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Since we are all women on here, I thought it could be a good place to ask this question...
I am showing signs and unpleasant symptoms of menopause coming on. I have been looking at different alternative treatments on-line and wondering what those of you who have gone thru this, have used/are using and what the results were and what you would recommend. So far, I have read up on Amberen, Menozac, and Mellowpause (sounds like a good name for a cat!). Any thoughts??

Barbie

Hide all the weapons when SO comes over, invest in Klennex and make sure your thermostat has a good strong adjustment lever!

I had a complete hysterectomy at age 36 and took HRT for about 5 yrs. Never had any bad stuff. Altho I did get a divorce, hmmmm.

What are your symptoms, Barb?
I went thru it 5 yrs ago unscathed,,, except for the hot flashes! NO bad moods, etc. Menopause doesn't automatically mean you will become a shrew! I never noticed any mood swings.. just the dang hot flashes (I repeat)
Since i didn't wanna get on HRT due to fear of cancer,, I chose anti anxiety medicine which helps somewhat. I take fluoxitene, which is a generic for prozac. Mild dose! Maybe it helps everything! I also take care of my 87+ yr old parents and that, in itself, is a huge mind bender!

GOod luck and stay positive and brace yourself for summer! The flashes are not as bad in winter. But hey, maybe that's just me that suffers from them on occasion.

PM me if you want more advice. lol

the best part about menopause is NO MORE MENSTRAL periods!! Yayyyyyyyyyy,, freedom!

Janet

well, I had a hysterectomy as well, only partial and kept my ovaries so I did put
out the hormones all the time until menopause. Menopause took a couple years,
and I really didn't do anything to help get through it. It was just hard to tell when
I was having a hot flash and when it was just frick'n HOT outside and inside.
I blamed it on the desert and cracked the a/c down to "frozen" and kept a fan
blowing on my face at night. Thats about all I did, but I notice one thing since
that time,,, I no longer get angry over little stuff anymore, I just seem to be
mellow and kind of "oh well" most of the time.
Course, in the summertime here, I still crank the a/c down to "frozen"

..

10+ YEARS OF UNBEARABLE HOT FLASHES, THAT'S HOW IT IS!!!!!!!

God and his sense of humor...


I have tried everything, except HRT (stroke at 40). Nothing worked for me.
Upcoming doc appointment, I plan to ask him about Neurontin, an anti-epileptic.
Several small studies have shown it to be as effective as HRT in reducing hot flashes.
I have my fingers crossed!!!

Good luck to you, you poor thing!

..

mitch5252 wrote:10+ YEARS OF UNBEARABLE HOT FLASHES, THAT'S HOW IT IS!!!!!!!

..... and counting! ! ! ! !

Fortunately, I haven't had any hot flashes, just very occasional night sweats. However, my normally regular periods are now either every two weeks or every two months. I sleep ALL the time (slept 14 hours last night) and feel tired and have no energy whatsoever. The worst thing now is my 'girls' are swollen and very sore and heavy. I am falling out of my bra and can't sleep on my tummy at night because it is too painful. Also, more frequent headaches lately. (No, I am not pregnant!).

Barbie

BarbaraRose wrote:Fortunately, I haven't had any hot flashes, just very occasional night sweats. However, my normally regular periods are now either every two weeks or every two months. I sleep ALL the time (slept 14 hours last night) and feel tired and have no energy whatsoever. The worst thing now is my 'girls' are swollen and very sore and heavy. I am falling out of my bra and can't sleep on my tummy at night because it is too painful. Also, more frequent headaches lately. (No, I am not pregnant!).

Barbie

I'm certainly no doctor, but those sound like more than menopause symptoms.
How about a quick doc visit for a professional opinion (and some peace of mind)?

partial hysterectomy at 31, ovaries kept producing hormones for a long time,... somewhere around age 50=55 went on Premarin's lowest dose. Symptoms were concentration and memory isuses then. Took that until approx. age 65,... no issues at all. Weaned off and now take nothing and am feeling better than ever. I am heavier than I ought to be but then a lot of us are! My avatar pic is from Sept. '08 school pic, .... was 66 at the time. Life is good!

Good luck Barb, I agree with a dr. visit,.. but try to go to a woman dr. A lot of the men docs don't take it seriously. Unfortunately.

Keep us posted!

Hmmm...I started menopause in my late 40's....can't say if I was any crankier than normal or not...had two teenage boys suffering from frequent bouts of testosterone poisoning at the same time...so it's hard to say exactly what put me in a bad mood! However I can tell you why some animals eat their young! Never have had hot flashes during the day...but I'm 59 and I still have my own little private summer almost every morning between 3:30 and 4:30. I've been known to go stand in the garage in the middle of the winter to cool off. I've gone from sleeping in flannel pajamas with flannel sheets and an electric blanket to turning off heat in the bedroom, one lightweight blanket and summer pajamas! Tables have turned and now it's DH complaining about being cold! Dr. had me try some estrogen cream but I didn't notice that it really helped so quit using it after the first jar and decided to tough it out. Never experienced any breast discomfort, but did have very irregular heavy periods for about four years. Also little facial whiskers started popping out...about the same time that I discovered that I needed bifocals to see the little suckers...must have bought about 7-8 different tweezers before I realized/admitted that they weren't the problem and my arms weren't getting shorter when I was reading! One of my friends used Black Cohosh and swears by it..can't remember why I didn't try it...think had something to do with my HP medication. Oh ya..my memory isn't as good as it used to be either.

I used HRT for menopause & still use it ... estrogen only ... plus calcium for osteoporosis. My doc says that's all right because the progesterone replacement creates a uterine cancer risk. I don't have a uterus.

I had hot flashes and night sweats - I've always been a bit on the cranky side, so it's hard to say if I was worse or not. I've recently started on Celexa (anti-depressant) and it's wonderful !! That has nothing to do with your question, but for some reason I thought I'd share - HA !
I'd say you should see the Dr. too - your symptoms seem a little extreme for menopause, at least if I go by my experience.
Just hang tough - it all levels off.

mitch5252 wrote:

BarbaraRose wrote:Fortunately, I haven't had any hot flashes, just very occasional night sweats. However, my normally regular periods are now either every two weeks or every two months. I sleep ALL the time (slept 14 hours last night) and feel tired and have no energy whatsoever. The worst thing now is my 'girls' are swollen and very sore and heavy. I am falling out of my bra and can't sleep on my tummy at night because it is too painful. Also, more frequent headaches lately. (No, I am not pregnant!).

Barbie

I'm certainly no doctor, but those sound like more than menopause symptoms.
How about a quick doc visit for a professional opinion (and some peace of mind)?

Ummmm? I'm with Mitch on this. A Doc visit would be a good idea, if nothing else would relieve the mind and you could ask other questions too.

I started early menopause while I was 41. OMG the periods I was having were from HE77, grumpy, crabbie, sweaty, oh yeah but my belly other than cramps didn't hurt nor was it to tender to lay on. And the 'girls' didn't bother me much other than being sensitive to the external touch which the X-boyfriend thought was funny. Went to the Doc he was skeptical that I at that age was starting menopause. So off I went to the library to do some reading. What I found for myself was that extreme stress can indeed bring on early menopause. And heaven knows that from before August of '93 to early spring of '95 I had been dealing with a ton of stress. ie, Mother with terminal cancer, first job driving big truck over the road, being away from home, husband dumped the fact he wanted a divorce while I was calling home from the road, loss of job due to downsizing, week after getting home X walked out and didn't come back home after he agreed to try to work it out, death of Mother, packing to move from NY to TN, just getting back into TN only to turn around and go back to NY because of accidental death of father, etc. etc. I could go on believe me! But make up a list like I did, of what is going on and take it to the Doc with you. And have "good" conversation with Doc. Then go from there. Could find herbalist in your area or Google "homeopathic aides for menopause" and see what ya get. In the long run I was lucky as when I had my hysterectomy it ended the hotflashes, night sweats, the feeling like I had a million ants crawling on my legs and body and I took NO HRT!!! Doc prescribed them for me but I never took a one. I had read to many horror stories about what could happen. I hate to read the warnings on pills, meds and the like. Good grief that blasted things can cause more problems that they are suppose to help. Looking at that in that way I would probably never take another pill for the rest of my life!

Please go to the Doc and get a good opinion of what is going on. More than likely the Doc will tell you that it is menopause, but to be on the safe side? Its always better to be safe than sorry.

Start with a good physical and get labs done.....should be able to get feed back on hormone levels, etc......they have so much more information than they used to...... It would be a place to start. Especially since everyone's body adjusts and goes through this differently. I think it is similar to the "stories" about individual childbirth experiences. After you hear enough, you get the basic ways that things can go and get the sense to expect what ever comes your way.....I think it totally knocks some women off center and others fly through with minimal effects....I think what is most important is that you keep asking questions and get first/second opinions from medical until the answers make sense to you...