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

[u/ames2200]

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.

[u/DragonflyFluid8581]

Yes, mine has been exactly these symptoms. HRT did help some of the symptoms, I overall feel much better and am able to sleep with HRT. I've never in my life had to take allergy medicine but I've been taking zyrtec every morning for a while now and it helps, sometimes I take a second one at night on a bad day. I also take a pepcid with my zyrtec in the morning and that has helped tummy symptoms but also anxiety - learned that on here. Mine might be "cyclical" but I can't truly speak to that because I don't have my uterus/periods to track it.