Good news. I met with my doctor yesterday. He came in announcing that I had a glowing report, excellent results on my labwork. He looked at my nails and said that I had suffered some sort of trauma 4 months ago (he could tell by the indentations and growth of the nails.) The only thing I could come up with was that I took a really hard fall on my left knee while helping my niece move into her new college apartment. Sounds trivial, but it was a solid hit, and brought tears to my eyes and deep bruises from my knee to my toes. He said that definitely could have been the cause. So, hopefully, mystery is solved. I said that I wanted to try getting off of the Effexor antidepressant, and he said not to try doing it now, during the holidays. That I should do it, slowly, weaning off. So, other than exercise and eat better, that's my plan for the new year. I can't tell you how relieved I was. I really was afraid it was something more serious. I am terribly guilty of not taking care of myself these last two years, and it could have cost me. I lost a dear friend to breast cancer in June, and she fought so hard to stay alive. She always ended her emails with "listen to your body." This episode was a wakeup call to me......thanks for listening to my ramble.

Is the anxiety a new thing, or have you had it all along? Did the anxiety worsen once you got off HRT? I've had anxiety since my early 20's, btw, so I know what you're going through - it's awful. I wonder about the soy milk you drink. Is this a new thing? Soy is actually a phyto-estrogen, so it will increase your estrogen; which may be the reason you're taking it? For me, I think increased estrogen actually worsens my anxiety, but I'm not sure. Then again, may be it's the decreased estrogen for you, I'm not sure. I've dealt with estrogen dominance most of my life, so that's why I make the connection with increased estrogen in my case. Let's put it this way - it's definitely hormonal imbalance of some sort - ha. My whole life (quality of life) story has been driven by my hormones. Another thing about soy is that it is a goitrogen. I know this because I have Hashimoto's (auto-immune thryoiditis) and I avoid soy products for the most part because it can have an effect on the thyroid making it more sluggish, which in turn can worsen anxiety. I also didn't have any luck taking evening primrose oil. It made me feel more anxious, for one thing. Just throwing a few suggestions out there - I know how frustrating it is trying to figure out what is going on with your body. If you find the (magic) cause, let us know.

I have a similar story. My gyn told me in my 30s that I had started perimenopause, but since I had very few symptoms except for some long periods, I thought nothing of it. About eight months ago, I woke to ringing in my ears, vertigo, and depression. Just one morning out of the blue. I'm now 47. I couldn't drive, go to the store, and had lost all interest in just about everything. I developed TMJ and back and neck pain. After many doctors and ents, I finally stuck with one doctor who put me on a low does valium and told me I would get better. I also have a physical therapist that works with me once a week. I took the valium for three months, then quit. And even though all my symptoms are all still here, I'm now managing. If you go down the list of peri symptoms, I have most of them. The doctor told me that depression will make symptoms worse, and if I needed to go on Xanax or valium, I would again. I understand where you are coming from and sometimes no matter how strong we think we are, we all need alittle help.

Yes! I've been on BCP forever because of PCOS. My doctor told me the same thing about getting off the pill to see if I'm in menopause or not. She said I had to be off it for 3 months before she could do an accurate blood test because my hormones would even out by then. About 3 months ago (while still on the pill) I started having the hot flashes and lots of headaches and aches and pains. I decided to go off the pill to see what would happen. I also went to a proper GYN and she said I only had to be off the BCP for 7 days before she could do the FSH test and determine whether or not I was menopausal. Result was a 32 she said was post menopausal. I haven't had a period for 2 months now off the pill, however these past few days I have had a lot of cramping, am very bloated and am having discharge that looks like ovulation. I don't know if that means I'll get a period or not. They say you are not officially in menopause until you have had no period for 12 months. So to answer your question: I felt that my menopause had started breaking through the BCP as well because I was experiencing those same symptoms...maybe the BCP just masked the menopause until it started coming on too strong to be masked??