Pre-menopause, cycles and BG

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gll

gll

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Hey all.

So when I was at my initial consult with the nurse to get bloods done, I had mentioned that I hadn't had a period in a while so she added in FSH level blood tests.
It came back at 41.8 (normal range 3-10 and over 30 generally indicates menopause).
Not much has been said apart from its likely peri-menopause given that test plus no period.

BG was (and still is to some extent) wild and very much out of control.

Since starting insulin, bgs have reduced from average of 22-30 to around 12-16 my periods have come back (sorta).

I can bleed (heavily) for a day or two, stop for a day or two, start again and have this start stop thing for a couple of weeks. Then I get a "clear" break for a week and its back to the on/off cycle.
BG seems to be lower in the "off" week.

I guess my question really is:
Is my lowering bg letting my body have a period and then the period is pushing up my bg causing it to shut it down, bg falls and restarts period causing this erratic cycle?
Is this normal for pre-menopause to have nothing and then total erratic-ness regardless of bg?

I'm trying to hold off talking to my healthcare team about this until my bg is more at target but bg has been stalling for a couple of weeks now (and rising a bit) and I'm getting a bit fed up with it.

Is there anything the GPs can actually do to help stabilise my periods/hormone swings? (gp or referral)

Would love to hear your experiences of what "normal" is 🙂

Have DSN on Friday and can raise some questions with her but not sure if she would be the appropriate person to start with.
 
Hormonal swings can mess with BG. It’s worth talking to the GP about your erratic bleeds as there are several ways to manage it depending on what suits you and what stage of peri menopause you’re at - sometimes just progesterone based hormones are used (mirena or tablets) sometimes a combination of oestrogen and progesterone (cream, tablets, or patches). Erratic bleeding is common in peri menopause and can go on for years. Once your hormones are more controlled you’ll be able to see if your BG is more predictable.
 
thank you 🙂

been a while since things were described as "normal" :rofl:

Will get onto GPs when I can face the queue and hold music for half n hour 😉
 
Yes there is anything a GP can do, but have to say both me and my sister found lady GPs far more help than men and considering we lived in different towns so totally different GP surgeries, I don't think we were exceptions.
Question - do fibroids happen to run in your family?
 
trophywench said:
Question - do fibroids happen to run in your family?
Click to expand...
Not that I'm aware of.
I lost mum when I was 7 so there's huge gaps in my family history and I can only rely on info from my Aunt (mum's sister) to try and fill in some blanks.

I've always had heavy/painful periods since I started them. I gave up with trying various contraceptive pills to tone stuff down due to constant side effects (everything from my skin being on fire from head to toe to just bleeding every other week).
 
I have PCOS and used to have metformin prescribed for that for years before I was diagnosed with type 2 three years ago.
I wish I had some useful info for you but I am completely clueless about menopause and wish I wasn't. I have been perimenopausal for over twenty years now and I am sixty and still having erratic periods. For me I don't see any correlation between my blood sugar levels and what happens with my bleeding.

I do see heavier bleeding and worse blood pressure when I am under stress and that also causes blood sugar levels to rise - but in the absence of stress I sometimes get heavy bleeding and no sugar level rise happens for me then.

If I eat a high carb meal once in a blue moon I can get a heavy bleed - so for me it looks like sugar rises can cause bleeding but not the other way around.
 
Funny you mention BP. I have been monitoring all week and this morning I put down my machine and decided to try again later - was a tad high. Was having big cramps at the time and sure enough, all normal again now 😉
 
During the perimenopause I had very, very heavy and irregular periods. Went to my GP and asked to be put on HRT tablets which solved the problem with my periods. It didn't solve the problem with blood sugars though. I'm type 1 so am on two insulin regimes, the background one is the one I am continually reducing. It's slowing down now (eight years later!). Solving the period problem did help me concentrate on blood sugars though. Not sure if this helps but the body can do weird things during the menopause (Pre , post and during!).
 
The body is a weird beast, I had a total hysterectomy at age 32 due to a precancerous ovarian cyst and was told that I would get menopausal symptoms fairly soon after due to the change in hormones, I never did and haven't to this day 40 years later so consider myself very lucky to be spared all that.
 
got a (female) GP appointment booked for 22nd 🙂

thanks for all the replies x
 
gll said:
got a (female) GP appointment booked for 22nd 🙂

thanks for all the replies x
Click to expand...
There was an interesting interview on BBC Breakfast about menopause this morning. If you can get it on catch up if you didn't see it.
 
Well that was a waste of time (I think)

She called nearly 3 hours late without apology, rushed to shove mefenamic acid onto a script and told me to book in for bloods and I've to call for the results.
Clearly actually making follow up appointments is above her pay grade and has no clue what its like to deal with reception to get stuff done in a timely manner.
I then had to say and then what? Who do I need to speak to once blood results are actually in (didn't even say what she's testing for) "oh any hcp, I'm just a locum here"
Also mentioned more fluid building up so kidney function bloods for that with the same phone for results as she can't adjust water tablets without results. I don't want more tablets, I want someone to help work out why its happening as my bp hasn't budged. Uggh.

0 chance to talk about the impact its having on my bg management, tiredness, and life, she just heard cramps, heavy, clots and was like there ya go.

Will phone tomorrow to book in bloods because I was just done by that point.
 
It’s frustrating. The tablets should help with the heavy bleeding. If they don’t there are other options but you would need to try the first ones for a bit. I don’t know how old you are. From around the age of 42 I’ve had times when I had no period for 3-5 months then times when I had heavy bleeding and times where I’ve had prolonged bleeding. I did have some investigations as a scan showed potential issues with my womb lining but other than that it’s just been bloods every now and then to check if I was anaemic or not (at one point I was so anaemic I needed a blood transfusion). There are a few books about menopause that I wish had been around when I began this phase of life. Dr Jen Gunter’s menopause manifesto was very helpful for me in understanding what was going on in my body. Peri menopause can last a long time and the changes include heavy bleeding for many people. I’ve been on various hormones to control the bleeds and give me a more regular cycle. I had a mirena for a while which was great until I bled it out. Norethisterone worked for a while for me. I’m now on HRT patches but I want offered them until I was 48. I hope you find something that works for you.
 
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