Hello, I'm new here and am so relieved to find a place to talk about menopause. I don't know where to start so I'll try and give you a little background first.
Before peri, I had severe PMS with heavy painful periods and a side of anxiety and depression. I'd done a lot of research on hormones to relieve my PMS but knew nothing of perimenopause. I was previously oestrogen dominant but around 38 my GP told me my oestrogen was low. My periods had also gotten heavier, more painful and irregular. I was sent to a Gyn, who completely disregarded my low hormones, was convinced I had endometriosis (despite previously being checked for this), ultrasound was clear - no endometriosis, so he offered me a hysterectomy but wanted to keep my ovaries - I wanted them gone, I was sick of the hormonal stress but went along with it. I'll never trust a male Gyn again. Thankfully my GP is female and put me on HRT straight away. Then I got injured and could no longer work, the peri symptoms just kept getting worse, until I suffered a major mental break down around the age of 42 and things haven't really improved since then (I'm now 45). I think my testosterone levels dropped about 2 years ago (no libido, reduction in unwanted facial hair).
I find the HRT helps but it's not enough. I take bio-identical hormones.
Last year I started taking some supplements as well, they help with some things, but again it's not enough.
I started making progress when I saw a menopause psychologist - I'd had an argument with my previous psychologist about the existence of hormonal rage, she said if it was a thing it would be in the media - the worst thing she could have said, that's a huge part of the problem, the media aren't talking about it! I find it so much easier talking to someone who believes my symptoms and has techniques specific to menopause.
One of the biggest obstacles I'm struggling with is the menopausal dementia. I did find a good memory supplement but it is frequently out of stock, so it's back to feeling confused, constantly forgetting things, fatigued. It's hard to manage all the added stress when you can't remember all the techniques you've learned. So frustrating!
I'm very isolated where I am, I have no close friends besides my husband, so I'm hoping I've found a safe place here to talk about our symptoms and help each other out. I feel like I've experienced every symptom of menopause, I hear Post Menopause is easier, just hope I get there soon, need to escape this darkness.