Quote from molly123:

Hi everyone!

I am soooo glad I am not alone! Last year I turned 50 and for the past 5 months, I had been experiencing anxiety, dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite, arms also feel like they are no fire, as well as my hands/feet getting hot and then cold. No energy or interest to do anything but to dwell on how horrible I feel everyday. I also would feel this internal shakiness, jittery-like along with weak jelly legs especially when laying in bed at night, then I started to have aches and pains. I always feel tired when I wake up in the morning too. Like many of you, I went to drs., had tests done, and everything came back normal.

I hate taking meds but I had to go on something. I was taking Ativan 0.5 mg on an as-needed basis. My doc put me on Paxil CR 12.5 mg in December (Ativan is not good for long-term use) which I think helped a lot. I am also mild hypothyroid and have been taking Levoxyl for years. I really think having hypothyroid makes things even more off balance.

Been reading a lot and researching on the Internet but hardly find others with similar symptoms. Am now taking multi-vitamins, especially the B vitamins, magnesium at bedtime, and making sure I do some kind of exercise everyday (yoga, walking tapes). I also take Black Cohosh. Am going to get some Evening Primrose Oil - heard it helps too. Right now, I am feeling much better, have energy and feel more like myself.

Molly

I just turned 49 and have all the same symptoms. Am hypothyroid also, taking Unithroid and Armour, but right now it seems like my body can't even handle the meds. They make my anxiety worse. My mother had the same symptoms as we are having, and she never had a thyroid problem. What do you think helped you the most? I had tried Celexa, but it didn't help me. Will see if acupuncture helps with this. Bless you.

Quote from catluvr4:

I just turned 49 and have all the same symptoms. Am hypothyroid also, taking Unithroid and Armour, but right now it seems like my body can't even handle the meds. They make my anxiety worse. My mother had the same symptoms as we are having, and she never had a thyroid problem. What do you think helped you the most? I had tried Celexa, but it didn't help me. Will see if acupuncture helps with this. Bless you.

Hi Catluvr4 (I'm a dogluvr!)....

What helped me the most is accepting it and the fact that I am getting older and that this is meno related. Also being grateful that it isn't something life threatening. I was getting anxiety bad-time worrying that I had some serious illness but it's normal to think this way especially when it came on suddenly and you don't know what it is. I think the self-inflicted stress/anxiety made things worse and waiting for dr. appts. and results too! I was so miserable that I thought the rest of my life was going to be like this. I have always felt good with lots of energy. I drove my sister crazy everyday. She is 51 and doesn't have my symptoms but she assured me I'm not alone (she has more friends going thru this too). She puts me in my place so having her support helped.

Whenever I started to feel "weird", I would lay down and take deep breaths and tried to relax but since my dr, put me on Paxil CR which is suppose to help with pre-meno symptoms, I think I started to feel better. I didn't have any side effects (thank goodness!). I think this helped me a lot because I actually can feel the edge being lifted. I didn't need the Ativan after this.

Taking the vitamins and doing some kind of exercise everyday (even 2X/day) helps. Am also in a mind set right now to refuse to let this get to me again. Don't know if the reason why I feel actually normal now is because I'm not in the "cycle" now or what but I am also more determined now than ever to try to manage this better.

Take care,
Molly