Hi Brightlight. I found your post really interesting particularly what you said about adrenals. I'm 52 post menopause and reluctantly started hrt a few weeks ago mainly due to tiredness which impacted so negatively on my life. I eat well I exercise and I'd spent the past year trying alternatives without much success. It's not my thyroid causing the tiredness but I wondered about adrenals - do you have any info on this as I would be keen to read up?
Silver lady you mentioned you have low dose estrogen; are you able to advise what you take and do you have progesterone too?
Thank you 😊
I have posted somewhere about a you tube recording of Dr Annie someone that I found interesting. I emailed her website to ask the kind of question that you seemed to be asking originally Brightlight - if a woman doesn't have meno symptoms snd so doesn't take HRT are we to assume she will experience all the health problems noted in her recording. I've not had a reply.
My sister is 58 and was full meno at 46. She chose not to take hrt. I have a friend who is 48 with very early meno - no symptoms just no periods. She has hrt purely for the health benefits and plans to stop at 50.
We all try to make the best choice but it can be difficult! x
Hello
Adrenal stress isn't recognised in the medical world as such although when lifestyle, excercise and nutrition are talked about, these are the things that support the adrenals. It's basically an over taxing of our stress response and I liken it to over use of a muscle, over time if we continue the response in our bodies/minds we can tire the system. Many things can exhaust the adrenals - for me, it was overwork and life stressors like bereavement and work changes that have piled into my life over the years. Although diet and relaxing have a huge impact as well and when we are stressed we tend to neglect this as well - we run on adrenalin.
One approach is food and you might find this link interesting as a start to discover if you are 'exhausted' in this way
https://www.womentowomen.com/adrenal-health-2/eating-to-support-your-adrenal-glands-2/I'd really like to hear the answer you asked Dr Annie about symptoms v future health concerns. I am suspecting there isn't an answer. I say that because how can we logically determine that? We are all so different and so many factors are involved. I appreciate the detailed research and believe it, though I prefer to acknowledge that other factors also play a part. All research is based on a specific area, we need to bear that in mind when reading it. We may be looking deeply into one area when the area of concern that impacts more greatly on our health has been forgotten
So for instance, heart disease has been proven to correlate with emotional well being, blood pressure responds to emotional/brain activity. I have been reading that osteoparosis may start much younger than menopause for other reasons. We all have to choose areas to address and just hope they all balance out somehow, we can't do it all. I sometimes get tangled up with medical stuff that 'promises' solutions to one issue and forget that really it's a broadbrush unless you choose to look at an individual.
If I take HRT, I think I will just take it and not expect too much as it were - it will either work or it won't and I won't know until the future, if at all. But I do still have a dilemma with the absolute assumption it will protect me and that this is the only way. It's hard actually. I know my 'real' health issues, or at least my weak points and at this point I am not too sure what impact or relevance the menopause has on those. If that makes sense...... for the last 2 weeks I have been 'scared' into the idea that early menopause means I have a future diagnosis that is certain - heart disease and osteo - I am choosing to hold fire on that assumption for the moment