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[AliKat]

Hi ladies!
New to this forum..wish I'd found it ages ago!
I'm 38 have been in menopause since age of 35 probably longer...discovered after months and months of hoping for a second child. Drs kept saying to me that it can take time for my cycle to come back after being on the pill - more months went by and I started to worry it was something much more serious. Typically a blood test was the last thing they did and 💥 bam! My hormone levels were in the menopausal range. Confirmed my a specialist at the hospital. Tried heaps of different types of hrt and for now have settled on femoston 2mg.

Am coping heaps better than I was although anxiety can still be an issue from time to time. Hate that I still have to have a bleed but the benefits of hrt greatly outway the risks for me, personally. The one thing that pisses me off more than any other hrt side affect though is bloody thrush!!!  Don't get it every month but much more than I would like!

Do any of you have any advice to kerb that?? I'm taking probiotics at the mo and have seen one specifically for women as the good stuff in it is said to survive all the way down to your vagina. I'll try anything!!!! It's such an annoyance as it takes ages to clear up properly and means sex with hubby is few and far between.... not that it's a problem, really - I'm blessed with a very patient and understanding husband (even though he drives me up the wall, sometimes!)

Anyway this post is getting v long. Be good to hear from some others going through it, early, like me. There's such an assumption that it's just your periods stopping - I've corrected a lot of my peers and they all look at me with dread in their eyes!!

Thanks for reading this far...
AliKat

[Emerald2017]

Hi! I am the same boat, a bit older than you. I'm 43 and diagnosed a year ago. I'm on Femoston 2/10 too and feel great. I have no side effects and gives me a sense of normality.
 I think that a lot of things are in our mind and our psychology plays a huge role.
I try not to think much about it, I'm focused on my career, I avoid toxic people and give myself time to relax. I do my training daily, have a clean diet, avoid alcohol and have only a coffee daily.
I see my early meno as something that just happened to me earlier and it is no the end of world. Hrt simply replace the estrogen our ovaries don't produce anymore.

[Daisydot]

Hi AliKat and 
There are a number of things you can try for thrush other than prescription meds, like raw organic coconut oil from Holland and barret.you can put it in fridge to solidify then mould a teaspoon of it into pessarie shape and pop inside at night when you go to bed smear some outside vag and take a teaspoon of it orally that attacks it from all directions and I had a lot of success using this.you can also buy balance active gel pessaries otc from boots or amazon they are also good for bv which it may well be and not thrush at all.you can ask gp to test you.good luck and I hope you enjoy and learn from the forum they're a great bunch.xx

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome to mm Alikat
I am now 62 but went meno at the same age as you.

Femoston is a good hrt to be in.

The tendency for thrush and general itchiness is urogenital atrophy ( I developed this early as systemic hrt doesn't always help this) so you need Vagifem pessaries to help your ‘lady parts' and bladder. Also you need vaginal moisturiser eg SYLK or the YES products. To prevent and treat thrush you need Multi Gyn Actigel to use twice a week as a preventative but also after sex or 3 times a day for a couple of days if you do get a bout of thrush. These vaginal problems are common when meno hits and GPs and even Gynaes are not good at advising on how to help this.
Clean really well after opening bowels, avoid sugar as much as possible, and drink plenty of water but no caffien, fruit juices and reduce alcohol.
It's about management I'm afraid. Just be thankful that you are using HRT to protect your heart and bones for the long term but I can understand this is all very upsetting and stressful right now. Just don't let them take you off hrt until at least 55 and even then you can choose to continue.
What I do recommend, which you may find great, is having a Mirena fitted and then use oestrogen patches or Oestrogel alongside. Look under TREATMENTS on this site to find out more.  This HRT combo usually means you don't get any bleeding after the first few weeks and if you apply gel on inner thighs or have the patches on the hip/buttock, then this oestrogen can better help your lady bits - however never stop using Vagifem as this should be used twice weekly for the rest of your life to prevent atrophy.
Keep us posted. DG x

[Dorothy]

I'm 43, started getting symptoms around 35, diagnosed at 39. 

[CLKD]

Have a look at the 'treatment' section above and the Daisy web-site though I believe that you have to pay to access info. on there.

 

[AliKat]

Thanks ladies...
On the whole I'm fine - well past the stage of being upset about not having any more children, it wasnt easy to begin with and occasionally my daughter will ask why she can't have a little bro or sis. It's not the end of the world though and we have a happy, healthy and very bright 6yr old so we are blessed.
Dancing Girl thanks for all the tips on urogenital atrophy - will look more into that. Can you use vagifem alongside what you're already on? It took so long to get this far with the least side effects (others gave me horrendous anxiety) that I don't want to go changing it.
This will make you laugh though....read your message out loud to my husband and he said “so we need to have sex three times a day?” 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️
I'm doing my best to cut caffeine right down and trying on the sugar front. I rarely  drink anyway, so that's not so difficult.
Anyway will do some more research and check the treatments thread. Thanks for the welcome... Have a good week, all x

[CLKD]

Why cut down sugar  .  Fruit sugars are fine as the body dispenses with them differently to those in sweeties ;-).  Certainly I don't eat as much fruit as I would do sweeties .........  currently we are enjoying melons; sweet, juicy, messy: and R waiting for the Pakistani mango season 

The body needs a balanced diet: fats, sugars, salts ........ liquids, good quality exercise, sleep ........ 

[Dancinggirl]

Alikat - you certainly can have Vagifem alongside systemic HRT - in fact with an early meno I would say it is essential.
Do try using Multi Gyn Actigel at the end of the monthly bleed to get the flora balance back to normal. Use vaginal moisturise daily as well as this will help as well. It's all about preventing thrush and bacteria taking hold. DG x