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Hormone imbalance??
Ok, I've been spending my first couple days on this forum over in the anxiety section as I've had anxiety/panic issues for 16 years, but recently I've been having some different issues that are leading me to think that they are not caused by anxiety alone.
First a bit about me- I'm 33, a healthy weight, never smoked, never been pregnant, was put on BC pills as a teenager because my periods were all over the place (every couple weeks sometimes, then wouldn't get it for months, usually very very heavy, would miss school due to it) The pills straightened that out but gave me acne and weight gain, I was on them couple years I think. Not currently in a relationship, last guy I was with was 'fixed' so I shouldn't be pregnant.
Anyway to my symptoms - the last I would say 3 - 4 months I've been noticing my periods getting shorter. Not very noticeable at first. My periods should be about 5 days. Last month it was getting noticeable, it was 3.5 days. This month it was 2.5 days, and that wasn't even a continuous 2.5 days, the flow stopped partway through for about a half a day and then resumed. This is really abnormal for me. Good part is - normally I was having bad cramps on my first day, not extremely bad but enough to make me take an ibuprofen. The cramps are gone now, not that I'm complaining about that but it's just not normal for me.
I am having a host of other bizarre symptoms - most scary is this odd dizziness, a distinct sense of being off balance, like something is really wrong with my equilibrium. I have had my heart listened to, EKGs in the ER for panic attacks so many times I've lost count, every time my BP is taken it's near perfect, I've had doctors tell me my BP is "textbook", or "lots of people wish they had your BP", etc.
I'm also having sleep issues lately, for years I've had a strange insomnia 4-5 days before my period starts, I just accepted that as normal for me. But this months cycle was worse, plus for about 5-6 days I was waking up after only 5-6 hours of sleep, and being jittery and unable to go back to sleep, the day my period started I woke up and my heart was racing, lasted for about 5 minutes or so. And if I force myself to stay up I am very fatigued that day. Plus I have been feeling worsening fatigue over the last couple months as well, I feel like my sleep is not refreshing. Also my legs feel mushy all the time, like my muscles are made out of jello.
Another bizarre thing is my appetite - normally just before and during my period I'm ravenously hungry, eat everything in sight, etc. This time I had a couple days where I would get partway through a nice meal, and all of a sudden couldn't eat any more, and feel fatigued, kind of like I'm too tired to keep eating. Very weird.
Here is my doctor situation - for the last 10 years or so since moving to the city I'm in, I have not had a family doctor. (We have a serious doctor shortage in Ontario.) I see a naturopath as he's all I could find, plus I prefer to go the natural route as far as I can - last city I lived in I had a doctor who thought I was depressed, not anxious, he put me on Prozac and I had a bad reaction to it, electrical shooting pains coming out of my heart, scariest s*** ever! So now I'm kinda 'drug-phobic'! My naturopath gets me to go to the walk-in clinic for bloodwork as I would have to pay for them with him, we did find out couple months back that I was very slightly hyperthyroid, he gave me some thyroid capsules called BioThy, and it fixed that, my last bloodtest the thyroid was normal! He also told me I have BPPV, but that usually comes when I turn my head certain ways, look up too fast, turning over in bed, etc. This dizziness I have now feels like something else. Several months back he also told me 'my adrenals are shot', he gave me adrenal glandulars, and the last time he tested me for that he said my adrenals were much better so I'm off those pills for now, till I find out what else is going on. I could get a hormone panel with him but you have to pay and it's over $100.
But after 10 years I have finally found a family doctor, through an online community group, I go to see him on April 28th!
My questions are - At my age (33) does it sound Iike I'm already starting menopause?? My naturopath says no, that shouldn't be till about 37 or so, but my periods are disappearing, each month shorter!
Has anyone here gone through something similar? Periods disappearing, fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, etc. What did it turn out to be?
Does this sound like an actual hormonal imbalance? If so, what type? I've read about estrogen dominance/lack of progesterone, etc. I asked my naturopath about using progesterone cream but he said without knowing what my numbers are we could be making this worse, so I gotta wait till I get the panel done, but it's just worrisome!
What do you all think? Any ideas, stories if you've gone through something similar, etc. would be appreciated, and thank you for reading this! (sorry it's so long!)
First a bit about me- I'm 33, a healthy weight, never smoked, never been pregnant, was put on BC pills as a teenager because my periods were all over the place (every couple weeks sometimes, then wouldn't get it for months, usually very very heavy, would miss school due to it) The pills straightened that out but gave me acne and weight gain, I was on them couple years I think. Not currently in a relationship, last guy I was with was 'fixed' so I shouldn't be pregnant.
Anyway to my symptoms - the last I would say 3 - 4 months I've been noticing my periods getting shorter. Not very noticeable at first. My periods should be about 5 days. Last month it was getting noticeable, it was 3.5 days. This month it was 2.5 days, and that wasn't even a continuous 2.5 days, the flow stopped partway through for about a half a day and then resumed. This is really abnormal for me. Good part is - normally I was having bad cramps on my first day, not extremely bad but enough to make me take an ibuprofen. The cramps are gone now, not that I'm complaining about that but it's just not normal for me.
I am having a host of other bizarre symptoms - most scary is this odd dizziness, a distinct sense of being off balance, like something is really wrong with my equilibrium. I have had my heart listened to, EKGs in the ER for panic attacks so many times I've lost count, every time my BP is taken it's near perfect, I've had doctors tell me my BP is "textbook", or "lots of people wish they had your BP", etc.
I'm also having sleep issues lately, for years I've had a strange insomnia 4-5 days before my period starts, I just accepted that as normal for me. But this months cycle was worse, plus for about 5-6 days I was waking up after only 5-6 hours of sleep, and being jittery and unable to go back to sleep, the day my period started I woke up and my heart was racing, lasted for about 5 minutes or so. And if I force myself to stay up I am very fatigued that day. Plus I have been feeling worsening fatigue over the last couple months as well, I feel like my sleep is not refreshing. Also my legs feel mushy all the time, like my muscles are made out of jello.
Another bizarre thing is my appetite - normally just before and during my period I'm ravenously hungry, eat everything in sight, etc. This time I had a couple days where I would get partway through a nice meal, and all of a sudden couldn't eat any more, and feel fatigued, kind of like I'm too tired to keep eating. Very weird.
Here is my doctor situation - for the last 10 years or so since moving to the city I'm in, I have not had a family doctor. (We have a serious doctor shortage in Ontario.) I see a naturopath as he's all I could find, plus I prefer to go the natural route as far as I can - last city I lived in I had a doctor who thought I was depressed, not anxious, he put me on Prozac and I had a bad reaction to it, electrical shooting pains coming out of my heart, scariest s*** ever! So now I'm kinda 'drug-phobic'! My naturopath gets me to go to the walk-in clinic for bloodwork as I would have to pay for them with him, we did find out couple months back that I was very slightly hyperthyroid, he gave me some thyroid capsules called BioThy, and it fixed that, my last bloodtest the thyroid was normal! He also told me I have BPPV, but that usually comes when I turn my head certain ways, look up too fast, turning over in bed, etc. This dizziness I have now feels like something else. Several months back he also told me 'my adrenals are shot', he gave me adrenal glandulars, and the last time he tested me for that he said my adrenals were much better so I'm off those pills for now, till I find out what else is going on. I could get a hormone panel with him but you have to pay and it's over $100.
But after 10 years I have finally found a family doctor, through an online community group, I go to see him on April 28th!
My questions are - At my age (33) does it sound Iike I'm already starting menopause?? My naturopath says no, that shouldn't be till about 37 or so, but my periods are disappearing, each month shorter!
Has anyone here gone through something similar? Periods disappearing, fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, etc. What did it turn out to be?
Does this sound like an actual hormonal imbalance? If so, what type? I've read about estrogen dominance/lack of progesterone, etc. I asked my naturopath about using progesterone cream but he said without knowing what my numbers are we could be making this worse, so I gotta wait till I get the panel done, but it's just worrisome!
What do you all think? Any ideas, stories if you've gone through something similar, etc. would be appreciated, and thank you for reading this! (sorry it's so long!)
Yeah I've had bloodwork done at the walk-in many times, but for the usual stuff like WBC, RBC, hemoglobin, etc. all comes back normal except for the thyroid issue which seems to have been resolved, and low ferritin which we (my naturopath and I) knew about from long ago, which is also starting to improve with iron supplements, diet, etc.
This latest issue with my periods seems something else entirely. My naturopath is going to give me a letter to give the family doctor so he understands what tests need to be done, so he takes this seriously. (not like some of the doctors at the walk-in, when I got the hyperthyroid test back all that doctor said was 'find a family doctor and get it looked after' yeah that's real helpful!)
This latest issue with my periods seems something else entirely. My naturopath is going to give me a letter to give the family doctor so he understands what tests need to be done, so he takes this seriously. (not like some of the doctors at the walk-in, when I got the hyperthyroid test back all that doctor said was 'find a family doctor and get it looked after' yeah that's real helpful!)
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'd have your doctor do some blood work to assess the whole situation.
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