First Chronic Lyme, now PeriMenopause?

[deejavu]

Hi all,

Why is it that I do everything backward? LOL! First I contracted Lyme and Ehrlichiosis, then I get better only to find out that I am offically going through Perimenopause!

So lately I have been having some mood swings and my first thought was ut oh, I better not be relapsing! I guess I am not giving perimenopause enough credit? Hormones do make a person feel a bit strange....

Just to be on the safe side, I went to a new doctor yesterday and asked to have my ammonia levels checked. I won't get back the results until early next week. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that these doctors knew about Chronic Lyme.. anyway, as a safety precaution, they are also checking my thyroid.

I guess I am very protective of my health after what I have gone through so I just want to make sure that it's the perimenopause that is causing some depression (it's not all the time, just once in a while), and those rare days when I feel I am having a mood swing.

I have done much research regarding high levels of ammonia in the body/brain and it's not very pleasant if one does have high levels. The good news is that there are great natural supplements to remove that ammonia.

Thought I would share that.

Denise

[LymeEnigma]

I'm sorry that you're having mood/perimenopausal issues. That's just the pits.

Some articles on ammonia:

Ammonia is a toxic molecule that is the principal by-product of amino acid metabolism. Although the transport of ammonia in a nontoxic form protects the brain against high circulating levels, the interorgan transport of this molecule and the orchestration between tissues that has evolved is related primarily to the fact that the nitrogen molecule is an essential molecule for the maintenance of the body's nutrition economy and overall metabolic homeostasis. Efficient handling and disposal of ammonia requires a cooperative effort between tissues in order to maintain nitrogen homeostasis. The liver is the central organ of ammonia metabolism, but other organs also play a key role in the interorgan exchange of this molecule. Alterations in ammonia metabolism occur during critical illness. These changes are adaptive and are designed to maintain metabolic homeostasis. Interorgan cooperation in ammonia metabolism is necessary to insure the proper integration of the metabolic processes which contribute to and are essential for survival during critical illness. An understanding of these processes improves our knowledge of metabolic regulation and will lead to a rational approach to the nutritional and metabolic support provided to critically ill patients.

--Abstract of "Interorgan ammonia metabolism in health and disease: a surgeon's view," by WW Souba: jpen.aspenjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/11/6/569

Earlier it was noted that ammonia was neurotoxic. Marked brain damage is seen in cases of failure to make urea via the urea cycle or to eliminate urea through the kidneys. The result of either of these events is a buildup of circulating levels of ammonium ion. Aside from its effect on blood pH, ammonia readily traverses the brain blood barrier and in the brain is converted to glutamate via glutamate dehydrogenase, depleting the brain of a-ketoglutarate. As the a-ketoglutarate is depleted, oxaloacetate falls correspondingly, and ultimately TCA cycle activity comes to a halt. In the absence of aerobic oxidative phosphorylation and TCA cycle activity, irreparable cell damage and neural cell death ensue.

--From "Nitrogen Metabolism and the Urea Cycle" by Michael W. King, Ph.D.: web.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/nitrogen-metabolism.html

Did you have a blood serum test performed, Deejavu?

[itsybitsyone]

I don't know anything about ammonia in the body other than what I just read in your links.

I do know that my period was on time, ALWAYS, even when I was emaciated. It generally lasted 6-7 days and has been exactly the same (other than during pregnancy obviously) since I was 11 years old!

Until I started Long term abx.

I started in May and noticed some changes in July. Just little things...slightly off schedule and my migraine was worse. This month, it didn't want to come, I was spotting, crushing PMS migraine for two days...sweating....crankiness....finally it shows up. That was late Friday. Its now Tuesday and almost gone. I went from 6-7 days to only 4 days??

I just had my estrogen checked and it was fine. My hypothyroidism is subclinical, just elevated TSH, so my T3 land T4 levels are normal.

Maybe its just because I just had my 37th birthday two weeks ago, I don't know. I look forward to meno...I no longer have any use for a period anyway...but not this....this is not fun.

As for ammonia, I would have to learn more about that...but at first glance it impresses me as one of those grasping at straws things...forgive me I am a natural skeptic for most things at first...no disrespect just trying to learn here and keep my skeptic hat on...but it doesn't seem that excess free ammonia in the body is something plausable for someone up and around and functioning. It seems you would be very ill very quickly, maybe even in a coma, if you weren't expelling free ammonia toxins properly....

Nancy

[jessiemacmillan]

itsybitsyone said: I look forward to meno...I no longer have any use for a period anyway...but not this....this is not fun.

At 54, I'm well into perimenopause and know a good many boomers who are also well into it. Don't look forward to it! I know women who have two periods a month. Then there are those who flow so copiously I've had to take them to the ER. Then there are the hot flashes, er, power surges -- LOL -- that wake women in the night with drenched nightclothes. I'm currently so warm ALL THE TIME that I'm only comfortable when the a/c cools my office down to 65.

So, could my constant overheating be due to perimenopause, Lyme, something else, all of the above?

Jessie

[LymeEnigma]

I feel for those of you who are experiencing the temperature fluctuations. The babesia gave me terrible hot flashes and night sweats, so bad that I ended up buying "hot flash pajamas" for the chance of waking somewhat dry every once in a while (they work great, until you wash them a few times...). If I never experience another hot flash or drenched night again in my life, I'll be a happy enough camper. You have my utmost of sympathies.

From what I've read, there are few very causes of ammonia overload in the body, such as certain genetic disorders of the liver. It is also important to note that the body naturally produces ammonia as a by-product of metabolizing proteins and the only viable way to check for elevated levels is through blood serum tests.

[itsybitsyone]

Jessie...

Oh, I meant I was looking forward to the "pause" part of menopause. lol

Thats why I said this part is NO FUN. My mom had a late menopause, and did quite a bit of suffering for a few years. Allow me to elaborate...

I am looking forward to going through menopause to reach its completion, exit my childbearing years, cease getting a cycle, and plucking chin hairs.

Oh, wait, I ALREADY pluck chin hairs!

Nancy