Menstrual Weakness

[mkoven]

hi everyone,

I'm head long into pms, and have noticed that over the past several cycles, I've felt oddly weak. I don't mean tired, but clumsy--like I can't quite get nerves to fire from head to toe. It's passed each month, but I don't know how to understand it--blood sugar? potassium?

Whenever I mention that anything is menstrually related, my doctors usually blow it off, but I know that something profound happens to my whole system. I get itchy, fainty, cold sweats, wanting to vomit, heart racey-- all my normal symptoms amplifed by a factor of 10.

[MightyMouse]

I get way more symptomatic during my menses... my ans doc said it's common with those of us with ans problems b/c our hormones are shifting... Like you, I feel clumsy, and weak.

Nina

[Ernie]

Hi,

I get like that too.

[Tessa]

I suffer the same...

Love,

Tessa

[dizzygirl]

yup me too.. my fainting is worse during this time

you can try salt/fluid loading more then usual during this time... and extra sleep.. only thing that i can think of that helps me a smidge anyways...

feel better

[BEE]

Two or three days before and a few days after I am weak and fatigued moreso than ever..there is definitelya correlation there. Wish they could do a little more investigating into it. Hang in there...

[Tessa]

I suspect I suffer from Hypovolemia, imagine what happens to me then. My menstruation usually lasts for around 1 week, it is painful and I have many blood clots. Of course, I do feel weak and dizzy. Even lightheaded and sometimes with nauseas and hungry.

I always have to eat more (sweets and salty food) plus drink plenty of water before, during and after it.

Try to have a relaxed menstruation, rest more and do not eat fatty food. Avoid what triggers yours symptoms. That?s what I do.

Take care,

Love,

Tessa

[mkoven]

i still have yet to actually start, but am achey, and keep hitting the wall energy-wise. I was standing at the register paying for purchases and suddenly felt shaky and RAVENOUS, even though I"d had a big lunch 90 minutes before. All afternoon I've been so hungry and shaky, like my blood sugar is out of whack. I eat and the an hour later, starving again, and weak/shaky. And my lips are itching and quivering---WEIRD.

[bttrflyamby1981]

I too am more symptomatic around this time.

[scarfgirl]

My symptoms get so bad around that time that my Dr. changed my birth control so that I'm on a three month cycle instead of just one. It's really helped.

[mkoven]

I've never handled birth control pills well-- they make me moodier, give me extra sore breasts, and oddly, made my periods MUCH worse. I always seem to have idiosyncratic reactions to meds.

[spinalremains]

the three month birth control is a god send. It will really keep your hormone shifts and periods to a minumum. Seasonale and seasonique are the two big ones out there. My doctor said periods every 3 months are the very best for dysautonomia people.

[Stace915]

I get the same way too only thing that helps me is sleep. I was on Seasonale for a little over a year and had to go off b/c I was having clotting in my leg, so I had to go off the pill completely... now I suffer every month again

[Sunfish]

i now supress my period via birth control (so that i have one 2-3 times a year). i've been doing this for years. currently i'm using NuvaRing & really like it b/c it's not problematic when i can't keep a pill down (due to gastroparesis.)

when i did have "normal" periods my worst days were the few days before my period. i always had to take extra midodrine (with doc's okay) and still was often entirely down for the count (at a time in my life where, compared to now, i was able to be more active, i.e. work with accomadations, etc). dr. grubb explained to me once that everyone's BP drops a bit before her period but in "normal" folks the body adjusts & it's not noticable. but it some/many folks with dysautonomia or particularly low BPs to begin with the body can't adjust to the change so well and thus the problem. this speaks just to problems pre-period though, which was my primary issue. i never really had problems once my flow began.

the one other change for me though was that my periods became very irregular in the midst of significant illness progression for me after being REALLY regular since i first started menstruating at age 9 (yikes, i know...it was miserable at the time ). this made the bad "before days" worse b/c i didn't know when they were coming so couldn't plan ahead with med changes, etc. when i was regular i knew what would happen like clockwork but when i stopped being able to go by the calendar my first notice of an approaching period was often ending up unconscious.

melissa

[smiles]

I also suffer many more flare ups a day before and during my period. It's gotten worse for me. I think I'm in menopause now and hope things will improve soon for me.