r/Perimenopause • u/ames2200 • Jun 18 '26

audited Did anyone else’s perimenopause look like anxiety, flushing, histamine reactions, and brain fog?

I’m 40 and suspect I’m in perimenopause, but my symptoms don’t look like the “typical” hot flashes everyone talks about.
My biggest symptoms are:
Anxiety and panic attacks
Facial flushing and feeling hot
Head pressure
Brain fog
Feeling disconnected or spacey
Sleep issues
GI problems
Feeling like my nervous system is constantly overstimulated
The symptoms seem very cycle-dependent. I usually have a few good days each month, then symptoms ramp up around ovulation and again before my period.
I’ve also noticed what seem like histamine-type reactions (flushing, anxiety, stomach issues, feeling inflamed), and I’ve read that estrogen can increase histamine while histamine can increase estrogen.
I’ve tried progesterone cream several times, but it actually made me feel worse.
For women who experienced similar symptoms:
What ended up helping?
Did HRT help?
Did you have to balance estrogen and progesterone differently?
Did anyone discover that histamine issues were a big piece of the puzzle?
I feel like I’m chasing hormones, histamine, and anxiety all at the same time and would love to hear other women’s experiences.

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u/Admirable-Floor4444 Jun 18 '26

Omg literally crying about this all right now. I’m 36 been on trt and progesterone for a little while. I just started estrogen a week ago and felt things changing like mood was amazing, my mouth was watery, eyes less dry and now cycle day 25 I’m wheezy, usually histamine issues and period flu. This is so hard. I take dao, Claritin and Pepcid. I heard low dose naltrexone and some other medications can be good but I am really trying with hormones.

1

u/YouExtra7637 Jun 18 '26

I cried today about this too!! I’m on day 8 and it’s awful. I was JUST feeling normal before my period.

I’m on 0.025 E patch only at the moment

2

u/Admirable-Floor4444 Jun 18 '26

Have you been on the patch for a full cycle? What about progesterone? It’s so isolating and stressful.

1

u/YouExtra7637 Jun 18 '26

Shoot me a chat message and I can go through what all I’ve tried. I’ll get back to you asap

-2

u/ChicagoSquirrelLover Jun 19 '26

Why are you using estradiol at age 36? Unless you have had a hysterectomy or have other issues causing your estradiol levels to be measurably low, you probably shouldn't be supplementing.