Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: Sag69 on September 08, 2024, 05:33:44 PM
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Just gone 12 months in June since my last period
I’ve been through hell& back for about 10 yrs leading up to peri
I really thought things may settle down after going 12 months without a period after the hell I’ve been through , but NOOO
My flushes have gone worse it’s like I’ve not got a thermostat I’m combusting then freezing I just can’t win😩😩
Feel so bad all the time
I literally just want to go to sleep all the time because I’m that tired
I’m woke up about 10 times in the night🥵🥶
I’m not on any meds!!
Anyone relate?
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My symptoms got worse three years after my last period 😢.
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Sorry if you're hearing this late but you do know that's all treatable right?
It makes me sad to think of women putting up with such miserable symptoms for literally years.
You deserve so much better for both your quality of life and long term health.
But you are in the right place to get the information and confidence to go and advocate for yourself and get treated.
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Sag69 - have you had recent blood tests for low VitD levels, Thyroid Function and liver levels? We shouldnt' blame everything on menopause until other possible issues have been investigated.
Intense tiredness can be due to low VitD levels or a blip with the thyroid. Or low iron levels.
Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use to chart progress.
What wakes you in the night? Hot/cold, bladder, listening 4 the alarm clock ...........
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Yep, in the same boat. 6 years post menopause, no ovaries and symptoms ramping up by the bucketful. Very fed up too!
As CLKD said, maybe get vitamin and iron levels tested first. Thyroid can be very problematic if off kilter. If all is okay, then maybe have a think about how you want to address your symptoms. By adding hormones, or by other means. The good news is, that you have a choice of medications to deal with these horrid symptoms, including HRT. You don’t have to suffer. Research as much as you can; knowledge is power. Then you can make an informed decision.
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I sailed through peri, didn’t even realise I WAS in peri.
Then after my last period, and went 12 months, it all hit me.
There was me thinking ‘ what’s all the fuss about this menopause’ ::)
So HRT it was.
Please don’t suffer anymore, we’ve enough to deal with in this life as it is. Xx
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Thanks for the replies
I’ve had bloods done all fine!
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It's great that you have had bloods done to rule out other things however menopause is a clinical diagnosis.
Normal blood tests should never be used to dismiss someone who is suffering when safe and effective treatment exists, so please do get the help you need.
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Safe&effective treatment
Which are you referring to?
Thanks
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The gold standard treatment for menopause is hormone therapy with estrogen, progestogen (essential if uterus present) and testosterone if required.
This is extremely safe and effective despite inaccurate media reporting dating back to a flawed and misreported study in 2002.
There are lots of different types and formulations available.
Even women who can't take hormone therapy for example in the setting of current or recent hormone sensitive breast cancer have options available such as drugs originally developed as antidepressants as well as newer agents that target hot flushes.
Nobody has to just put up with life destroying symptoms. Hormone therapy also reduces the risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer and possibly dementia although the evidence is still just beginning to be gathered on the latter.
Your GP is a good place to start and should be able to go through the options with you.
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Hello Sag69 and welcome to the forum.
I didn't have any problems in peri, my periods continued to be regular but a bit heavier. I didn't have any other peri problems that I can recall and I was totally unprepared for the menopause. When symptoms started I thought that I could tough it out but everything became worse three years after my last period and that's when I asked for HRT.
My HRT journey has been a bumpy one and I still worry about my ever changing emotional state. Most of my physical symptoms have been and gone however so I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I hope things improve for you and if not HRT is definitely worth considering
Take care and wishing you well.
K.
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Thanks Kathleen
I know I shouldn’t be suffering because there is help out there like HRT,but I won’t have it, I don’t like taking medication and try to do it all naturally!
I’ve been called stupid&the rest for suffering like I have been, but that’s just me :(
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What’s natural about suffering?
All you are doing is replacing the hormones you are losing.
The medication is there and there are many different types to trial.
I can’t take HRT at all and would give my right arm to be back on it again, but alas no.
You are in the fortunate position to be able to trial hrt safely.
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I agree with Nas.
I hate taking medicine of any kind, and always try to avoid them, BUT, meno is different, it messes with everything, and my symptoms were really bad, so to eventually get some relief was fantastic.
It was hard at first, I’ll not lie, but eventually when I got my doses right, I felt like myself again.
Just saying. 💁🏼♀️
Good luck with whatever route you take. xx
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Nobody should feel pressured to take anything they don't want to, however sometimes the idea of something being "natural" is conflated with it being good or healthy, particularly within marketing.
Earthquakes and cholera are natural but that doesn't mean they are desirable.
My pacemaker certainly isn't natural but I am extremely thankful for it! Just like women with horrible menopause symptoms, I wasn't dead with a heart rate of 40 but I wasn't living either because I had no quality of life.
It can also be argued that it isn't natural for large numbers of women to survive many years beyond the cessation of our ovarian function, because until the last hundred years or so most women died either before or soon after menopause.
People talk about the grandmother hypothesis, however without birth control this would have been women in their late 30s and 40s, not octogenarians.
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I was like you once, wouldn't even take a paracetamol but the ageing process changes all that nonsense.
I couldn't cope with the hot flushes they were exhausting and it was impossible to function so I went on HRT. Did the job and after five years I had enough and came off it but it did what I wanted and my menopause journey was an easy ride thereafter.
Honestly, I don't do pain but if they offer me anything now instead of saying no all the time I say yes and you will too because life is too short, one thing I know the ageing process can be cruel.
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When I say natural I don’t mean taking all the herbs& potions! I mean letting my body do what it supposed to be doing at this stage of life!
Yes it’s extremely hard& ye only got myself to blame because I can go and get hrt,but I see it as a natural thing what my body needs to do,so I don’t like to interfere with nature& pump something into my body
Just me ladies I can’t help it😩
I would make myself even worse if I took something, because then I would be stressing more thinking what it’s doin to me🤷♀️
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That was me four years ago when the doctor looked at me sternly and said you need oestrogen down there. I said NO and that I would try moisturisers first. Five days later I am on the phone begging for it, from that day on I never say no to what's offered, I will at least give it a go.
You can't beat the ageing process you might as well join it and take the meds for a better quality of life because there are some conditions that are impossible to live with.
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Hello again Sag69
I completely understand your point of view.
I didn't want to go on HRT. My GP told me that the upheaval would all be over after three years without a period but that was when the daily anxiety started ( bizarrely always disappearing in the late evening only to return again the next morning). By this time I decided to give HRT a try. Unfortunately this has not been easy either and perhaps if I had toughed it out I would have managed without any additional hormones.
Many women seem to cope without HRT and perhaps you will be one of them. Only time will tell and there is plenty of help out there so you are not alone.
Wishing you well and take care.
K.
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Sag69, if you are not prepared to take HRT or any other medication, there is nothing you can do. You could have those symptoms for years or worse still, the rest of your life.
I would argue that the menopause is a design fault in the female body. Obviously hormones should drop so that women are no longer fertile but there should be enough oestrogen circulating to prevent both short and long term health problems caused by oestrogen deficiency.
Thyroid function often deteriorates post menopause and it is unadvisable to refuse medication for that.
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Digitalis [foxgloves] are natural but un-less synthesised they would kill a person
Laburnum is natural .......
Perimenopause - the Change - is natural
Alternatives may work for a while but are not recommended to be used for more than 3 months at a time or when taking other medications
What exactly do U want us 2 advise you about? How do U deal with aches and pains for example?
What do U feel cheated about?
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You have choices and to not take HRT ( or any other medication) is entirely your choice. But you can’t then say you feel cheated or fed up with symptoms ( although they could subside at some point).
Totally agree with Mary G. There is a definite design fault in the female body. We shouldn’t be left with such a lack of oestrogen, that leaves some of us with debilitating symptoms. These symptoms can stick around for a long time, so maybe think about that.
Totally understand the worry about taking HRT and wanting the symptoms to end, but there are lots of options out there.
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Sag69 - If U opted for replacement which symptom would you like to ease first?
Also HRT does protect heart, bones and eases many issues. Do read 'the bladder issues' and vaginal atrophy threads, 4 warned is 4 armed ;-)
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Sag69 - it seems to me that what you wanted when you posted on here was reassurance that all these things will come to an end and not go on forever.
What you seem to be getting is a lot of bullying, belittling and preaching.
You are NOT stupid for not wanting to use HRT.
As for the comment about it being unadvisable to refuse medication for thyroid dysfunction, you won't get many people doing that. Without thryroxine you would die. You're not going to die without sex hormones. (There's a damn good reason for a medical exemption certificate for certain issues and HRT is not one of them)
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It would be great to offer reassurance that symptoms will come to an end at some point and not go on forever. Maybe that is the case for some. But for others, the debilitating symptoms can continue, as oestrogen is never replaced naturally ( obviously).
Menopause is for life. For some its kind and for others, it’s brutal.
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Not bullying, belittling or preaching, just women not wanting another woman to suffer when there is no need.
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Morning Sag69. MayB have a lookC at your over all diet, exercise regime, social circle etc.. U may find that your symptoms don't last very long - I know that I was lucky in that once my periods stopped the cold flushes after m y bath went after a few months. Vaginal atrophy was diagnosed by my GP several years later and is treated successfully with regular 'estriol' cream inserted into the vagina. Gently.
Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use.