Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: honorsmum on February 01, 2015, 02:54:40 PM
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I'm a skinny minny by nature - 5 ft 4 and under 9 stone most of the time - and have Crohn's and IBS. Usually, I can happily miss meals (breakfast or lunch) and eat too many cakes, biscuits and chocolate to make up for it.
Until the New Year, I had been struggling to eat - no appetite and feeling sick at the thought of food.
However, in the last few weeks, I've gone completely the opposite and am hungry almost as soon as I've finished eating. I am having to eat as soon as I wake up, and then again less than 2 hours later, and so on throughout the day. I also wake up hungry in the early hours, which coincides with palpitations, adrenaline rush etc. I have to have protein bars to hand at all times!
The only times I've been like this before were during both pregnancies and when I was on steroids for Crohn's.
Hormones? It seemed to calm down last weekend, when my period arrived, but is back again.
Also, I'm getting spots. Not just on my face, but strange places like the nape of my neck. They are weird - no head as such, just painful lumps that take ages to heal.
My nails grow quite fast, but all of them have broken and flaked since last weekend.
Are these all peri related?
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I don't know if it is peri, but I also have spots with no head, but quite painful. They are mainly around my hairline. I am also finding my head very itchy. I thought maybe I wasn't rinsing my hair properly.
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I don't know if it is hormone related either - but I have completely lost my appetite in the last year, it comes back sometimes but generally it is noticeably different. I started to eat little and often to keep blood sugar levels straight - so I guess you are counterbalancing in an intuitive way with your protein bars.
I also have the nail thing, but recently they are growing fast again (?) Oh and the spots with no head, just lumps that quite quickly go down (I only ever had spots as a teenager on my back). Intermittant flaky scalp just at the front and sometimes greasy (yuk) but again it comes and goes and hasn't been around for a while.
All I can say is that this is a crazy time in life and I do suspect hormones are at the root.
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Interesting.
I forgot to say - I went gluten free for a month recently, almost on a whim, and as an unconscious side effect, stopped eating all cakes and chocolate. I have always been addicted to chocolate, but I seem to have lost the taste for it recently.
I'm back to eating gluten now, because I thought that cutting out starchy carbs in bread etc was affecting my blood sugar levels, but still not craving cakes, biscuits and sweet things.
I find I start to get twitchy and low feeling if I don't eat soon enough, especially in the evening.
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I went off chocolate for about 10 years, suddenly. It made me feel sluggish.
Try eating every 3 hours ……. that sudden hunger is hormonally based, as the body craves energy !
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I went off chocolate for about 10 years, suddenly. It made me feel sluggish.
Try eating every 3 hours ……. that sudden hunger is hormonally based, as the body craves energy !
I can't wait 3 hours,CLKD - I'm having to eat at least every 2!
I have 2 breakfasts, lunch soon after midday, cheese and biscuits mid afternoon, smoothies, dinner, and a hot milk and snack before bed...plus oat bars in the early hours.
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Bananas are good slow release foods. Tinned rice pudding? hot or cold. RedyBrek?
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I've got tinned rice pudding here. :)
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Hello honorsmum.
I am 5 foot 2 inches and about 9 stone and have always had a small appetite but I have noticed some strange fluctuations since starting meno so hormones are playing a part I believe.
Btw the only time I took steroids for UC I became obsessed with food and could easily have snatched snacks from the mouths of strangers on the street. I thought of nothing else, it was like food pornography. Most odd but come to think of it steroids are hormones too aren't they.
Take care.
K.
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Hello honorsmum.
I am 5 foot 2 inches and about 9 stone and have always had a small appetite but I have noticed some strange fluctuations since starting meno so hormones are playing a part I believe.
Btw the only time I took steroids for UC I became obsessed with food and could easily have snatched snacks from the mouths of strangers on the street. I thought of nothing else, it was like food pornography. Most odd but come to think of it steroids are hormones too aren't they.
Take care.
K.
Hi Kathleen,
I was a food monster on steroids for Crohn's too! I just ate and ate and ate, which I enjoyed because I'd only ever had a good appetite when I was pregnant. Unlike most people, I felt great on steroids - like the real me, with bags of energy and enthusiasm (and my house was the cleanest it's ever been, from being awake at 4am every single morning!)
The hunger I'm experiencing now isn't so much fun - it's like an emptiness that needs filling, regardless of whether I actually want to eat, if that makes sense.
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AHHH steroids - they made my dog really hungry!
So little and often ……. keep snacks by the bed and munch if you have a bathroom visit in the early hours. I love shortbread!
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Hi honorsmum
You definitely need to work out all the slow release foods (low GI) so that you can avoid putting on weight at these hungry times. Have I asked if you've had your thyroid checked? Overactive thyroid can make you hungry.
Also oestrogen and progesterone definitely have different effects on blood sugar metabolism so your extreme hunger could be related to your hormone fluctuations. If you read about diabetes and the menstrual cycle it goes a clue to this - but also says that their effects on blood sugar can be different for different women!
I used to get very hungry at some point just before my period and sometimes get very low blood sugar symptoms too - and needed to eat more.
Not sure about snacks by the bed? I would never eat in the night ie a time when I'm not active! I want my body to self regulate and if necessary burn fat if any energy is needed! My evening meal should provide enough though.... :)
Hurdity x
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Hi Hurdity,
Initially, I thought a lot of my symptoms were maybe hyperthyroidism, but I have had thyroid tests done several times in the last 7 months and all come back normal (if anything, on the side of hypo, ie TSH not suppressed).
Are such hormonal fluctuations normal outside of peri/meno years?
I have to have a snack by the bed, because I am getting hypoglycaemia in the middle of the night at times - really unpleasant.
I am trying to eat more protein with every meal, as well as slow release foods like granola, porridge etc.
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Whilst your meal 'should' provide enough ………. if you are extra hungry then it obviously isn't enough! I was advised in my mid-30s to eat every 3 hours even through the night - so when up with the pup in the night [2.30-3.00 ish regularly ::)] I had biscuits before going back to sleep - which she soon latched onto ;D …….. because going through the night is a LONG while for the body to make up energy the next morning ……… and it had to be 24/7 or I would have awful low blood sugar attacks when I would feel suddenly sick and dizzy, so had to be strict with myself ::)
Fortunately slipping ??? splitting ::) nails hasn't been a problem but I do get the odd 'teen' spot :D
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Know just what you mean about those weird headless spots. They are painful and unsqueezable >:( Someone on here told me they are typical in the peri meno years. I too have had the hair itching. Tried everything but only Piriton works (trouble is, it knocks me for six too!). As for the nails, I have made a discovery. Mine break as soon as I stop taking progesterone. Literally, three days after and they will break off doing the most simple of tasks such as opening a can of cat food! Don't know what regime you're on, but look out to see if there's a pattern x
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Know just what you mean about those weird headless spots. They are painful and unsqueezable >:( Someone on here told me they are typical in the peri meno years. I too have had the hair itching. Tried everything but only Piriton works (trouble is, it knocks me for six too!). As for the nails, I have made a discovery. Mine break as soon as I stop taking progesterone. Literally, three days after and they will break off doing the most simple of tasks such as opening a can of cat food! Don't know what regime you're on, but look out to see if there's a pattern x
Thanks Briony.
I'm not on any HRT yet, because I've not been officially diagnosed as peri.
My nails were fine until my period last weekend, but have all split or broken since then.
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I have always had strong health nails, they have never depended on whether I was on hormones or not the. Health of nails depends on what you eat, what you absorb, general health and whether your body is getting all the vitamins and minerals it needs.
The grow more slowly during the winter, central heating, hot baths, dry air all effect nails just like skin and hair. In summer they grow much quicker an are more flexible.
Hunger and spots are probably hormone based, I do remember surges of hunger when progesterone was on the rise.
I am post menopause now, skin fine, nails healthy, peri angst a distant memory, so things do get better!
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Thanks Silverlady. I never had problems with nails flaking. Nor brittle ends of hair. Forutnately!
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Just read that nails, skin and hair can all be affected in menopause because of a drop in collagen.
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Hi there
I have had brittle hair since peri meno journey. I am 5ft 10 and was a size 12 ..not getting heavier due to there ragging appetite and I have to eat before I go to bed, toast or a banana...if not I will wake with an adrenaline surge and palpitations.
Great journey ...not
Mrs January xx
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Not sure about that hair and nails are made out of keratin it is a type of protein.
If you want boost collagen naturally make sure you have plenty of vitamin C.
Estrogen helps by plumping up the skin increasing water content and hyaluronic acid.
Estrogen effects collagen by increasing cell turn over.
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Not sure about that hair and nails are made out of keratin it is a type of protein.
If you want boost collagen naturally make sure you have plenty of vitamin C.
Estrogen helps by plumping up the skin increasing water content and hyaluronic acid.
Estrogen effects collagen by increasing cell turn over.
Without collagen, we wouldn't have nails, apparently.
I've been taking high dose vitamin C recently, so maybe my nails will improve in time. :)
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Keratin - which is what chicken feathers are made of ;) and they moult yearly ::) ……. look oven ready for a while - at least I never had that problem ……..
What you eat keeps the keratin levels healthy. Anyone remember being told to eat a cube of raw jelly daily ;D and I did, though I hate jelly ……..
How large a dose of VitC.? one needs a LOT in order to make a difference ;) I like oranges but can't be bothered to peel them and then there's the pith …….
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Keratin - which is what chicken feathers are made of ;) and they moult yearly ::) ……. look oven ready for a while - at least I never had that problem ……..
What you eat keeps the keratin levels healthy. Anyone remember being told to eat a cube of raw jelly daily ;D and I did, though I hate jelly ……..
How large a dose of VitC.? one needs a LOT in order to make a difference ;) I like oranges but can't be bothered to peel them and then there's the pith …….
I've just Googled collagen and nails, after reading about its affect on Dr Stubbs website.
I keep chickens in the garden, and am all too familiar with moulting - poor things look horrendous when it happens!
I'm taking 2000mg plus of vitamin C - building up to 4000mg over time.
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Under supervision? Does VitC need any other mineral to aid 'take up'?
How many chooks do you have? Ours always moulted in the coldest of months >:( ::) ….. they can't make feathers and lay eggs at the same time ……… because the calcium goes into both!
Sorry, meandering again :-X
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Under supervision? Does VitC need any other mineral to aid 'take up'?
How many chooks do you have? Ours always moulted in the coldest of months >:( ::) ….. they can't make feathers and lay eggs at the same time ……… because the calcium goes into both!
Sorry, meandering again :-X
No, under my own steam - I read about vitamin C for adrenal fatigue and am following the advice given (ie increase your dose until diarrhoea tells you you'd reached your tolerance level). I take it in split doses over the day, last dose with iron tablets. So far, so good. :)
We have 5 chooks, all different breeds so that we get all different coloured eggs - including blue. Our oldest girls both moulted just before Christmas - I was tempted to knit jumpers for them, they looked so chilly, and the hen house looked like the fox had got in!
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Forgot to add that collagen is the cement that holds skin cells together its a protein made up of amino acids, this is what I was taught when I studied The Anatomy of the Skin at college. We had to draw numerous diagrams of skin cells and all the layers of the skin and memorise them and all I can remember now is the Stratum Corneum now ::) the skin has seven layers.
I knew it would come in handy one day ;D
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There is definitely a link between nails and hormones. In fact, it was the first symptom that made the doctors investigate my hormones (once any vitamin deficiency had been ruled out). Don't quote me on this, but I think it is a sign of low progesterone? I'm sure I've recently read that? I certainly find that my nails deteriorate within days if me stopping the 15 days of progesterone that I take. My hair sheds more at the same time ie when I stop taking progesterone. Again, I am not 100% sure of this, but isn't this similar to when ladies lose hair very soon after giving birth - because of the drop in progesterone? X
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Well I've been hungry all my life, 😕 and I don't think meno has affected my appetite either way! Never could go more than 3 hours without eating I get the jitters, bit like that advert for Snickers with Joan Collins! My blood sugar has always been on the low side so I put it down to that...thank goodness I have virtually no sweet tooth, or I'd be the size of a small elephant!!!
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A good explanation about the cause of brittle nails
http://www.34-menopause-symptoms.com/brittle-nails.htm
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Lynjane - I was exactly the same! I think that anxiety drove my sudden hunger or stopped me eating entirely, plus hormones ………