MENOPAUSE?

Hi :slight_smile: As you all no im awaiting a diagnosis , I’ve had MRIs done an waiting on results. I am 44 and since my mid 30s had been going through early menopause, I started with erratic monthlys and bad night sweats and as I reached 40 I started skipping my monthlys and was only having a period once/twice a year, so about 4/ 5 years ago had hormone blood tests done which came back as positive that yes def was menopause. This was 4 years ago and during that time I went 23 months with no period and then had 1 that lasted 2 days. Now ive not had one for around a year BUT I’ve read on the net that there is over 50 syptoms of the menopause and that Tingling of the extremities is 1 of them Also vertigo an lightheadedness Also muscle weakness an joint pain The list goes on an on and some syptoms very similar to ms and other things At present im having a better day than the last few weeks, I’ve gradually felt bit better, not as wobbly as some days an vertigo gone at the moment. BUT over the last week on 3 different occasions my chin and lower lip on left side have had pins an needles, it only lasts a few minutes then goes away then back again few days later. Also at rest my calf muscles and feet buzz and my arm muscles are still weak and feel bruised which does feel better when I do nothing but as soon as I exert myself and do some strenuous jobs then im right back at square one. My doctor and my crohns consultant kno that I’ve been going through menopause BUT neither has suggested that any of the syptoms I was experiencing cud be that? Plus I do suffer with allergies and do sometimes use a nasal spray for allergic rhinitis, my doc also wud kno that and allergies can interfere with the ears and balance BUT again no suggestion has been made to say it’s my ears and menopause. Is there anyone on forum plz that has also either gone through menopause or going through it now that has had buzzing calf muscles? An other syptoms that are similar to ms? Also I get alot of random stabbing pains that jump around my body, one min it’s in my right wrist then jumps to left thigh then to my foot, it hurts but only lasts few seconds in each area. I’ve made earlier posts when my syptoms were at their worst a few weeks ago. An at mo id say I don’t feel as bad as I did, I still have weakness in both arms and my left leg doesn’t feel like it belongs to me and when I walk outside my balance is off more than indoors and I don’t seem to be bending my left knee an ankle properly and am scuffing bottom of foot along the path. Because im having a better day im now worried what if all this is just menopause? An getting older? If so then I shall feel like a fraud and that I’ve wasted NHS money with having MRIs scans Help anyone plz The reason I mainly went back to docs was because of my balance, vertigo, weakness all over an extreme fatigue, also pins and needles in my right arm which felt like a blood pressure band round top of arm with pins and needles right down to ends of fingers and when I bent forward I got a cold rush of of more pins an needles down my arm, I had the tightness for about 6 weeks but the pins an needles an lhermittes sigh for 3 months and now it’s just in ends of my fingers an lhermittes now gone away. Sorry if im boring you all, but on good days I tell myself my doc has it wrong! An on bad days / weeks then I worry, surely the neurologist wud not of sent me for MRIs if it’s just my age and surely my doc wudnt of referred me to Neuro either??? And when I asked my doc what she thought was wrong she told me that she and Neuro thought it was ms But if MRIs come back clear and then I have to have more tests like lumbar etc the surely it wud all be waste of NHS money if this is just my age :frowning: . All opinions welcome plz thanks in advance

Hi Tracie, well menopause can cause a whole lot of strange symptoms but I think by the sounds of it your are worse than one would normally expect. Also as I’m sure you know there’s other conditions that can cause similar symptoms.

I don’t think you are wasting anyone’s time. Your GP and your neuro obviously think it’s best to do all the tests to see if they can find out what’s going on. That’s what they are there for… and you have no need to worry about NHS money. You have unexplained symptoms and the NHS is there to try and work out what’s causing those symptoms.

So stop worrying about the NHS! It’s not your problem.

I think what you’re experiencing is normal when worried about unexplained symptoms… one day thinking you’re making a fuss about nothing… the next day worrying that it’s something serious. This is all normal feelings and the result of anxiety.

Leave the diagnosis to the expert… that’s the neuro. He/she will decide if further investigation is needed when they see the MRI image.

Try to recognise that your feelings are anxiety and think of ways you can lessen it. Sometimes just recognising it for what it is helps.

Hope you get some answers soon,

Pat x

Couldn’t agree more with Pat’s great advice :slight_smile:

Karen x

Thank you Pat :slight_smile: and Karen :slight_smile: