Help! cascade of hormonal events after Covid booster! Not sure where to turn next…

[Helga12]

Hi everyone

I started having menopausal symptoms when I was 47. As I had the merino coil I was just given a 50mg oestrogen patch which worked wonders and got rid of the hot sweats. All was running smoothly until about a year later when I started getting hot flashes and itchy skin. Went up to 75 patch and all was resolved. I then added Androfemme testosterone last year after a blood test showed i was ‘low’. I knew i was as had zero energy and could not do my normal level of sport and exercise. It worked amazingly and I got my zest back. Have always been fit and healthy and very very active.

after two AZ vaccines (no problems) I had my first Pfizer booster. Had a weird, but very short term reaction of huge sore boobs and stabbing pains in my ovaries!

Second Pfizer booster- very rapid and racing heart for 48 hours. Nothing else

Just had my third booster on Sept 27th and had huge effect on my heart. Was tachycardic and 140bpm at rest (normally 55). Couldn’t sleep due to tight chest and racing palpitations. Pulse settled in few days, but was then followed by sharp pains in my heart. Could not exercise for a week and then got shooting pains when i pushed hard cardio wise on my spin bike.

What has followed is this crazy anxiety. The heart has resolved. It’s been a busy an anxious: exciting time as I’ve had my 50th birthday this month. Have had this ‘weird’ underlying feeling all month. Feel irritable, anxiety through the roof. Shaking, vile insomnia to the point where I dread going to bed and a sense of dread. I’m tearful and so confused. I want the old me back ;( I tried so hard to enjoy all the birthday attention and love, but I was struggling to sleep and felt really weird all the time.

My GP said my coil hits the 5 year mark in March 2024 so I’m on the 3 month wait list to get this replaced. She also gave me 100 oestrogen patches to try. The question is is this lowering progesterone or too low oestrogen? I’ve heard too high can make anxiety worse so I’m nervous about trying it. Why don’t they do blood tests?!

One day I feel not too bad and things like reflexology and acupuncture seem to balance me, but it’s only temporary. Today is a bad day and I feel so angry, confused and a bit desperate. What is wrong with me and how do I remedy this?? Any ideas please? Honestly who would be a woman!!!! Feel like I’m going a bit mad

[MyStar86]

It’s a tricky one because oestrogen and progesterone affect us all differently too low oestrogen and my anxiety was horrific I didn’t feel like me everything was panicking me but when I upped the oestrogen I felt much better however I had terrible insomnia and it felt like my skin was crawling turns out progesterone helps you sleep so I started taking progesterone and now my hormones are much more balanced no insomnia and my anxiety is so much better I felt like the dark clouds lifted and I was a calm happy person again. It did take nearly 6 months to get to this point after changing hrt but once I added the progesterone it happened rapidly I could sleep and I felt much better. I hope this helps a little xx

[Helga12 in reply to MyStar86]

Thank you for your response and ideas. I appreciate you taking the time. It’s such a fine line isn’t it? I know too low oestrogen can cause anxiety, but too high can also cause an imbalance and I don’t need more insomnia on top of this. Every night is a battle ground for me at the moment and I feel anxious during the day too. I’m in such a pickle now that I don’t know if I’m anxious about sleep or just anxious full stop!

I’ve got some private blood tests being done on Tuesday so will see if anything is hugely deficient. If not then I’ll just have to hope this passes and things settle down. Thank you again xx

[MyStar86 in reply to Helga12]

Do you not take any progesterone? Without that I couldn’t sleep and wasn’t balanced I paid to speak privately to a menopause specialist and they can even do a prescription for you to get you started quicker vs the gp xx

[Helga12 in reply to MyStar86]

yeh I’ve been getting it from the merino coil, but i have read that after four years it loses its volume of progesterone so perhaps I’m experiencing a drop as it comes to the end of its life. It runs out in March. Could be that? I’m hoping the blood work will show if the levels are too low. If they are then I’ll pay privately to get a new one asap. Otherwise I’m on the NHS waiting list and will be three months. I can’t go that long with no sleep

[MyStar86 in reply to Helga12]

Fingers crossed your bloods show things up so then they can maybe give you the Utrogestan for the 3 months whilst you are waiting to top you up as it sounds like you really need it. You can talk to a menopause specialist privately and they could prescribe it to you if your gp won’t or you can even buy online if you do the online consultation but you have to put that you are already taking it as they don’t prescribe new medication but I used to do that when I wanted to try different hrt I just ordered it online and it was simple vs the gp battle xx

[Helga12 in reply to MyStar86]

Yes good ideas there. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to get the blood work done this week so inhale a bit of a clue with what’s going on. Thank you again xx

[wobblybee Administrator]

🙂There’ve been numerous discussions on various Healthunlocked groups re Menopause symptoms..you might find useful information on one of the posts

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

[Helga12 in reply to wobblybee]

Thank you wobblybee. I love this forum. Only found it yesterday. So lovely to share and support others. I’ll have a good trawl though older posts and see if I can learn more about sleep/ anxiety issues.

[wobblybee Administrator in reply to Helga12]

🙂 You can find links to all kinds of subjects, on numerous groups…just type the ‘subject or something related to it’ in the searchbox

[Helga12 in reply to wobblybee]

I’ve been n the asthma one for years now and had seen other topics come up on offer, but never spotted this menopause one! What a result! So glad I’ve found it!