Hello everyone!
I am a new member who has joined because I believe my menopause journey has started and I am experiencing some very uncomfortable symptoms. For the first time in my life my regular period (except for 2 pregnancies) did not come this month. There has been a build up to this moment since last December when I started to experience painful joints, weight gain, brain fog and general sluggishness that I could not shake through usual means. I am feeling a bit hopeless. In the past, I would start exercising and managing my food intake when I started to gain weight and it would start to make me feel good almost immediately. Now, I have no motivation whatsoever. My aching joints are stopping me from moving around the same, and this has had a detrimental effect on my mental state. I remember vividly my Mum telling me about her menopause. She said it was awful. She said she felt huge and cumbersome and constantly lacking energy and then her doctor started her on HRT. She said it was like a miracle for her. It changed her whole life. But...then she developed blood clots, so that was the end of that. I don't know if she ever tried anything else, apart from constantly popping painkillers. The thing is, my Mum was an extremely heavy smoker and also took a LOT of medication, neither of which I do. I know I need to speak to my doctor essentially, but, I was just curious if anyone out there knows if maybe her blood clots were perhaps because of the smoking etc? Or is it a hard & fast rule that if your mother had blood clots, it means you will too and HRT is not an option?
I appreciate anyone's opinion. Thank you so much, in advance.
