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[giniboz]

Hi fellow ladies!  No doubt like me, trying to live with the misery that is the Menopause.  I actually joined this site about a year ago, when the Menopause seemed to hit almost overnight - one day I was me, and then... periods started spluttering to a halt, started experiencing soaking night sweats, about 50 hot flushes a day, suddenly feeling so angry and irritable, lashing out at my poor long-suffering partner, bursting into tears over nothing... boy, I was in a bad way.  I can't take HRT cos my darling mum died of breast cancer three years after starting a course of HRT and it has made me very anti, and my doctor agrees that it is NOT a good way to go.  After googling madly, trying to find ANYTHING to help, I stumbled across a medical site that stated that Fluoxetine (Prozac) was good for diminishing menopausal symptoms, so I tried it.  I have to say, within 7 days, all the symptoms had totally gone, and I went on a sort of crusade with my friends to urge them to try it - it was like a miracle!

Anyway, that was then.  Within a few months, my periods had started again, and I realised that the 'miracle' of Prozac probably wasn't doing what I thought it was, in fact my body was probably not quite hitting the menopause proper, and at the end of 6 months or so when my periods had stopped, my symptoms returned with a vengeance.  Still continued taking the Prozac, in the vain hope that they might help, and... suffice to say, I have now given up as they make absolutely no difference whatsoever.  As I sit here, gently steaming, on my tenth hot flush of the morning, I have just ordered some 'Serenity' cream for £20, after reading all the blurb about how good it is.  I feel so desperate, and depressed, and wonder if ANYONE can offer any advice about any other products out there I can try? (I've tried Black Cohosh, Garlic, Flash-Fighters etc.)  My doctor is now talking about Beta-Blockers (sounds scary) and another anti-depressant called Tibolone (or something like that) is anyone out there using those?  Sorry, this is a bit rambly, hope it all makes sense. 

[gilaray]

I too dont take HRT and I have tried every supplement there is with little effect. The thing is with flushes they do wax and wane. I have been through periods of severe flushing and then they will subside. At the moment my flushes are fairly minimal.
My doctor is totally against HRT (maybe because they dont want to spend the money???) and she did not offer any alternatives. She views it as a natural occurence that will pass of its own accord and I just have to suck it up and get on with it.
Having said that my symptoms are flushing, night sweats, headaches and palpitations. I do not suffer with depression except for the odd blue day so Im sure your doctor can prescribe something for that.

[CLKD]

   some medications designed for one condition have been found to help others so what have you to lose?

[jules]

Hi - i dont take HRT either not cos im against it or anything like that just havent been offered it by my doctor ... im peri-meno and suffering with night sweats and sweats during the day too - not sure if these are classed as hot flushes or what !  erratic periods, weight gain, headaches, insomnia, personality change ... oh you all know the list is endless - i agree its so awful and i never really expected it to be so bad - my mum was very lucky and sailed through her "change" so i was silly enough to think the same thing may happen to me .. no such luck. 

Anyway getting to the point (sorry) I am on beta blockers actually prescribed for my migraines, but i havent noticed that they have had any affect on my menopause symptoms at all im afraid, well who knows maybe they have and i would be worse if i wasnt on them  anything is worth a try that may work for you... i think menopause is a total nightmare and i cant believe how much its changed me  though this forum is a god send as so many strange things i have been experiencing and worrying about are talked about here and it somehow makes it just that bit more bearable.

I hope the serenity cream works for you - let us know. 
sending a big hug ... oh mind you hugs normally make my sweats worse ! still sending one anyway x

[Suzi Q]

I was given Beta Blocas for the painic but Id taken them at 26
So nothing to do with meno
I too didnt take HRT just HRT internal cream and I took the mini pill
MY GP and me too didnt want to take HRT
I know HRT vaginally is safe for cancer people try and ask but if your vaginas ok
Then there are a hoest of other antidepressants that can help must be honest I dont like the idea of Prozac myself
Chin up keep writing I do it does make you feel safer knowing your not alone xxxxx

[Melbury]

I was also totally against trying HRT, but after three years of trying virtually every natural remedy and still feeling awful, I am going to give it a whirl.

I can cope with the hot flushes - I suppose I get about 8-10 on a bad day and sometimes far fewer.  What I just can't put up with anymore is the continual feeling of melancholy and crying at the drop of a hat, coupled with the sleep deprivation.  I work full time and always feel so totally exhausted.

I just want to feel somewhere near normal again. 

I am supposed to be trying Oestrogel, if the consultant ever gets around to writing to my GP about it

[Blue]

So sorry you are having a hard time. I can soo relate to the weepy/ depressed etc. I have been refused HRT as I am too old. So am having to go it alone.  Sucks doesn't it?

GP gave me an anti- depressant  but it just zonked me out to the point I was dangerous to drive I reckoned.  Am trying Menopace at moment.

I hope you get something to help.

Keep chatting it really helps to know you are not alone to you all
 
Blue xx

[Val.M]

Hi Ginibob

I notice at the end of your post that you mention Tibolone...  Well, this is another form of HRT - not quite the same as "traditional" HRT but still effective

My sister in law had this for a few years and found it very good - so worth a try maybe?  I have no idea how this would impact upon you as regards your mother's illness - perhaps this is something you could address with your Doctor?

Hope you find your way through this - I know how hard it can be.

Valxx

[Melbury]

My libido is not reduced, it has packed up and emigrated

Just hoping that the Oestrogel will help, when I eventually get to try it out.

[giniboz]

THANK YOU!  for all your wonderfully supportive, informative and helpful replies.  It's been so good to be able to 'talk' to other women about all this, and especially thankful to the lady who wrote more about Tibolone... I must admit, I didn't know it was a sort of HRT, I thought it was just another anti-depressant, so that was incredibly useful.  I might give it a try.  I feel a bit like a lab-rat/guinnea pig going through all these various drugs with my doctor, who actually is enormously helpful, and is forever scouring his medical journals for other things we can try, while I'm sitting grizzling in his surgery...

I put on my first slathering of 'Serenity' cream this morning after my shower, and am expecting great things!  I do feel that when you get to this stage of feeling absolutely strung out and desperate, we will try almost anything, and spend loads of money on 'miracle cures' that often are a load of rubbish... still, gotta try. 

Another awful thing I find is that from going from a size 10 for most of my life, I seem to be developing love-handles, thunder-thighs and a sort of fatty tyre under my boobs that I have NEVER had before!  It doesn't matter how many sit-ups I do, or walks with the dog I go on, it doesn't seem to make any difference at all - whereas pre-meno I could get rid of a few pounds with ease.  This really is naffing me off, and I feel fat and unattractive...  can somebody tell me anything positive at all, about this stage in our lives??

[CLKD]

Yep Larky right on!

As for love handles etc., it's aging sadly  ............ lack of oestrogen, lack of exercise, all those years of excess layered down like Hunston Cliffs     ............

[CLKD]

but why does it stick there  - and is it the same the World over?

[giniboz]

Susan, that's so interesting about the fluid retention - I had heard of weight gain with the menopause, but always assumed you could shift it by doing the right sort of exercises.  I can tell my shape is changing, but have a horror of morphing into one of those ladies who just get thicker and thicker, and end up with no waist and a big tummy etc.  Also my energy levels are at an all-time low, so even the thought of going and getting hot and sweaty in a gym, and then getting a massive hot flush is just so off-putting... It's so unfair as well, as I'm eating exactly the same semi-healthy stuff as I always have!

[Taz2]

There is a small article here http://www.talkmenopause.com/webdocs/care/weight_menopause.php. I am turning into one of those women who have lost their waists and got a thicker shape.

Taz x

[Jenny50]

What about walking instead of going to the gym? Good exercise and not too sweaty an activity.  I've never thought all that jumping up and down is good for you anyway, gently does it in my book.  Didn't the man who started the craze for jogging have a heart attach out running or is that just a myth?

Jenny X