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[Dandelion]

Hi Ladies

Yes, fruit is expensive but I have a bank card and an authorised overdraft so i can go and buy them £3 bags of apples and those £2 pound bags of satsumas etc.
I was just that desperate to start to feel better that I decided to go ahead and buy that fruit and veg. The market or greengrocers is not much cheaper if any. Iceland is about the best for fruit and veg. I got a £1 bag of really small apples there today.
I splashed out in holland and barrett too, and bought loads of seeds and stuff.

My doctor is ignorant but while she is good in other areas, for some reason HRT is a taboo subject for her.
Sod taboos, I say "Ladies, talk about your menopause" How many sweaty beetroot ladies are there suffering in silence.

I have got a GP appointment next week and I am a bit nervous.
There wont be the time to go into the subject of BHRT etc, and I don't quite know what I am going to do.
I will stay on the Femoston, but I am fed up of all the ups and downs in mood.
I don't like being in the company of someone who is moody one minute and ok the next, and I certainly don't like being like it myself.

It's the "can't be arsedness" that I can't seem to get over.
It's not the normal sort where you can push yourself and you enjoy doing whatever you pushed yourself to, it's a stubborn reluctance to get out of bed or get out of the chair, a stubbornness like never before.

I don't know if excercise is the answer to hot flushes. Ive heard it said on here that only hrt helps hot flushes.

I did go out as it goes today, but only for ten minutes a brisk walk and back. I did not flush but only because I went out in a vest with a hoodie on top whereas I noticed others around me in coats.

[Sarah2]

There is info here Dandelion about how exercise may well help-scroll about half way down the page.


http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/menopause/Pages/Menopauseselfhelp.aspx

I still think you should talk to your dr about your moods and lack of motivation. If she won't help, then change GPs or maybe see if you can get some support from an organisation like MIND- they have a good website.

You might find some useful tips here
http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/

 My mum had a terrible menopause in terms of hot flushes- right up to her 70s and early 80s- but she was still full of energy, worked, had a social life and never took HRT.  It sounds as if you have more going on other than meno and maybe some other kind of treatment would help .

[Dandelion]

There is info here Dandelion about how exercise may well help-scroll about half way down the page.


http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/menopause/Pages/Menopauseselfhelp.aspx

I still think you should talk to your dr about your moods and lack of motivation. If she won't help, then change GPs or maybe see if you can get some support from an organisation like MIND- they have a good website.

You might find some useful tips here
http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/

 My mum had a terrible menopause in terms of hot flushes- right up to her 70s and early 80s- but she was still full of energy, worked, had a social life and never took HRT.  It sounds as if you have more going on other than meno and maybe some other kind of treatment would help .

Hi Sarah

Thanks for the links and telling me about your mum, that was reassuring.
I hope I don't have hot flushes for years though.

I already know of MIND and have used them in the past.
I don't have any psychological issues at the moment.
I'm not crying all the time or feeling angry, just apathetic and glum.
All my GP will do is throw drugs at the problem, thats all they have time for, that's what they have offered in the past.

I will ask my GP next week if I can have a thyroid test.

No one seems to notice that i am overweight, and laugh when I say I am fat, which is flattering, but i am a size 18, 5ft 5in, and therefore suprised that no one thinks I am fat.

[CLKD]

Poly cystic ovary syndrome has similar symptoms but you are probably past that condition ...... one can be depressed without realising, my GP always knew by my posture.  When I was depressed I couldn't stay in bed, once I woke, usualy around 4.30 a.m I had to be up, dressed: and then I sat : for hours, staring at the walls. My whole body would slump.  When my dog needed to go outside I had to crawl to the door, lay on the floor until she ran in over me: then I would crawl back to the settee ........  ........ my depression is cyclic.  Now that I take a low maintenance dose of AD most days I can cope.

When depressed exercise was the last thing on my mind.  Couldn't eat/sleep/drink ....... couldn't read/listen to the radio/watch TV ....... my get up and go had got up and gone 

I don't find fruit expensive in my part of the UK.  We bought melons, prunes, figs, bananas, brocolli, spuds, cabbage yesterday so that we can have healthy meals/snacks.  I can't eat apples, teeth aren't good enough and I don't actually like them, whereas DH will eat 5/6 a day    ......... no wonder he has no problems going to the loo 

I think your body is fighting the medication, you are expecting a sudden change in your symptoms whereas you body is trying to slow down, albeit giving you flushes.  You seemed to have cracked it yesterday: a light top, something to cover your arms and away you went ? and don't worry about others looking tos ee what you are wearing, they are too bothered with their own problems 

[Dandelion]

Poly cystic ovary syndrome has similar symptoms but you are probably past that condition ...... one can be depressed without realising, my GP always knew by my posture.  When I was depressed I couldn't stay in bed, once I woke, usualy around 4.30 a.m I had to be up, dressed: and then I sat : for hours, staring at the walls. My whole body would slump.  When my dog needed to go outside I had to crawl to the door, lay on the floor until she ran in over me: then I would crawl back to the settee ........  ........ my depression is cyclic.  Now that I take a low maintenance dose of AD most days I can cope.

When depressed exercise was the last thing on my mind.  Couldn't eat/sleep/drink ....... couldn't read/listen to the radio/watch TV ....... my get up and go had got up and gone 

I don't find fruit expensive in my part of the UK.  We bought melons, prunes, figs, bananas, brocolli, spuds, cabbage yesterday so that we can have healthy meals/snacks.  I can't eat apples, teeth aren't good enough and I don't actually like them, whereas DH will eat 5/6 a day    ......... no wonder he has no problems going to the loo 

I think your body is fighting the medication, you are expecting a sudden change in your symptoms whereas you body is trying to slow down, albeit giving you flushes.  You seemed to have cracked it yesterday: a light top, something to cover your arms and away you went ? and don't worry about others looking tos ee what you are wearing, they are too bothered with their own problems 

Hi CKLD and thanks for your interesting post.

When you say my body is fighting the hrt does that mean that you think it doesn't suit me, or, do you still think there is time for my body to accept it even though I have been on it ten and a half months?

Yes, I can't think about excercise at the moment. I have read about menopausal women being so depressed that it takes away their quality of life and it's taken away mine.

I woke up this morning wet with sweat and I just didn't want to get out of bed.

I am still feeling hot now.

I don't want to go down the AD route. I am weaning off the AD's I am on because I think that pharmecutical antidepressants make you worse. I have taken other AD's also, they just numb me, and I cannot do creative things I loved to do before peri.

I used to do art, now I get my pens and paper out and start things but have no interest in them. AD drugs just block my creativity and I don't feel as if all of me is here when I am on them.

[CLKD]

What other ADs are there other than Pharmaceutical  ……….  …….. some days I feel woozy and hung-over, due to the ADs but it is better than how I was before!  ADs should not make someone 'worse': some can cause agitation/nausea/anxiety …….. I had several before I found a product which suits …….

Your body is probably trying to sort itself out hormone wise: after that length of time 

[Sarah2]

 Having a reaction or side effects is one thing, but if you are deficient in a hormone then replacing it won't mean your body rejects it.
Give it time- it's not 3 months yet and that is what drs advise as the minimum to see some improvement in some women. Also- worrying and focusing on it so much is not helping- any anxiety often means more flushes. Maybe try and do some things you enjoy and take your mind off it all for a bit?

[CLKD]

Keeping a diary helps 

[Dandelion]

Keeping a diary helps 

Hi thanks ladies

I have been keeping a a diary.
I started it when I was weaning off valium but ive kept it up even though I am off valium.

It'll be three months by the time my doctors appointment comes round.

Should I stick with the femoston a bit longer or will it be pointless sticking with it after three months?
It does help a bit.

Dunno if I can face fighting with the doctor for BHRT this next appointment.

Thanks

[honeybun]

You are on a high dose of HRT at the moment and it might not be safe to take any more.
As we have all said before...You are striving for perfection and nothing is perfect.

Perhaps if you stopped fixating on every little detail and relaxed a bit you might feel a bit better. Fill your life with some kind of activities and stop focussing on every negative point. Positive thinking can go along way.

Honeyb
x

[CLKD]

What's BHRT? 

Keep the diary.  Take time to relax.  Walk slowly rather than jogging etc., eat regularly - I graze so that I don't get too hungry 

[Dandelion]

I  had a eureka moment.
I found out from the other thread http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php'topic=24285.msg370044#msg370044I have IBS and this is what is causing the problems with depression and absorption.

This explaination feels right. The IBS is stopping the HRT being fully absorbed. I don't need new HRT I need to find out if I am gluten intolerant. I have quite a few symptoms of gluten intolerance.

I feel good that I have finally got an explaination which feels right for me.

[CLKD]

  ………..

[Dandelion]

………..

eh?
 

I no longer think the IBS is stopping the hrt being absorbed as this was discussed in the other thread.
I do think that gluten intolerance could be unbalancing my hormones though.