worried,feeling weird....is it hormones??

hello dear sisters,

although i am not on HRT, i have become a frequent visitor to this board. i have foud some very valuable info here. i do use testoseterone cream for libido.

i have been feeling "weird" the past few days. i know that's a strange word to use, but it seems to fit. i have been having periods of uncontrollable shaking, most noticeable in my hands. some times they tremble so bad i have trouble using them. at other times it feels like my whole body is trembling.

also, i can't seem to stop crying. i can be sitting doing nothing and all of a sudden i can feel the tears getting ready to flow. i am fine one minute and crying the next.

i feel jittery and nervous all the time. i am easily agitated. i have been very snappy with my children too. as a matter of a fact i yelled at my dd when i picked her up from school today. and she really hadn't done anything.

i am having frequent headaches ( they even seem to come at about the same time everyday) and am constantly yawning....i feel so sleepy.

i feel really weird. it is like i'm in a fog . this is starting to scare me. i am really beginning to worry about myself. i was diagnosed with depression several weeks ago and am currently on meds for it and am in therapy.

ladies, could my hormones be out of wack? could they some how be screwed up and be making me feel this way? this only started happenig a few days ago. up until then i was doing ok. i posted on this on the post op board, but thought that it may be hormone related so i posted here too. i thought you ladies might be able to relate.

i would appreiate any info anyone might have to offer. is a call to the doc in order here. or is this sort of normal.

thanks for listening........

jene

<<<Jene>>> A couple things. . . Hormone imbalance sure can lead to the symptoms you're experiencing. And the ovaries can fail to produce pre-menopausal levels of hormones from the shock of surgery. This can be temporary or permanent, partly depending on age at the time of surgery. (I kept my ovaries and went into menopause after surgery - I was 52 at the time.) I'd think it would be important to assess the level of your hormones.

However, since you just started on antidepressants, I'd think it would also be important to check in with your doctor. "Weird feelings" are not uncommon when adjusting to some of them. Dosages may need to be adjusted, etc.

I am a therapist myself, and am have been in therapy for some time for personal growth. I was amazed at the impact of insufficient estrogen on my body and mind!! Plus full recovery from the surgery took me almost a year. Therapy helped me get through the difficult time of recovery and finding what worked for me. Hang in there, the good news is that things can often go from hellishly unbearable to just fine when we find the right balance hormonally (and/or with antidepressant meds). That's the nature of the jungle -- the weather can change very, very quickly. Like the old saying that you can be in a dark room and your hand might be right next to the light switch and you don't know it. You just have to keep your courage up and keep on feeling for it.

bethany,

thanks for the info. i too kept my ovaries. the doctor wouldn't take them because they were healthy and he said i am much too young. i am only 35.

i don't know if its the hormones or what. i tried to get a hold of my dd this morning. his answering service said they couldn't get in touch with him until monday. i don't know about that. anyway i spoke with the doctor on call she said it sounds like i am having anxiety attacks. i am not sure if that is the problem or not. she called me in a RX for me to take until monday when i can reach my doc. she said it would help me to calm down.

i will talk to my dd first thing monday morning.
wish me luck....

jene

It sounds to me like you may be deficient in the hormone called progesterone. When it is low and estrogen and testosterone are in range, then you may feel anxious and irritable a lot of the time. It's hard to relax. You may feel critical and moody. Most doctors end up prescribing antianxiety medications. In "What's Your Menopause Type", Dr. Collins says "When GABBA receptors are deprived of input from progesterone and its metabolites, a woman can actually experience symptoms similar to those seen in withdrawal from drugs such as Valium and Xanax..." I would assume the withdrawal symptoms would be the trembling.

It's not clear whether you need estrogen right now but it seems that it might be a good idea to try progesterone. I usually don't recommend the otc progesterone creams but you may want to see if it helps you.

I could have written your post myself! I am experiencing the EXACT same things as you. I am not on HRT.

I was wondering if anyone knows that if in time, the symptoms of not having estrogen and progesterone will eventually subside.

Thank you all for your support.

thanks for the info Lauren. you may be right. the dd that was on call did prescribe an antianxiety drug. she gave me something called Hydroxyz PAM...the generic name. i am not sure of the brand name. it is 25m capsules to be taken every 6 hrs as needed. can you tell me anything about it. i couldn't find it on the internet. i would really appreciate some info.

i looked at the print out that came with my RX...the drug is called Hydroxyzine.

also, i really appreciate the valuable info. just knowing that i am not crazy or "weird" makes me feel so much better. thanks so much for the support. i was just about at the point of feeling like i was on the verge of losing my mind. boy, these hormones can really do a number on us can't they.

thanks so much.......jene

I have had an awful lot of weird feelings since this past January that are like drug withdrawal. One dr. says that the extreme hormone fluctuations (have ovaries) can give such feelings because your body really is over-dosing and withdrawing from its own hormones. The anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medicine (Celexa) gave me a really bad reaction as if I had taken some sort of poison. And the Ativan for anxiety made me feel as if my head were in one room and my body in another. Sure didn't want to live that way!

The good news here is that OTC progesterone cream really helped a lot of the weird feelings, especially the panic and anxiety which scared me so bad that I went to the ER twice in a couple of weeks as well as to a clinic and my regular dr. I thought I was either extremely crazy or about to stroke out or have a heart attack. I could never have imagined that hormone swings could do such damage. It took a few weeks to kick in, but I can't live without the progesterone cream now.

I still feel weird when the estrogen either bottoms out or rushes in. I am about to try Black Cohosh to see if the estrogen will even out a bit until it mostly goes away for good.

Hang in there. I know it seems as if you are going to crash and burn and it is so scary - that first giant plunge into the darkness of the Jungle. The sisters here will be with you as you try different approaches to finding a balance. At this point, I am no where near balanced, but just knowing that so many other women have had to hack thru the vines, too, lets you know you are not alone or CRAZY!!! And realizing that it is usually a hormone problem and not a life-threatening (although it is threatening to life quality) illness or a sudden mental disorder can offer some comfort and calmness to stop and light the torch to peek thru the vines. {{{{{{{Best Wishes and Empathy}}}}}