I am 47 years old and I have only had one bleed in the past 7 months. I have many of the symptoms listed, from aching muscle joints to mood swings and lack of energy. My doctor has told me that I could be menopausal. I work nights and I've noticed a tingling in my arms, hands, feet, and the side of my face and neck. Is this normal? It feels like something is crawling under my skin and I want to rub it away. It's worse before I have a hot flush. I take menopace daily. Is there anything else that I can take?

Itchy skin/tingling/nerve shocks are very common in the menopause and often caused by lowering oestrogen levels.

However; stress, dehydration, and constipation can be contributory factors as would doing night shift work - this stresses the body which can result in worse symptoms. 

There are a number of things you could try.  Look at your diet and lifestyle and make sure that you are drinking plenty of plain water every day - tea, coffee, and fizzy drinks don't count!

You could also try a fermented soya supplement, such as Menopause Support as this is traditionally used to help gently raise and balance oestrogen so it may help to reduce symptoms as well.

Some women find taking a couple of cups of nettle tea a day can help too. Good sleep is very important in the menopause and more so if you work nights, so you may find Dormeasan helps to give you a better and more relaxed sleep which in turn can help generally.

Acupuncture is known to help balance the hormones in the menopause so it would be worth looking into.

Did the doctor also test you for low iron, low thyroid or low vitamin D as these can all cause similar symptoms. If not, it may be a good idea to ask just to rule them out.

Eileen Durward