Hi,
I've just spent countless hours reading some of the (very useful!) posts on here, so finally thought I'd dive in...
I'm 48 and having had the Mirena coil for the last 8 years, have just found out I'm post menopausal. A real surprise as I had no hot flushes or indeed any of the other side effects I'd thought I should be getting. In August last year I went through a very stressful time at work and have had problem sleeping since. My hair has also thinned and I've put it all down to stress, having now realised I'm through the menopause I'm wondering if that's the reason instead. My sleeping still hasn't returned to normal, and my hair, which has always been very thick and bouncy, is now thinning around the crown and edges. My memory has been quite poor too.
Now realising these effects could be a feature of the menopause rather than the stress I'd attributed them to, I'm weighing up whether I should try HRT. It's the sleeplessness that's the main bugbear, I run my own business and it's difficult to function properly when you're up for hours during the night and then sleepy during the day. I've read the very long 52 page thread on this forum (very informative) and must say I'm erring on the side of giving it all a go, though probably with a pill will low progesterone in case of further hair loss.
Anyway, just wanted to say hello before I start posting further, at such a confusing time it's good to find such a wealth of knowledge and a friendly community :-)
GG x