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[Sarai]

I'm struggling as regulars will know.
I have friends in the 6o's and 70's with such a rosey glow of their meno I doubt my sanity.
Is there anybody here, not on hrt and through it comepletely and happy, healthy and not exhausted

[mandy43]

my sister, Sarai.  I think probably most who come to this site are like us... at the end of their tether and really struggling!!  My sister sailed through, looks fab and never needed to seek advice.  It's just not fair!!

[honeybun]

The trouble is the reason we end up here in the first place is because we are having problems so perhaps the forum is not representative of women who have no problems.

All I can say is my mother who is now 93 had a bad meno starting at about 42. She came through it fine and is still with us with nothing much more wrong with her than old age.

There will be millions like her.....only trouble is they are not on this forum 


Honeyb
x

[CLKD]

I haven't been too bad once periods stopped and the occasionsal wet over the back 'flushes' stopped.  But that could have been my evening medication i.e. BBs and ADs

[Unhinged]

Hi Sarai, I understand exactly why you're asking - I too am having a rather grim time, as well as the usual flushes etc etc, I have the generally feeling terrible every single day for the last two years and more recently the anxiety, which is the worst, I even had unwanted nasty thoughts - if you know what I mean. I swore I'd never go on HRT because like so many woman my doctor persuaded me it was so bad, now I have insisted on it and am my 3rd different type, it brings some new side effects of it's own but I feel there are some improvements starting to show.

BUT, what is keeping me going, is the fact that my sister, although she had an implant for a couple of years as she was having a bad time, she has been off that six years now with no menopause symptoms either physical or emotional. Like some of the other ladies have said, she doesn't go on forums like this because she has no need to. She feels well! She was 54 when she came off (my age) and is 60 now and seems much healthier than me! She doesn't take anything at all. So take hope, she had a grim spell for a couple of years and has come through and is well both physically and mentally! x

[Sarai]

Unhinged, thanks I realise those not suffering wont need to visit.
I know somebody who had the mirena and just had it removed to find she has gone through emno and is post now and she never felt a thing. I wish id had the mirena when it was offered to me last year. Still too late now.
I actually just wish I had a least one friend who was in the thick of now so i could share. Mine are either long past or not suffering at all.

[Kathleen]

Hello Sarai.

My trusty menopause book says that all symptoms should be over by the time we are sixty. Although that is obviously an average and dependent on when your menopause begins I take comfort from the fact that for all of us there will be an end to this rotten time.
Like you I know women who seem to have escaped unscathed and I am deeply jealous!

Wishing you well and take care.

K.

[Taz2]

I think that must mean the fluctuating hormone symptoms. I've got friends who only began their flushes in their late fifties and others who are still flushing into their seventies. Also vaginal problems don't stop unfortunately. I agree there will be an end to the mood swings etc. so that does make the other problems much easier to deal with.

Kathleen - their time may come - vaginal dryness, bladder problems, joint aches etc. Not that I wish that on them of course but menopause is obviously for ever and it leads to changes in us during the rest of our lives and not just for the, maybe, few years when our periods are fluctuating and we are getting hot flushes. 

Sarai - how old is you friend if you don't mind me asking? By saying she has gone through meno do you mean that her periods have stopped and she didn't have any of the horrible fluctuations? Most of the menopause symptoms such as hot sweats and vaginal problems are down to lack of oestrogen not progesterone and the mirena wouldn't have changed any of that so it may be that she was just one of the "lucky" ones.

Taz x

[Sarai]

Just an aquaintance so don't know exact age but early 50's. She announced to my daughter she had the mirena out and the docs said she is post meno, so I'm guessing they did blood tests.
I have a friend who sadly had radiotherapy for vaginal cancer which caused meno but she did not have a single symptom, she was early 50's at the time. She was just recently discussing it with me, not even a flush she said. That was 5 years ago now.
I realise we will have aging problems. I'm just basically thinking about the duration of hormone fluctuations, it mood swings and anxiety that i want to be free from more than anything.
I know you have to  be 12 months period free to get post meno as a title but would a blood test show sooner than 12 months if you were through?

[Mary G]

Stellajane and Taz2 make some interesting points and I would add that perhaps hot flushes are the thin end of the wedge.  Perhaps the menopause is more about living for with rest of your life with hormone deprivation and even if women don't have hot flushes or night sweats, it does not mean they have got away with it because they may well have other problems later on.

My mother never had hot flushes or night sweat but just noticed that her periods stopped when she reached 51.  However, from that age until now, she has never had a full night's sleep, went on to develop high blood pressure, has had two hip replacements, prolapse (could be from having 4 children), bladder problems, aching joints, frozen shoulder (for years) curvature of the spine and her cognative skills have deteriorated.  She and my father are the same age but if you stand them next to each other, you can see than age has been kinder to him and he hasn't had any of these problems.  Some of her symptoms could be put down to bad luck and the ageing process but there is no doubt that the insomnia, hip replacements, bladder problems, frozen shoulder and spine curvature and all due to oestrogen deprivation. 

I haven't had insomnia, hot flushes or night sweats either but I take HRT as a preventative measure and also to keep up my oestrogen levels because if they get too low, I get migraines.  I do suffer from (artificial) progesterone intolerance but that's another story!

Whether or not to take HRT is a personal choice but I think the debate must remain open as more and more evidence is emerging in its favour.  One leading expert in the field stated "Oestrogen replacement therapy is probably the most important advance in preventative medicine in the Western world for the last half century".

[Taz2]

I'm not sure that a blood test would be useful. I remember having my FSH tested at 51 and being told that as it was over 100 I would never have another period but went on to have many more until I went onto HRT.

I found the release from PMT symptoms every month was the only upside of approaching menopause but the other things that took it's place were worse to cope with. I hated the feeling that everything had finished. No spark. No libido. Constant hot sweats. I then went onto HRT and the PMT came back but I found it much easier to deal with knowing that there was a reason for it i.e. it wasn't all in my head was connected to the different hormones I was sticking onto my skin for the second half of each month.

Oestrogen is important for our well being and, obviously, the further into meno you go the less oestrogen you have. I agree with Mary that although some women appear to "sail through" a lot of the time they don't relate any health problems they do have to menopause. I worked with a woman who's periods had just stopped at 50 with no menopausal problems but until we had a random chat one day she had no idea that her vaginal dryness and bladder problems, which hit in her late fifties, could have anything to do with menopause.

It's a good job we have this forum!

Taz x 

[Annie0710]

Not having had periods since age 32 due to hysterectomy my only knowledge of ovulating have been sore boobs, the last time that happened was sept 2014, so on that basis I'm just a few weeks away of the 1 year mark .  4 weeks ago I changed over to Estradot mainly because of Hurdity's reviews and do feel better, headaches are much less reduced.  But also I saw a neurologist mid August who is pretty sure I have Myasthenia Gravis and has started me on medication (I'm learning what symptoms are attributed to that) but all in all I'm a bit wary to say I'm feeling better lately, I'm not sure the reason (could be Estradot/approaching one year mark/or the fact I'm close to a diagnosis) and I don't want to tempt fate so just grateful for each of the days I'm not having funny moments ! X

[CLKD]

Annie - will you begin another thread about this muscle wasting problem?  Did it begin with a dropping eye such as 1 gets with a stroke?  A friend is in Hospital with this and the prognosis is grim