Other Menopause and ptsd?

[cupfish]

Am 52, in the middle of menopause, with CPTSD. This is godawful. Has been months since I felt anywhere close to balanced. I can't tell which reactions are due to hormones or to trauma. I can't move forward learning about my triggers and getting them to heal when you add this latest chemical soup to my internal recipe. I had a long perimenopause (close to 10 years) but in the last 24 months every day is an emotional struggle. I know this ends eventually and I am not a fan of HRT, and quit SSRIs about 6 years ago. I am seriously considering going back on Prozac because I can't control my emotions very well and it's exhausting. Would love others' experiences managing PTSD plus menopause.

I have been exercising, trying for lots of sleep, trying to stay positive. Trying ain't doing. It's not working.

 

[The Albatross]

I get that there is difficulty discerning which reactions are hormonal, but... if you have emotional issues that last 24 months or longer... I'd say a physician is in order to discuss this. "Asking" to go back onto Prozac I think is a bit presumptuous though. If you are suffering menopausal symptoms then there are other options. Least invasive things first is my general rule of thumb.

I had a hysterectomy at 40 and don't do HRT either, I'm now 55.

 

[Glara]

I don't have PTSD, but I am 51 and suffering from menopausal symptoms as well. It also started in my early 40s but over the last year and a half has gotten much worse. I've had hormonal depression issues my whole life and birth control pills have helped significantly. When I started getting the heavy bleeding I did go on HRT. Some symptoms improved but not enough. Finally I was put back in birth control pills and for me it's made a tremendous difference. I'm no longer spotting everyday, my hot flashes have gone and my emotions are much more stable and even.

You have to do what you feel comfortable with, but for me hormones made all the difference. I feel much more like my old self. I know I can't stay on them forever but right now for me this is really helping.

 

[hodge]

I had an early menopause, started in my late 30s and I'm 51 now and it's been long over with. But I think it may have had something to do with PTSD coming up as it did at the same time I was starting menopause. So, double whammy, I guess. But I can honestly say at least that the menopause was the least of my problems. I had hot flashes here and there, but nothing compared to the PTSD symptoms. My therapist thinks it just aggravated my PTSD symptoms some. I never took hormones for it. Just psychiatric meds for the PTSD.

 

[Guerrette]

Am 52, in the middle of menopause, with CPTSD. This is godawful. Has been months since I felt anywhere...

Im so glad i came across ur post. I am 53, a DAV w/severe PTSD. I had a partial hysterectomy back in 1993, but retained my overies. Since the end of 2010 (48) is when i started experiencing menopausal symptoms & after that, all HELL has broke loose! These past 5 years have progressively gotten so bad, i have seriously comtemplated asking my Doctor about EST (Electro-Shock Therapy) its been that awful! :(

Between, flashbacks, night sweats, anxiety attacks, paranoia, mood swings, nightmares, severe depression, insomnia to sleeping all day, to being a shut-in....i dont know if im coming or going anymore! :(

Ive cut myself off to the world, i hardly EVER leave my house. I have either everything delivered or send my grown children for whatever I need. I just hide in my bedroom, go weeks without showering & cant remember the last time I shaved my legs & washed my hair! I dont go out, i never have anyone over, the only conversations i have is with my Cat or Dog or a social media text or tweet.

Its not that I dont like myself & who I am, I love life & i dont want to leave this world, but i am caught up in this whirlpool of a nightmare & no matter how intellectual & logical i am about knowing exactly whats happening to me. I just cant seem to pick myself up, brush myself off & break myself free of it.. So, I just seem to withdraw more & more, because I dont know & am tired of, how to explain it to my friends & family, why I just cant let it go of my past trauma, why i am the way i am & that im not just being lazy couch potato & hypocondriac. Totally Blows! :(

So, I guess the bottom line to all this convoluted rambling of mine to ur post is, YES, YES, YES, since becoming an empty nester & starting menopause my PTSD symptoms have become severely exacerbated by 1000 fold! :(

 

[Lakerat66]

Im so glad i came across ur post. I am 53, a DAV w/severe PTSD. I had a partial hysterectomy back in 1993, but retain...

You are my twin. I am 50 and menopause has destroyed my life. Retired early last year and have money to do whatever I want and I just want to be left alone to die at home. Can't drive anymore and all doctors and counselors are clueless. I will become a statistic on their data- and not in a good way. Had 3 showers in a month and chain smoke all day and state at the tv. Doctors have shamed into thinking all is unimportant and I am lying to them. I will see them in hell.

 

[Deleted member 34561]

Oh my bloody god yes. I was just starting to get on top of my PTSD when perimenopause hit 7 years ago. Since then I am like the above poster dont go out dont bathe just chain smoke and drink far more than I should. However have just been dx'd with COPD and early stage emphysema so I am going to have to change the way I live my life or suffer the consequences ie an early painful death. Luckily for me I start therapy again in the New Year. But yeh just wanted to let you know you certainly are not alone. God bless xoxox

 

[DharmaGirl]

I had HUGE emotional problems with menopause as well as PTSD. Ugh. wouldn't repeat it for the world. I started at 53, and I'm 57 and still spot every month. My mom did until she was 60. The horrible emotional swings stopped though.

 

[RumblePie]

Am 52, in the middle of menopause, with CPTSD. This is godawful. Has been months since I felt anywhere...

Hi I had to get progesterone cream, 100mg/day topical, to get a balance and it slows down the night sweats as well. It ought to help even things out.

 

[Menopatti]

Im so glad i came across ur post. I am 53, a DAV w/severe PTSD. I had a partial hysterectomy back in 1993, but retain...

I could have wrote this. Wow.

 

[Super Woman]

I feel like I am in perimenopause at 42. I have been diagnosed with PTSD. I start having sweats and flash and then start to feel angry or super anxious. Like I am all kinds of jacked up. I hide it from my kids, but I scare myself. I cant rest, and every little thing I wrap around my mind like a twist tie. Constanly over analyzing what people might think or may be angry with me about. Its just really exhausting. My nerves were so on edge during the horrible abuse, that anytime something doesnt go exactly right, I feel like I can not cope. I go into an auto fight or flight mode. I want to lash out and run away. Does anyone eles feel like me?

 

[Cannottakethis]

I am 47 and perimenopausal. Aside from the worst periods and cramps of my life, when I get it; my emotions are crazy all over the place...ptsd exacerbated. The sweating and hot flashes really just suck. The antidepressants they typically give for this make me suicidally depressed. I have about 1 good week a month right now. Who knows what will happen when I get full blown menopause.