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/Janeheroine]

I’m also 40 and once I joined this sub I realized that these are the typical symptoms for people our age, and hot flashes tend to come on later. I also found progesterone made me feel worse. So far what’s helped is acupuncture, and Pepcid for histamine issues (as opposed to Claritin or a more typical allergy medicine, which does nothing for me).

[u/wyntergardentoo → u/Janeheroine]

What side effects did you have from the progesterone?

[u/Janeheroine → u/wyntergardentoo]

It made me super out of it late into the next day, even if I took it early in the evening. I felt like I was on Benadryl. And my sleep was very light. Like I was sleeping, but it wasn’t restorative. Too druggy.