MENOPAUSE

[Bertha Venation]

OH, YAY!

[pink-o]

1. My heartfelt sympathies!

As a very ancient woman who is now on the other side of it, allow me to paraphrase: It gets better, really! (now if someone had told me that in the middle of the sweats, the maudlin moods and the migraines, I prolly wudda cut them!). I'm 57 now and went thru it for 6 years, finally out of the tunnel when I turned 53. And I feel amazing now. I love not killing a rainforest every month, I love not craving crazy food due to hormones, I'm way better in control of my weight than I ever was. It's like the real me got put in stasis at aged 12 and finally I got released and can finish my childhood.

So hang in there, Berth! Your life isn't on a downhill, there's plenty more awesomeness just around the corner.

[bluesbassman]

2. Six years?! Yikes!

Medical procedure just triggered it for my wife. Wonder how long it would take me to build a cabin in the back yard?

Good to hear it's better on the other side though pink-o!

I feel for you Bertha, and send you some good vibes.

[DebJ]

3. Darn, I plopped on 15 lbs in two months when it hit me.

No changes in diet or exercise, just hormones. I'm still wearing it, too.
Nice to hear that doesn't happen to everyone.

[pipi_k]

15. Only six?

It took me about 12 years from the first symptoms. No lie.

I had always been almost disgustingly regular (disgusting to my less regular friends, that is) so when timing and flow started to change, I knew something was up.

It got real nasty for a while, that's all I can say.

As far as not killing a rain forest every month, I still found myself doing just that when the incontinence issues started up. Great.

Now I use cloth pads for bladder issues.

Only when I leave the house, though.

around here I just change my undies as many times as I have to.

sigh...ya just can't win either way.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Transitions can definitely be difficult, my dear Bertha!

I hope yours will be easier than you expect...

[GoCubsGo]

5. One word: Remifemin.

It does wonders with the hot flashes. Get on their mailing list, and you can get coupons and all sorts of good advice. They have a night-time formula, too. However, I have found that MidNite (regular or menopause formulas) is just as effective to help dealing with sleep disruptions, at half the price. It has pretty much the same stuff in it as the Remifemin PM.

[a kennedy]

6. in one word?? D*MN.

Been in it for 12 years....hot flashes aren't as numerous today as in 2000 but d*mn, still getting them and don't like it one bit. smilies noted.

[RebelOne]

7. I was one of the fortunate ones.

I never had hot flashes, night sweats or any of the other unpleasant symptoms of menopause. My periods just tapered off and that is all I experienced. I could have had hot flashes, but I lived in South Florida where it is so hot all the time that I never noticed them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Me, too. I think it's hereditary, or else maybe just dumb luck.

In any event, I'm very grateful to whoever is in charge of such things...

[Arkansas Granny]

22. I was a lucky one, too. I had hot flashes for a few months, my periods tapered off until

I realized I hadn't had one in a few months. I was done with it by age 48.

[elleng]

8. NO PROBLEMS here, M'Dear,

so maybe you'll be as fortunate.

[kaiden]

10. Menopause. When your butt migrates to the front.

[RebelOne]

11. Doesn't take menopause to do that.

It's happening to me now and I am way past menopause. That is just age.

[applegrove]

12. I hear one of those handheld, battery operated, fans help.

[pipi_k]

16. I used to love winter

I'd be standing out on the porch almost in my undies during a hot flash...freezing cold outside, me sweating like a pig.

During summer, there's always the freezer.

Oh, and I found a place that sold those cute little Chinese folding fans and bought a box which I just handed down the remnants of to my daughter, who will be 40 this year is and complaining of hot flashes.

[JitterbugPerfume]

13. this too shall pass---

[HeiressofBickworth]

14. Been there, done that

I was also one of the fortunate to have few symptoms. I had a few "power surges", but nothing debilitating. For many years, I had migraines monthly; a doctor told me they would stop with menopause. Hooray!!! No more headaches!!!

Believe me, Bertha, once you get through this process, you will never look back. It's liberating.

[BiggJawn]

17. Wish my GF could have had a "normal" one.

The mood swings didn't last long. It swung to "grumpy" and stayed there, the female equivalent of John McCain's "You kids get the fuck off my LAWN!"... Now she's a "News Junkie" and worries about everything she hears.

Hope your mileage varies, Bertha!

[sarge43]

18. Going through puberty backwards

Enjoy

[kaitcat]

19. I'm 48, so I guess I have about five more years of this.

I'm using phytoestrogens like black cohosh and maca. They really seem to help with the seven dwarves -- I know them all really well, except for I didn't see Trippy -- I lose my balance and fall down a lot.

Good luck!

[siligut]

21. I second the Maca

It is an adaptogen and helps the adrenal glands make up for the ovaries. I have told all my friends and co-workers about it, I just don't trust HRT.

[kaitcat]

24. Agreed on the HRT.

Plus I can access the herbals through my local herbal shop and stay away from the hysterectomy-happy doctors.

[irisblue]

20. i do not know why my mom did not kill me

i, in my super snotty teen years, laughed at her, on finding her , in december 1975, in upper michigan, in her nightgown, eating icecream, drinking ice water, on the back porch. she really loved me, and i got away in the snow cause i had boots on, she was wearing slippers i think what goes around, has grabbed me in it's sweaty clammy claws/ mood swings, head bands, sweat from nose tip, behind the knees sweat(!) ceiling fans in all the rooms (upgraded the elecrtical box 5 yrs ago in fear of this). i put a cotton sheet on my recliner so i can wash it so the "perfume of eau-de-iris sweat" isn't overwhelming.i stopped the ERT a developed MASSIVE MIGRANES...on my sweet goodness...i had a tendency to those before but oh my oh my....black cohosh helped alot, it's not been an easy trip. the ERT did help with the sex drive, but having 2 episodes of post meno bleeding and an upper level of endomentrial thickness was the big motivator to get off ERT. further discussions about that in PMs if interested.
when i tell mom what is going on now, she laughs, makes a small clucking noise, and i deserve it.

[ellie]

23. I have been going through it

for eight years. It's been a process for me. First was the burning cramps. Then the sleep disruption. Then my period stopped. Now I have hot flashes. I carry around a plug-in fan with me. It will hopefully pass soon and I will be on the other side of it.

[LaurenG]

25. After a few years of this and

after being rather reserved my whole life I find no problem with saying/hearing bad words, using ignore and block features and other assorted assertive measures. You will probably find that the old saying "life 's too short" fits in most situations. You won't give a good g** damn what others think because its your turn to turn the tables and think crappy thoughts about them. You'll go through periods of F em all and then after a few years more I hear you go back to normal again...I'll let you know.

[Bertha Venation]

29. thanks, LaurenG

back atcha. Thanks

[LibertyLover]

26. I was really lucky

I had two, maybe three, hot flashes. No night sweats or anything like that. It took about two years for my periods to finally quit after tapering off in flow and duration. I got a little weepy, but at the same time as I was going through menopause, I was also dealing with our newly adopted daughter (16 months old when we brought her home from China)and being a mom for the first time. I didn't have time to think about much of anything except her. Now, about the only problem I have is that I could care less about sex. I'll go through the motions to keep my husband happy, but if he stopped bothering me tomorrow, it wouldn't bother me in the least. Hang in there - it will get better.

[lunatica]

27. The up side is that once it's over you

enter the best of your life. No more mood swings. No more periods. No more physical shit like PMS or unwanted emotional shit.

It's nice. And I had a terrible time with menopause. But I'm very glad it ended.

[pink-o]

28. For the night sweats....

I had a friend who fashioned PJ's from moisture-wicking workout clothes, so she wouldn't waking up to sopping cotton all around her. I think pillowcases would've been a better idea, actually.

And my other friend would pull one of those gel packs out of the freezer, place it under her pillow, and when she got warm she'd just turn the pillow over and enjoy the cool side.

So there are ways. I also refused HRT because that breast cancer scare was all over the news 10 years ago when I might have considered it. And I agree 6 years was a long time, but it wasn't horrible for the entire duration. The worst was 2007--and by 2009, it was just a distant memory.

You'll all get there, really!

[riderinthestorm]

30. I'm in my 50s and still no menopause!!! Regular as clockwork and furious about it!

Dammit when is this nonsense going to stop and I can start whinging about hot flashes??!!!