I’m not a vegetarian - I’m a true omnivore. I drink a glass of soy in the morning, and occasionally have a soy dessert - I don’t think that’s overdoing it. I also take cod liver oil, a B complex, flax oil, vitamin D, vitamin E (while counting calories, I discovered I’m chronically low on vitamin E), vitamin C, and glucosamine. I don’t drink any caffeine.
Oh, someone reminded me of another symptom - hormone-related headaches are getting worse again. They respond well to Tylenol taken as soon as I realize a headache is coming on, though.
Back in 5th grade, on that Special Day when the boys went into one room and the girls went into the other room to watch their respective filmstrips … we gals watched that movie warning us about all the gross-sounding things are bodies were going to do, and when it was over, the first thing that piped up out of one girl’s mouth was: “Man, I can’t wait till menopause!”
The teachers did not keep a straight face. None of us understood why.
49, and the time I have between now nearly-nonexistent periods is getting longer. To wit: My last one was back in April. I hadn’t had one since around Thanksgiving. Nonexistent because it lasts maybe 2 days and it’s more like spotting than an actual period.
I get the very occasional hot flash that lasts less than a minute. What I do have, though, is increasing intolerance to heat. It’s been sunny and humid here lately – when I return home, I need to actually lie down to recover. This summer is going to be interesting.
I’ve got the mood thing going on. A post-menopausal friend once told me that the reason why a lot of women find themselves adopting a hardened worldview around age 50 is because of menopause. I don’t have a cite or verification if it’s true, but yeah, I can see that.
I turned 50 in February. My monthlies had become erratic year before last, and I may have finally gone a whole year without (I haven’t been keeping track).
I’ve been getting hot flashes for the past year, and mostly I just try to ignore them; they’re over fast enough. At night I just throw the covers off. During the day I wear a light blouse and keep a sweater handy if I need that.
The one symptom which bothered me was ‘hammer heartbeat’ or palpitations or whatever it’s called. I started taking magnesium for that and it has lessened greatly.
Another thing I have is aching in my hands and feet sometimes, but some of that might be due to arthritis or old age or sommat.
I am already on fish oil for cholesterol, so it may be helping with some of the stuff.
I’m not really interested in HRT, I’m planning to mostly tough it out.
I’ve heard that, too - that as your hormone profile shifts, the nurturing hormones drop away, making you less likely to want to get along and appease and smooth things over. I have also heard that this is when a lot of bad marriages finally end, when the woman just doesn’t put up with endless shit any longer.
I printed out your list. Thank you! All of you…I really appreciate this.
About Aunt Flo: it now arrives about 23 days apart, and seems to be starting, then stops for a day, then starts in earnest and goes for a few days. I hate that false start.
I thought I was done. I just finished a two week cycle after Aunt Flo being blissfully absent for 11 months. Yes, I was keeping track. What a PITA. I’m having horrible hot flashes and night sweats: black cohosh did absolutely nothing to help, so I’m just handling it best I can.
55 and no painters for over a year…YEAH!!! Don’t miss that bit at all. The only symptoms I have had are hot flashes. They start at the top of my head and flow down. Kind of interesting physical phenomena. I haven’t taken anything for the hotsie totsie’s because I was cold all my life even in the summer. We have always kept our house cold (can we say cheap?) and I’m finally warm in the winter. Mrsin calls me his toaster girl.:cool.
I am wondering; i get seriously miffed if the guy i like doesn’t call when he says he will. Never been like that before. I wonder now,can you have symptoms while still on the pill?
It seems to be calming down a bit overall. Maybe because the semester has ended and grades have been turned in…I am still going to stay on the herbal regimen, though.
My periods have always been 2 days every 23 days. Neither my mother nor my three older sisters kept their reproductive parts long enough to have menopause. I’m almost 49, and I did skipp one period and the next one was just a bit of spotting. I won’t take HRT because of the breast cancer in my family (my sister had breast cancer two years ago, and a hysterectomy right before the cancer treatment. She’s on meds to block all estrogen). I haven’t had any symptoms except for the skipped period, so hopefully I won’t have too much problem.
I bought licorice root capsules from Vitamin Shoppe but on the invoice it says that this product may cause reproductive harm, birth defects…? What’s up with that?
Anyone know?
I’ve heard that one menopause symptom is fuzziness in thinking. Does anybody have any concrete examples? Like skipping letters while writing, that sort of thing? That’s happened to me, but I’m not sure approaching menopause is to blame.
I suppose it all goes back to the hormones. My mom paused long ago–she’s 84 now–but has had hot flashes ever since her oncologist put her on Arimidex last year to suppress any resurgence of the breast cancer she had.
Sorry, I can’t remember any right now. Seriously, I feel like my brain has gone from pretty damned good to, ohmigod, just give me a shovel to the back of the head. I can’t remember anything, and I used to be able to remember everything. I don’t concentrate and focus as well as I used to, either. I try to stay sharp by reading challenging current events books, but it seems a lot harder than it used to.
Seriously, I feel like my brain has gone from pretty damned good to, ohmigod, just give me a shovel to the back of the head. I can’t remember anything, and I used to be able to remember everything. I don’t concentrate and focus as well as I used to, either. I try to stay sharp by reading challenging current events books, but it seems a lot harder than it used to.