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[bluegoddess]

Menopause starts early in my family. I have been dealing with menopause issues for about ten years. Right now I get a period maybe 1 or 2 times a year. I have night sweats, hot flashes, maybe sleep for 3 or 4 hours a night and the mood swings are driving me up the wall. I an not sure how my husband is able to deal with the mood swings (lol) because I can't. My doctor keeps telling me to wait because she doesn't think it is menopause. When I ask her what it is then she just looks at me. She had me try st. jonhs wart and black cohosh but after a while they interfered with my blood pressure and now I am on blood pressure meds. I will be 50 in Dec. I am fine with the fact that I am going through menopause but my doctor is not. She just wants me to wait some more before I go on HRT. I have learned to deal with most of the symptoms but I am having a hard time dealing with the mood swings. Some days they are so bad. To everyone out there how long should I wait? And will HRT help? I just want it to get better. I can't stand being in a bad mood all the time and I am pretty sure it is not helping my marriage. Some days it feels like I am going crazy lol.

[Hurdity]

Hi bluegoddess

 

Yes HRT will definitely help. I am surprised at her telling you to try Cohosh and St John's wort, when it's oestrogen you need. If the hot flushes and sweats are preventing you from sleeping and interfering with your quality of life then you have nothing to lose, and she does not have your true interests at heart if she continues to deny you this treatment. Are you in UK?

Most doctors nowadays go by symptoms rather than blood tests (which are inaccurate - but she may want to do one or two) and in your case, your infrequent periods and the mood siwngs, flushes and sweats, together with your age, should suggest you are menopausal to the doc.

I would go back to your doc and ask for some HRT - and we can help with the different types. I am sure you would not regret it.

Hurdity x

[KatieLiz]

There is one type of HRT for perimenopause and another type for when you have gone through the menopause ie without a period for a year when you are over 50 years old.

It sound like your GP needs to become more informed.  HRT will definitely help and the sooner the better!  You are still having periods and are not yet 50, so you need the type for perimenopause - have a look at the green menu on the left hand side of the page. 

I found that the more you know about the menopause and HRT the easier it is to be given a prescription.  I wasn't offered HRT but I did say I would like a trial, after acknowledging I understood the pros and cons.

[bluegoddess]

Thank you for the information

[bluegoddess]

To Hurdity
 No I am not in the UK. I am in the US. Thanks for your help and information

[andius]

Bluegoddess:

I think they make you wait until you demand it, beg, break down in front of them, or you go elsewhere.

In my experience, the longer you wait the worse it will be. I dealt with symptoms for at least 8 years before my periods stopped at 53, and I didn't start HRT till 56.  I wish I had just found a doctor who would have put me on hormones back then.  My worst symptom is vaginal and urethral atrophy with constant burning for years.  Every doctor I went to seemed to have no understanding of it and I was still having periods so I guess they didn't realize what it was.  I spent a lot of money on supplements, ordered stuff off internet, etc all to no avail. None of it worked for me.  It seems they only want to relieve hot flashes....

Once after not being able to sleep for 3 whole days, I had a really bad anxiety episode. My husband thought I was going crazy.  I work, but had to stay home because it could have jeopardized my job. Life is difficult enough without going through all of this.  By not getting on hormones sooner, I have lost bone mass (big drop in bone density right before and after menopause) and am now taking a bisphosphonate for this. I developed intestinal problems and poor absorption of vitamins.  I had neurological symptoms of B12 deficiency, some of which may not be reversible.  Estrogen receptors are all over the body and deficiency can really affect you if you don't make much naturally. If I had estrogen on board, the whole thing would have been smoother and I wouldn't have become so ill.

Oh, how I wish I had started taking hormones way back when! If you want to try them and your doctor won't give them to you....go to Body Logic website and find a doctor there. If you can't afford that, go to a compounding pharmacy in your area and ask if they have a program or know of a doctor in your area that prescribes bioidentical hormones,  call Women's International Pharmacy(somewhere in midwest I think) and ask them for doc in your area. Where are you in US?...I am in Texas.

Welcome to this site.  I am a new member also.  After many frustrating years, I decided to join this site because these women are more clued up and supportive than any other site I have found anywhere!  They are all really quite lovely!

[bluegoddess]

Lol well I think I am ready to beg for it now. I was going to go back to her in Jan after I turn 50 and tell her that I am now 50 and haven't had a period in a year and tell her that I think its time for HRT but am not sure if I want to wait until then. Last Oct she had me take Medroxyprogesterone 10mgs for 7 days and told me my period would start back up and be regular again and that didn't happen. Went back for my check up and she was surpised that it didn't help start them back up. Just like you I have ordered stuff off the internet. They would not work at all or work for about a month and then stop. I am going for walks, trying to lose weight, and trying to eat better. I am trying to work on my stress but the mood swings don't help with that. I am willing to live with the hot flashes and night sweats if the mood swings and little sleep would get better. Lately I fly off the handle about everything and anything. I just want to feel some what normal again. I keep telling my husband that I am sorry about all the mood swings but I know its starting to get to him. I really do feel sorry for him. He didn't think it would be this bad and neither did I. Thank you for listening. I will check the website you told me about.  Oh and I live in CA.

[andius]

She was trying to MAKE you have a period last year at your age?.....there must be some reason, but I think that is really strange.  Isn't that what they would do for much younger patients?

I wonder if this doc is not understanding menopause? Is she an OB/GYN or some other specialty?

A

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and Welcome blue goddess
Hurdity is absolutely right.  Print out info from this site if need be and show it to your doctor - he or she is in the dark ages.  Ask if there is a meno clinic near or ask for a referral to gynae if necessary.

We all get sooooo cross when we hear the problems women have with their ignorant GPS
Good luck  DG x

[Hurdity]

Oh dear bluegoddess I feel for you.

I don't know how the health system works in the US but who was this doctor?

Progestogens alone (which is what medroxyprogesterone is - a synthetic one) don't induce a period if there has been no oestrogen build up and if you are well into menopause ie almost there.

What sort of doctor is she?

Even in US where you have to pay there must be normal ordinary doctors that you go to that don;t prescribe wacky regimes like this and tell you to take herbal supplements.

You do not need to go to a compounding pharmacy to have bio-identical HRT but andius should be able to tell you how to get to a normal doc in US re HRT.

Dr Elisabeth Vliet is the US equivalent, I suppose, or Dr Currie in UK - she promotes "bio-identical" HRT as the normal regime through normal doctor channels - just as we do in UK.

She written various books including "Screaming to Be Heard" and has various clips on youtube especially about the myth of bio-identicals (and compounding etc). Here's one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XfpAATJkC8

Here's her website:

http://www.herplace.com/

By the way it's fine to have a period but only if you have chosen to as part of HRT. Since you are not post-meno you would be given cyclical HRT which would cause a monthly bleed - but at least you would be getting rid of your unwanted symptoms and giving your body the benefit of replacement oestrogen!

Hope this helps

Hurdity x