A question for women

For those who are women and are diagnosed with MS who are premenapausal as well as postmenapausal with hormonal therapy, do you find that prior to your menses that you're symptoms worsen or every other month or does nothing happen at all?

Lisa

[supermum_ms]

I'm confused by the question, how can you be both premenapausal as well as postmenapausal?

[JemmAus]

I think she meant OR....

Lisa,

Yes absolutely. I am perimenopausal and it's a blinking nightmare. I get SEVERE migraines the day my periods rock up (which currently is any old time - cycles ranging from 22 to 70 days), then my MS symtoms (symptoms) kick in with a vengence for about 10 days, then I'm ok till about 5 days before a period then it all starts again.

OH JOY

I asked my MS nurse about this and she said yes, all her female patients tend to suffer around menstruation . They can time their symtoms (symptoms) by their hormonal clocks.

DONTCHA JUST LOVE BEING  A WOMAN!!!

*sigh*

[JemmAus]

Oh and my dr suggested I try "remifemin", some natural herbal estrogen supplement thing. He reckons I'll be a lot better once I start that. I cannot take HRT or other synthetic hormones due to my awful migraines increasing stroke risk...

I'll let you know if the Remifemin helps..

[rendean]

Lisa,

I am postmenopausal but without hormonal therapy so I can't answer your question from personal experience but having been on the forum for over 2 years I have seen posts describing what you are asking.  

Below is a link to a thread I found on "search this community" found above the Recent Activity side bar on the right side of the page. I hope this helps:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Menopause-and-MS/show/1081548

Ren

[Magie43]

I am glad somebody asked this question because just this morning I was talking to my mom and said the week before my period my MS symptoms get worse or ones that disappeared come back.  I have my next dr appt on 20 April and was going to bring this up because I was not sure if it was normal.  

[Ojibajo]

I'm not sure that I would know the difference since I have always felt like crap before, during and just after my period.

I was diagnosed, so I never knew that my symptoms were MS related until a month ago and I have only had one period since then so I guess I haven't noticed any difference, at least not yet anyway.

[JemmAus]

Sing it with me girls!

* sometimes it's hard to be a woman*

[Guitar_grrrl]

Lisa,

I'm right in the middle of the change, and often go 4-6 months without a period, then, bang! I get one!  And, yes, my symptoms really raise hell just before.  Thankfully, I don't get migraines, but my spams get worse, and my fatigue is off the charts!

Cheers,
Another Lisa (the Guitar_grrrl)

[LisaJF]

Sorry supermum_ms if my question was confusing.  Sometimes when I type, what I want to say doesn't come out too well.

All I know is that this particular menses, I had an unusual bout of energy quite a few days before it started and up to yesterday (which for the past 10 months I've been fatigued every day and I'm talking debilitating fatigue).  

Some of my everyday symptoms went away or lightened up. (although my balance is still off and I am very slow in thinking in the morning and sometimes throughout the day. Paresthesia come and go in mouth, left leg).  I hope what I am typing is making sense.  I hate to insult my intelligence by doing so -- but it is what it is.

Thank you rendean for your link.  

Thank you all for your responses.

It's wonderful to be a woman isn't it?

Lisa

Now I'm on day three and

[LisaJF]

Oy vay, I can't even finish a sentence I see or thought.....

Just ignore me.

[Sparkysarah]

Well I am so glad that you posted this question as I had been thinking about posting the same question. For the last three months I have noticed that my MS symptoms deteriorate a few days before my period. I seem to get that hormonal headache that does not go away, the frigging fatigue that stops you doing normal stuff, aching muscles and weak legs (more on one side than the other). I was not sure to console myself that at 48 later this month I may have about 36 more periods left but then realised with this will come the dreaded menopause so not sure which is worse! It is helpful to know that iothers have this deterioration when hormones fly around and for the men in our lives to be sensitive to the fact that we feel more tired than usual.  

Sarah

[JemmAus]

This is such an issue for so many that I went over to the menopause forum last week, and sure enough I ended up more than a bit confused, BECAUSE

So many girls in there who are perimenopausal/menopausal have MS-like symptoms, which are put down to menopause.  The same fatigue, pins and needles /paresthesia, dizzy, loss of balance, headaches etc etc etc. None of them apparently have MS but many have these symptoms.

Which beggars the question: how much of what we suffer is MS and how much is just annoying menopausal symptoms????

[JemmAus]

Check it out:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Menopause/Menopause--Arms--hands--legs-and-feet-numbness/show/342458

[supermum_ms]

When i went to my 'old' doc about my 'episodes' the first thing she started talking about was menopause. I think it was mainly because of my age, when i pointed out that my menstral cycle was still exactly the same as its always been and these episodes i have, usually have nothing to do with my cycle, she started explaining perimenopause, then sent me off for blood tests. The test came back showing I wasn't perimenopause, that was a couple of years ago so things could of changed by now, though i'd still say nothings really changed.

What is different though is if they happen during an episode or not, my last 2 have been during a pretty nausty episode. I'm just finishing this cycle and i'm coming out of my episode which may make this coincidental but i have noticed my mental capacity is greatly affected through my cycle and i'm in an episode as well. I'm having a bit of trouble with the tremors and falling over which makes getting your periods more annoying than ususal and deffinetly more problematic but thats another topic lol!

I have wondered if the fatigue etc is getting worse when they turn up or if its just that my tollerance level is getting too low because another thing is happening and i'm over it already! I dont know if it means anything or not, but all the women i know who've gone through peri and menapause, collectively seem to only talk about hot flushes, mood swings, sex drive, weight and heart hate spikes but none have ever mentioned 'fatigue' as we know it and nothing really out side of the commonly known issues of menapause.

I do remember discussing this once before and if i'm remembering correctly (lol) there did seem to be a common thread of increased sx during their time of the month, as we often say with this mysterious disease, anything is possible!

Cheers.........JJ

Lisa its me thats lost the plot, lol seriously i went to put my age and truth be told i cant remember, went to work it out and i've forgotten the year i was born and sheeesh i'm not old enought to have forgotten that!! ROFL

[opie74]

I am about to have a hytorectomy.  We are leaving the overies.  I wonder what this will do.  I have noticed that I have more symptoms just befire my period.  If I still have working overies, I wonder what this will do?  

[weltsandms]

I am pre menopausal, am missing cycles but yes, I do have increased MS symptoms around cycles.   And PMS is really awful too! It should not be too long I hope for menopause. I am not on any hormone therapy just copaxone.  That is a whole new issue.