Morning Ladies! Dandelion, so sorry about your miserable time, but everyone here sympathises I'm sure, as there is such a myriad of symptoms discussed, and a wealth of good advice offered, way beyond anything the medical profession can offer, trust me, I know only too well! I now have a wonderful lady GP, who herself is embarrassed about her profession's ignorance of the very, very complicated stage of our lives that is just brushed under the carpet! She has put me on a regime, that is finally, finally start to make me feel human again after 3 years of mental hell!
I didn't have the horrible sweats that you are having, and my main symptoms started about 18 months after my last period, although looking back, I understand that there were a few hints of what was to come, low mood, flushes, dry skin, genital atrophy, unable to concentrate etc.....that all started about the age of 48, I am now nearly 57. What I wanted to say was, one of the very worst of the symptoms that literally appeared overnight, was gastric/lower digestion problems. Started with horrendous bloating, grumbling and rumblings, right from under the diaphragm right down to the pelvic area, and a squeezing sensation when I lay down, no pain as such, just weirdness!! And horrendous constipation!! I also had a feeling of wanting to have a BM, but didn't, if you know what I mean!! This is all due to the sluggish motility of our digestion which if affected by a drop in oestrogen.
I have been on quite a few low dose HRT prescriptions, but it's only now that I am on Evorel Conti, Venlafaxine, and Pregabalin, that I am feeling a little more like my old self, not 100% but a lot better than the 0% I was 6 months ago! There is no magic HRT for IBS I'm afraid. Also watch what you eat, sadly, chocolate is a killer, due to the sugar, anything in a tomato sauce, spicy foods, fruit juices and citrus fruits, also grapes, as they ferment in the gut! I asked my GP for a constipation prescription as well, and I am on Molaxole, which works really. You don't realise either how the digestive system can make you feel rotten, in fact a lot of the IBS symptoms mimic menopause.
I hope that this has helped you a little, from the bits that I know about!
WANDERER. XXX