I could have written your post. Im trying to figure out if its due to premenopause and imbalance hormones or if I suddenly just started getting anxity and panic attacts. I hate going into stores; The lighting makes me want to squint and I feel like im walking on a boat. I starte getting anxious knowing I have to go some where. I use to be able to shop all day and love it, 3 years ago I started having this problem. Im thinking it has to do with hormons because why would I all of a sudden start getting anxious over nothing?

I am another one...I really do Not have the agoraphobia so much...more like a slight sense of unease whenever I have to leave the house...everything else you mentioned I do deal with...Hormonal imbalance...Anxiety Feelings, Sometimes so intense they Threaten to Overwhelm me...I try real hard to Just Breath thru them..as I have tried, but could Not Tolerate the Meds...

I have anxiety normally...or is it UN-normally??? ha. But during this peri meno to meno thing, I have had clusters of whoop-ass anxiety! I chalkit up to good ole hormones. I mean ovulating square-shaped eggs can't be "healthy", right? ha.It sometimes feel like I'm P.M.S.ing 24/7. I had forgot since starting antidepressants years ago what that sheer panic felt like. Some mornings before work, Im chasing my morning coffee down with camomille tea....har. And just getting to my car parked in my own driveway can send my heart pounding...and its not like I'm going butt naked or anything! And lets not even talk about merging onto the freeway. ....I really think it's "normal" emotions for us ladies during this time, althjough the docs I've spoken to it about seemed "stumped"...duh....I really don't think most docs have a clue....Everytime I ask them a question, they seem to scratych their heads with that dumbfounded look as if I'd said, "Doc, why did I grow that extra hand on my forehead???" ha.

Careful, girls, I went to the doc with the same symptoms being described here and he sent me to a shrink.

Unbelievable.

As I look back it's *funny* that I was cast into Victorian times in mid-town by a modern doctor. Good thing I wasn't burnt at the stake.

I had to figure out from on line that I hadn't gone crazy and then find a specialist gyn who had actually heard of some of the symptoms (e.g., agoraphobia at it finest -- nearly having a meltdown in the produce section) from other patients (not doctor books or classes).

It was a horrible time, even when I figured out what happened. The symptoms continued. I felt I was in the middle of a grey, stormy sea with no sight of land (did any of you get that?).

Anyway, I'm fine now. Better than ever. I'm taking the teeniet bit of ERT. So teeny I even get a hot flash towards morning sometimes. But I consider this good, allowing PM/M to take place in the background.

I am so appreciative of your replies, tells me I'm not going wacko. Nice to know :)

As I explained before, my doc does not believe in peri-menopause and simply says that I'm not in menopause till my periods have been gone for a year. Till then as far as he's concerned there is no discussion.
No doc is taking new patients here so I'm kinda stuck with the one I have and thus have to find info on my own.

forgot to say that I've been hypothyroid for a long time and have been on thyroid meds for a long time. My thyroid gets checked once a year, just had the test done again today.

sobe, did you speak to your endocrinologist about your peri symptoms? The endo is the doc who knows all about hormones, after all.

no I didn't see an endocrinologist. I only have my GP.

Sobe, as you saw from my post above, there are gps and there are gps. I went to a nut who sent me to a shrink when I came with peri symptoms.

Up until then, I really thought docs were there to help. I got the "don't bother me, kid" treatment.

I see another gp in your town isn't currently taking new patients. Maybe it's because everyone's running to this doc to get away from the other one!

I'm sorry your stuck. Maybe it's worth a trip out of town to see a GYN who is a SPECIALIST in PERI and MENO? I can provide you with a NYC phone number.

SS

Yeah, well, my symptoms included panic, agoraphobia, insomnia, depression. I got whacked with the full spectrum for 3 - 6 months straight. I had lost an incredible amount of weight within a very short amount of time and went to my GP. They did blood tests, but they all came back normal. Right before the whole thing began, I was travelling from Chicago to St. Petersburg - and have been traveling my entire life from the wee age of 4. I have always felt most inspired and at ease in airplanes. Suddenly, I couldn't go from North London to South London without having a total nervous breakdown over it. This of course added to my depression. The thought of me never travelling again filled me with depression and sadness.

I got myself (when the symptoms were manageable) to the naturopath, and haven't looked back. It's been 5 months that I've been on herbs and supplements, and I got most of my life back. We're still working on certainly times of the month, but since then, I've been to Greece and Germany - so I am certainly on the mend.

Don't listen to the GP's too much. I feel kind of sorry for them - they don't have much time and are under enormous pressure. I just go to them for the blood tests and referrals, and I've learned to tell them what I want, not what they think is good for me. Even my mother couldn't believe it and I kept telling her, "It's my hormones!" and she said, "You're too young!" I was 38 when it started for me. Whatever...all women are different.

I thought I was going crazy too - even went to a shrink. Fortunately, the shrink pointed out I was most likely perimenopausal. WOW! He also said to me, "If you think you are going crazy, that means you are not crazy because crazy people don't know they are crazy."

His wife had recently been through IVF and her hormones were all over the place, which is why he could diagnose me so easily.

I'd say, if the symptoms started entirely out of the blue, and are not 'you' then it's your hormones gone haywire. Good news, it can be sorted out with the right herbs/supplements/natural hormones. Have patience and take it easy on yourself.

I had a partial hysterectomy almost 5 yrs. ago making it so that I"m physically not having a period but kinda am. A few yrs. back I started feeling sooo weird. I felt like a hypochondriac or something. I've got epilepsy and the seizures would mostly come on when I would have my period and so when you don't even realize you're having your period, yet you're having seiz. every 2-3 weeks..thats weird, plus I would have wierd feelings that I thought had something to do with my periods, but they felt so much different than normal. Long story short, after talking with the OBGYN I found out that half of these problems I was having were from perimenopause and not my epilepsy. Recently I had a problem with my neurologist who just LOVED to write prescriptions. Due to the fact that I was coming off one med and going on another, I was taking 5 meds. and ended up in bed for a week due to an overdose of pills. One of the pills I took was HRT (enjuvia) and that was sooo helpful, but because I had had enough with drugs, I went off that and 2 of my seiz. meds. I feel so much better and cleaner now, but I do know that it won't be long before the hormones start going wacky again. I myself am looking for a natural type of hormone because I am DONE with meds. If you got advice, So if anyone has advice on how to go about keeping hormones under control, I would love to hear it. Thanks