Perimenopause - ?'s for 40+ ladies

shes2smart · 03-21-2006, 09:47 PM

So, I find myself in the thick of perimenopause. It started a couple years ago and has brought all manner of wonderful

things to my life...such as menstrual migraines, really whacked-out periods (odd cycles, and feeling like I surely must be bleeding to death), decreasing sex drive, insomnia...and the latest little twist -- continual tiredness...due no doubt to the fact that I am unable to sleep more than 5.5 or 6 hours most nights.

I have spoken to the nurse practitioner at my gyno's office about this. She's of the opinion that it's all within the range of normal. She's about the same age as I am and going through a lot of the same things. We've gone over things like diet & exercise, and I'm doing fairly well in those areas. I'd rather not take any meds....although I make an exception for the migraines...I've learned to take a Zomig as soon as I realize it's a migraine.

At this point, I just want it to be over for God's sake (!!).

For those of you who have already navigated through this time of hormonal bizarreness....what were your symptoms? How did you manage them? How long does this go on? Did you take any meds/herbs/vitamins/natural supplements? What were they? Did they do any good?

Thanks for your help.

Shadows Light · 03-23-2006, 05:59 PM

Shes2Smart....

I'm 39.. and my doc tells me all my blood work comes back within the normal range. Now I've had all the symptoms you've described with the inlusion of wacked out periods lasting 20+ days. My libido is either up. Or its gone. PMS is unflippenbearable. I've also started the hot and chills faze. And yet my Doc tells me I'm ok.

With me.. it could be attributed to stress. I went through a nasty nasty divorce and we know the stress will triger freaky stuff happening to us.

I went to a health food store and started on a rigment of herbals. A brand called Enzymatic Menopausal formula stage 2. In it is Black Cohash. Its got an AM pill and a PM pill. I've been on it for a month... and about the only difference I noted was the PMS this month wasn't as intense.

For sleeping at night.. I've started on Valerian Root Tea. It does help settle you down so you can sleep.

I'm not sure if I am in peri-menopause or not. Because my stress levels have been elevated. And I have a lot of things going on.

But I'll tell you if this is just the start of it.. OMG. I can't imagine what full blown will get me.

I do need to get on a better exercise program and control my diet. I do much better when I'm going to the gym 3x a week.

Also.. I'm not discounting the fact the time of year. Its been cold and dreary and we can all use some sun light. Have been thinking of going to the beds just to get some ray's and alleviate some of this lethargy.

If you run across any web sites or anything of interest.. feel free to PM me.

RayKay · 03-23-2006, 06:50 PM

Alright I am not there yet, but my mother is now going into chemopause..she is 48 so it won't be coming back...I am also convinced she was going into it before all this cancer treatment, but she is stubborn and would never admit that. My sister though was pretty convinced given the fact she would be up and down with her emotions..and considering my mum is not one to cry, having her burst into tears because dinner was not perfect was a good sign something was up!

Wait until the hot flashes come! It's fun for everyone in the house...

Anyway, I wanted to pop in and suggest looking at herbal therapies if you are not wanting to go meds route (understandeable!). A good herbal practitioner can usually suggest some herbs & teas and so forth to ease some of the symptoms. There are many of them out there, but generally it's best to get some specific advice for you and better info on combinations and how much to take and so forth. Some people I know have also reported positive results from acupunture.

As if life was not tough enough having to go through puberty

shes2smart · 03-23-2006, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayKay

As if life was not tough enough having to go through puberty

At least going through it forward had some interesting side effects and fun payoffs.

Going through it backwards (as things start winding down) is just a pain in the nether regions.

coollady1957 · 03-25-2006, 01:13 PM

I am 48 years old and have been dealing with perimenopausal symptoms for about three years now. I am hoping this all ends soon. I understand its different for every woman. Not sure I can take much more at this point. My mom was about my age when she went through this and it took her about 5 years to get past it all.

I started off about three years ago with abnormal, erratic, periods. I was either having a two week long period, or skipping periods at first. For a while my periods were normal again, and then started either being early , late, or not at all.

I went to my doctor and had the check up and usual tests, etc. He says I am healthy , and dealing with only the premenopausal crap. Currently I still suffer the erratic periods, heart palpitations, minor hot flashes, horrible night sweats, mood swings and irritibility. Also I have the sleep disturbances, where either I cant get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning, OR, if I am lucky enough to fall asleep quickly, I still wake up every hour on the hour.

The constant being tired and no energy is also affecting me. I have some of the dull frustrating headaches, and minor body aches and pains.

Luckily its only been recently that the lowered libido seems to be part of my symptoms. That could be due to the fact that I have no partner in life right now, so I do not even think of sexual excitement anymore. It is not part of my daily thoughts as it used to be in the past.

I do not take any medications for the perimenopausal situation. I am trying to get through this with out meds. I currently take meds for borderline high BP, and its under control and I also take a cholesterol med, and that is also under control. My doctor said that he could not recommend herbal supplements, and treatments, due to the fact that alot of people have bad reactions with mixing herbal medications with other prescriptions meds.

I am sure most doctors have their own preferences as to whether they condone the herbal route to alleviate symptoms. The herbal supplement route scares me a bit due to the death of a lady near here that was on such herbals at age 50, and she was healthy as I understand it, but died from kidney failure after some type of reaction from the supplements she was taking.

I try to follow a decent diet, which that is hard at times, and also try to walk each day when weather permits.

If any of you have any thoughts or just want to talk about symptoms and dealing with it all, I am here. Doesn't appear that I am going to be over this anytime soon .

coollady1957 · 03-26-2006, 11:12 AM

I was hoping some of the women here might respond back that are dealing with this perimenopause. I know there probably are only a handful of us here at this point in life. It would be nice just to have someone to bounce feelings off of, or talk about symptoms, and dealing or adjusting to " the change" .

shes2smart · 03-26-2006, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coollady1957

I was hoping some of the women here might respond back that are dealing with this perimenopause. I know there probably are only a handful of us here at this point in life. It would be nice just to have someone to bounce feelings off of, or talk about symptoms, and dealing or adjusting to " the change" .

Yeah, me too...but I think the "Women over 40" population here is rather small.

However, someone sent me this a few days ago...

Quote:

by Frank Kaiser:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

As I grow in age, I value women who are over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something more interesting.

A woman over 40 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 40 give a hoot what you might think about her or what she's doing.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 40 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women. Women over 40 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. They always know.

A woman over 40 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you
are a jerk, if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 40+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free", here's an update for you. Now 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig, just to get a little sausage.

coollady1957 · 03-26-2006, 08:29 PM

Hey , thanks for sending that about older women. That was pretty neat.
I am going to send it to a few friends of mine.

shes2smart · 03-27-2006, 08:16 PM

coollady...what do your heart palpitations feel like? I get what I call a sort of squeezing feeling in my chest sometimes...it lasts for a few seconds to a few minutes...then it goes away. There's no rhyme or reason as to when it turns up.

I don't have any issues with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease.

I have read on the WebMD boards that heart palpitations are a symptom of perimenopause, and I'm wondering if that's what they feel like....?

coollady1957 · 03-28-2006, 04:01 PM

Hi S2S,

My palpitations feel like a pounding heart beat at times, and other times it like a fluttery feeling, or a flip flop of the heart.

My doctor did all the EKG and Echo gram, and said all was fine. He said that the palpitations are part of the perimenopause , and unless I felt some other additional weird symptoms with the palpitatoins, not to worry.

It does get frustrating and sometimes scary with the heart beats. My worst parts are the night sweats and the feeling tired all the time. I just wish this would hurry up and pass.

03-21-2006, 09:47 PM	#1
shes2smart Online Platinum Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: same world, different server Gender: Female Age: 45 Posts: 5,138	Perimenopause - ?'s for 40+ ladies So, I find myself in the thick of perimenopause. It started a couple years ago and has brought all manner of wonderful things to my life...such as menstrual migraines, really whacked-out periods (odd cycles, and feeling like I surely must be bleeding to death), decreasing sex drive, insomnia...and the latest little twist -- continual tiredness...due no doubt to the fact that I am unable to sleep more than 5.5 or 6 hours most nights. I have spoken to the nurse practitioner at my gyno's office about this. She's of the opinion that it's all within the range of normal. She's about the same age as I am and going through a lot of the same things. We've gone over things like diet & exercise, and I'm doing fairly well in those areas. I'd rather not take any meds....although I make an exception for the migraines...I've learned to take a Zomig as soon as I realize it's a migraine. At this point, I just want it to be over for God's sake (!!). For those of you who have already navigated through this time of hormonal bizarreness....what were your symptoms? How did you manage them? How long does this go on? Did you take any meds/herbs/vitamins/natural supplements? What were they? Did they do any good? Thanks for your help. __________________ "But there's no use crying over every mistake You just keep on trying til you run out of cake"

03-23-2006, 05:59 PM	#2
Shadows Light Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 2,560	Shes2Smart.... I'm 39.. and my doc tells me all my blood work comes back within the normal range. Now I've had all the symptoms you've described with the inlusion of wacked out periods lasting 20+ days. My libido is either up. Or its gone. PMS is unflippenbearable. I've also started the hot and chills faze. And yet my Doc tells me I'm ok. With me.. it could be attributed to stress. I went through a nasty nasty divorce and we know the stress will triger freaky stuff happening to us. I went to a health food store and started on a rigment of herbals. A brand called Enzymatic Menopausal formula stage 2. In it is Black Cohash. Its got an AM pill and a PM pill. I've been on it for a month... and about the only difference I noted was the PMS this month wasn't as intense. For sleeping at night.. I've started on Valerian Root Tea. It does help settle you down so you can sleep. I'm not sure if I am in peri-menopause or not. Because my stress levels have been elevated. And I have a lot of things going on. But I'll tell you if this is just the start of it.. OMG. I can't imagine what full blown will get me. I do need to get on a better exercise program and control my diet. I do much better when I'm going to the gym 3x a week. Also.. I'm not discounting the fact the time of year. Its been cold and dreary and we can all use some sun light. Have been thinking of going to the beds just to get some ray's and alleviate some of this lethargy. If you run across any web sites or anything of interest.. feel free to PM me. __________________ "Sit vis vobiscum." "nemo me impune lacessit" "Libera Te Ex Inferis" "Homo sapiens non urinat in ventum"

03-23-2006, 06:50 PM	#3
RayKay Offline Platinum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Middle of Canada Gender: Female Age: 30 Posts: 13,270	Alright I am not there yet, but my mother is now going into chemopause..she is 48 so it won't be coming back...I am also convinced she was going into it before all this cancer treatment, but she is stubborn and would never admit that. My sister though was pretty convinced given the fact she would be up and down with her emotions..and considering my mum is not one to cry, having her burst into tears because dinner was not perfect was a good sign something was up! Wait until the hot flashes come! It's fun for everyone in the house... Anyway, I wanted to pop in and suggest looking at herbal therapies if you are not wanting to go meds route (understandeable!). A good herbal practitioner can usually suggest some herbs & teas and so forth to ease some of the symptoms. There are many of them out there, but generally it's best to get some specific advice for you and better info on combinations and how much to take and so forth. Some people I know have also reported positive results from acupunture. As if life was not tough enough having to go through puberty __________________ [FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkolivegreen][B]<--- [COLOR=sienna]Carbun the Super-Bunny[/COLOR][/B][/COLOR][/FONT] [B][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=#556b2f][/COLOR][/FONT][/B] [FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkolivegreen][B]At the end of the day, how you imprinted on someones life and heart is the only true mark any of us leave on this earth and is what we are most proud of... [/B][/COLOR][/FONT][I][SIZE=1]- My Biggest Hero and Mentor: My Mum.[/SIZE][/I] [FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=orange][B]Il faut d'abord durer [/B][/COLOR][/FONT][I][SIZE=1]- Ernest Hemingway[/SIZE][/I]

03-27-2006, 08:16 PM	#9
shes2smart Online Platinum Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: same world, different server Gender: Female Age: 45 Posts: 5,138	coollady...what do your heart palpitations feel like? I get what I call a sort of squeezing feeling in my chest sometimes...it lasts for a few seconds to a few minutes...then it goes away. There's no rhyme or reason as to when it turns up. I don't have any issues with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease. I have read on the WebMD boards that heart palpitations are a symptom of perimenopause, and I'm wondering if that's what they feel like....? __________________ "But there's no use crying over every mistake You just keep on trying til you run out of cake"

03-25-2006, 01:13 PM	#5
coollady1957 Offline Silver Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Alabama..Near ROLL TIDE COUNTRY ! Gender: Female Age: 52 Posts: 2,196	I am 48 years old and have been dealing with perimenopausal symptoms for about three years now. I am hoping this all ends soon. I understand its different for every woman. Not sure I can take much more at this point. My mom was about my age when she went through this and it took her about 5 years to get past it all. I started off about three years ago with abnormal, erratic, periods. I was either having a two week long period, or skipping periods at first. For a while my periods were normal again, and then started either being early , late, or not at all. I went to my doctor and had the check up and usual tests, etc. He says I am healthy , and dealing with only the premenopausal crap. Currently I still suffer the erratic periods, heart palpitations, minor hot flashes, horrible night sweats, mood swings and irritibility. Also I have the sleep disturbances, where either I cant get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning, OR, if I am lucky enough to fall asleep quickly, I still wake up every hour on the hour. The constant being tired and no energy is also affecting me. I have some of the dull frustrating headaches, and minor body aches and pains. Luckily its only been recently that the lowered libido seems to be part of my symptoms. That could be due to the fact that I have no partner in life right now, so I do not even think of sexual excitement anymore. It is not part of my daily thoughts as it used to be in the past. I do not take any medications for the perimenopausal situation. I am trying to get through this with out meds. I currently take meds for borderline high BP, and its under control and I also take a cholesterol med, and that is also under control. My doctor said that he could not recommend herbal supplements, and treatments, due to the fact that alot of people have bad reactions with mixing herbal medications with other prescriptions meds. I am sure most doctors have their own preferences as to whether they condone the herbal route to alleviate symptoms. The herbal supplement route scares me a bit due to the death of a lady near here that was on such herbals at age 50, and she was healthy as I understand it, but died from kidney failure after some type of reaction from the supplements she was taking. I try to follow a decent diet, which that is hard at times, and also try to walk each day when weather permits. If any of you have any thoughts or just want to talk about symptoms and dealing with it all, I am here. Doesn't appear that I am going to be over this anytime soon .

03-26-2006, 11:12 AM	#6
coollady1957 Offline Silver Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Alabama..Near ROLL TIDE COUNTRY ! Gender: Female Age: 52 Posts: 2,196	I was hoping some of the women here might respond back that are dealing with this perimenopause. I know there probably are only a handful of us here at this point in life. It would be nice just to have someone to bounce feelings off of, or talk about symptoms, and dealing or adjusting to " the change" .

03-26-2006, 08:29 PM	#8
coollady1957 Offline Silver Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Alabama..Near ROLL TIDE COUNTRY ! Gender: Female Age: 52 Posts: 2,196	Hey , thanks for sending that about older women. That was pretty neat. I am going to send it to a few friends of mine.

03-28-2006, 04:01 PM	#10
coollady1957 Offline Silver Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Alabama..Near ROLL TIDE COUNTRY ! Gender: Female Age: 52 Posts: 2,196	Hi S2S, My palpitations feel like a pounding heart beat at times, and other times it like a fluttery feeling, or a flip flop of the heart. My doctor did all the EKG and Echo gram, and said all was fine. He said that the palpitations are part of the perimenopause , and unless I felt some other additional weird symptoms with the palpitatoins, not to worry. It does get frustrating and sometimes scary with the heart beats. My worst parts are the night sweats and the feeling tired all the time. I just wish this would hurry up and pass.