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[Turkish delight]

Morning CLKD 

Thanks for your mesg. I do drink a lot yes, always have some water on the go and sip sip all day.
I love an egg, and m&s mushroom quiche lol, so would miss them if I had to give up.

Butterfly I hope we are helping you to take the plunge and go to your doc's.
Take baby steps, if Doc asks you to have a test you don't want say no I'm not prepared for that today thanks.
You don't have to do anything you don't feel comfortable with, or that you feel is unnecessary. Don't think too far ahead just make an apmnt and go see what a professional says. At the least it'll give you some peace of mind, and a feeling that your moving forward with the issue to resolve it.

[CLKD]

Eggs are binding  - apparently 

[Turkish delight]

On the poo subject, I'm feeling like a piece of sh!t atm, and I've only missed 2 doses of estrogel, flip!

I have got zero energy, and a tightness in my chest. I feel as though I'm sleep typing right now!

My Doc said stop the hrt, you might feel a bit hot. I thought that was pretty ignorant at the time but held myself back from shouting "A little hot....are you serious!!!" I'm losing my cool already on day 2, Pleeease I need my happy hormone back!

TD

[Petals]

This sound like what I had for about 6 months during the first year of Peri.
My poos went soft/paste like and paler. I had terrible wind from both ends - big rumbling burps.

I went to the GP and he did some poo /blood tests but everything fine. Looking back it was definitely
hormonal plus anxiety made it worse. He put it down to IBS and anxiety.

I can't take gluten , alcohol or fried foods very well now so just avoid.  Also brown bread is bad for it.
The wind flares up from time to time.

It's boring but if I keep the anxiety down,exercise, have a good diet (plenty of fruit/veg) an drink plenty
of water it does seem to keep it at bay.

Just one of the many things that ' hit ' you in middle age which I had no idea about.

Thanks for this as I suffer bouts like you described above. I do find some foods aggravate it more than others. Did you find your periods were very irregular at this particular time? I can miss and then when I do have a period, I'm very heavy (changing every hour) and then come on again in less than two weeks. This has continued with the two week cycle. When I first went to my GP, he dismissed me and told me to return when I hadn't had a period for 6 months and I couldn't be peri as my FSH level was too low  . Then I left it for a while and returned to see the nurse practitioner, who tested me again and sent me for a scan. My results came back much higher on the bloods, where she confirmed that I was definitely peri, and the scan showed cysts. I can't tell you how relieved I was for it to be confirmed it was peri and that I wasn't losing my mind!

Recently, I have had further episodes of heavy bleeding and so booked another appointment to see the NP. Unfortunately, she was off sick (isn't it always the case) and I saw a female (younger) doctor. When I asked if she could supply something to ease the flow, she said that she'd refer me as I needed the Mirena coil! No sort of consultation, just to telephone the next time the bleed was so severe and she'd prescribe something then (which isn't great when you're not prepared and have to go into work). Oh, and as I was going out of the door, decided to offer me some iron tablets (no blood checks first though).

Anyway, I've received an appointment but it's not for a couple of months. Ironically, I appear to have gone longer than the two weeks period cycle since visiting the surgery  (another ‘isn't this always the case'). I'm not sure if I want the coil, but have decided to keep the gynaecologist appointment so that I can at least speak to someone who knows what they are on about.

Sorry I digressed from the initial topic, but that's how it appears at the moment: I go from one medical issue to another. Btw, I'm 51 and have had various symptoms for the last couple of years e.g. aching muscles, headaches/aura migraines, painful breasts etc. As one thing calms down, another flares up. I only drink water and the occasional half a glass of wine, no coffee or tea, and try to avoid anything spicy. At this stage, I'd prefer not going on HRT if I can cope but who knows what the future holds. When I speak to colleagues, most appear to have sailed through the menopause, only having the cessation of periods and no further issues. I thought the symptoms may improve after menopause but having read many posts on here, it appears many women need the HRT after the bleeding has completely stopped for the year  . It's definitely a ‘CHANGE' to your whole system and I can now totally understand why it's called that !

Thanks to everyone for posting their experiences as it does help one feel a little bit ‘normal'   .

[CLKD]

Morning Girls!

A few weeks ago I had an egg sandwich for tea and felt bloated.  Same happened last week so decided to have salmon and cucumber last night: same again  and I was full of wind.  It went overnight with a bit of persuasion  and this morning I am hungry.

Bowels opened within normal limits despite plums   

Browse round Petals.  Have a look at 'advice for husbands' as well as the bladder and vaginal atrophy threads.  Make notes ;-). Some find it useful to keep a mood/food/symptom diary.


There is a drug that can ease heavy bleeding.  Maybe a chat with your local Pharmacist then return to the GP with advice ;-)

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies

Those of you with bowel issues may want to look at the symptoms for  Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at menopause but have been well in that department for years and only take a mild anti inflammatory tablet a day so not a disaster diagnosis by any means.

I've changed my diet a lot due to UC and giving up eggs certainly helped. Far from being 'binding' they produce sulphur in the colon which attacks the gut lining.  Obviously not a good thing.

Take care ladies.

K.

[Turkish delight]

Thanks girls for your comments and suggestion, much appreciated.

I've been off my hrt for almost a week now and still have a turbulent tummy 

This week I've cut out vagifem too, I'm clutching at straws now hoping that it's vagifem causing my upset stomach.
Vagifem has actually almost stopped working for me for the past few weeks, in the urgency of needing to pee area. I've checked for UTI's and it's not that.
It seems my whole toileting situation has gone haywire and needs a factory reset 

TD

[KiltedCupid]

Hi Turkish delight - really sorry you're suffering with such distressing bowel issues. I'd put my house on it being the Utro. If that stuff doesn't suit, it doesn't suit BIG TIME. It's like poison to me, actually feels like I've taken something toxic. I got bowel issues too; incredible bloating and wind and chronic constipation. It's just a no-no for me, for many reasons. It's seems entirely unfair that your doc didn't ask you to stop 1 hormone at a time and charting progress. I'm sure you now feel miserable without oestrogen. It also took me 7-10 days, sometimes 14, after the last Utro for my bowel to return to normal.

[flyingsquirrel]

Well, I don't know about HRT causing diarrhea, but what I do know is that when all this hormonal craziness started in my life a year ago, I was waking up in a panic attack and having to race to the restroom for a bout of diarrhea.  Sometimes it'd hit in the middle of the day, too, and I'd be having accidents, even at work.  Ugh.

Getting on birth control seems to have helped that, especially the higher estradiol doses.  (10mcg was still too little for me.)  I still have mushy poo, though, but sometimes it's solid, too.  I don't have to eat potatoes for lunch anymore to keep things from exploding.  I can go back to nice salads.

In fact, looking back, I've been having odd diarrhea since mid-2017.  Which is around the time where I started having out-of-the-blue anxiety, before late 2018's hormonal roller coaster ride.  The signs were there.  Wish I'd known what it had meant, maybe I could have started trying different birth control pills way sooner to avoid what felt like a psychotic break.  But anyway, I had assumed that it was the giant iced coffees I was having every morning.  And it was, mostly.  But I was getting more and more sensitive to everything.  By late 2018, just before the insomnia and hyper-anxiety/depression hit, I couldn't find a rhyme or reason why I was having diarrhea and accompanying stomach aches.  I didn't have coffee the last few days.  Was it the tuna sandwich?  But then I'd have a tuna sandwich on another day and I wouldn't have diarrhea.

Hormones do weird things to the body, don't they?  And I don't think HRT is any different.  It's all hormones!  Sorry you're going through this.  I feel your pain!

[CLKD]

Stopping localised atrophy treatment won't improve the issue but may increase the feelings of needing to pee.  Maybe take a pain relief medication which can ease the spincter trying to open. 

Turbulent tummy - good description of how I felt for over 35 years  because I wasn't eating enough and my gut didn't have anything to work on 

[Mogster71]

Hello Turkish Delight,

Sorry to hear you're still having tummy troubles. I can certainly say that my, ahem, digestive system has changed in the last few months! I have always been affected by being a bit looser for No2 a day or two leading up to period but the first time I had HRT it was the last week and a bit! My tum hasn't always been particularly well looked-after. Diagnosed with IBS in my early 20's (thank you stressful job) and mine is definitely exacerbated by anxiety. One particular job I hated in my 30's would bring on a bout of bowel motions every Monday morning without fail, and at other times of the week if there was something dreaded to do. I lost weight and looked and felt awful!!

I am on the last day of my first pack of Femoston 2/10. Again tum has more "activity" in the last week but not as loose as the first lot of HRT.

CLKD like you I have slow gut motility but there is no rhyme or reason to it; I could eat the same meals for 5 days in a row and feel different after every single one. Gurgling belly and wind both ends is common!!

Butterfly do you take a probiotic? This might help restore balance.

I can't tolerate dairy any more, and I find I react to bread but toast is easier.

You're going to think I'm crazy, and whether or not its mind over matter but there is an area you can put pressure on on your tummy which helps you to go to the loo. About an inch below your belly button is acupressure point CV6 (or 2/3 finger widths) Not to be used if you are pregnant (highly unlikely to be relevant here but just in case!) Press and hold with your index and middle finger together for maybe 10 seconds to begin with. This definitely works for me, as well as a cup of hot coffee when I first get up!! If you're abstaining from tea/coffee then even hot water with lemon will probably help.

I have suffered from time to time with constipation and as I can't tolerate much in the way of fibre so can't up the fruit and veg. I naturally eat a low-ish fodmap diet.

Sorry I digressed TD - I do think this is all hormonal as well. BTW the bum tests really are not that bad, the idea is worse than the actual event of course. The worst part IMO is the aftermath of having air pumped up .........  Still, I'd rather have that than a camera going down!

Menopause...those people who think it's just a few hot flushes and a bad temper eh?

[CLKD]

Not mind over matter at all.  I could watch the wind travelling down my belly would bump and flutter until the wind escaped, usually in the bath.  DH would spend hours rubbing my belly to move wind - then we found out after a few years that it was my appendix grumbling  .  That came out in a hurry, 14/02/91 

I think a lot of my transit problems were due to my parents, letting me go to the loo B4 we travelled but not understanding that sometimes I had to return to do another emptying procedure.  It was "You've been once!" ....... so I became used to gripping it in which led, as well as anorexic-type problems, to the bowel becoming slower and slower and 

[Mogster71]

CLKD I have had that too, like watching a bubble going round 

Sorry to hear your transit troubles go back that far... digestive issues are really hard to deal with and when you mix them up with lady hormones    I've had all kind of problems with acid, got prescribed PPI drugs which did calm it down but then I realised I didn't have enough acid...we all need it for digestion after all!

[CLKD]

'Rennies' or 'milk of magnesia' should be enough once PPIs have eased symptoms.

[CLKD]

This item in the News is quite humorous:

Are you going to the toilet in the wrong way?