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[Dippie]

Hi,

I'm Dippie, short for dip(expletive denoting excrement deleted) and also as in "hippie-dippie". Some of you may know me from another board, but I'm having problems logging in there and running out of patience, so I decided to come over here for awhile.

I'm 49 and my body seems to be taking a huge hormone dump at the moment. I'm on the other side of the pond and might give you a very, VERY incorrect impression of the state of our current health care and the success of Mr. Obama's NSA-knockoff, so please understand that my personal situation is not representative of the US in general.

I neither know nor care how long it as been since my last period: more than a month, less than a year and that is not the point AT ALL!!!

Brain fog is so bad I forgot how to spell "forty" just now, which of course triggers anxiety and grief/rage. Fortunately I have a small investment income and do not have to work, but I do have a six year old so I can't completely drop out of society and spend my entire life sitting on the couch with a box of tissues and DVDs of my favourite TV shows from when I was a kid, which is about all I feel capable of doing right now.

I'm not sure if I'm here for ideas on what to do about the physical symptoms with my limited resources or just to whinge at people who can understand. Either one is fine.

I only sort of understand English and USAmerican is my native language, so please excuse any communication problems and strange spellings, but feel free to laugh at me behind my back if it brings a bit of sunshine into this gloomy chapter of your life.

[honeybun]

 

Have you tried anything to help with your symptoms. Herbal, alternatives or HRT?

You kind of need your energy with a six year old to look after. Look around and join in. We have other ladies from America on the forum so I'm sure you will fit right in.


Honeyb
x

[Dippie]

I have not tried anything except for an extremely controversial herbal med that I can no longer get. Part of my problem may have to do with adjusting to life without it, but that is what it is and I can't get any more.

I stopped avoiding soy (which I LOVE! '70s vegetarian here with many fond memories of Frances Moore Lappe, The Farm Cookbook, Mother Earth News, the Book of Tofu, etc.) about a week ago, but of course it is too soon to see if that will help.

It seems kind of silly that I still drink coffee if you don't remember what six year olds are like, but I don't think i could cope without. Also afternoon naps are not an option.

I'm a single mother by choice, so no husband to pick up the slack and no blaming failed birth control; I brought this child into the world and it is my responsibility to take care of him.

I seem to be having more problems than the average duck and perhaps that is just genetic and not something I can help. My paternal grandmother was "sent away" to a mental institution for several years and treated with electroshock therapy. My father still carries scars from that at 79 that I do not want to inflict on my own child. I can get very little out of my mother other than that she finished when she was 52, she talked about it with her sister, and she thinks somebody should write a book about it.

Last night it hit me that my Mom has instilled me with a wonderful set of values and high ideals, but she has not always been the most honest person in the world so I looked at her actions instead of her words:

She had a horrible time and she is so ashamed of it that she can hardly bear to speak to me! I will never know whether she finally broke down and got a prescription, found the right kind of twigs and magic incantations, or whether this too shall pass.

If this is analagous to transition in labour, then I can muddle through, but if some idiot intern were to tell me that I was only 2cm, then I'm ready to ask for the epidural and will gladly sign the papers for the C section and could care less if they only want me to do so because the doctor doesn't want to miss the Superbowl! <------apologies if this is offensive to ladies who birth in hospitals.

[Dippie]

This:

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Estrogen-Bioidentical-Wrinkles-Menopause/dp/B004XJIDEO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

is a realistic alternative for me and so is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Suddenly-Fem-Estro-Boost-Pills-Crossdresser

but I feel very vulnerable to snake oil salesmen at the moment and very much afraid of snarking and attacking anyone who suggests something that I have already tried or that is underkill along the lines of telling my diabetic father to see if Celestial Seasonings has a tea that might help because Insulin has side effects or telling my cancer survivor mother to try harder to concentrate on her big toe when she gets the urge to complain about the mass in her breast because nobody likes old ladies who complain about their health.

I might be more receptive to herbal/alternative medicine or nutritional supplements tomorrow, but right now I feel that the world has betrayed me and everything that I believed to be true for the past half century is wrong.

[Kathleen]

Hello Dippie.
Just wanted to welcome you to the forum and to say that I've enjoyed reading your posts so far. Do I detect a little anger in amongst the anxiety, grief and rage? If so I'd like to say yep, they all ring bells with me. This menopause business is the pits and I don't mind who knows it!

Take care and keep posting.

K.

[Dancinggirl]

Hi Dippie
I've responded to you on another thread - do stop beating yourself up about wanting to make your life better.
I've tried every herbal remedy under the sun and as a life vegetarian I've eaten soya till it comes out of my ears - these things only work for those lucky women who don't get bad meno symptoms. As far as I'm concerned they are a waste of money. AS one lady on here pointed out, if herbs worked they would be prescribed on our health system.  Some women find acupuncture helpful but this can be expensive and you've got to find a good practitioner. 
Only HRT or, if you can't use HRT for health reasons, certain anti depressants will work to alleviate meno symptoms.
I personally think it is a lottery when it comes to the menopause - every women will experience it differently and the negative effects can go on for the rest of our lives.  Waiting for things to "settle down' can be never ending and in the mean time life is passing us by!!!!.  I do believe genetics plays a big part and unfortunately we are the first generation to really address this issue openly - there are still so many taboos and misconceptions.  Here in Britain we now have to work till our late 60s but the health system is not geered to helping us continue working - meno symptoms can really effect our ability to work.
Keep us posted about your progress.   dG x