KNOWING yourself and what your “normal” looks like is crucial when it comes to understanding your body.
It makes it easier to pick up on any changes that – when it comes to your health – should be flagged to a medical professional, be it a pharmacist, practice nurse or GP.
Dr Zoe Williams answers some health questions sent in by readers
From your bowel habits to how you react to certain foods or insect bites, or how you respond to lack of sleep or high stress – learn to clock when your body is acting out of character.
And of course, if your body is doing something out of the ordinary and you’re worried, contact your local surgery and drop me a line.
Here’s what readers asked me this week . . .
Q) MY period is really erratic; sometimes two weeks late, sometimes a week early. I’m 40. What could it be?
A) If you’re under the age of 45 and your periods have suddenly become irregular, for no obvious reason, then it’s worth seeing your GP for some investigations.
There are a number of medical conditions that can cause periods to become irregular, such as thyroid abnormalities, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or early menopause.
Other causes include extreme weight loss or gain, or excessive exercise.
Some types of hormonal contraception will also affect periods.
I often see people in clinic who are concerned because they have missed one period, or they have come on earlier or later than usual.
Generally, if it is just a one-off and there are no other symptoms or concerns from the history, it is fine to just monitor periods, and if they go back to normal, not investigate further.
But in your case it sounds like your periods have become erratic over a sustained period of time, so a check is advised.
If the history and tests do not reveal anything, then the question will be, “Could this be perimenopause?”
While the term menopause is used to describe women who haven’t had a period for 12 months, perimenopause is the time before that where periods are erratic for a number of years before stopping.
Menopause usually occurs between 45 and 55 years of age, but for one in every 20 women it happens before the age of 45.
Though rare, it can start as early as your twenties or as late as your sixties, and can go on for a few months or more than a decade.
Unfortunately, there’s no test to categorically determine if you’re in perimenopause, but your GP will ask questions about your menstrual history and also the age your mum went through menopause — as this is one of the best indicators we have of what age we might go through it ourselves.
An FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) blood test can sometimes be useful, in that if the result is above 30 it is consistent with menopause, but a result below 30, which is likely in perimenopause, does not help.
Are you experiencing any other symptoms of perimenopause?
The most common are night sweats, hot flashes, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, joint aches and menstrual cramp.
You might also become forgetful or suffer brain fog.
See your GP or practice nurse.
A lot of practices have someone with a vested interest in women’s health who will discuss symptoms with you and help you with HRT decisions and next steps.
Q) I AM a 34-year-old male and look after myself.
Over the last few years I’ve noticed I’m sweating more.
After exercising it can take my body an hour to stop sweating. In social situations I get drenched from it.
My GP has prescribed antiperspirants, but this is a full upper-body issue.
I know sweating is my body’s way of regulating temperature, but what is causing it to flare up in social situations?
I do suffer from anxiety, but this has been affecting my confidence and willingness to socialise.
A) Hyperhidrosis is the medical name for excessive sweating.
It can happen over your whole body but typically affects armpits, hands, feet, face, chest and groin.
We don’t know what causes it but it can be linked to anxiety, certain medications, low blood sugar, an overactive thyroid or an infection.
The good news is that it can disappear as suddenly as it appeared but, in the meantime, there are things you can do to mitigate the symptoms.
Try to wear loose clothing and cotton over synthetic fabrics so your body can breathe as much as possible.
We know alcohol and spicy foods can trigger it so avoid those.
Foot powders can help absorb foot sweat and black clothes can limit how visible your sweating can be, so that might help too.
Hyperhidrosis can be self-perpetuating too — you feel yourself starting to sweat which induces stress which makes you sweat more.
There’s a treatment called iontophoresis which is where a weak electrical current is passed through a wet pad on the affected areas, but I’m afraid this is rarely offered on the NHS.
It is, however, available in some private clinics or you can do it yourself at home.
IBS but now I leak fluid too
Q) I HAVE had irritable bowel syndrome for several years but now I have clear fluid in between visits to the toilet.
It’s so bad that I have to wear a sanitary towel all the time. Please help.
A) While clear anal discharge can be a symptom of IBS, and you have been diagnosed with IBS previously, this is a new symptom which warrants further analysis.
Have you made an appointment to see your GP since you started having these new symptoms?
The discharge could be a symptom of inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease, an infection, or cancer.
Clear discharge can also be caused by haemorrhoids.
So, it’s important to speak with your GP and do some tests, which will likely initially be blood and stool ones.
After taking a full history, the diagnosis will likely be a process of elimination, your GP will be able to cross possible causes off the list.
You don’t mention having seen blood in the poo – a FIT test involves looking at a sample of your poo to detect any traces of blood, which may be invisible to the naked eye.
If your results are positive for traces, you should get a colorectal referral where a specialist doctor or nurse will investigate for possible cancer.
The most important thing is that you speak to your GP as soon as you can.
This isn’t a symptom you should live with or try to manage alone as it could be a sign of a new condition altogether.