Menopause and Flu-Like Symptoms

I am experiencing short breaks between my monthly cycles, when usually I have very regular 28 day cycles. And I'm getting flu-like symptoms each time. Is this associated with menopause?

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Menopause and Flu-Like Symptoms

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Menopause and Flu Symptoms
by: DOREEN KEKANA

Every month at the start of my cycle I get serious flu symptoms and I'm sick. In the past I've never had the flu more than once or twice a year, not every month like this.

Is this a symptom of menopause? I am 45 years old. Please help me because I have had to take three days leave from work every month lately when I get sick. This is not good for me as I am a manager at my job.
Menopause and Flu-like Symptoms
by: Anonymous

You mentioned about getting flu-like symptoms. That could very well be associated with menopause.

If your flu-like symptoms involve being hot and sweaty and feeling intermittently cold, then you could be experiencing perimenopausal signs.

That is if the flu-like symptoms do not proceed to become full-blast flu.

In some women, such signs could possibly indicate pregnancy, but if you are within the menopausal years, chances are greater that you could be getting into menopause.

If you are nearing the menopausal age, there is a greater chance that you are actually having symptoms that could be directly associated with menopause.

Having short breaks between cycles when you usually have regular 28-day cycles could obviously be related to menopause especially if you are within the menopausal age.

Be safe and careful if you are using tampons. It is possible that your flu-like symptoms could be associated with using them. Tampon use could cause shock syndrome, which actually carries flu-like symptoms. This is another possibility.

If such symptoms persist and if they are already causing discomfort to you, it is best if you immediately consult your doctor. There is a need to appropriately diagnose your condition because there is a possibility that your symptoms could be something else.
flu like symtoms in menopause
by: Anonymous

Thank God someone else feels the same. I'm 53 and had no periods for a year then one after the other in bed for two days before with flu like symptoms. Having to go off sick from work. Anyone got any helpful suggestions apart from let's just all top ourselves with stories about us freaky menopausals lol :)
Flu like symptoms
by: Anonymous

I too have been having flu like symptoms but not yet fully menopausal as still have periods. But I feel unwell, aching, nauseous, generally low key flu symptoms every month just after a period probably during ovulation.

I am 47 and was beginning to feel a bit of a fraud every month but I know there is definite link to my hormones. Would love to know of any medical practitioners that recognize these symptoms and have any answers to what causes this feeling so rough every month, and if there is a natural product that might help.
Thank goodness its not just me
by: Kathy

I am so relieved to hear that other women are feeling the same symptoms as I am. I get nausea, shivering, breast and nipple tenderness and just an overall feeling of "YUK"! I'm 50 and went for 6 months without a period and then got one. Now I am overdue for a period again. Oh the joys of menopause.
Me Too
by: Anonymous

I have to wonder why I feel the same. The symptoms are like the flu, but I feel okay...just a bit of aches throughout my body...I am 48.
Flu & cold symptoms with the menopause
by: Anonymous

I am 50 and have not had a period for 6 months. Lately I keep getting Flu & cold-like symptoms, it keeps coming back. I have been ill 4 times now in 3 months. Could it be related to me going through the menopause?
probiotics
by: jodi

I too have been having flu like symptoms. I started working out about two weeks ago and within two days of working out I was feeling bad like the flu...so I didn't workout the rest of the week and started to feel better.

Then the following week I started working out for two days and started feeling it again...so I don't know if it pre-menopause or the workout, or both.

One person said that probiotics would help the flu like symptoms.

This just started for me so I might try that and see if that might work.
flu-like symptoms and ovulating
by: Anonymous

I am 44 and also get flu-like symptoms about once a month. I actually get a sore throat, a cough and really bad body aches, extremely fatigued and could swear I'm coming down with the flu which never makes sense to me because I always get my flu shot.

It usually lasts about a day. Yesterday I was sucking on throat lozenges and taking pain reliever and today I feel fine. So then I think it's all in my head and I'm going crazy...but this month I realized these symptoms occurred on the day I was likely ovulating!

Between that and the whole sleuth of symptoms I am dealing with now during my actual period I am calling in sick at least one day a month from work...perimenopause sucks.
Flu/cold symptoms before & after menstruartion
by: Anonymous

For the past year or so I have been feeling like I have a cold or flu or allergies during or after my period.

I have taken time off work almost every month for this and it had put my previous job in jeapordy.

Now I am feeling like this again. I am in Peri-menopause and wonder if this could be the issue since i have seen the other comments here as such.
Menapause and flu like symptoms
by: Marie

I am having the same symptoms. It actually knocks you out just as if you have the flu but without the fever.

I'll start getting hot and the next minute I'm cold and need the blanket. I have a really bad cough, congestion, runny nose, headache, etc.

I went to the doctor yesterday and he did say that I am going thru pre-menapause.

I usually know my cycle like clock work, but for the past year, my cycle skips 2 months or comes on twice in one month or just for a couple of days when its usually five days.

The feeling of hot and cold is very unpleasant. The doctor recommended lots of fluids, keep a water bottle by the bed at night, take a multivitamin, dress and sleep in layers so you can pull them off when you have to.

I've had these symptoms approx 6 times within the year. Sometimes they'll last a week to 8-10 days. Just until this past weekend, the hot flashes weren't as bad. This time they are more intense...feels like someone is sticking me the oven.

The things we go thru.
:(
by: Lisa NJ

I am 45 and feel the same thing... feel like I'm getting sick a couple days before my period... VERY tired... dizzy... not myself. I get very bad headaches as well. Then a couple days before it is over I get the same feelings again, ugh! I just wish I'd skip some. I'm getting my period 2x a month! And bad! Not fun!
Im not the only one....
by: Anonymous

Thank you. I was starting to go nuts. I am glad I am not the only one. Every month for 2 days I get body aches and warmth to the touch. Feel really tired. Joys of whatever we want to call it.
Feeling it too!
by: Anonymous

I could not understand why I have been feeling like this either until I did a search on Flu-like Symptoms and Menopause came up.

Not that it was good to know that other people were feeling the way I do but I was starting to think that I was going crazy and probably my husband was too.

I too still have periods, I am 42 years old almost 43 but my mom says that she started menopause early too.

I start feeling the terrible body aches and some diarrhea and it happens after my period. Reading on some of the comments above, should I not wear tampons anymore? Could this be a cause for this? I'd heard something about "toxic shock syndrome" from that. I'll ask my doctor.

That reminds me, I was wondering if anyone here has talked to their doctor about this because I have my appointment in April and I worry that he might think that I am crazy or it is something else.

I am also dealing with TMJ (with earache, headache, sore throat, neck ache etc.) and this doesn't help.

Thanks and good luck to everyone with this body ache!
Tests and results
by: Anonymous

I am 49 and have been going through the flu-like symptoms since my late 30's, but the symptoms have gotten worse.

It is always around my cycle, and I am positive it is hormone related. I have gone to my regular doctor who thinks I have fibromyalgia, and then gone to another doctor who prescribed me bioidentical progesterone.

I had several blood draws. One doctor told me my t3 was low and we tried 2 different thyroid medications to bring up the level but it did not work.

My other doctor only measured my TSH level and said my thyroid was perfectly normal and to go off the thyroid medication because I was still on a very low dosage to see if it would make any changes.

I was also tested for adrenal fatigue by doing the spit test, and had skin allergy tests (pricking)

None of the testing showed anything that was helpful to explain my symptoms.I am really frustrated, and tired of feeling like I am dying every month.

To all those out there that are having these symptoms, you are NOT alone! Maybe we need to form a support group or something online!

P.S. If there are any doctors that have had any patients with these type of symptoms...Please Help!
sick
by: Anonymous

Like many of you I have been feeling very sick every month and it's been goin' on for about 8 years for me but does get worse through the years. (I am 49)

I have had lots of tests done but with no conclusive results. The tests include skin prick allergy tests, adrenal fatigue testing, blood draws for hormone testing, and one doc said my T3 is low, but the medication didn't help.

I feel flu-like and even nausea at times. I find if I stay more active it seems to help.
Iodine and Vitamin D deficiency
by: Anonymous

I recently read about a doctor who tested thousands of patients who came through his clinic to see if they had any iodine deficiency. He found that 95% of the people did have a deficiency. This can affect the thyroid.

A similar percentage of people are deficient in Vitamin D, because they are indoors all day under fake light instead of outside in the natural light.

I don't know what the answer is to that, but I take a multi-vitamin that has my daily dose of iodine in it, along with all of the other vitamins and minerals including Vitamin D. I don't take a cheap one with low quantities, I take a really good one with everything in it.

Just a suggestion. It only costs me about a dollar a day for the brand I take. Worth it too :)
53 and feeling sick
by: Down in Texas

I had a partial hysterectomy years ago and now for the past two years I have had the "flu" symptoms every month. I thought I was going crazy ... thank-you ladies. Now all we need is a cure.
Doctors need to know this
by: Anonymous

More doctors need to know this. I have been in and out of hospitals. Since 2007 I have had flu like symptoms starting monthly for two years. Now it comes when it wants to. I've seen so many specialists, no one seemed to know what it was. I've had so much blood work done.

This needs to be put in some type of medical magazine for doctors to read and discuss. Maybe it will prevent them from saying it's all in my head. They are not in my house while I have 103 temp, body aching, with hot and cold chills. Unable to sleep at night, going to the bathroom every hour, tossing because of the pain...
don't use tampons -- still get symptoms
by: Bernia

I am healthy, I take a daily multi-vitamin and extra vitamin D and calcium, and vitex. I do not use tampons. I am 49 and in perimenopause and I am convinced it is causing the flu like symptoms. They come at the same time - between periods. They include, nausea, lower back ache, over all aching, belly ache and being tired. Sometimes it includes a sore throat. Usually I get weight gain at this time too. I feel like the flu is definitely coming on, but then the symptoms are gone after 2-3 days. Maybe it is hormones.
Flu like symptoms DURING ovulation EVERY month
by: Anonymous

I am 41, very healthy, active and fit. For 2 months I have been experiencing extreme flu like symptoms during ovulation. Massive headache including neck pain, EXTREME fatigue, muscle weakness and pain, muscle tremors (shakes), mild sore throat, mildly sore and swollen glands, low grade fever (which occurs during ovulation), dizziness and confusion. It usually lasts 2-3 days and all I do is sleep ALL day. I simply cannot function.

I have also been experiencing hot flashes and night sweats since the age of 32. It SUX! I will be contacting my OB/GYN and primary care physician this week to request tests to rule out Lupus and CFS since these diseases run in my family.

VERY VERY frustrated! Pre-menopause sux!
I Found Some Help!
by: Val

Hello All,

I am 45 years old, and have been feeling very sick with flu and allergy symptoms for the last couple of years. Recently I decided that enough was enough and did a some research regarding peri-menopause and hormones in general. The results of that guided me to three natural treatments that I use in combination:

1. Natural Progesterone Cream with Wild Yam Extract (1000 mg per 2 oz jar)to counteract the severe drop in progesterone levels. Just follow the instructions and adjust if necessary (I use it only once a day - not twice).

2. Pro-biotic capsules with 50 billion cultures to counteract and treat Candida Yeast overgrowth - 1 per day.

3. Milk Thistle tea to help strengthen the liver and clear out toxins due to Estrogen dominance.

...and I feel MUCH better now! :)

Consult your doctor about this of course.

God Bless,

Val.

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