Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: libbyloo on February 17, 2014, 03:49:12 PM
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I've just joined MM this week. Reading some of your messages has made me realise, I don't yet qualify to be on it. I'm just 8 weeks into warm glows and loss of libido, bit of a flat feeling. But nothing Compared to the suffering I'm reading. Its early early days for me. Last cycle before Xmas, loss libido, restless nights, hot glows, not flushes. I've kept slim and fit deliberately becus mum died aged 53 sudden cardiac death. I'm coming up 49. Been consuming soya daily fI've yrs, which can help. Not everyone. I feel more concerned reading what you ladies are going thru. I'm slim and I'm hoping keeping stomach fat as low as poss may help keep symptons down, probably a myth. Time will reveal.I'm not suffering enough to share. More curses :'(
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Hi there & welcome. I'm not nearly as bad as some on here either. However, I've been on here for over 4 years now & I have been given lots of support & advice when I needed it most. Likewise we'll all be here for you too, if & when you need it.
Check out the funnies too, lifts one's spirits if feeling a bit down. We're not a stuffy bunch and enjoy a good laugh. :)
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Of course you belong on here. Even though you feel that you are still getting off lightly that doesn't mean that you are not experiencing changes which you may wish to chat about. Also, we do talk about other things!
Taz x :bighug:
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You're here now, don't go! We have a funny room, lots of info in the menus - left of screen and someone not feeling as bad as others helps lighten the mood!
Will you stay?
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Don't go Libbylou - like you I'm nowhere near as bad as some of the ladies on here but we talk about all sorts of things, not just meno stuff. And who knows, you might have some valuable contributions to make so stay a while and join in :)
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Thankyou for replies and encouragement. Your right, how short sighted of me. This is the beginning of my personal journey. Its so scary.........sometimes it seems the power of our minds means we can get our heads in the right place to cope with anything. Even a human being growing inside our bodies and entering the worldthru our noo noo!!!! And yet that same mind can make us scared of apparently minor things by comparison. Fitness is going to be my weapon in overcoming these symptoms. A few of them or all of them. I encourage anyone who reads my post, who is really struggling with symptoms, to get a fitness buddy, set some goals. Write them in a diary. Daily goals, weekly goals, to be fitter, in all sorts of ways, excercising And eating habits. Starting small for ladies who struggle with exercise ( it doesn't come easy) but can get addictive, when you start to feel, a little lighter, bit more energy. Skin starts to glow a bit. Clothes a little looser,. Am I right in thinking fat around our middle, means we are receiving more hormones, more symptoms??? Who agrees with me, fitness is the key to reducing symptoms, coping better?? Thanku again for really lovely encouragement. Libby
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Oestrogen causes muscles to relax.
Does your local Council have walk for life sessions - lead by a qualified walker?
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I've been power walking for some years now, too remote for council facilities like that here. But beautiful walking and trotting environment. Just passing on some of my own tips. Reading what some people are experiencing, if that's coming my way. I'm going to tackle it with fitness. Think hrt is too controversial. Either amazing or no good, not suitable for some reason or other. My learning curve on menopause is in its infancy.thanku for the idea.
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HRT may well be necessary. You may get on OK without. Many ladies find that 'natural' and other measures don't help in the long run. Certainly exercising helps stave off osteoporosis as well as getting fresh air. Gardening, swimming, yoga, cycling - we have threads on them all ;)
Skipping :o …….. we also have a choir here somewhere ;) ……… let us know how you get on!
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Hmmm fitness hasn't reduced my symptoms sadly. I ride at least three times a week and go to dance fitness classes twice a week. I try to eat healthily too but somehow the meno is bigger than I am and impossible to deal with for me personally without perscription meds although I tried to battle on for ages.
Brilliant though if you can get through without help. A positive outlook definitely helps :) xx
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Thankyou No snow......the menopause is bigger than you............ :'( how sad that is. On day 3 of reading these posts, I've wondered if body fat contributes to more symptoms which some reading I've done suggests it does. But your saying Beingg fit and slim hasn't helped the symptoms at all. You've had to turn to hrt? Has that helped? The world of hrt seems as horrendous as the menopause. For some its heaven, for many its not suitable, can create problems. How have women survived as they have into their eighties, nineties over the centuries, I feel surviving through my fifties biggest challenge of my life (my mum didn't). Thankfully ive the strength of mind to win over most things, but M is capable of weakening that too. Do ladies on here, think their M would be similar to their mums? Any evidence of that. Libby
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Skipping and joining my local choir it is! ;D I'll try anything. I live in rame head peninsular Cornwall. Anyone want to come running with me. Thankyou for tips. Libby
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Hi Libbyloo, I would love to come running with you except I live a few hundred miles further north!! I am with you on trying to keep as fit & healthy as possible. Especially as I am 50 in a few weeks! Running, walking, weights and healthy eating (in between the chocolates of course ;D). I also want to stay away from hrt as long as possible. My body doesn't like it from previous experience. Am getting more symptoms of peri though and beginning to think I may eventually have to consider it. Anyway, keep up the exercise & good eating, it can only help. x
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Meant to say my mum went through meno at 40, my sister at 42 and my mum's sister at 41. I am almost 50 and not there yet!!! Mum had hot flushes but otherwise breezed through it, my sister had d&c and many problems but had hrt, mirena coil and anything else on offer which helped her. So my opinion is it doesn't run in famillies!
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There is some evidence that we have the same type of meno as our mums. Mine used HRT back in 1969 but only for a year to counteract the hot sweats and it did help and after that year she did seem better. I have had HRT for six years and those were great years but now I am off it I am struggling. However, friends who have never taken HRT are still struggling these six years down the line so at least I've had a better time than them in the past. I believe that so far not enough research has been done on the effects of it on women over sixty and while docs and consultants advise us to come off at this age then there wont be any way of gaining more knowledge about this.
As for being overweight - some fat cells produce a type of oestrogen so there has been some mention of the fact that skinny women have a tougher time. I haven't seen this to be the case amongst my friends though. It seems random somehow as to who is affected in what way.
Exercise is good.. not that I do much at the minute. When I'm at work it always seems a good idea to go walking when I get home but once home there are always a million other things to do. I can't join in with the running as you live too far from me unfortunately and at 60 it's apparently not so good for the joints as fast walking. ;D
Taz x
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I don't want to just survive these years I want to live them.
You can't get them back so if HRT let's me do that then it's worth its weight in gold for me.
I am slim with not a lot of excess weight around my middle and have always been reasonably fit and it made not one bit of difference to my meno symptoms.
Exercise releases feel good endorphins for a short while but in my opinion no amount of running, walking,swimming or any kind of exercise is going to stop drenching night sweats and insomnia.
Keeping fit is of course good for us but to my mind makes absolutely no difference to how our bodies cope with hormone depletion.
I never considered that taking HRT for a relatively early menopause was giving in or being week. It was giving my body what it needed and it enabled me to sort of cope with teenagers , an elderly mother and a husband with health problems.
Honeyb
x
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That's exactly how I felt Honeybun. I just hoped that by the time I got to the age where the doc said it was time to stop then I would be better able to cope. However, now that we have to work for so much longer it is so difficult to deal with the sweats, irritability, brain-fog, aches and pains as well as hold down a job. The gynae did concede this point yesterday and said that in an ideal world I would be able to retire now to which I asked him whether he thought I should just sit at home, quietly sweating and letting life just pass me by. He didn't have an answer for that one.
Taz x
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Oh well done Taz! Go back and ask if he's considered your remarks againts the risks of continuing HRT!
What are the risks of stroke etc. anyway ……...
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I agree, well done Taz.
I hate being told what to do at the best of times. I do want to come off HRT eventually but if things are really bad I will go back to the smallest dose I can get away with.
There seems to me to be three distinct camps on HRT.
The first one thinks it is really good and very much has its place in the management of meno symptoms.
The second are totally against for to many reasons to list and hope they can cope with alternatives and exercise.
The third simply don't know and have been influenced by scare stories.
It would be so much easier if the medical profession could sort themselves out and all sing from the same song sheet. It would dispel the myths that surround HRT and stop women having to think that all they are entitled to is simply surviving these precious years.
If I exercise then I do it for enjoyment and not in the vain hope that it will get rid of my hot flushes.
Honeyb
x
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It would be good if all thought the same.. as long as they all thought we could stay on it of course!
:lol: :lol:
Taz x
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But of course Taz ;D
As long as they don't start prescribing three mile runs twice a day then I will be quite happy.
Me and my couch are happy together in the winter months. ::)
Honeyb
x
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I like your three camps honeybun other than the fact that as time and symptoms go on I seem to be hopping (or running) between all three of them. Just not sure where I will eventually land...
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As long as they have the song sheet that says 'continue HRT if necessary'!
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I mean it, I'm inspired by you all, everyone with their own unique experience. Trogering on..I'm learning its a complete mine field.........no pattern at all. Slim, larger, mums experience may not be ours. Hrt or not. Mixed info on Serenity cream. I'd like to try something simple.....what's the opinion? Libby
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I've been out today, got my omega 3,6 and 9 and vitamin d. Thanku for advice. The info on fish oils and effects of lack of vitamin D this time of year was excellent. If your feeling fatigued apart from Mrs M it will also be Vit D deficiency. lib
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We can get VitD in the sun if ever it shines : actually it's been out today ;)
Don't expect miracles overnight though ……….. :-X
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I'd like to know your views on the serenity cream. At present my symptoms are minimal compared too many of you. Disturbed sleep, body temperature up, sticky glows, no libido, no cycle. Libs
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From experience, save your money. Search on here, most reviews have been pretty negative.
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At 60 Taz, you may need to protect your joints My dear friend is 71, presently teaching English in the Congo!! If you ever. She goes to aqua aerobics every week. Swimming, is the best exercise ever for everyone, but slightly older ladies. Thankyou for support. Is there evidence that women who sailed through periods, no real drama in female things, get on better with Menopause? Libby
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Libbylou
Don't think so. I sailed through life until peri hit. And I have had very severe symptoms for the last 5 years. Throughout I have exercised for 2 hours a day 5 or 6 days a week. Hrt has made my symptoms 'bearable' for the moment but I have only been using for 10 weeks. I still get the symptoms but more muted.... Without hrt, I really think I'd be using ativan every single day. Seems just to be luck, or bad luck
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I had period pain as a young teen and then up until 47 I was just fine. I had a bit of PMT but nothing drastic so I don't think what we experienced before makes much of a difference.
I am not so fit now but used to horse ride, play badminton and tennis and walk a lot.
It's difficult to find the motivation now with creaky knees and the rubbish weather.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it ;D
Honeyb
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Interesting susyq, your a fit bird, have worked hard at keeping as fit as you can yet severe symptoms. I wish there were more women in 60, 70, even 80,s. With their experiences. Were they as awful as some of you ladies? Older women must have suffered in silence. Of course they didn't have any communication medium. The phone maybe. Earlier I was referring to swimming, meant to say, great for all in particular older ladies. No strain on joints. Libs
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Just read a post from 2007. Lady tried 1000mg starflower. After all sorts and hrt. It has stopped her flushes. May help someone. Libs :-*