resolve this, and that proceeding too quickly can make symptoms worse. My anxious, aggitated, 'racing mind' has finally quieted down (thought for sure I was just NOT going to make it, was extremely "wired but tired" for the last 9 months), but I'm still very, very sick in other ways. On bad days I remind myself of this initial improvement...helps keep me going.

Best of luck,

Dan

I had the same symptoms as Spitfire in perimenopause despite taking 100mg zinc per day. I had to take 100 mg zinc per day for a month before I tasted that metallic taste. I was taking the zinc in a misguided effort to ward off diabetes because I had read that "all diabetics are low in zinc" and since I did not get that metallic taste util quite a high dose, I felt that I was clearly low in zinc. No blood or hair test showed low in zinc mind you. And I do not discount that since estrogen helps one absorb copper and I was estrogen dominant I may have been low in zinc (and the lab reference ranges are worthless maybe). However, doing that cuased me to get crepey skin at my neck which was banished simply by discontinuing the zinc and rubbing on a liquid copper solution from skinbiology.com. Also I have osteoporosis and I am only 53, and there is this paper by Lowe which shows quite a HIGH amount of copper is required for women over menopause to prevent bone loss (I did not lose bone mass overnight -- it was going on ALL DURING PERIMENOPAUSE). So I think it is too simplistic to say that you are low in zinc if you don't taste a metallic taste. Typically men need more zinc than women (for one thing, it is an aromatase inhibitor) and what worked for you may not work for us. There are many cases in the medical literature showing low copper causes the same symptoms as B12 deficiency (the reason is that copper is a cofactor of methionine synthase and so you can't make methyls w/o it). Copper deficiency also causes aneurism due to it is needed for cross-linking of collagen. W/o cross-linking, your blood vessels (skin) are thin, weak, and easily split. Zinc revs up your thyroid and the zinc:copper ratio is very important to the thyoid. I believe the reason I went hyperthyroid when I took Iodoral was due to a copper deficiency (John Johnson @ www.ithyroid.com). Here is the paper by Lowe on bone mass and copper: http://journals.cambridge.org/downl...66a.pdf&code=48eb419ab65a3228b38b329bcd41b762.

"perhaps the question we should be asking is: do dietary
supplements of Zn and Cu reduce bone loss in osteoporotic
patients? The most compelling evidence to suggest that they
do comes from the work of Saltman & Strause (1993). They
conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled study in which
a group of 137 post-menopausal women were divided into
four groups. Each group received a placebo, Ca (250 mg,
four times daily), trace minerals (mg/d Zn 15, Cu 5, Mn 2-5)
or both Ca and trace minerals. Bone mineral density was
measured at baseline and after 2 years of the supplementation
regimen. The results revealed that the percentage
changes in bone mineral density were: placebo 2-23, trace
minerals -1-66, Ca -0-5, Ca + trace minerals +1-28. The
change in bone mineral density in the group treated with Ca
and trace minerals was significantly different from that for
the placebo group (P = 0-036), clearly supporting a therapeutic
role for Zn and Cu in the treatment of osteoporosis.
Further support comes from the work of Delmi et al. (1990),"

 

[Ocean]

I have similar issues. Migraines at that time of month and mood issues. I tried estrogen supplementation and it honestly helped a lot with mood, which has been my worst symptom. But it caused insomnia. I've read that estrogen lowers absorption of certain nutrients and so far even though I've tried to increase my intake of those nutrients, it hasn't helped. So I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I also need progesterone, I'm not sure. I just started trying the estrogen and noticed it helped considerably with my mood, which has just been unbearable lately with PMS or PMDD. 2 weeks or so out of the month is just too much.