When will the torture end??? Aka: Menopause!

[gratefuldeb67]

LOL!!!

Well friends, this isn't diet related, directly, but pms sure does stink!
I am really hoping my period stops pretty soon and have even prayed for this to happen..
I am curious about what it's like to go through menopause?
Lately my cycle has been semi erratic and it has usually been fairly consistent over the years... Other than two times when I had a psychosomatic reaction to stress and thought I was pregnant, but wasn't, my period has been very regular for 27 years now... I'm almost 39 now and realize this is a little soon to wonder about this issue, but since I've been late for about three or four periods, and it's been pretty light/scanty except for the first day, I am wondering if this is the beginning stage of my cycle stopping...
I would love that!!! I am not interested in having another child, so no biggie even if it stopped tomorrow... Frankly the emotional ups and downs that go with pms really alter the quality of my life.. I'm eager for that madness to stop...
When I asked my Mom when her period stopped and she said it was in her forties.. That's kind of vague!
Then she said she really didn't remember the details...
I guess I have to forgive her senility as it was almost twenty years ago for her..

So, if any of the women here who have lived through menopause wouldn't mind sharing their tales of how it started and how it ended and how long that took, I would be very interested...
Of course this is fairly intimate, so feel free to private message or email me!
Thanks in advance!
I expect to hear from "Hot flash Peetie!"
Have a nice evening...

Peace and Love,
Deb

PS... I ate 6 Garlic Pickles and half a bag of potato chips and 1/3 of a cherry pie today...
pms isn't exactly helping me in the binge department today! LOL...
Now I'm really thirsty!!!!

[Dixie_Amazon]

If you find out let me know! Unfortunately I think it varies widely person to person. I have been having night sweats for over a year but my monthly cycle is about the same.

[want2bhealthy]

hey deb, i would love to go through menapause to , i am not looking to have anymore kids either, i want my period to stop as soon as possible, i am 42. i have been reg all my life. my pms get worse every yr. the only change i notice with cycle is , sometimes my comes a bit earlier. i wont miss it at all.

[tomahawkk]

Is isn't something I like to discuss, or even admit I'm old enough to have any knowledge in, but here goes: progesterone. The natural kind. Shop for it in a lotion on Amazon. You'll love it.

[droth]

I think I started having delayed periods at about age 36 (I'm now near 47). I had always been very, very regular. In 2007 I had 4 periods, this year so far only 1. I had an FSH drawn by my doctor that said I was in menopause, but he could not tell me exactly how long it would take to complete menopause. At age 36-37 to probably about 42 your are considered perimenopausal. I think once you hit the menopausal stage it takes anywhere from 10-15 years to go completely through it. It is nice not to have a period, but it is worse having one when it is completely unexpected....and it never fails, the one or two I have always come when we are going on vacation, etc. Have that simple lab test done (FSH) when you go for your next checkup and then you should know which stage you're in and approximately how long it will be before you are completely through.

[Beckycan]

I'm 47. Had always been very regular, 28 days like clockwork. Then 2 winters ago, I had three months of HEAVY periods, that lasted for almost 2 weeks, with only a week between them -- after that I spotted for 3 months, then no more since June of 2006.

I had some emotional stuff -- depression was bad for awhile, and my doctor gave me an antidepressant that I took for over a year. It was like PMS all the time before I started the antidepressant. (Came off of them in January and feeling fine now.)

I tried the Progesterone cream and it did not really help me.

Becky

[kccc]

Dang. I'm 51, and still regular as clockwork. A few night sweats, and some variation in my periods, but that's it. I'm beginning to think I'll have periods all my life!

[fkwan]

It's just amazing how different my metabolism is in just two years -- at age 50 I lost about 2 pounds in one week on a vegetarian diet. Now at age almost 53 I can barely lose a pound a week with the exact same diet and exercise.

And I'm just starting the mood swings. I had no IDEA how virulent they can be and I've been a depressive all my life but it was nothing like this.

f

[Beckycan]

Hang in there f, it will pass.

When I was in the thick of it I was working home health (I'm a nurse) and between home visits I would park someplace out of the way (cemetary was a favortite place) and just sit and cry until I couldn't cry anymore. (Often had dead space between appointments.)

Sunshine helped me -- just getting outside and doing stuff whenever the weather was ok.

(((hugs)))
Becky

[fkwan]

Hi Becky,

I'm a medical transcriptionist, which is almost as bad as being a home health nurse in terms of at least reading about sickness and death, which I seem to be thinking a lot about lately.



Sunshine does indeed help.

hugs back,

f

[Shirls]

It's great to be past the menopause. Towards the end the pms and mood swings became almost unbearable and I couldn't have HRT as I had a thrombosis in my twenties. I never did get hot flashes. My skin looks better than it ever did BUT the pounds piled on an and on. My lovely lady doctor who is a few years younger than me was sympathetic and obligingly tested my thyroid levels, sugar, cholestrol and everything else which all turned out to be perfectly normal. She gave me the bad news: exercise and a moderate diet was the only answer. Of course I didn't believe that. There had to be a magic diet or pills or something quick
Ten years down the line I see she was right. And I'm going to tell her about the NOS diet the next time I see her.

[DianeA2Z]

Well ladies, here is my experience: I went perimenopausal just after my 50th birthday. Had so many problems with heavy periods, clotting, etc. and after several D&Cs finally decided to have a hysterectomy. Turns out I must have had endometriosis at some point (explains the horrendously painful mentrual cramps) because my GYN found lots of scaring, and my right ovary was attached to the uterus. I had been experiencing hot flashes prior to the surgery. I was on HRT for about a year, then went off. Once in a very great while I get a hot flash....but they're not severe and are becoming more infrequent. (had the surgery in 2002). In my case there was no decision about keeping the ovaries and I was lucky the biopsy was negative. I do not regret the surgery except for the fact that I still have some numbness on my lower abdomen. The GYN could not do the procedure vaginally because of the complications so now I have a "happy face" scar. Well, I never wore a bikini before, and even if I wore a size 0 I wouldn't wear one now so the scar doesn't bother me. Personally, I'm glad it's all over with! I'm glad I had 2 children, but I didn't like being pregnant (it doesn't "agree" with me) and I hated going thru all the PMS and heavy bleeding. Oh and did I tell you I had raving-crazy-insane PMS? Yeah, that was fun Color me happy now.

Diane

p.s. I actually had my OB-GYN in PA tell me that going on the pill wouldn't be good because "pregnancy doesn't agree with you"...his words, I swear.

p.p.s. Why is it that the only places I'm "small" cannot be viewed from the outside? My GYN told me I had a small uterous. I don't how it could be small, one son weighed over 9 lbs. and the other weighed 10 lb. 1 oz. I also have "skinny" veins according to people who have to draw my blood. Go figure! (Uh-oh, I think I just crossed over the TMI line )

[Terrylynne]

I have been getting night sweats and hot flashes for 3years now. My mom gave me this little piece of advice with mood swings, rememeber what is going on in your body, it's hormonal and you can control it. I thought oh ya sure, but you really can. I can be watching a commercial on t.v. and it gets aliitle sappy, find myself getting teary eyed and actually control this progression of the floodgates from opening, just by saying (almost mantra style- it's hormones TL, you can control this.) It really does work.
I have decided against HRT, women for thousands of years have been going through menopause and it can be uncomfortable, but really a flash doesn't last very long. You may get them like a machine gun effect for a week or two, but then it'll abate for a week or two and the cycle repeats, but every woman's different. Some ladies I know finished in a couple of years, and some I know have been going on 12 yrs. and still going.

[DianeA2Z]

Terrylynne, I got kind of nervous about all the HRT press. I was using a patch, and then I lost medical insurance, so I discontinued anything that wasn't truly needed 'cause I couldn't afford everything. Fortunately for me, that year was about all I needed to "settle" things down. I'm glad I went off HRT.

Diane

[fkwan]

Vote 3 for no HRT. I figure they went through it for thousands of years without that kind of stuff, so could I.

I have every single symptom, but once I learned they were all hormonal, now I just ignore them.

I can stand all of them except for the weight gain and the incontinence. The good thing about menopause or aging is that I no longer care if anyone thinks I am a super b**** due to my mood swings!!!!

f

[FarmerHal]

I'm totally interested in this subject. I'm 31 and having a HELL of a time with hormones. I am seeking treatment for what my dr thinks is uterine fibroids but the way the military insurance (tricare) works, it takes a month to get in, anothermonth for an ultrasound, another month to go over those results and then FINALLY come up with a plan.

Next friday is my u/s and I can't wait. I'm on 800mg motrin and still having pain. I'm having nasty mood swings and yesterday I cried non-stop. My poor kids, they have no idea what's going on (they're 4 and almost 2). So I'm a wreck. I want to feel great like I did last year when I was still breastfeeding and not ovulating/period. I had energy, I walked and biked and jogged and swam and took the kids to hte park.

Now I'm lucky if I can get out of my jammies and get the kids to play in the back yard. I'm soo tired and just so sad all the time. Ugh. and it's getting hard to NoS. I did end up taking 2 S days, yesterday and today.

Here's the TMI, my periods are 7-9 days long and I have 3 to4 heavy days, as in, I don't stray far from the bathroom. And m y cycles are shorter so it seems like I'me always on a period. UGH. I'm sure that makes me even MORE depressed.

Bodies are so interesting, but it's amazing they're not a little better about hormonal stuff!

[amyg]

I was the QUEEN of PMS and all the lovely stuff that comes along with it. I truly wanted to hurt people, was evil and the most miserable person on this earth!!! I knew I was being just awful but I couldn't make it stop. PAXIL was the little pill that got me through!!! Couldn't get it away from me now with an army!!! I remember feeling like evil itself as a child of 12!!! When I started taking Paxil I felt normal and reacted normally for the first time since puberty....not drugged, just normal. I started taking it at age 47, I'm 55 now, I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago, I'm on hormone replacement and I feel really great. No night sweats, no evil/devil woman AND great sex! What more can you ask for?!

by the way....My Dr. put me on Paxil because I complained of 'pre-homicidal' PMS....I didn't want to take it, got talked into it and I'm sooo glad I did!

[Sheiler]

Shamrockmommy,(and anyone else who's interested), there's an awesome site called HysterSisters at Hystersisters.com. As the name implies, it's for women who have fibroids or any other condition that might require a hysterectomy. It also gives lots of alternative information so that a woman can make the best decision for her own situation. To make an already long story short, there is tons of info there on menopause, and lots of woman to woman support on their boards.

[noSer]

Got this from my sister - thought it might be useful

'ESTROGEN ISSUES'

10 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE 'ESTROGEN ISSUES'

1. Everyone around you has an attitude problem.
2. You're adding chocolate chips to your cheese omelet.
3. The dryer has shrunk every last pair of your jeans.
4. Your husband is suddenly agreeing to everything you say.
5. You 're using your cellular phone to dial up every bumper sticker that says: 'How's my driving-call 1- 800-'.
6. Everyone's head looks like an invitation to batting practice.
7. Everyone seems to have just landed here from 'outer space.'
9. You're sure that everyone is scheming to drive you crazy.
10. The ibuprofen bottle is empty and you bought it yesterday.

[fkwan]

I know it's part of meno, but the anger and depression are driving me crazy. I wanted to kill all weekend because I was shut up in the place for two days with my mother-in-law, so I thought, good, it's almost MONDAY and I can get away (Monday is my Friday ). I got into work and I wanted to strangle everyone in the room including myself. I didn't even have a break in the mess until 1500 gym session when handling all that iron (even though I could only do 25 boy push ups) made me feel a little better.

No S hasn't made a dent in this, unhappily, although no more hot flashes, football team locker room body odor, hair loss or migraines (knock anything made from a tree).

I flushed my one experience of antidepressants down the toilet. Any suggestions? Should I bring back my fifth weight day on Fridays, Mistress Noel ?


f

[oolala53]

My last period was last May (2008) and I had hot flashes for a couple of months, I think. I've had mood issues for a long time, and it didn't seem different. I even lost weight, getting to the lowest point I had been in a few years. I gained weight over the fall just from plain old gluttony. Now, Jan. 2009, the hot flashes returned and now I'm gaining weight fast. I'm overeating, true that, but no more than I used to, and returning to sane eating doesn't result in the same drop back in weight. Egads, it is discouraging to think I will have to work so hard just to stay where I am. Have any of you found that you had to cut your plate down and exercise more or not? Or have you just accepted the change? Boy, when I found NoS, I thought I'd found a way to get down into my "correct" BMI range at a weight that a model would commit suicide over, but that I would shave my head for if it would get me there. Now this menopause stuff is shaking my confidence.

[gratefuldeb67]

Hi Everyone!!
I haven't been on the boards much, but wanted to update this thread, and announce, that 16 years later (how did this happen!!!???) I'm now approaching 55 next month, and am *finally*, after over a year without a period, officially in menopause!!
I just had to share it, because, lawd'a mercy!!, I have been waiting for this for so long!!
Yayyy!!!

[Amy3010]

Wow, Deb, congratulations! That is a huge milestone! And I totally get how thrilled you are I was so glad when I was done, too.