Menopause - what do you know about it?
 

One of our finer gentleman TFP'ers asked me to post a thread in the Ladies' Lounge that would tap the fountain of knowledge and good sense that we, the sisters of TFP, have on the subject of menopause. Please take a moment and share with us:

Have you gone through menopause or has a woman close to you gone through 'the change'?

Tell us your stories and experiences, tips and advice.

What do you know about living through perimenopause, premenopause and postmenopause?

How has it affected you or someone you know mentally, physically, sexually?

What about hormone replacement therapy vs. alternative therapies?

Or any other facet that I forgot to mention. :)



My only direct experience with menopause was when my mother went through it and, frankly, it was pretty uneventful. She started out with HRT but decided to quit when she found out about the health risks and decided to pass through it au naturel, as it were. It all went pretty swimmingly for her.

Personally, I am tired of monthly menstruation and am ready now, at 43, to get it over with. Come on, menopause, come and get me! The only potential downside of menopause that gives me (groan) pause, is that it will dampen my sex drive. I'm hoping that the fact that I'm pretty sexually determined will balance with any negative consequences in that area.

..

I totally agree with you on this, I am almost 40 and ready for it to end. My sex drive cannot get much lower than it is now, so why not? I know my mom went through it, and I don't remember it being a big deal for her. I am hoping it is also not a big deal for me.

Been there, done that, got the wet tshirt....

It started for me before 50 with hot flashes. I'd break out in a sweat at the tiniest provocation; even if I had to go to the bathroom, I'd start to sweat.
Then the periods got shorter, maybe lasting three days and then they got irregular. That lasted about 5 years. I had one in April, 2007 and a very very brief one two months ago and that's been it.
The hot flashes have subsided now for the most part. Some of the more physiological things are vaginal wall thinning and drying, but I can still soak my jeans at a moment's notice(I made a mess of my sofa at a solitary moment of need), so no worries there so far. The breasts are softer, not really sagging or thinner, just not firm any more. Supposedly the wrinkles are going to be more prominent as the skin thins and dries but thank heaven for oily skin-no wrinkles yet.
Sex drive hasn't changed at all-I can still live with or without it. :p My father's cousin was sexually active well into her 70's.

I won't take hormone therapy as I've seen no need for it, but my doctor says if I want it, she'd write a script for Premarin cream for the vaginal dryness.

I used to hear that birth control pills mimic menopause so if you're on those, you already experience some of the symptoms-dryness, change in breasts, etc. Whether that comparison still holds true, I don't know.

Ah where do I begin?

My mother was going through it - at the hardest point in fact - when I was getting ready to get married and my brother's hormones had peaked and he was a drunk, teenage bastard. Sooo she was miserable and terrible to be around at times. I did find it funny when a week before my wedding, just after she'd gotten a big hotflash, a couple of Jehovah's Witness women showed up at our door. I actually felt sorry for those ladies that one time. lol
My mother ended up going through 10 years of perimenopause before it finally all calmed down. She started at 35.

As for myself, here I am at 35. I've only had 3 periods in the last year even though I've been on the pill and in the past have always gotten my period when I go through the placebos. I've had hot flashes, moodswings, insomnia, many more migranes and dry skin (as well as very dry other areas). I've started taking some menopause vitamins and some medications from my Dr to help stabilize things. Only irritations are the migranes the occasional hot flashes and the dry 'areas' now. The Dr did tell me that he could give me a Depo shot to help get rid of the hot flashes and migranes if things continue to get worse. I have another appt with him in 3 months and we'll see. He said that Depo would not slow down the process or alter it any way other than to help with the 'symptoms' of perimenopause. I would loose the irregular periods completely, loose the hormonal migranes (hopefully), and it would help with the hot flashes and dryness as well. I'm seriously considering it but plan to do more research before I go through with it.

So, in theory I wouldn't be on daily HRT, and I have the possibility of going through at least the beginnings of menopause without a lot of headache (literally). I'm leaning toward getting the shot because I've had 5 migranes in one month here. It's a pain in the neck. ;)

Thank you everyone for your responses!

My wife recently went through it. One thing she learned was to go to a Dr. that is a DO - one that uses the body to help itself. He decided to do a very long blood test. From that he used a compounding pharmacy to make her blend of natural hormones, not the HRT synthetic stuff that supposedly causes cancer and is created from horse urine.

I encourage anyone to look into this. It the hormones may not be covered by your prescription coverage but it isn't that expensive and it is much safer once you look into the problems with synthetic HRT.