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Weird Adrenalin Rushes
I'm brand new to this wonderful forum, and wondering if anyone can address this problem -- or rather symptoms.
Am in menopause and last period was about 15 mos. ago. Have decided to do this "cold turkey," so I'm not on HRT. For about the last 6 months, I will often awaken in the middle of the night with an "adrenalin rush" kind of feeling -- sort of like the feeling one might get standing at the top of the Empire State Building and looking over the edge. These are not anxiety attacks -- I had those many years ago with mitral valve prolapse and no longer have the anxiety attacks. This is different, and they only happen at night.
Am wondering if these adrenalin rushes are a result of menopause? I've done some research, but haven't found any answers.
Thank you !!
Hi Robbie,
I'm not sure if this is what you're having, but when I was going through perimenopause, I would have similar feelings at night. I would wake up, and feel sort of a pressure in my chest, that would then rush outward through my body. It would feel like all of a sudden, my blood vessels would open up and blood would surge through them.
It finally went away after a few rough years. I'm wondering if maybe you're not completely through with menopause yet?
If you have other symptoms, be sure to see your doctor. I'd hate for you to assume it was nothing. Are you sort of asleep when these happen? Is it possible it's part of a dream?
Catherine, thank you! You have described it to a "tee." Though it certainly could be associated with a dream, I'm thinking it's more likely menopause-related, since it happens on such a regular basis. The feeling does start in the chest and rushes through the body, just as you explained your own symptoms.
While menopause has been uncomfortable for me at times, it has not been debilitating for me in any way, so I have chosen not to do HRT. However, I'm thinking for overall health I should do something "natural," but I am only beginning to do the research on what I should take -- or apply. Any suggestions?
Thank you so much for your help. You are the first person I've talked to who knows what I'm experiencing.
I am menopausal and have MVP as well so I know what the MVP does. I get the adrenalin rush just prior to a hot flash around 4am. The rush continues through the hot flash and then I get the chills and the pounding stops. I have been on a beta blocker for years to keep this feeling at bay due to the MVP, but it doesn't work during a hot flash. Increasing HRT has helped but not my favorite choice. The Dr. said menopause has hit me very hard compared to a good deal of patients. Oh well.
Wow! I just posted about my weird sleep symptom above, and just now read this thread. I also have MVP, and I get the nocturnal panic attacks too! The feeling is just exactly as described. I'm also on a beta blocker for the heart palps and "skips," for 10 years now. My "panic attack" typically happens around 3am! I also get them during the day, but much less frequently. This is amazing how alike our symptoms are! And it sure is comforting to know that its normal!
I'm soooo sorry I never got back to you! How are you doing? I was on HRT for about 6 years, and I truly wished I had never started it. I guess it all depends. Some women feel they couldn't get through perimenopause without it. For me, it seemed to cause alot of other problems (GI, migraines, etc.). We have to pay the piper some day, and come off it, so I figured I'd rather get it behind me.
Randi.....I just answered your other post, then found this one! I'm on a beta blocker too. I don't have MVP.....but I wonder if those of us with high-powered sympathetic systems might tend to have this nighttime rush, more than other people.
One thing that I found weird.......I was put on Toprol XL for high BP and just having too much adrenalin around.....but I began getting skipped beats when I was put on it. Everybody (including the doc), kept saying that it was to treat skipped beats and that probably wasn't causing them. Well, when I came down on the dosage of my beta blocker, my skipped beats went away!! So I'm convinced it was actually causing them.
I think "hot flashes" affect all of us differently. I was extremely hot all the time, in perimenopause, and I actually would have "cold flashes". I also would get sudden episodes of nausea, and feeling like I was going to pass out......which are all symptoms of an unstable vasculature......which is what happens with hot flashes. This is a time in our lives, when our vessels can go crazy!
The panic attacks for me were AWFUL. I would have them EVERY night for a long time. Who ever thought I would look forward to getting older, but I just knew that I would eventually get through this. I still have a few symptoms, but for the most part, it has passed......YAY!!
So hang in there everybody! Better times ahead!
What is MVP? I too get adrenalin rushes right before a hot flash and I get them about 4, 5 or 6 times a night, not to mention about every 2 hours during the day. i am concerned that the lack of sleep will have a deleterious effect on my health. i am really dragging by the afternoon. As far as better times ahead, I hope so, but this has been going on for about 8 months or so and I have read about women who have hot flashes for years. Yuck!
Hi rrs,
My guess is it is a sudden vaso-dilation. A hot flash is a dilation of our superficial skin blood vessels. Something interesting......we feel hot when the vessels in our skin are dilated, and cold when they are constricted. Our core body temp might be completely normal, but if our skin blood vessels are dilated, our skin's nerves perceives it as being really hot. Same with cold.
I rarely had hot flashes. Instead, I would have these strange feeling of surges, and also nausea and feeling that I was going to pass out. I think these other feelings can also happen when our more superficial veins dilate. We can have alot of blood stored in dilated skin vessels, and I would imagine it can wreak havoc to our inside organs too. The thing that drives most women crazy during perimenopause, is the vascular funkiness that can happen. Most of the time, our vessels dilate or constrict for a good reason..........like it's hot out or cold out, or we've eaten a big meal, or we need more water, etc. But during perimenopause, our vessels get big, then small, then big, then small, for no good reason at all! That's why we have all these funky, scary symptoms......from hot flashes, to nausea, to feeling faint, having surges, etc., etc.
At least that's my theory!
wow! i thought i was just crazy! i keep describing these adrenaline surges to everyone and no one knows what i'm talking about. it feels almost the same way it feels right after someone cuts me off in the car or a dog runs in front of my car. something like that. it must be menopause!
I have been going through menopause for the past 10 years now. I have not taken any HRT. For the past 3 months I newly started having adrenaline rushes at 4:00 am, followed by hot flashes. So I just did a Google search to see if my rushes had anything to do with menopause and it brought me to this site. I do know exactly what Mitral Valve Prolapse is and I do not have it. Also my hot flashes are only in the early hours of the morning and confined to only my stomach and hip area after awakened by a rush. Sometimes I have to get up and walk around for the adrenaline rushes to stop.
So in summary....... I am having them too!
I have MVP ( Mitral Valve Prolapse) and have them also:) Not only do I feel the adrenaline rush- my sinuses can smell the adrenaline! It is the weirdest thing....my heart will start pounding fast and furious and I get hot and then the smell fills my nose! Adrenaline has the weirdest smell too- it smells like a weird chemical. Have you ever smelled red ant hills when you are digging in your garden? They have a pungent, acrid odor- the adrenaline smells mildly like that.
I was tested years back in 2000 and I was producing too much adrenaline then too. Never had any problems till I had a tubal ligation and went off the birth control pill in 2000. Then the adrenaline and the MVP and my hormones just went crazy. Somehow- being on constant levels of hormones in BCP keeps things under control all over your body. Well, progesterone is the precursor to the adrenal gland hormones so it's easy to see how they are linked biologically.
It happens to me at night normally but had one occur during the day recently. Went up a flight of stairs at the library and my heart went out of control. It's scary.
Im so glad I found this page....I thought I was going nuts..I have these rushes all the time....I have them during the day also......I work nights so I dont know if that makes a difference...I get this odd feeling then I get what I describe as a fight or flight feeling...a rush or surge through my body,,it last about a minute then is gone..I have to many docs in the last month and they say these rushes can happen with hot flashes or instead of...its so nice to see that Im not alone...thank you
valeriecrafty - that's what is happening to me, except I work during the day. The HRT has gotten rid of my hot flashes, but the anxiety and rushes are awful. Will ask my GYN when I see her in May. It does make you feel like you're going out of your mind.
I was talking to my sister last night who is 1yr older than me (48),,and told her whats been going on with me and she said "yeah I have them all the time",,I asked her why she didnt say anything and she said why let people know?...lol.....I told her because it will make u feel better also.,,,I dont know why women think they have to hide these weird meno things...
I think the vaso motor instability that hormone fluctuations can cause can make us feel tons of weird feelings.
I used to feel that rush, then get horribly nauseous, and feel like I was going to pass out. What fun! If I would be out shopping, I'd have a panic attack with those feelings, and just run to the car. Man, I hated that! Its hard to convince yourself you're not going to pass out, when you feel like you are!
I am so glad to find this page. I am 42 and have been experiencing the middle-of-the-night adrenaline rush thing for a while now, but more frequently lately. It was scaring me to death-I wake up and get the chest-rush thing, and then sometimes will feel faint, even while lying in bed! I have been worked up cardiac-wise to the hilt with no findings, although I've had trouble with my heart racing for years. I take Verapamil for that, and the racing has definitely decreased, but I still get the 3am wake up weirdness regularly. It is so annoying and makes me not want to go to sleep. It has occasionaly happened during the day, but I can most often count on it at 3am. I'm told perimenopause can last for years-I wish I could fast forward through this part. I've often wondered if this is just going to be my version of hot flashes. (sometimes I get hot, sometimes I get cold and shakey- who knows)?! I'm just very relieved to know I'm not alone.
Hi misskat,
I would get those cold flashes too! And yes, I would feel like I was going to pass out, even when lying down!
The one thing good about all this junk is that you can be sure that it will eventually pass! It might take a few years, but it WILL pass! You are definitely not alone. Hang in there!
Hello, I am a "newbie" and am so glad I found this forum. I am 35 and have had these wild symptoms for 3 years, the cold/hot nasties I call them. Last night was the first middle of the night rush, and to be honest it did scare me. My husband is working out of state and we have four children. I just attributed the symptoms to stress!! Any suggestions for survival through this wonderful time of life??
Wow! So many of us having these! My adrenaline rushes feel like huge electrical surges with strange tingling and can leave me trembling and exhausted. After a very severe one, I wound up in an emergency room with my whole body feeling as though it was on fire. Several helpful things, girls:
1. Magnesium supplements have been demonstrated to relieve MVPs, and to help calm the entire system. (Check the web, you'll find loads of commentary.) One supplement I've found good (except it's too sweet) is Natural Calm Raspberry-Lemon.
2. American ginseng helps with many symptoms. (It's milder than, say, Korean ginseng, which can be too stimulating. See what Susun Weed has to say about the ginsengs :-))
3. B vitamins!!!!
4. Meditation, yoga, stretching, slow breathing. Don't underestimate how much these can help. Give yourself time for them, and enjoy! :-)))
I've been getting lately what I call heart pounding in my gut, if that makes sense. I wake up during the night in a panic-like mode. I sit there and wait until it subsides, but it scares me. I usually take 500mg magnesium in the morning and another 500mg at night. I didn't take my nightly dose while I was on vacation recently because I was afraid of not being near a bathroom.
FINALLY!! Someone else like me! I have had these adrenalin rushes for six years, have seen my primary care physician, OB/GYN, a neurologist, and an endocronologist and all had no idea what I was talking about. Yes! These rushes give me the same feeling as if I was looking down from a tall building or a barking dog rushed out at me. Very uncomfortable creepy, crawly feelings in my arms and legs day or night up to 10+ times a day. Sometimes it coincides with hot flashes, sometimes not. Not that I'd wish these "episodes" on anyone, but such a RELIEF to know I'm not alone in this. At first I thought I had ALS but am still here so I assume it's not life threatening. Although, I do wonder about long-term damage...
hi all,
i was just googling my symptoms again and came across this website (again). i was reading through this post glad to have found some others with this weird symptom when i saw my own post from Nov 07! how funny.
i guess i've had these rushes for a while now! they seem to come and go. i have been having them again!
i like the description of the feeling of standing on a tall building and looking down. that's just what it feels like. no pounding heart or anything like that. just a flow of adrenalin. weird.
i have started taking L-Tryptofan and that seems to be helping.
if anyone else has a follow-up, that would be great!
I'm glad I found this site. I realized I'm not the only one experiencing these types of scary hot flashes. My hot flashes are atypical when I compare them to other women I know. Mine start with a feeling of voidness in my chest, it almost feels like my heart has slowed down considerably and then a rush of heat radiating out from my chest up to my head and down to my feet it's also accompanied by palpitations and I also get a dizzy feeling. These flashes are so intense at times that I have sometimes thought I'm having a heart attack. Once they subside I'm usually very shaky/trembling and cold. These flashes have left me with anxiety to the point that I take antivan during some of these episodes to calm myself down. The other symptom I get that I haven't seen addressed here is that I usually have to go to the bathroom and have a bowel movement during or right after a hot flash. Has anyone else had this same symptom?
Hi everyone, I hope someone can relate or help, I am going to be 47 in 3 weeks, I had a hysterectomy 3 1/2 years ago but left 1 ovary, I don't know if I am in menopause or what is exactly going on, I also have hypothyroidism,I had my thyroid checked with the blood work in late August of this year, I have been on the same dosage for years, So Help please! I have been having like anxiety attacks mainly at night, sometimes during the day, my haert just feels like it is going to jump out of my chest, every now and then hot flashes, not often though, I wake up now almost everynight at 4:30 or 5:00 am it used to be like 6:30 or 7:00 every morning and generally always slept right through the night not any longer though, I can't stand these anxiety attacks! I also will not go on hrt's family history of breast cancer. Help Please.
OMG! So glad to finally find others with such similar symptoms. I'm 42, always been in pretty good health, weight etc, but don't get enought exercise. Type A personality for sure. :-) Went through a bout with panic attacks in my 30's. Never saw a doc, just found ways to manage. Now, probably in peri meno, I've got a new thing going on. Wondering if anyone else describes their symptoms like these:
It begins just as I have drifted into sleep. I wake up to a "fullness" feeling in both my arms (all the way down to my hands) and both legs from the knee down. It feels like blood isn't flowing OUT of my arms, but filling up. Lasting for maybe 20-30 seconds. It's like the calm before the storm... Then bam! A rush with a pounding heartbeat for another 30 - 40 seconds (and sometimes a little tremor-like feeling) and finally everything calms down. I have noticed my feel fell clammy afterward. (BP during these episodes run 120/80 pulse 80. But remember it's out of a nearly dead sleep. Normally would be about 105/66 pulse 66)
So what sucks is that the second I drift back into sleep it all begins again. So - about every 10 - 20 minutes I'm shaken out of what might have been a nice sleep, right into hell. This goes on ALL NIGHT LONG! Pretty much lasts just one night. I have tried sleeping sitting-up, but it happens then too. But if I get up and "OCD on the internet" (ha ha) or just stay awake, it stops. By morning I'm exhausted.
They come months apart but are coming more often, and lasting longer. They originally began the way most of you have described. Waking up a couple of times to a rush, and pounding heart. But now they're just creepy.
Finally saw the Dr. Had an EKG (of course its fine) She thinks it's peri meno too. Started BC pills for the hormones and will have bloodwork next week. I'm sure it'll all come back "normal", whatever that means! Just waiting for the next night of Hell to surprise me. And darn it, I used to love bedtime!! I'm just glad to find many of you having close symptoms. But, does anybody feel the fullness thing ahead of it, though? Thanks gals, and best to you all.
I have these symptoms, but a bit different. I am 45, healthy, very active, not overweight, non menopausal (I think) I have regular period still and no signs of it stopping. BUT I get this adrenalin pumping through my body and it can last all day. I have it now and have had it all day, I don't have an elevated heart rate (its at 62 beats per min) which is my normal resting heart rate. I don't have any other anxiety symptoms either. I just have the adrenalin feeling and the only relief I can get is to try and do stuff that elevates my heart rate, but as soon as I stop its still there. I hate it, I'm going nuts.. my hands start to shake as well :-( and I am very thirsty at the moment and have drank heaps of water. Is this the same thing? any advice please...
I too have been experiencing these rushes. They seem to start somewhere around my chest or throat area and then they rush out of the top of my head. Very strange. Sometimes they are hard to explain. I am in Menopause but I take Bioidentical hormones to control hot flashes.
I finally found other people who are having the same symptoms that I have been having for about 3 to 3-1/2 years now. I started out having surges only at night, sometimes with a hot flash, sometimes by themselves. I then began to have them during the day as well. I never have hot flashes during the day--only nighttime. My GYN followed me for about 2 yrs with frequent exams and ultrasounds, but nothing was ever found. They have gotten much better, and I have found that mind-over-matter works very well--I just tell myself "Oh no, I am NOT going to this place. Be calmmmmmm." and they seem to fade away. I started menopause in 3/06. To be honest, my younger brother says he has the same thing--but attributes it to stress. Who knows?
I am 33 years old and experiencing lightheadedness, and feeling as if I am going to pass out while attempting to sleep. In November of 2006, I quit smoking and stopped taking the birth control I had been on for years. In January of 2007, I got strep throat for the first time in my life. I had strep throat repeatedly seven times! I would test negative after antibiotics and days later, would get it again. FInally, my doctor gave me 2 types of antibiotics that I had to take with very specific instructions ( I forget their names right now, but do have them written down) after the last dose of medicine...the following morning I was in class (college student in my 30's) and I got really hot, broke out into a cold sweat and began to feel like I was going to pass out! I was scared to death and I thought I was going to die! Thankfully it was the end of the lecture so I got to go outside and get air...cold, Cleveland winter air. It felt like it was helping. I got to my car and thought to myself, maybe I should'nt drive. I was scared though and there really was no one around in case something were to happen to me. I forgot my cell phone at home that day...very unlike me! I decided I felt good enough to drive. By the time I had driven about a thousand feet....it started to happen again! Thankfully a Walgreens was ahead. I parked quickly and just decided to walk back to the pharmacy and ask for help...at least there were people around and I wasnt alone in my car dying somewhere. I felt almost as if I was floating; I was getting tunnel vision and started to feel weak and limp like I was going to collapse. The pharmacist I spoke with looked at me like I was on drugs...which I was not! She gave me some water and called an ambulance. They took me to the hospital and ran some tests. I also remember specifically I had my period that day, because I had asked for a tampon from the nurse. They said I had mono, called my husband, and I went home. When I got home I immediately called my PCP and told her what had happened. I went right into her office and was re-tested for mono...coming back Negative...just as I and my PCP suspected. My PCP said that the hospital did not run a full test, and obviously found nothing else wrong with me so I was discharged. This was March of 2007 and this went on solid for four months. I was no longer able to drive a car, or finish out my semester at school. I felt like I was floating around all day getting boughts of dizziness, vertigo, lightheadedness, panic attacks, feeling like I was going to pass out, you name it...this was ruining my life! The doctors said it could be stress...I kinda believed them because I was in college full time with a double major, raising two children and a husband....life was stressful. However, I always felt like it was more than that. The doctors prescribed many medications, none of which worked for me...again probably why I thought this was more than stress. In August of 2007, the spells were far less frequent only happening once a week, so I decided it would be ok to return to school to finish out the last semester of school. Three weeks after the start of my fall semester, it all came back! I had to drop out, again! I decided to make my health my full time job. I went to doctor after doctor and was poked and prodded like never before. Two tilt table tests, breathing tests, a two day and two night epilepsy test, MRI's, CAT scans, syncope tests plus many more ...all came out negative, nothing, healthy as a horse. I had been told in the beginning and was still being told to keep eating a low fat 2000 calorie diet, eat an extra teaspoon of salt per day, and not to exercise. Sounds great except that I have gained 60 ponds since the start of my illness in Jan of 07! I have called an ambulance twice because of these night attacks and the paramedics and ER doctors both tell me they cannot find anything wrong with me,. And I have to tell you all, that feeling like you are going to die and NO ONE...not even a doctor can help you...is the WORST feeling in the world! By May 2008, I was sick and tired of going to the doctor and had learned to just keep out of the heat, keep a fan on at night, drink plenty of water and just live with it. By then I was only getting lightheaded once in a while and was starting to feel somewhat normal. Then last night, at about two in the morning I clicked off the TV in the bedroom and shut my eyes. Just as I was drifting to sleep....I rose up trying to catch my breath. I was lightheaded and dizzy and felt like I was going to throw up! Here we go again! I couldn't believe it! I'm panicking I thought to myself, just calm down. I was unable to sleep the whole night ( I write this still with no sleep). I clicked the TV and the light and sat up in bed the whole night hoping it would go away. I have probably had 12 of these attacks at night. All of the rest happened during the day. But one thing did occur to me this morning around 6am... tomorrow I should get my period. Looking back at the calendar I kept during these episodes...many of the BIG ONES happened right before or while I had my period. I made an appointment to see my GYNO and my PCP to check my hormone levels. Maybe theres hope... it is comforting that there are others out there who have spells that are similar. I wish I could just get diagnosed with something already so I can work on correcting it! I think at this point I will take most anything... anything curable that is!
I have been having such a similar thing. I am 62, post menopausal, using Estroblend (the Walmart equate to Estroven). When I go to bed I can be just settling into sleep and wham! I get an adrenalin rush that wakes me up. It doesn't last long but when I am just about asleep again I get another one. It is very frustrating. I have had some luck with flax of all things, but when it is too bad I can take half an Ambien and that will get me to sleep. The thing is I don't want to get hung up with Ambien as it has it's own set of problems. I am really hoping there is something diagnostic that can be discovered and something I can take that will help that is not a sleep or a psych med. Does anyone have any ideas?
I totally understand your description of 'wham' surges at night! This is a new symptom for me-like I needed more!
I have been getting the hot flashes, day and night, but this heart-pounding waking me up is new. So it's just adrenalin, and I'm not developing panic attacks? Yeah! I had just started to understand that the nausea and dread feelings were tied into the hot flashes, and went online to see if I could find answers or at least others who knew what I was feeling-I'm glad I found this! I am 51, and 2 years into menopause. Sleep is elusive, but I do find using Dramamine can help me sleep.
Thanks to all for sharing your symptoms and experiences. I'm so glad to find this resource and know I'm not the only one with this crazy thang goin on. I'm 49, perimenopausal. My surges happen only at night. The adrenaline surges started about 6 wks ago every few nights then every other night, now every night. There's the elevated heart rate 90-100 bpm, where 60's my usual at nite. Then there's a surge sensation in my core AND a freaky odor, like lori_ny described.
I've found some stuff that helps the rapid heart rate; there's a qi gong move where you pinch the end of your *left* pinky when the heart rate is going up. If I do this and hold on, oftentimes the rate stabilizes and lowers within minutes, even seconds. THen I can just go back to sleep. Try it, it might work; cant hurt. Works best when I can catch it going up.
If that doesnt work, I can take 1/4 beta blocker pill (atenolol/chlor) and that works in a few minutes; rate lowers and i can sleep the rest of the night.
A doc prescribed ativan. I tried 1/2 of the pill before bed last nite. I became aware of a slightly increased heart rate during the nite but was so groggy I fell back asleep. Slept better than most nites lately.
The thing that weirds me out the most is the odor. I could smell it very subtly the first few times a surge happened. Then it got more pronounced, so that I couldn't really ignore it. Then I had a "super surge" about a week or so ago, and smell the odor during the day as well now. It is a sweet, chemical odor usually similar to "fatwood" that you burn in your fireplace. I can smell it on my hands and arms. My son said he could smell it, but other people can't.
Lori described her odor as red ants; social insects emit a danger odor to warn of imminent attack. In yellow jackets it smells kinda like maple syrup. Maybe that's what we're doing?! (not that danger is imminent, but our body is reacting that way.) Adrenaline IS the fight or flight response...
I can mask the odor with essential oils to get a break from it. I'd love to hear if anyone else experiences that type of odor symptom with their adrenaline surge.
God bless
Oh my gosh! Cant believe I found you all. Was having that adrenalin feeling for months...scared me to death. Just as I was drifting off to sleep..i felt that rush which would jolt me out of sleep. Went to some idiot doctor trying to explain what I was feeling and she looked at me like I had 3 heads! Then I went to my gastro doctor and he said I had severe acid reflux. He put me on aciphex and the adrenaline feeling completely stopped! Had a mild one the other night but more than likely because I ate a brownie..haha! My gastro doctor said that menopause causes our digestive systems to not function properly. I do also have MVP so it could be a slight combo of both..however I do see a big improvement since Ive gone on acid reflux meds.
Reading all of your responses brought tears to my eyes. I've thought there was something wrong with me for so long, and playing doctor on the internet can be very scary!
I've described the feeling as "a bucket of adrenalin being dumped in my stomach". I get this same feeling when I do my first underwater somersault in the swimming pool with my son. :) Interestingly, I have had my heart checked due to palpitations - nuclear tread mill, ultra sound, etc. All was good but I still experience them - mostly in the middle of the night (3a for me).
A few things I've noticed:
1. DEFINITELY worse 1-5 days before my period (I'm 42 and still regular)
2. DEFINITELY worse if I drink alcohol
If there's a full moon and I combine number 1 and 2 above, look out, I feel like I'm going to die - literally, which stinks because I like wine after work and with dinner.
I think VitB helps (I have a liquid formula and it works well). I mix it with liquid potassium and a tablespoon of ground flax seed. I like the combo. Sometimes ibuprofen has helped when I take it before I go to bed - not sure why? I've also had to limit caffeine. Exercise helps a lot too. Still trying to get educated on Yoga/meditation. I would imagine it's great.
I hope this helps others. I know you've helped me. I was so worried and now without health insurance it just made the anxiety worse. I had never linked it to menopause symptoms. Keep sharing, Mindy
Relieved to find some people posting about this. I am 44 and experience something that sounds very similar. Usually it happens at night or when I am at rest like when reading a book. suddenly a strange sort of turning over or inside out sensation starts under my breastbone, then a wave of warm internal energy waves outwards throughout my body. It doesn't last long; usually a few minutes. Then I feel week and shaky and anxious (I am prone to anxiety esp during PMS). Usually I find my muscles are very sore and creaky for a day or so, even around my eyes. Feels like something was released or injected to all my muscles during hte episode. Like one of the other posters I also find that immediately after the flush or surge happens my bowels
go into over drive and i have to go to the bathroom.
These surges tend to happen during PMS and are more likely to occur after I have been through a period of stress.
Sorry to disappoint you youngsters, but at 66 mine have started up again. Glad to hear of some suggested helps, as MD's don't have a clue, even endocrinologists --- I've been forgetting to take my magnesium & calcium before bed, and will reintroduce, as I hadn't had these for a very long time and now realize I was on those supplements ... thank you whoever offered that information... mine also wake me... I don't recommend Ambien for those trying to sleep through it... bad history of hallucination, sleep walking, mid-fog. Have had first hand experience within family. Am trying a new MD, will post if we find anything helpful. Carolh
after suffering with thumping palpatations since sept o8 i read on here that magnesium and calcium helps ive got it tried it and it does but why does it help what does it do does anybody know please and whats the safe dose per day to take does anybody know and does it cause heartburn
Like a lot of others who found this forum, I too felt like crying. I have had lots and lots of different menopause symptoms for several years and now I've got another one. The adrenalin rush feeling started a few days ago and it is exactly as described. I had just laid down and I could feel the blood rushing from my feet to my head and back again. It was really weird and scary. Its great to know I'm not alone. I'm so frustrated with this menopause craziness and just want to be normal again! I live in the UK and would like to know if anyone knows of a doctor here who specialises in menopause problems. Every doctor I've seen over the years keeps telling me theres nothing wrong.Maybe its about time some of these doctors took a look at these forums and realized we're not hypochondriacs! All the best to everyone and try to stay well.
Yes. I am sooo glad I found this page. Me, too! I have the same feeling and I have the bowl movements with it. I have cold flushes and I am shivering and my body cramps. I tried Evamist which did not help. Now I got Depot Provera (progesterone) and it seems to be a little better. I got huge bruises on my legs and occasional headaches. My husband says that women after 40 are ticking time bombs and that's exactly how I feel. How much longer do I have to suffer? It all started after the removal of a tumor on my parathyroid. Good luck to all of us!
well, at least I know that lots of other women experience this and that alone helps. I've been taking Women to Women's Herbal Equilibrium which is supposed to help hormonal imbalances. Frankly, I don't know if it's helping or not, so I've discontinued my subscription. My ob-gyn attributes it to "hormonal flux." With me, the surge always occurs upon awakening in the early morning, followed by a hot flash. Before I understood that it was related to perimenopause, it felt like a feeling of intense dread that radiated out from my chest. Now, it doesn't cause me as much alarm, and I try to do deep breathing through the surges.
I am new to these "rushes" too. Mine start in my stomach and fan out to my arms (normally my left arm). After a night filled with these, my left arm will feel cold all day. This is really affecting my sleep and would love to have a natural fix for the problem. I have taken 1 black cohash and 1 wild yam capsule per day, sometimes it works, sometimes not. Any suggestions for natural remedies for this?
It's so good to hear other women talking about what I've been feeling - for the past couple of months around 4:00 am I feel myself gradually waking up to this horrible feeling and I know exactly what's coming - I feel it start from my stomach and it seems to make me want to stretch and then the "rush" feeling spreads out to my legs and arms and I know I won't be able to go back to sleep again for the next couple of hours... and then it's time to get up for work! ARGH!!! I've been told it's probably anxiety, but somehow it feels hormonal to me... so frustrating. I've been prescribed anti-anxiety meds but they are horrible and make my symptoms worse so I'm back on the bio-identical progesteron cream to see if it helps (I went through a bout of this 5 years ago and it worked then) so.... hopefully! Thanks for sharing everyone, it's nice to know we're not alone in all this!
This blog has been a life saver, I thought I was going nuts. I posted earlier some symptoms, here are some other symptoms I have been experiencing dry eyes and a "buzzy" feeling inside me, food allergies have definitely gotten worse. Insomnia is such a big issue that I would cry almost every night. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went on a search and here is what I found. I started taking more calcium/D through out the day and right before bed. I started taking flax oil (yuck, but works), Spirulina (because I can't take B-vitamins--allergies) and black cohash and wild yam. I also started taking Gastric Soothe from Source Naturals and Absorb Aid since it seemed like I was getting more gas and burning in my stomach. This has helped tremendously. I fall asleep and if I wake up in the night I take a calcium with 1 black cohash, 1 wild yam. It seems to work. I also will take a homeopathic called Calms Forte that helps alot. It seems like a lot, but its better than prescription meds. I am going to get magnesium today since I have read alot about how that will help you fall asleep and stay asleep. I have also stepped up my exercising to burn off the extra adreneline that my body is making. The exercise seems to be key. I really try to get my heart rate up and keep it up for awhile. I'll see how this goes and report later on how it's working. This blog has been wonderful. Not that I want others to have the same problems, but I am so glad that I am not alone in this.
I stumbled on this blog yesterday - I am so glad others have the same problem. I didn't know what to call these "spells". They start in my chest then my upper body gets weak and then my arms sweat lightly. Sometimes I have to run to the bathroom, others I get thirsty - varies. I have been getting these for years now - I am ten year post menopausal. I take zoloft to cut them down and lorazapam every night. I get these rushes everyday at a rate of one an hour. Also at night - I never get sleepy anymore just fall asleep after hours of waiting in bed. My doctor told me to take estrogen so I got prempro but the side effects scared me - then bought estroven energy - took one yesterday - one hour later almost passed out and got a terrible headache in back of head that lasted all night. Doc also suggested I was having seizures (I doubt it). Has anyone had any luck getting rid of these. I'm at my wits end - also I can't exercise because it raises my body temp and I can't cool off to get to sleep. Thanks
I've been going through premenopause for the past year, at the age of 41. I've had a strange sensation in addition to the hot flushes going up and down my body, as well as cold flushes too. I'm using homeopathic remedies to handle the hot flashes as I've previously had a blood clot in my lung due to the birth control so HRT is out for me. I haven't had any surges for a while til today. I was having what I thought was I decaf coffee (turned out to be caffeinated) plus had a major adrenaline surge when heard very unsettling news. This surge is like a huge power surge going up my body into my head making me light headed and last year so was strong it tilted my vision to the left because my neck was 'slightly out'. My osteopath has put my neck back in, but today I felt huge surge without the tilting - thank goodness no tilting because I literally fell to the left. Has anyone had this - with or without the tilting and any ideas for what it is or how it can be treated?
I'm 48 and recently started having night sweats preceded by adrenaline rushes. I thought the adrenalin connection was my discovery! I searched the web today and found all of you. Sorry it wasnt my "discovery" but glad to see that I'm not alone. I started taking atenolol recently for high BP and noticed the adrenaline episodes have subsided but now I'm having more "day" flashes and the nite sweats have increased exponentially. I will try some of the rememdies I found here (so glad folks posted them). Good luck everyone!!
WoW..I have been going to my Dr. FREAKED because of this Sensation..for me it Only happens at Night, Only when I lay down, but I do Not have any "Hot Flashes" afterwards..I am 47, Perimenopausal..just as of yet have never experienced a Hot Flash (maybe I will be one of the Lucky FEW).
But Yea, When I lay down (At Night), I get this Weird Rush of Adrenaline Thru my Core, from the Chest Surging Down..My Dr.s Look at me like I have a Booger hanging out of my Nose, and 1 Of them is a Female Post Menopausal Woman.
I have alot of the Other MVP Symptoms, but have never been diagnosed with having that..perhaps I should have someone take a Listen to my Heart Huh ? Cause you can Hear if someone has MVP right !!
Awesome Forum !! I am No Longer ALONE !! YeaY !!
Thanks for all the information, ladies! I, too, began having adrenalin rushes (along with hot flashes) day and night. The adrenalin rushes made me think I had something terribly wrong, because I had only heard of hot flashes until now. I have been taking an Indian homeopathic treatment called Menoflav (which is red clover in a pill form). It has helped, but I will now try some of the other suggested helps, such as magnesium twice daily, calcium/vit D, B vitamins and L-Tryptophan. Many thanks to all contributors!
Hi Ladies,
So glad to have found this forum. I've been experiencing these odd rushes at night but couldn't really describe them. For me, they definitely feel like "being cut off on the freeway" or any other intense, immediate danger reaction. Sort of a sickening feeling. I am post-menopausal and have been on HRT for years but I never made any connection until now. I'm still going to mention these symptoms to my doctor at my next regular visit but at least now I have words to describe it and don't feel like a complete nut! Thanks to you all for sharing your stories.
I am 41 and haven't had a period for about 7 months. I had a blood test to check hormones, but it's not back yet. I have Mitral Valve Prolapse and have had panic attacks on and off since the age of 7.
I have had these nighttime "panic attacks" for more than 5 years now. I have no idea why they started, but now that I am off the pill and not having periods, they have gotten really bad! I wake up from sleep terrified, as you might be if there were a masked robber with a knife standing over the bed. My body is "crawling" with electricity and when they're really bad my body shakes. I experience a rapid heartbeat, thirst, diarrhea, faintness, tunnel vision, confusion, dimensions of terror unknown to this world, and all kinds of things I can't put into words. I feel completely psycho when this is happening.
I am very spiritual, too, so I feel like God is punishing me. I can't imagine what I have done to deserve this level of punishment.
Yes, it has ruined my life. I feel like I can't tell anyone. Like many others have also said, doctors think I'm mental. A neurologist looked at my symptoms and told me it was "stress" and I need counseling. Now I know it's hormonal. Or I have often been told "Don't worry, it won't kill you." But really, death would be easy in this case. What is hard is to live many years with this.
I'm glad I was able to find so many other souls who are experiencing what I am! At least what doesn't kill me makes me more compassionate to the suffering of others.
PeacefulOldSoul! The fact that your symptoms worsened when you got off the pill makes perfect sense to me. I have had the EXACT symptoms as everyone else: I'm awakened at 4 or 4:30 a.m. by either a feeling of impending DOOM and then adrenaline rush and then hot flash or just the doom or just the adrenaline rush.
Here is what has worked for me at various stages of this apparent menopause. I'm 51 and I eat mostly whole foods, very little refined sugar or processed foods, so besides loss of my period, this is the only symptom I have of menopause. But it is really bothersome. At times I have thought I would go crazy with the anxiety and I'm just not an anxious person at all.
I see a homeopath who diagnoses with electrodermal, which is nice because it is very precise. The first time I went in with these symptoms, the computer said I was low on POTASSIUM. I took homeopathic potassium drops and that fixed the problem...for a while.
The next time, the computer showed that I was low on TRYPTOPHAN. So I took that and the symptoms went away for a while.
The next time, the computer showed that I was low on ESTROGEN. I already take Deseret Biologicals homeopathic hormone drops that contain estrogen, its precursors and several others. So I increased the dosage from 1 drop a.m./2 drops p.m. to 5 drops a.m./15 drops p.m. Problem solved! For a while. I also started taking Enzyme Process Adrenal Support tablets. I also increased Enzyme Process Thyroid Cytotrophin from 2 tablets daily to 3 daily. I already took those because of hypothyroid.
The next and most recent time, I started taking homeopathic TESTOSTERONE. The computer had showed me a tad low on it at the beginning, but because it was borderline, my homeopath chose to not use it unless I needed it. The testosterone helped somewhat and then one night I mistook it for the other hormone drops, because the labels are just alike, which increased the dosage from 6 drops to 15 drops. It did the trick! But now I have increased it to 18 drops to get the same effect.
I have to say, that everything has worked FOR A WHILE. I'm just wondering where it ends and how many freakin' supplements I am going to have to take. The relief from anxiety is wonderful, even if it does not last forever.
Let me tell you one more thing I take to keep these symptoms at bay. And if I forget one little component of this regimen: estrogen drops morning and night (5&15), testosterone drops morning and night (6&18, 3 bovine thyroid tablets, 2 adrenal support tablets and what I didn't tell you about before is Thyromin by Young Living. This one is way expensive at $57 for a month's supply and I'd like to not need it because of that. I take 1 Thyromin in the a.m. and 1 just before bed.
I also go to an atlas orthogonist chiropractor to make sure everything is in perfect alignment. I don't think that staying healthy should be this expensive. I will get a physical in another week to see if I need to take pig thyroid (Armor) because the bovine is missing T3 or T4. Perhaps that would allow me to discontinue some of the rest of this.
Just sharing what I have done in case that helps anyone else. Electrodermal screening is a wonderfully precise diagnostic tool, but it does have its limits. At least it is better than what physicians usually do, which is guess. Hoping that the bloodwork of the physical will reveal something to tweak. But I'm going with natural healthcare.
Forgot to complete my sentence: If I forget one little piece of this whole regimen, I get at least partial symptoms at 4:30 a.m. So it's all working together for me.
I just don't want to need more and more like a drug addict needs more and more to get the same effect.
After having gone through this, I understand why people get on anti-depressants. I choose not to, because of the unknown side effects. I see many people with devastating side effects, such as personality change, doing things way out of character like leaving the husband and family and suicide. My husband is a pastor.
So, I'm a few months to 40, and have PCOS. I've been off the pill for about a year, and haven't taken my metformin for about 2 months.
in response to PeacefulOldSoul's description "I experience a rapid heartbeat, thirst, diarrhea, faintness, tunnel vision, confusion, dimensions of terror unknown to this world, and all kinds of things I can't put into words. I feel completely psycho when this is happening." EXACTLY!!!
so here I am, 3am in the morning, and I was preparing to drive myself to ER thinking I'm having a heart attack or stroke. I tried to get some sleep, but as soon as I start to doze, I start getting all those feelings you just described. I'm so glad found this forum.
The first time this happened to me was about 6 months ago, and I thought I was having low blood sugar because I doubled up on a dose on accident for my metformin that I take for PCOS. I took myself to urgent care the next day
because I felt it again the next day after lunch, now thinking it's a heart attack or something. They hooked me up to monitors, took some blood, when it was all said and done they said it was likely an anxiety attack. Since I'm going through a divorce, it didn't seem far fetched.
When I used to hear about Menopause, I couldn't fathom that these symptoms were part of the package. I cried a little, that made me feel somewhat better. I think I'll have to ride this out awake tonight. Wish me luck.
I had a complete hysterectamy in May of 2009. I was not really bothered with menopausal side effects until recently. I believe I am about to unlock a new and complex observation to the side effects of menopause. In July of 2011 I was diagnosed with schitzophrenia and bi-polar distorder. I am 42 years old. The doctors thought this was quite rare for my age. I have also had the overwhelming surges of adrenalin rushes where my brain feels like it has been energized and my body feels weak. These rushes are the most bothersome at night (4 a.m.). I will also feel the surge feeling in my chest and will often find sweat on my chest. I am also giving breast milk which I have been doing since my surgery. I have undergone some blood work and have found out that my prolactine levels are high. I am still waiting on my thyroid results and hormone levels. I had an mri done on my pituitary and it came back normal. However, I have still been researching the possibility of some type of disorder for my adrenialine gland. However, after reading this site I believe my condition is probably related to menopause. My anxiety is the most bothersome during the day. I simply can't sit still and nothing seems to satisfy or is contentful. I have found that my whole mood has changed and I look at things from a totally different perspective. I keep telling my family that I am trying hard to find my old self and am in the hopes that some hormone therapy will be of success. I was reading an article online about low estrogen levels and schitzophrenia and there is a connection between the two. I do take meds for schitzophrenia and for now those voices are gone. However, the more I research I am discovering more and more links of such said mental illness to menopausal symptoms. My entire interests in the things I used to do are gone. I find that I have no drive or ambition. Depression is severe which I am taking Effexor for. Has anyone out there heard of such related experience as menopause and schitzophrenia? Does anyone out there have high amounts of anxiety (the feeling of being wind real tight) throughout the day and if so what do you take for it? My whole family has been hit really hard with my problem and I can use any helpful information out there that I can get. I just want to be able to relax again and be content with my everyday activities. It has even got to the point that reading (one of my favorite hobbies) is not enjoyable because I lack the concentration to do so. Watching TV is a difficult chore because of the lack of concentration. Does anyone out there have concentration difficulties? I am trying to learn as much as I can so any and all input will be greatly appreciated.
WOW! So glad I'm not crazy! I'm post menopause but have had these adrenalin rushes for almost 20 years. Started in my forties as small "bursts" I would feel with each heartbeat. Now are large rushes through my torso. Every doctor(primary, cardiac, neurology,and gastrointestinal)treated me like I was from Mars. Tried treating it like it was anxiety with four different meds (didn't work). Decided to live with it but I'm sorry to say to you younger gals, it got worse as I got older. Only other person I know with it has MVP which I don't. Only my diabetic nurse practitioner said it might be some kind of hot flash. Ironically, I see my OB/GYN today and will be interested to hear his take on it. Might try the magnesium.
Hi everyone, so glad to have found this forum.
First of all, I cannot believe how many doctors are so freaking CLUELESS about this issue when it happens to SO MANY WOMEN!!!! Really, it's infuriating when these symptoms are so common yet here we are frantically trying to find info on the Net about it because they are in such 'tunnel vision' that if a drug company didn't make a pill specifically for it, they just don't know what to do.
I am a 36 year old female who has been experiencing a super fast racing heart, major palpitations and extreme adrenaline surges for 3 months now. It had gotten so bad that I literally thought it would kill me in my sleep, and I prayed that I would go quickly. It has been relentless and does not give up, not even for a day. I have spent 5 days in a row with a heart rate of over 120 bpm when my normal rate was 60 for years -- and my cardiologist simply said 'Well that's about normal, a little high but still normal.' Um, whaattt???
Anyway after much searching, many tests and finding an MD who is also a holistic MD (not easy to find, let me tell you) I have found out I was in an advanced stage of adrenal exhaustion. Many women over 30 will experience this in varying degrees, but do not think right off the bat it is perimenopause -- I bet if you were able to get the proper testing done (cellular nutrient testing, saliva testing and blood work, in addition to hair analysis) and have the right kind of INFORMED doctor, you will find this can be happening to you too.
We share many of the same symptoms and I can tell you right now that anti-anxiety drugs, thyroid meds and other prescriptions are NOT going to help. I am sorry but those are the very things that helped ruin my adrenals and it is a long road to recovery the holistic way, but just in the last 2 weeks I feel slightly better every day.
My doc has me on advanced multi-vitamin support with emphasis on Vitamin D, Bs and C (very important for adrenal recovery), a blend of ashwagandha/licorice/ginseng/astralagus for adrenal support, and numerous holistic medicines and tabs (from Heel) that are to help with the adrenal fatigue, adrenaline surges and palpitations. Yes, I am also taking magnesium too but not sure if it is helping or if it is a combo of everything.
Ladies, please, please PLEASE try to find a holistic MD that can help you before going the pharmaceautical route. There is so much more to your hormones than you can imagine and so many resources to find online. I'm going to include one below where you can read more about adrenal health (this is NOT my doctor by the way, but a very informative site about adrenal issues).
Good luck to all and as miserable and horrible as this is, it is somewhat comforting to read you are not alone.
Here is a link that might be useful: adrenal link
I'm 53. Have been having this horrible adrenalin rush feeling for about a month now. Seems like we all have some different symptoms. Mine last for minutes to hours. Day or night. Some days, some days not. It goes from my chest (heart area) to my head. Last night I was having a bad rush, and afterward a hot flash. Having no insurance right now, I was headed to the hospital when I found this forum. I'm thinking this is what is going on with me. Probably saved me thousands of dollars. I do plan to discuss this with a Dr. soon. But isn't it wonderful when a bunch of women come together and help each other out so much! No one in my circles has experienced anything like this. My husband tried to understand. He's as relieved as I am. I will come back and check for any ideas, hopefully will have some to offer. Happy health to you all....
Yeah, I was getting them at night. I'm pretty sure they'd come just as I was awakening, followed by a hot flash and this could be once/twice a night up to one every hour. Both very quick not too intense, but enough to keep me awake until they subsided. Then I started taking vitamin D with soybean oil. I've avoided soy for a long time since soy is supposed to increase breast cells and is an allergen to most, but read because it's a phytoestrogen some women claim it helps with menopause symptoms. I read some studies that said this isn't necessarily true, but I figured well it's in the vitamin D as a filler so I won't not buy it because it has soy. All my adrenaline rushes have gone away with the hot flashes! Hmmm...not sure if it's the vitamin D or the soy in the pill. FYI, I've had my vitamin D levels checked and they were low, and also my adrenaline levels which showed low cortisol in the morning. I did try an adrenaline support supplement and it did nothing so I thought I'd try some vitamin D. I'm happy with the results.
Just sitting here after another episode. I get mine after I eat, during the day. It feels like death. I have almost gone into the ER several times and it makes me afraid to be alone. This sucks. I am 52 and had a complete hysterectomy 2 years ago and am not taking HRT. I also have no thyroid gland and this feeling is very similar to hyperthyroidism feelings. My thyroid gland actually grew back once & I've been panicky that it could be growing back again! I get yridiculously hot-like blood boiling- then the horrible surge that goes from stomach to head. I can't catch my breath, can't swallow and my arms & legs get shaky & weak. Then, I get chilled and feel exhausted from head to toe. I also have terrible stomach pain & diarrhea often after one of these. It is terrifying and I'm glad I found this forum.
Hello everyone,
I, like many others on this site, am mightily relieved to find other fellow sufferers, which makes me feel that I am not completely mad. I am 69 and have been on HRT patches for 24 years! Each time I tried to come off them, the effects were horrendous (headaches, hot flushes etc.) I am also hypothyroid and on betablockers for blood pressure and ectopic heartbeats. I have been having these peculiar adrenaline rushes for 6 months now - every single night, sometimes waking me every hour, but more often 2 or three times. They start in the lower part of the body and move down the legs (and occasionally arms too) only lasting about ten seconds or so. But of course I can't get to sleep again. I feel constantly hot at the same time. It is just as some of you describe - a feeling of being about to fall off a tall building, when your legs turn to jelly. I sometimes get an odd feeling like this during the day when I close my eyes and begin to "drop off", but as soon as I open my eyes, the feeling passes.
I have recently tried cutting my patches in half, to try and wean myself off HRT which doesn't seem to make the problems worse so far, although I am starting to have migraines again.
I shall try some of the remedies you all mention and I am so glad to have found everyone here, because I have been unable to explain it to anyone. Thank you all, I am so relieved!
When I had my partial hysterectomy in Nov. 2002, I was unaware that menopausal symptoms would begin to occur soon after. In the spring of 2003 I began having 'panic attacks" that were more intense than my natural childbirthing experiences. I would be holding on for dear life through them as they would last about 10 min. on average. They would start with my heart racing and pounding, heavy adrenalin rush that would keep me pacing around and around, hot flash and skin flushing, sweating, shortness of breath, racing mind, tremors, not painful but yet the scariest thing I have ever experienced. It wasn't until on one occasion after I called the perimedics - once again - that a female perimedic arrived with the group and she thought it sounded like menapausal symptoms to her. I had no idea that menopause would be like this. I just thought I'd become warm sometimes and just stand in front of the open freezer and that would be that. Now I am faced with withdrawing from the anti-anxiety meds I was put on back then because I was diagnosed with "panic disorder". If I had only known that these symptoms, as extreme as they are, were part of "normal" menopause, I wouldn't be having to deal with withdrawal from this med. Oh well, lessons learned - the hard way as usual. I am honored to be female in spite of the hardships along the way.
I wake up each morning and about 20 seconds after opening my eyes I get a rush that runs down my arms to my hands.Like all my nerves/vessels want to explode. I assumed it was anxiety but maybe not? 9 years into menopause and still get occasional hot/cold flashes .They (flashes)are much better than they were when they started but they are still with me.This "RUSH" has been going on about a year.
D123 and anyone else reading this..I'm glad someone is continuing this post. Well here I am again pretty much(physically) where I was a few years ago. I was on Hrt for about 8 years, then off for about five. Started using the premarin cream off and on since about 2007. The last three years steadily 3x weekly. I recently wanted to take a break, and now I'm having the rushes and fuzzy thinking. This morning I had a rush (vasomotor I assume) and it felt like an electric charge went through my face and into my head. Only lasted for seconds but thought I was going to pass out. LOL I guess this is why they call hot flashes a power surge. :) Some kind of internal shaking at times (adrenalin rush)? I really think as soon as my numbers are good (BP and Cholesterol) I will go back on full HRT. I'm so tired of the fuzzy thinking and lack of focus not to mention the rushes and hot and cold flashes.
Even if no one reads or replies to this post, I'm thankful to have been able to get this out. Some doctors don't know about all theses symptoms or they don't believe in them. Thank goodness I had a book by Dr. Susan Love so that I knew I wasn't losing my mind. I need to get that book back out I guess.
Post menopausal for 10 years.
Thanks again for listening.
Wow! I am 58 and stopped having periods ten years ago. My menopause symptoms were fairly mild and I didn't realize I was having hot flashes other than a slight warm but kind of clammy feeling while going about my business. I am a property caretaker and work outdoors a lot as well as indoors but since it's always physical I thought I was just getting warm from the vigorous activity. I was feeling a lot more tired and always like I was dragging around. Keep in mind I was only 49 years old at the time and thought I should have a lot more energy so I went to a gynocologist and she recommended using hormone patches. I cut them in half even though they were supposed to be the mildest ones around. In any case about a year into using them I suddenly, one night while lying on the couch watching TV, felt a strong and unsettling sense of doom. I had no reason to feel this since nothing was going on my life to give me this horrific sense of almost panic, like I wanted to jump off the couch and run away from something. I felt an anxiety that was not attached to anything bad so I just forgot about it. Then it happened again sometime later, not sure how long, but then this started to become a regular thing. Usually I would just fall asleep around 11:00pm and five to fifteen minutes later I would wake up with my heart pounding and the same horrible feeling of doom. Then it started to happen randomly at any time of day and increase in frequency at night. I could be driving a car or walking down the road. I discontinued the hormone patches and told my doctor who was a woman! She looked at me like I was nuts and gave me some pat answer about having to just relax or exercise more or something stupid. I am and always have been an extremely health oriented, fit, eat-right kind of person. I take vitamins and supplements and it insults me when someone can't see that I'm intelligent and want an intelligent answer. Geez! Back then I tried to find answers online and found nothing, absolutely nothing! Until now. Thank GOD!!!I am not alone...You have all told me that in one way or another there are symptoms that accompany this menopause thing and that they taught us nothing about this when we were in school or any time later. I don't understand why women haven't been more forthcoming in the past with how they experience menopause. I have finally realized after reading these blogs that my adrenaline rush/anxiety attack/feeling of doom is immediately followed by a hot flash. I am now in my tenth year of this and have tried so many things but have noticed that my big coffee addiction, nightly glasses of wine, and a sugary dessert triggers the worst attacks. Remember I said I was a health person. Well sometimes I fall off the wagon and have a toddy or glass of wine in the evening and have chocolate cake for desert and maybe a cup of good coffee....life is too short not to enjoy.....but I pay the price. I have started taking calcium with vit. D, soy tablets, black cohosh, magnesium and evening primrose oil. I have cut out red wine and hard liquors, no chocolate at night and less coffee. The intensity and frequency has subsided quite a bit but not altogether. One never knows if it's just time for them to start going away or if all I am taking is helping. God only knows but it sucks to have it at all. I am sleeping a lot better but occasionally am awakened by it and rarely have them during the day more than once or twice. Thank you all for posting your experiences and I pray for all of us that someone can really understand and figure this out, not necessarily with drugs but something. If the medical world would at least acknowledge it and not look at us like we are crazy that would help. This is a start. Knowing what it is helps a lot.
Also - so glad I found this. My doc looked a bit puzzled about a year ago when I tried to describe these tiny "poofs" that I feel radiating from my core and out to the tips of my limbs several times in the night - especially noticeable when turning onto my back. They are not uncomfortable - and if I knew they were not threatening I could almost learn to enjoy them. They are just a tiny flood of tingles. I agree that they resemble the tingle that accompanies a startle. They are different from and often precede what I have come to call a legitimate "HOT FLASH" ... and I noticed them at night for about a year before I started regularly experiencing hot flashes at night. Now - I'm even having a hot flash or two during daytime activities and I know that might possibly get worse before it gets better. But I've only noticed the little bursts at night. I suspected they might be menopause related .... but some of the postings here have convinced me that they are. I am 54 and had a hysterectomy leaving me with both ovaries about 10 years ago. I started noticing changes and occasional symptoms about two years ago ... but now I'm regularly experiencing all SORTS of stuff that keeps me awake at night. I agree that alcohol use exacerbates the situation. I am presently not doing any HRT. I do have mild mitral valve regurgitation - for what it's worth. I see that several people here have tied all of this to a mitral valve prolapse, for some reason.
This is so interesting and a comfort to know there are others who have these symptoms. I have started taking Estroven and I am wondering if it is making my symptoms worse! I feel more fatigued, more tense and my hot flashes are just as bad as ever! Theres lots of good information here and I will try the magnesium I am 62 and have a strong history of breast cancer in my family so HRT isn't an option. My adrenaline surges are PAINFUL! Like an electric current running through my arms and legs, always preceeded by a feeling of doom (so strange) I'm a bit of a sugar junkie so I will also cut that down.
Oh wow I couldn't believe it when I seen all the posts that describes just what I'm going through too! Ya know what's funny though is I hear a lot of people telling their Doctors about the wooshy feelings and all the other stuff and NONE of the Doctors 'knows' what it is?? Strange! I think they hear about all these symptoms from women every day and they act like they never heard of any of it! And ya wanna know why? So they can order up test after test so they stay in business. It's a sick care plan not a well care plan. I too had told my Doctors how I get these head rushes while walking, my legs go into a jelly mode and I feel as though my feet are going out from under me, not to mention waking up short winded sometimes, or with my heart racing with shaking and I'm extremely hot all over. The Doctor said it was a panic attack. I too have MVP/heart murmer and I also have PVC'S and PAC'S. But the Doctors all 'never heard of it before' attitude! I take a beta blocker to help control my skipped beats, and have took the same drug for over 30 years. So now I'm in my 50's and am going through perimenopause but am still having periods. Doctor said he could count on one hand how many periods I have left, biy was he wrong! Then he said by the time I'm 55 I should be done with them. I can't wait! I hate having my periods and going thru the menopause thing. But at least I know I'm not crazy thanks to all of you who are or have gone through the same things.
I had the weird adrenalin rushes too. I mentioned it to my new (kaiser) Gyn on my "get to know you" visit and she shot me a look and said "thats not gynecological and you need to discuss that with your primary GP" - The original post here is from 2005! Its now 2012! Why don't our doctors know about this? Here it is on the poor hi-jacked gardenweb! I feel like it was so easy to find it by just googling any symptom! I have come here and read menopause posts many times and am thankful to you all for taking the time to post. It really has helped me to just know others are having similar experiences. If you are reading this and have similar symptoms please post. The numbers of women posting can make an impact. I think i will email this link to my doctor and then look for a new one.
I'm 52 and had been on hrt for @7 years because I spotted every day. and said Gyn took me off about 4 weeks ago. Now i go from hot sweats to cold chills back and forth all day and night. I was able to get the adrenalin rushes to stop once my kid left for college- lol. Sounds like I can expect them back :-(
Good luck girls!
I am SO excited to have found this forum...I honestly was starting to think I was going crazy. I have been having these rushes for about 3 years now...the best way I've been able to describe them to the countless doctors I've been to is 'an adrenaline rush gone awry." I had a full hysterectomy when I was 47 (am 55 now) and then DCIS 3 years ago which I attribute to the estrogen patch I wore to keep me from going into full menopause after my surgery. These rushes started after my radiation treatment. I also have Mitral Valve Prolapse. I have tried EVERYTHING from acupuncture to reflexology to supplements to diet changes. Nothing has really worked. After reading a lot of the other posts I am going to try taking magnesium before I go to bed..maybe that will help. I also just made the decision to go to specialist in female sexuality (I also have an extremely low libido which is even worse than the rushes!) that a friend of mine suggested. If I learn anything new I will post again...hopefully someone who specializes in female sexuality will have heard about these strange rushes. I will definitley tell her about this site! Thank you everyone for all your suggestions. I am so incredibly grateful to know I am not alone and crazy!
I have been having these weird "adrenaline like feelings" through out my chest area. Occurs anytime of the day. No heart palpitations or anything else at that time. My doctor looked at me funny like and said sounds like stress. Could this be menopause or what?
HI, SO GLAD at last to find others who feel like I do.I have spent three years dying each night, every 10 minutes surges of heat and panic. i have tried diet , no alcohol virtually starvation at times; Magnesium supplements,black cohosh; vitamins you name it;Even sleeping pills dont stop it. I am 62 now and DESPERATE. All I want is a nights sleep. Nothing in the then day then wham!! All night long, till at four I usually crash out with exhaustion till I have to get up around 7.30.Dr,s in France just dont listen and I just dont know what to do. HELP!!!!
Hi everyone! Just wanted to say that my adrinalin rushes went away when i went back on estrogen and progesterone. I learned that the fat in your upper belly is one of the last places that will store estrogens. (I really felt like my body was trying to get that estrogen out!! If thats just too weird im sorry lol)
Anyway- the HRT really is a miracle. I know some girls cant take it but I really thought Id go nuts and boy what a difference 2 weeks makes! I also worked really hard on my bio-feedback. When i felt a rush coming on (and if you pay attn -you can feel it coming) i would deep breathe etc and i really think that did help. Good luck Ladies- you are not alone!
New here, and don't know how many previous posters are still reading. But will share that I believe doglover222 has hit the nail on the head as regards many of the above cases.
Certainly by the time modern woman reaches menopause, she has been through the physical/emotional/psychological wringer. (The ~women's liberation~ movement was more than a little disingenuous; yes, a woman certainly can and often must "do it all", but the price to be paid for doing so will be high.) Factor in exposure to God-knows-what chemicals, Frankenfood, a 24/7 media machine that demands we be constantly in fear of some impending calamity, and pressure to make sure everyone else is ~happy~, and we've worked all of our systems to and beyond their natural limits.
Long story short as possible, for many months I had the multiple BURSTS of adrenalin/resulting insomnia every night of my life. I use bio-identical lotion HRT, and thought I wasn't getting enough progesterone, but wouldn't up the dose because it would make my irritable bowel syndrome worse. Fiddled around with OTC sleep aids, they help for a short time but tolerance happens real fast.
Now, I had the good fortune, through a nurse practitioner, to find a female compounding pharmacist working in an awesome gyno-centric environment staffed by women who "get it". One day not long ago as I picked up my prescription, I decided to share with the pharmacist about my symptoms. She didn't look at me like I had two heads; knew EXACTLY what I was talking about. She said "You don't need more progesterone (or pharma pills)....you need to get your cortisol regulated."
Gave me a 14 day trial of a natural concoction called Cortisol Manager. No joke, within 2 nights I was no longer jumping out of my skin every time I dozed off and 10 more times by 3 a.m. (That seems to be the "witching hour"!)
When we live such stress filled lives as we do, our adrenal glands just flat give out. The brain gets haywire signals, and what should be up is down. It orders a cortisol blast at night rather than in the morning. Blood sugar crashes a bit, telling the brain that there is a reason to panic/act, so there's another blast -at 3 a.m. The various threads of our hormone system is so intricately entwined, they all get involved in creating our misery.
Bottom line, this state of affairs will make you crazy with fatigue and generally feeling like u-know-what. Further bottom line, you have to be your own advocate. Most GPs and gyno docs aren't going to give much credence to your symptoms when all their (wrongly given) tests show negative. They'll just finally put you on serotonin reuptake inhibitor version 7.0 and send you home to struggle with its side effects on top of your untreated issues.
Do everything you can to get to a naturopathic professional. Or even a compounding pharmacy. Educate yourself about "cortisol spikes", and the ravages these put your body/mind through. Try the compound I listed above...the main ingredient is an adaptogenic, which means if it ain't broke it won't fix it, but if it IS broke, it will. Above all, take care of yourselves. You deserve to feel better.
You are probably right, Pickywicket.
Our hormones are overloaded and the critical time falls between 3 and 4 am (heart relaxing?).
I have been on HRT for four years now and I am trying to give it up. Once I stopped cold turkey but I ended up with unpleasant palpitations and quick hearbeats. I do have quick pulse from time to time at night and it puzzles me why. Apparently, skipped beats are normal if happen not too often.
I am now reducing the patch (which is estrogen 25) but it is a hard work. I am not so much plagued by night sweats or hot flushes, it is my cardio-vascular system which I am concern about.
As soon as I try to stop HRT, I get anxiety atacks and my body feels as it flickers throughout (adrenal rush?). I had some tremors from time to time due to anxiety, but they diminished over time. Still, when I stop HRT, flickers/heartbeats come back each time. I go back on it, all calms down. I will be reducing the patch over the next several months. The Mirena will need to come out at some point too.
Apart from HRT I am coming off Citalopram (only 10mg) bit by bit, probably over the next year.
I have been taking it for the past six years due to anxiety problems and panic attacks.
On the subject of waterworks, estrogen and anty-depressants do help keep pelvic floor muscles in the better working order.
I am planning to take Glucosamine Sulphate+Chondroitin, Omega-3 and Hydrolised Collagen while I am coming off HRT, hoping for easier transition. I read somewhere that Cortisol is important in quality of sleep, melatonin and serotonin interaction. I will be able to comment about the outcome in about three months time.
Has anyone else had anxiety tremors?
I am into 12 years of episodic adrenal surges....about once/month. The 'silent period' can last for several days. Debilitating and frustrating. I have tried many remedies including compounded hormones. My cortisol levels are high (above normal range) during these episodes. Pickywicket, can you share what is in your 'cortisol manager'. I am curious to see if it similar to a new adrenal complex that I have just started. My Gyno tells me 'get over' it, so I don't use her anymore! Thanks for your story. It is so good to hear about other situations, I have felt so alone for years.
I am into 12 years of episodic adrenal surges....about once/month. The 'silent period' can last for several days. Debilitating and frustrating. I have tried many remedies including compounded hormones. My cortisol levels are high (above normal range) during these episodes. Pickywicket, can you share what is in your 'cortisol manager'. I am curious to see if it similar to a new adrenal complex that I have just started. My Gyno tells me 'get over' it, so I don't use her anymore! Thanks for your story. It is so good to hear about other situations, I have felt so alone for years.
Hello again, ladies. Suemscc, it does sound as if you would benefit from the Cortisol Manager (that's the actual name of the preparation) during your episodes. Here are the active ingredients: ashwagandha 250 mg.; magnolia (Magnolia officinalis) bark extract 225 mg. ; Phosphatidylserine 50 mg.
Made by Integrative Therapeutics. While natural, the components used are pharmaceutical grade, and that is very important when it comes to any natural supplements.
I'm on week 4 of use, one tablet at dinner time. By 10:30, I'm blissfully relaxed and sleepy, and drift off like I did when I was a younger woman. The all night long "jolts" of wakefulness and heart thumping have just flat out stopped. Daytime, I feel like the woman I used to know. And here's a couple of unexpected "side effects": I've lost 4 lbs. without trying, and have increased libido. Evidently, excess cortisol tells belly fat to hang on for dear life.
Not to be a drama queen, but this stuff has been a bit of a miracle for me. Restful sleep is just so critical to health and a general sense of well being. I still think *bio-identical* HRT is important, also, and will continue with it. It won't cure everything, but we don't want osteoporosis and other negative changes that girl hormones help prevent.
I would stress too that we must be VIGILANT about not ingesting man-made poisons in the food chain. Since 1st world governments agree that it is OK for certain corporations to profit from slowly poisoning us, it is becoming increasingly difficult to limit our exposure. But it can and must be done. The human system can filter out only so much toxic input before it finally gives up.
Having experienced this same situation for nearly 17 years now, I have definitely noticed some of the same contributing factors as some of you other ladies.
1. They always occur 1-3 days prior to the onset of my period.
2. Low blood sugar episodes seem to proceed episodes.
I began having these night-time episodes at about age 32. I was terrified and went to see my doctor, who then referred my to a cardiologist. Thankfully I checked out okay, but the doctor mentioned that "he sees lots of women my age who complain of this. I think it has something to do with your electrical system" What he heck kind of diagnosis is that?? So it went on for years and I kept going back to the doctor. All in all I saw 4 different cardiologists, none of whom had a clue as to what was going on.
A few years later, I stumbled upon some info online about progesterone cream. If you research hormonal symptoms online, you will see that racing heart is very common in hormonal imbalance. I began using it and use it to this day. It has turned things around for me in so many ways and did help somewhat with these episodes. I discovered that I was/am estrogen dominant, which was causing me a multitude of problems.
Our hormone levels fluctuate throughout our cycle, and in periomenopause and menopause, they are all over the place. But typically, progesterone dips very low in the days prior to the onset of the period. This explains why my hypoglycemia is always a huge problem at that time, and I believe explains why these episodes at night occur. I believe in my case that it is the low blood sugar, caused by the low progesterone that starts the chain of events.
In addition, I began using magnesium citrate at bedtime, in the form of Natural Calm powder. It is relaxing and helps me sleep. I have used it for years.
I had an episode last night for the first time in about two years. So long in fact that I had all but forgotten about them. I feel like crud this morning, as I always did the day after. So I am going back over the past few weeks and trying to determine what it was I did differently. Here is what I have come up with.
1. About two weeks ago I discontinued Natural Calm as I thought it was contributing to my bloating (it wasn't by the way)
2. My period started this morning
3. Being periomenopausal, my cycle is never the same. This month I know I was estrogen rich, which puts my progesterone at a disadvantage, so my progesterone was lower than ideal. I know this because my breasts swell with estrogen, which they did this month.
It is so frustrating to have to deal with this all over again when , like I said, I had all but forgotten about it. I will start Natural Calm immediately and adjust my progesterone to balance the estrogen. Hope it does the trick.
A few posts mentioned a smell, but does anybody notice a taste? I get a weird taste in my mouth with an adrenaline surge
OMG. So glad it's not just me. I even found out I have sleep apnea and now use a CPAP machine as a result because my doc thought THAT was my problem. I'm also on HRT because another doc thought THAT would fix it. Both of these treatments seemed to help, but I am still having issues with Heart Palpitations and Adrenaline Rushes, especially at night but also during the day. I am 54, and have been experiencing these symptoms for about 2 years. I get a LOT of aerobic exercise, and so have not yet seen a cardiologist because I can work out pretty hard for up to two hours and it doesn't really get any worse. I've been killing myself with exercise in order to try to sleep. I am going to try the Cortisol manager and see a Menopause specialist. It sucks to just be lying in bed feeling like I'm falling off a cliff or have just avoided a major car accident!
Cannot believe how MANY people seem to be having this issue, and YET the doctors don't GET IT.????
Beta blockers could be causing it. I googled this, scroll down the page to beta blocker side effects.
It mentions heart stoppage which could be the problem you all are having.
Here is a link that might be useful: Beta blockers
This post was edited by EmmaR on Mon, Jan 13, 14 at 16:31
I also get the adrenaline surges at night. When I tell my doctors, they have no idea what I'm talking about. I used to get one a night … just as I would drift off to sleep. Now I can have up to 5. It is really scary and I hate the idea of going to bed, even when I'm really tired. If my husband and I have intercourse, I will intentionally not orgasm, because it seems like the adrenaline rushes are even worse afterward. I want to try the cortisol manager. I hope it works!
Sadly, the first thing I thought of when I read the original post was a Prolapse Valve. I know because I have the problem - as apparently do 1 in 8 women and was the devil to get diagnosed back in the day. I have never suffered from anxiety attacks - basically just the heart pump closing a little to "hard" from time to time - usually at night of course - resulting in a racing heart. I did/do not take meds for it. Jump forward many years and I started taking HRT (prometrium and estrogel (but just one pump due to the prolapse valve - regular dose is 2 pumps). I have been on it for 6 years now - went into menopause at age 57. The HRT has not in any way affected the prolapse valve or caused me to have fewer or more bouts of a racing heart. Since I am Cdn. I can't just take the progesterone as I am weaned off of HRT - in Canada it is progesterone and estrogel - or zip. During all of this though on the 2 occasions when I had a medical/dental procedures done that could affect blood - I did take the mega before and after doses of Penicillin. The one med I am not allergic to - something of a surprise there since I am allergic to so many other meds. Actually it was a shocker that I could take the HRT.
Oh my gosh. I have so many of the same symptoms but am definitely not menopausal. I had a hysterectomy about 17 years ago. About 10 years ago I started having these episodes - one a year. Same as many of the people on this forum have described. Always during the day though. I get a hollow feeling in my chest, maybe heart palps, a rush through my body, sometimes tingly in arms and legs, sometimes shaky, always hot, light headed and feel faint (never have fainted though), blood pressure goes up, The episodes last about 40 minutes and I have to get up and move around or it feels like I will fall over. The episodes started getting more and more about 2 years ago. Was on a heart monitor for a month and didn't have an episode for 1 and 1/2 years. They started up again. I have now been to the cardiologist, neurologist, my GP, and now they want to do a sleep study test. NOW I haven't had one of these major episodes since right before Thanksgiving when I went to the emergency room since I truly thought it was a heart attack. They put me on a beta blocker then. All tests came out fine. I have also done a 24 hour urine collection looking for hormone rushes. It was slightly elevated but not conclusive. I was told to repeat the test the very next time I had an episode. Of course I haven't had a full blown episode since being told that. I am getting anxious now since I have had what I call baby episodes of just the light headed feeling more and more recently. I am on a month long event heart monitor right now. What is going on that all of us have so many of the same symptoms and no definitive answers!?!?!?!
Here is my experience. I started having this odd feeling 11 years ago when I was drifting off. A strange "pull" in my chest (heart) followed by an adrenal "zip", very rapid heart beat and slight breathlessness.
Then, during the day I would sometimes feel very strange, irritable, confused, light headed, and then a storm would happen in my brain that made me feel like I was dying. Terrifying. I would feel strange tingling sensations accross my back, neck and buttocks. I felt like something poisonous had been dumped in my body and I was dying. All of my organs seemed to be acting up at once. Sound and color was off.
Several doctors and tests later, and after being told over and over it was anxiety but given drugs that made no difference, I had a tilt table test and from the test I was diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope. I was put on nadolol, which helps shorten the attacks from 10 hours to just a minute.
I was later diagnosed with gastroparesis and multiple sclerosis, but told they were not related. Bologna. Many people with ms have these issues. MS is so closely linked to hormonal changes! It took a second MRI WITH CONTRAST to see the lesions.
There are also links between the hormones, low thyroid and MS. I'm on the low side.
Certain things trigger an NCS attack in me including gluten, meat protein, dairy, fatigue and stress. The things ingested that trigger it do so because they are hard for me to digest and cause gas. The gas pushes my stomach upwards and presses on my vagus nerve, causing the sluggish nerve to "trip". False signals start between the brain and organs and it's all downhill from there.
I keep on magnesium, d3, female hormone balance, thyroid support, iodine from kelp, alpha lipoic acid, b vitamins including b12 methylcobalamine under my tongue and a good quality , WHOLE FOODS vitamin and mineral. I don't do MS meds. I also avoid stimulants like caffeine and ephedrine and thermalgenics....anything that speeds the heart other that physical activity.
I still have this issue and it still scares me every time. I try to keep ahead of it, but it is a fight.
I am so glad to read that I am not alone, like many of you I thought I was going crazy. I have had panic attacks in my past, they started during my divorce and I've had a few on and off during other stressful times in the last twenty years. I have had a standing prescription for alprazolam for years, just never use it, but it has been nice to have just in case. I also have Fibromyalgia and take 20 mgs of Prozac for the serotonin uptake. About a year and a half ago I had my first "adrenaline rush", just taking something out of the microwave and the rush started across my back and down my arms, then panicky feeling, heart racing, ect. Thought I was having a heart attack. Called my sister and we have a firehouse right around the corner. I took an alprazolam on the way, they checked my out, said I was having a panic attack and once calmed down sent me home. After a few days, it was a memory. Then it happened again, 6 months later, while shopping. No warning. Went to emergency room, it was near the store, they did an EKG and checked vitals etc. ….Again, panic attack diagnosed. Now during this time, my cycles have been all over the place… one month heavy, then one month light, skipping months etc. Mood swings, headaches, etc. all normal peri-menopausal stuff. Then last week, out of the blue while doing errands I had an extremely bad attack. This time though it started in my gut and felt like a rush just went through my entire body, hands and feet sweated, heart racing, dizzy, felt like I was going to pass out. Lasted about 10 minutes and left me shaky and scared. Never had an attack so intense. Since that day I have had an attack of some sort each day. Some major and some minor. Each time I take the alprazolam to help calm things down. I do want to note that every time I have one of these I feel like I have to use the bathroom or do have a bm. Also, sometimes my legs feel very heavy, like there is a weight pressing down on my body. I basically have no appetite and feel tense 24/7 just waiting for another one of these attacks. I am a very active 50 year old and in tune with my body and it is very scary when you know something is wrong and cannot pinpoint it. Yesterday I had one at work and my co-worker insisted that I go to the family doctor down the road and get checked out. She checked my heart, sounded fine, blood pressure a little up, but that was to be expected during a panic attack She did blood work for a hormonal scan and thyroid check, her opinion being that hormones are triggering panic attacks.. I have an appointment with my OBGYN on Monday to go over the blood work results and hopefully she can help me figure out what is going on and come up with a plan of action. I will keep you posted.
Went to OBGYN and like I thought test results came back with a hormone imbalance. She explained that some women just have these "adrenaline rushes" instead of or coinciding with hot flashes. According to her I am in Perimenopause and since I have fibromyalgia I am more sensitive to my body fluctuations. She has referred me to another doctor in our area who specializes in hormonal balancing. I go the 18th. I do say though, just getting confirmation that I was not going crazy helped me out so much. I hope that each and every one of us that are going through this get through it quickly.
I am 42yrs old and my symptoms started a yr ago in May. I woke with heart palpitations that led to bigeminy and went to the ER after 6hrs. Labs, EKG, CXR, CT scan & stress test and the only thing I was told was that I have PVC's that won't hurt me. I was put on a low dose beta blocker and the PVC's improved. My cardio said that I was one of those people who were always thinking and trying to figure things out and the beta blocker would blunt that stress response. I had an episode the following Jan where I felt a tingling warmth start at my head and move to my toes and I immediately vomited and they chalked it up to a hypotensive episode. I had been doing relatively fine until 3wks ago when I felt dizzy and nauseated at work and back in bigeminy. After about 6hrs, I walked down to the ER for IVF since I had been vomiting. I was discharged and diagnosed with low potassium and PVC's but still felt sick. I spent the next week at home struggling to eat in between vomiting. I was starting to wonder if I was making this happen to me since it was all that I could think of. I ended up seeing a counselor for the first time ever because I felt like I was losing it. She assured me that I was not and that the stress of an illness without unidentifiable causes if very tough. I ended up in the ER a few days later because I felt too weak and ended up being admitted for an EGD. The scope showed nothing anatomically wrong, but I had a little fluid in my stomach that should have been gone, so there is concern for a gastric emptying issue. The problem is that it I can't see the GI specialist until Aug which makes no sense to me. I ran to my endo Dr pleading for help and she thinks that it is either prolonged stress causing anxiety or hormone fluctuations. Maybe even both. She drew a bunch of labs and started me on Zoloft after telling her that my symptoms happen 1-2wks before my cycle. She said that it is often used to combat the symptoms in perimenopausal women, which she believes I am. I hate the idea of medication and even started 1/2 of the lower dose, but it is my only hope until I can figure out what is going on. I have been off work for 3wks due to problems with eating and nausea. I had no idea a had anxiety but I guess that is just now rearing it's ugly head. I decided to continue seeing a counselor to deal with my feelings and all of the issues that have happened recently. I often have the weird arm sensations and warmth that happen multiple times a day which I don't attribute solely to anxiety, so maybe it is the same as many on this site have experienced. I also have nausea and vomiting with some, so maybe some are hormones and others anxiety? All I know is that it is frustrating and scary feeling this way! Please know that you are not alone!
Oh My God! I am so glad I came across this site. About a year ago I turned (47) and was experiencing with these weird hormonal changes. From adrenaline, anxiety, to hot flashes. One night I woke up sweating profusely. I recently turned 48 and now I am experiencing with a flush of heat from my feet to my head and losing my appetite.The bad thing is that it always happens at night around 2a.m. then I can't go back to bed. I started researching Magnesium and found that during perimenpause our magnesium levels tend to gradually decrease. According to Ann Louise Gittleman, a nutritionist and author of "Before the Change: Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause," magnesium deficiency results in symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, memory loss, depression, increased sweating and body odor. Low magnesium also contributes to osteoporosis following menopause. Gittlemans recommends supplementing a Multivitamin & Magnesium and taking between 500 to 1,000 mg at bedtime. Of course consult with your doctor for proper amount, depending on your age. I sure hope this helps. I will post a follow up as I have recently started taking magnesium.
I started having adrenaline rushes at night and panic attacks, anxiety that stays all day. After 2 trips to ER and hormones levels very low. My doctor started bioidentical estrogen and progesterone. I had a menopause consult with a compounding pharmacist. My internist put me back on 20 mg of paxil as I had been down to 10mg for 6 months. I use 1/2 doses of ativan a few times a day which helps. I am.51 active and lost 30 pounds over the past year. These symptoms came out of the blue in August 2014. Ambien has helped me sleep. I am seeing a therapist too. Talking to friends helps alot. My husband is supportive. I use calm magnesium morning and night. I take a good vitamin for the b complex. I use fish oil. This is a very scary experience with dizziness crying panic and anxiety. I am glad to find this site and see I am not alone. My doctor has been helpful
I get what i call nervous stomach like when your going to a job interview, my stomach will get butterflies on and off through the day and its as if i am just really nervous about stuff but really there is nothing i am nervous about . I often feel nauseous with it too and also it affects my bowels too like panic attacks can do. I am post menopause for 4 years and just want this to stop .
I've been getting them for the past few months too. They precede hot flushes. I seem to get one that wakes me around 4am like most people here and get them regularly throughout the day, but they get more frequent in the evening. some nights I'll be woken with them regularly all through the night. The flush seems to terminate the rushes. Sometimes I get the flush straight away, but sometimes the flush seems to get delayed and I'll have a number of rushes before the flush finally happens. They can be as frequent as every couple of minutes or it can be 10-15 minutes between each rush. It's unpredictable but the only sure thing is that they won't stop until the flush happens. They make me breathless, my heart pounds and I often feel nauseous, have a feeling of pressure in my chest and feel faint. A month ago with a particularly strong flush that went on for a long time, it ended with me having a convulsion and passing out for a couple of minutes. Not particularly pleasant as it was in a restaurant in front of my whole family. I wound up in hospital for 4 days on a heart monitor, had a head CT, EEG and ECG, echocardiogram and multiple blood tests, all of which came back normal. he only thing they picked up was episodes of low blood pressure for about 12 hours after I passed out and a fast hart rate when ever I got out of bed over the 4 days. I was discharged without a diagnosis other than a convulsive faint and told to follow up with a cardiologist in 6 weeks. That happens in about 2 weeks time. Meanwhile the rushes are still happening and now of course there's the constant fear that I'm going to pass out again. I really don't want that to happen while I'm at work or driving. The only thing I can put it down to is menopause. My mother had hormone receptive breast cancer so I don't want to risk using HRT, so I don't know if there is anything much I can do about it except hang on for the ride.
Like the rest of you, I am so happy to find this site. I am 62, and stopped having my periods about 6 years ago. I seemed to breeze through menopause with no symptoms. About two weeks ago, I started getting these weird adrenaline rush symptoms. I had gotten the flu shot about two days before that, but the doctor said that had nothing to do with it. The first spell hit me the minute my feet hit the floor in the morning getting up. It started from the pelvic area and spread up into my chest, back and sometimes arms. It is not a hot flash with sweating, etc., but it almost feels like you are warm and cold at the same time. I immediately had diahrrea. I had a couple more spells during the day, and had diahrrea again. It scared the heck out of me, and I wound up going to a walk-in clinic as it was on the weekend. He looked at me like I was from outer space. I had an MRI about six months ago for back pain, and besides finding a slightly protruding disc, they said they said a small anode on my adrenal gland. I asked him if that would have anything to do with it, and he said he highly doubted it; they were fairly common. He ran some standard blood tests for liver, kidney, etc. and all came back normal. I had just started taking citalopram (a generic of Celexa) that my doctor prescribed for back pains which he said were due to internalizing stress, common with many women. The spells have continued almost every day, sometimes I will go a day without. One day when I had a series of spells that lasted for about 30 minutes, I just gave up and went to the ER. He also felt it was anxiety. I have been under quite a bit of stress lately, and he said sometimes the body is like a "pressure cooker" that has to let off steam, evidently in the form of adrenaline. He also said it was very highly unlikely that the adrenal anode was causing any problems. He gave me some Atavin, and made me lie there for about 30 minutes, and it made me very sleepy and did relax me. I didn't have a spell at all the next day. Now, they have started happening about 3-4 AM. I wake up and one will hit. The doctor said the citalopram takes about 3-6 weeks to really start to be effective, so I will wait to see what happens with that. I started thinking it could be hormonal, even though I never had any problems, and went to my gynecologist yesterday. He said he had heard other women say the same thing, and he again felt it was anxiety related. He said "he knew I was menopausal, so there wasn't any need in running hormone tests". I did have blood drawn because he wanted to check my thyroid, vitamin D levels and a couple other things, and I'm waiting for those results. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem!
have been searching for answers for the past 6 months…. somewhat relieved to know I am not alone! i am 40 year old type 1 diabetic. have been suffering with night sweats from 3am every night and most recently adrenalin rushes that last for hours with heart palpitations. and yes tired of people saying its anxiety. I know what anxiety feels like and i can relatively control it… but these surges in your body you just cant. I havent slept more than 4 hours a night the past 6 months. drs tell me Im not perimenopausal because my periods are regular. yes they come same time very month but they are heavy and irratic… and most times i ovulate but then bleed for another 7 days. all in all i have about 3 days of the month without blood, and without being crazy woman. am i doomed for the rest of my life…. I dont think I can handle another 10 years, let alone another year of this without wanting to jump off a bridge! seriously though… this is crazy. why dont doctors recognise this??? im so confused and tired.!
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I have read every single post on this site. I have exactly the same thing as all of you. Mine started approximately four years ago after a long string of stress-building experiences...loss of job of 25 years, followed by loss of house, bankruptcy, then taken off HRT that I'd been on for 15 years following a total hysterectomy/oomphrectomy, then married after 15 years of being single, finding out HE had debt and a disability, gained 50 pounds the first year of marriage from eating fattening sugary foods to calm myself, sleep deprivation due to his snoring for a year before finally in desperation started sleeping apart which caused yet another round of issues, etc etc. Although there are stresses that other people experience that are MUCH worse than these, for me these were pivotal because it was one right after another..First I started getting chest pains and was diagnosed with GERD and told to go on omneprazole. Then, I had one of these night time episodes right after getting married. Thought for sure it was a heart attack..went to the hospital, sent home with anxiety attack diagnosis. Did all the tests with the doctor, again told anxiety. Given fluoxetine. They got worse. Told to take more fluoxetine. The attacks got more frequent and started having horrific nightmares. Told to take more fluoxetine...instead, weaned off it over a couple of weeks and the attacks lessened and the nightmares went away. However, since the attacks didn't go away and I didn't believe the doctors that this much pain and crazy feelings in my body could be "nothing", I continued to have episodes ...and always at night about 4 hours after I went to sleep. I changed doctors. No help. I changed again. No help. I begged for HRT thinking it was that. Nope, they would not give it to me. Finally, I had one really bad attack that resulted in a hospital night time visit that showed my blood pressure to be 212/99/86. Instantly my Primary Care Provider put me on high blood pressure medication - Atenolol, 50 mg. then changed to Losartan, 25mg and a diuretic. I got WAY sick from that, and it didn't stop the night time episodes! They increased to almost being nightly!...and I developed ringing in my ears and finally lost a great deal of hearing in my right ear! I went to an ENT...he thought it was a tumor..catscan later, nope! So he said he didn't know what it was...I can hear my heart pound in my ear during these episodes... And now sometimes they extended for hours...even up to half a day! I bought a blood pressure cuff so I could monitor my BP myself - and found that I was ONLY spiking during the night during these attacks. My PCP said sleep apnea - put me through the testing, and although the results were INCONCLUSIVE, she still prescribed a CPAP!@!!!! I was DESPERATE....So finally I turned to the net for self-diagnosis. I found your site. I read through all your posts. And since I'd gotten nowhere with regular medical doctors, against my better judgement I sought out a holistic doctor that my insurance covered. A Natureopath....they call them "ND's". They can do blood tests, they can even prescribe drugs. After a one hour long visit with her (that is normal for their visits)...she said:
"You likely have adrenal fatigue, exacerbated by the inflammation caused by ingesting so much sugar/carbohydrates. Your body is managing to maintain during the day, but at night you "crash", especially if you are not eating correctly, and it triggers a cortisol/insulin overload that is similar to being hypoglycemic (except you are not hypoglycemic...) that results in the symptoms you are feeling. You also are probably not getting help from the Omneprazole, which can cause the same symptoms it is prescribed to relieve."
Her prescription: Practice controlled breathing to help calm the heart rate during an episode, sleep slightly elevated with the head, exercise moderately (not spinning or aerobics...this is more like walking at a good pace) at least 30 minutes a day five days a week (works off excess cortisol), start weight training a couple days a week to build muscle. Take Cortisol Calm (a blend of calming herbs), 1 in the AM, 1 before bed to heal the adrenals. DGL - she recommended a product called "Rhizonate", once 30 minutes before each meal to coat the inside of the stomach with mucuous and allow the esophageal sphincter to heal (making "heart" pressure and pain go away), Up my Vitamin D to 50,000 mg per week (I live in the Pacific Northwest)...cut out all caffeine, alcohol and as much sugar as is humanly possible, cut way back on gluten (bread, pastries, cookies, pasta), cut way back on dairy like cheese (and more if you are prone to colds or coughing or mucous production) eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as possible (yes this means go to the store and pay $5 a box for raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and eat them instead of rice/potatoes/pasta)...lean protein, fish at least twice a week. She said if you wake up and are having an episode, eat 4 walnut halves, drink some chamomile tea,....walnuts are high in protein and will counteract the "crash". "
I did all these things. I also weaned off the omneprazole, which was at first pretty miserable. I dont take ANY PRESCRIPTION OR OVER THE COUNTER MEDS LIKE SLEEP AIDS, ETC. It has been two months since I started the Cortisol Calm and the Rhizonate... after a month they started helping with the "Gerd - like" symptoms. But I still felt dizzy, shaky, buzzy, nauseous, had the need to defecate...so finally, after doing a lot of research about side effects of drugs on the net, I decided to go off the blood pressure meds. IMMEDIATELY I started feeling better! My blood pressure is totally normal - I take it once in the am when I get up and once at night before I go to bed and keep a record...it averages 110/75/65............it of course goes up if Im stressed or exercising, but that is normal. I think probably I never should have been put on BP meds in the first place! Keep in mind I am a 65 year old overweight woman....with nearly perfect blood tests, EKG, Xrays. If you test high in cholesterol, or your BP runs over 140/85 on a REGULAR basis, then I don't suggest going off your meds....but I do believe that all the crap we put into our bodies can definately screw it up til we get to the point where nothing can help it but a complete clearing out. I dont smoke, never have enjoyed alcohol (my body doesn't like it), but had quit keeping active and spiraled into eating cookies and candy for pacification.
I am now down to just the buzzy feeling at night and increase in heartrate if I have an "episode" (which I am now down to one a week but its only been two months since I started these changes, so I think thats great progress!). I get up, have a few walnut halves, a cortisol calm and maybe a cup of chamomile tea, and it goes away. I'll come back and let you know if it goes away completely. Our stresses in our lives never go away completely...but we can work on ways to deal more effectively with them and give our bodies a fighting chance against them. I'm finding the lifestyle change and the few calming herbal remedies are doing the best of everything. But if you try it, please do remember that it probably won't work if you are on other prescription or non-herbal medications.......they are too powerful to counteract. I hope this info helps, and I'll report back. I wish more posters did so we'd know the outcomes! :) Be well!