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[fiorinda]

I'm reluctant to try HRT - I have spoken to my doc about it - my sister has had breast cancer 3 times, first time at 39, then at around 55 and recently at 67, and I have had yearly mammos since I was 39 too, but my doc said that needn't necessarily rule HRT out for me, I would just have to weigh up the risks versus the benefits. Also my partner and I don't want to jeapordise any teeny tiny little last chance of a baby (my periods come and go) - we know it's extremely improbable, but maybe, maybe not impossible. I have adult children and even a grandson, but my partner is in his 20s and doesn't have any kids. Plus I haven't taken the pill for 24 years because I didn't like filling my body with artificial hormones, I'm not sure I want to start again now.

I'm not dead set against it, and when I'm certain there's no chance of a baby left and I start falling apart I will probably reconsider, but for now I'm more interested in alternatives.

So I'd love to hear what alternatives to HRT work for you.

[CLKD]

Usually alternatives only 'work' for a short while.  If they were proven, they would be available on the NHS 

Keeping hydrated, exercising regularly, eating well are important, what ever stage of Life we are at.  There are a myriad of pots and potions on the shelves so it really is a personal choice, but if one begins on an alternative, it needs to be taken at least 6-8 months before one might notice any difference.  Most won't hurt and some may well boost our systems in this very busy world.

[fiorinda]

I did find that Sage tincture worked almost immediately - as I used to find EPO worked pretty quickly for my PMS symptoms (within hours) back in the day. I think there are probably lots of alternative remedies for Menopause symptoms, just as for most other things, that work perfectly well and have done for millennia, but they're not tested and approved because they wouldn't make enough money for the people who fund the research. I've used alternative remedies for a long time for minor ailments, both for myself and for my children. The 'proof' I think is in their long historical and often widespread use. I reckon if an alternative remedy is going to be effective but not immediately, a couple of months should see some results, don't think it would take as long as 6 usually. If diet can play a part in mitigating symptoms, I think it probably makes sense that medicinal herbs can too. When you consider the number of possible side effects printed on the info sheets of any medicine, it looks like they also work differently for different people. I doubt anything works in exactly the same way for everyone. It's all a bit trial and error really. Unfortunately it's not quite as easy to get considered and professional opinion/information on alternatives as it is on patented medicines, unless you consult a registered herbalist or similar. I think we're stuck with peer-recommendation!

[CLKD]

   Trial and Error certainly 

Have you read through the menus, left of screen?  You may find some hints there.  When I was growing up there was a bungalow close by which I ran by ........ 'cos the local 'healing woman' lived there    ....... I vaguely remember Mum taking me there when I fell and banged my head quite badly .......... don't remember what happened or what 'treatment' she gave because I was so scared 

[fiorinda]

Lol! She'd probably have been burned at the stake a few centuries ago (and me next to her)!! I've just this minute noticed there is an 'alternative therapies' link, thank you though. Apparently there is also a thread about how others cope without HRT. I'm off to read that now! 

[fiorinda]

AND I've even posted on it before and then forgotten all about it.... need something for that memory loss thing obviously!

[Limpy]

AND I've even posted on it before and then forgotten all about it.... need something for that memory loss thing obviously!

Don't fret - happens to us all

[CLKD]

am I allowed to   

[fiorinda]

Indeed, laugh, I did! 

[CLKD]

 

Did reading the menus help any?

[fiorinda]

To be honest, not much. Nothing I didn't already know really. There's no urgency right now anyway as (touch wood) I'm pretty symptom-free at the moment and there's nothing I can take, on either side of the coin, that will return my fertility, so I'm just collecting info for when the symptoms I've had before come back or new ones start.

[CLKD]

Loss of fertility = age?  How does your partner feel, is he happy enough without a child? 

[fiorinda]

I'm 48, CLKD. I've probably been peri-menopausal for around 4 years now, maybe longer (I think 4 years ago was the first time my periods went AWOL for a few months). They've been on and off roughly at 6 monthly intervals ever since. So I was 6 months without up to this April, then they returned but extremely light and short. I'm pretty sure I'm about to have another any day. I feel like my innards could fall out, and I'm VERY weepy and tetchy.

My partner would love for us to have a child, but he knows how unlikely it is and he is fine with that - he knows he could leave and have a relationship with a woman his own age and have LOADS of kids if he wanted, but he wants to be with me more than he wants kids. 

[Taz2]

You sound about right age-wise really - peri-meno takes eight to ten years and the normal (whatever normal is in our crazy meno world!) is 51. Would HRT lessen your chances of getting pregnant then? I know that you do have to use contraception as well as HRT if you haven't gone a year without periods so I assumed that you could still get pregnant.

Taz x

[CLKD]

Get on and live. If your partner is happy with you as a couple, maybe relaxing might be the way to go.  I know of 2 women who 'couldn't' have children, the 1st adopted/fostered 7 before falling pregnant, the other went on a cruise with her husband - came back pregnant  .

Don't give up.  Live differently, i.e. focus on something other than a baby - Nature can be a mystery and come up with the goods when it is least expected