does the menopause ever end?

[Deleted User]

chesky you are right about the weight as it is really impossible to shift but I console myself, knowing that I am healthy and cuddly. I just decided to adapt and to stop keeping the clothes from my thinner days, again going with the flow. I bought a dressform the other week for sewing and decided to make it my body double but first I made a cover for it. I bought padding by the metre and inch by inch I added it here and there. The bra went on it and I stuffed that and I bravely added the rolls below the waist and then I dressed her in knickers and a vest to hide the padding. I finished and the measurements were identical to mine and then I stood back and saw an image that was not grotesque, just plump and to my surprise I had padding left over.

The menopause isn`t just about body but it is about mind too and about mourning lost youth. Get the grieving over and accept that you have to do it to move on, then enjoy your life afterwards with the knowledge that comes with age

tanith

Its interesting that other women have similar problems.. my menopause is now in around its 13th year :eek: ........ I went on HRT for around the first 7yrs then came off it and now my only symptoms are weight gain a few lbs each year and hot flushes which never seem to change... no matter what I try apart from starving myself I cannot lose the weight... and for the hot flushes I have tried everything , nothing works... I will be 60 in a few months and I really hope that at some point it will end...

seven-day-weekend

I really think HRT only delays the inevitable and that when you come off it you will have the menopausal symptoms for as long as you would have had them anyway. However, for a woman who has the menopause early, I think it is necessary to protect their bones.

I am 58 and have not had a period since I was 54. I have gained weight but other than that I have had no symptoms to speak of. I have never had a hot flush or a night sweat. I don't sleep well but that is to do with Restless Legs Syndrome, which I've had for years.

A Doctor once told me that the later you started(naturally) the menopause the better as there was more protection for your bones, fewer symptoms and it was over much more quickly.

However, I don't know what you can do if you start your menopause in your early 40s - just take HRT for a few years and be prepared for the symptoms later I suppose.

My sister is 75 and has been on HRT for over twenty years!:eek:

Ted_Hutchinson

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I don't sleep well but that is to do with Restless Legs Syndrome, which I've had for years.

I've been reading the book The Brain Trust Program by Dr. Larry McCleary - this has a recipe for an Anti-Excitatory Cocktail that contains a group of supplements that have proven helpful to increase brain relaxation and help you sleep. One of the main ingredients is also known to help restless leg syndrome.

You will find the anti-excitatory cocktail here.

As it contains a few supplements that are expensive in the UK you may find buying in the USA cheaper. I use IHERB. If you want to save $5 off your first IHERB order search the Referrers Board but bear in mind orders £18 and over attract VAT + Handling charge.

DUKE

I'm 46 and have been having hot flushes for about 6 years now, it's awful waking up and thinking you've weeeed the bed :eek: Went to see the Dr about it and he happily told that I have years ahead of me before the meno, oh I could've slapped his face.

Ted_Hutchinson

Pilot evaluation of flaxseed for the management of hot flashes.
Eligibility included 14 hot flashes per week for at least 1 month. In the baseline week, participants took no study medication and documented the characteristics of their hot flashes. Thereafter, crushed flaxseed was administered at 40 g daily.
dietary therapy decreases hot flash activity in women not taking estrogen therapy. This reduction is greater than what would be expected with placebo.

I don't have hot flashes but I do take ground linseed daily (good source of omega 3 via ALA) I buy whole brown linseed. 5Kg about £6 when I last bought a bag.
I use a coffee grinder to mill it to just break the skins (otherwise they pass through undigested)
Once a week I grind a potful to keep in the fridge.
The whole seed will keep for 2yrs in a mouse proof container but once ground it needs keeping in the fridge or it will deteriorate.

I use a tablespoon on my porridge but now I'm low carbing I add it to my omelette. I also add another spoonful to my midday soup and a further spoonfull will be incorportated into the evening meal. The fibre and oil content slows down the metabolism of the meal thus reducing the glycemic index.
If you haven't taken it before then build up slowly start with a teaspoonful 3 times daily for a week then 2 then 3 and so on. Some of the people who went straight onto 40g (2 tablespoons) had problems.
Drink plenty of water, the fibre soaks it up so you need more than before.

WishI'dReadSooner

No HRT but 8 years of horrendous hot flushes/sweats. Thankfully this year they appear to be getting less frequent.

By horrendous I mean going bright, bright red & the sweat dripping off my face. I HATE going shopping as I always get them at the checkout & I'm sure some people must think I'm trying to shoplift or something like that!
Haven't worn make-up for 8 years as it would just melt off me.

Blood pressure up, thyroid down. Mood swings were really bad initially but seem a bit better now. It's the loss of mental faculties that gets me as since I started the menopause I just can't concentrate for long & things that would have taken minutes in the past now seem to take hours. The loss of vowels is upsetting too. Weight gain of 5 stone & I just can't get it off. Giving up smoking added to the weight gain recently.

Insomnia, irritability, joint pain, crushing tiredness, low libido, anxiety, itching, hair loss - you name the symptom & I've have/had it. I also have humungous multiple fibroids - the largest being 10cm - I have been assured that eventually these will shrink. I was offered a hysterectomy this year but I really don't want one as I've suffered for 8 years with them - it can't go on that much longer - can it?

Have tried everything - dong quai, sage, black cohosh, wild Yam, ginseng, soya, DHEA etc. etc. I've even tried hypnosis & accupuncture. EFT sometimes works on some of the symptoms - but not always. www.emofree.com

We've worked in the alternative health field so I've probably tried just about everything on the market & some things none of you would have heard of too. I WISH I had the solution.

Getting old has never been a worry for me. I was actually looking forward to going through the menopause as had dreadful flooding during the curse years.

I wish there was a magic cure - I've searched hard for it but haven't found one. I also wish someone could tell me definately how mush longer this is going to last. I'm starting to see a small chink of light at the end of this very long tunnel, I hope, with the numbers of hot flushes going down.

Men are SOOoooooooo lucky not to have this!

TED - are you female?????

Horasio

I had my ovaries and womb removed three years ago and had no signs of menopause but had other imbalances for years before. If you are suffering with your womb, it could be making your hormones go everywhere - I would get the fibroid sorted.

margaretclare

It will probably cause me to become unpopular but....the menopause is an event, not a process. It's described as the stopping of periods, i.e. the last period. What everyone is describing is the peri-menopause i.e. the time around the last period, before and after. And it does seem to vary with the individual.

Me, I have to use oestrogen cream long-term because there is a likelihood that the problems for which I had surgery back in November can recur.

And yes, I can empathise with the problems of weight gain. One reason is muscle loss which starts in one's 30s - muscle uses up more calories, the less muscle you have, the more likelihood of not using up calories so laying down of fat. And there's also becoming less active once retirement starts, and the habit of eating what you always ate although with less activity you don't need it.

I managed to lose 5 kg before that surgery but after that, I'm stuck. All this makes other existing problems, bones and joints etc, more difficult. I'm probably looking at yet another hip replacement in a few months' time. Every time I think 'I should be better now' another darned thing sticks its head up.

Margaret

vivmagb

Thanks for all your replies, to answer some of your questions, yes I have seen my doctor but his attitude is 'Its a woman thing and it will stop'. Typical male attitude I think. I do have hypertension and take medication for it. I think the hardest thing to cope with is the constant disturbed sleep as not only am I permanently tired but get very frustrated at not having the energy to do things that I used to do. By 1 o'clock each day my energy has gone and I struggle to do anything for the rest of the day. My forehead is permanently red and sore with the constant flushes and sweating. I have seriously thought of putting myself back on HRT, my doctor won't prescribe it but I could buy it off the internet. I would sooner take the risks with HRT than carry on having what I call a 2nd class life beacause thats what it feels like.