66 Peri menopause / Menopause Symptoms you may experience which may help some ladies
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SIXTY-SIX PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS: Part one 1 - 49
These are very real physical changes and conditions. Some symptoms alarm a woman that she may be suffering from a serious disease. Perhaps you know the more common ones related to menopausal symptoms in this list. But many of these may surprise you, as they have not been typically associated with this normal physiological transformation.
1. Change in Menstrual Cycle, Cycles may get closer together or farther apart, lighter and shorter in duration or much heavier, lasting longer than one has been accustomed to. Menses may seem to take forever to begin with dark spotting for days until you actually flow, or you might feel like you have your menses every two weeks.
2. Menstrual Flooding can come on with sudden onset and feel like you may hemorrhage to death. Or it can be a gradual build up just when you think your menses will end and you start gushing for days. Flooding commonly accompanies the woman with uterine fibroids as she transits into menopause.
3. Headaches, Migraines, especially before, during or at the end of your menses debilitate and radically interferes with normal functioning.
4. Decreased Motor Coordination, Clumsiness, almost begins to make the woman who experiences this feel like she is certainly less than graceful during perhaps an already awkward period in her life.
5. Lethargy, a persistent feeling sluggishness physically and mentally, that seems to negate ones ability to do much.
6. Physical Exhaustion , and Crushing Crashing Fatigue that can come on so suddenly and grip you into feeling like you will collapse unless you stop this instant.
7. Exacerbation of any Chronic Illness or Existing Condition transpires as hormones decline or deviate from their normal balance.
8. Insomnia, this includes a new or unusual pattern of either difficulty falling asleep, or dropping off to sleep for a few hours and then awakening with the inability to return to sleep.
9. Sleep Disturbances sometimes are from nightmares, night sweats, or just a vague sense of restlessness keeping you up or disrupting your precious revitalizing retreat from this realm of responsibilities.
10. Night Sweats often begin between a woman?s breasts, initially a night or two before her menses, waking her from sleep, later more profoundly disturbing with up to total body saturation, followed by damp or sweat drenched chills.
11. Interference With Dream Recall interrupts the sense of normal sleep, if you are someone accustomed to vivid or at least some detailed memory of your dreamtime.
12. Muscle Cramps can occur anywhere in the body from legs to back to neck, and sometimes reflects the need for more calcium, or simply that your progesterone levels are too low.
13. Low Backache often worsens before or during menses, but if your hormones remain at low levels, you can experience it on a regular basis.
14. Gall Bladder Symptoms of pain, spasms and discomfort felt in the right upper abdominal quadrant under the ribs, which may be accompanied by belching, bloating, and intolerance to certain foods reflect the increased liver load with declining hormones.
15. Frequent Urination, or sensations that mimic urinary infections is a disturbing symptom often unrelieved by actual urination. It is often experienced as the sensation of needing to urinate all the time, even immediately afterwards.
16. Urinary Incontinence, the uncontrollable and spontaneous loss of urine, or the Urge for Incontinence, can occur suddenly or feel continuous, and not only in response to coughing, sneezing, jumping or running.
17. Hypoglycemic Reactions happen when suddenly your blood sugar crashes and you must have food now.
18. Food Cravings, often for sweets or salty foods, but can include sour or pungent foods.
19. Increased Appetite, especially at night and after dinner contributes to that unusual and unwanted weight gain.
20. Dark Circles Under Eyes can also be caused by adrenal exhaustion and thyroid dysfunctions, but no amount of sleep seems to eliminate it.
21. Joint and Muscle Pain, Achy, Sore Joints, Muscles and Tendons, which sometimes develop into actual carpal tunnel syndrome, or give rise to the questioning of other disease possibilities.
22. Increased Tension in Muscles demonstrates itself in those hunched up shoulders as you work or talk about anything uncomfortable, along with promoting lower back pain and a stiff neck.
23. Increased Hair Loss or Thinning anywhere on body, including your head, armpits, pubic area.
24. Increase in Facial Hair especially under your chin, or along your jaw line. It may be defined by generalized hair growth, or a specific and coarse single strand of hair that pokes out, even curls.
25. Unusually Hair Growth, around Nipples, between Breasts, down your back, places where your hair was finer, less coarse.
26. Acne, quite disturbing to any woman who dealt with this in adolescence and never thought it would recur.
27. Infertility causes grief in the woman who postponed pregnancy in her earlier years and now wishes to conceive, carry to term a healthy baby, and discovers she is unable to do so.
28. Loss of Breast Tissue begins with the decrease of progesterone production. Women often feel as though their breast have become empty sacs devoid of their normal fullness, with or without sagging.
29. Breast Soreness/Tenderness/Pain/ Engorgement and swelling, occurs particularly a few days to one week before bleeding actually begins, which usually potentiates complete relief of any pain or swelling.
30. Painful, or tender nipples have been described as this exquisite localized pain only in the nipples and suggests estrogen excess.
31. Cold Extremities feels quite strange especially in the presence of a hot flash, the combination of which is not impossible.
32. Being Accident Prone, bumping into things, not even realizing it until the bruise reveals itself later and then lacking the ability to recall the causative incident feels perplexing and a little scary at the prospect of something more damaging.
33. Hot flashes initially may be described as mild to severe flushes of heat waves, and for some women these evolve into intense outbreaks of sudden heat with sweating and turning bright red all over.
34. Loss of Sexual Energy, our Libido, can be marked by a gradual or sudden disinterest in sex, to the development of an actual aversion.
35. Painful Sex often described as if one?s vagina would tear open at the point of penetration along with feelings of abrasion during intercourse.
36. Vaginal Dryness, Irritation, sometimes accompanied by a consistent unusual discharge - typically odor free, negates a woman?s ability to be sexually active, or able to enjoy or be comfortable in her body.
37. Dizziness, feeling lightheaded and the loss of physical balance, and even a bit wobbling at times, requires pause in movement to prevent falling over or deepening into vertigo or feeling faint.
38. Ringing in the Ears, Tinnitus, can be experienced as a pulsing sensation, a whooshing sound, an almost musical or buzzing sound with a fuzzy sensation.
39. Abdominal Bloating comes on suddenly often after eating, or seems to be all the time, and can be visibly evident making you feel that you look like you are pregnant.
40. Weight Gain disturbs most women, particularly when it seems to happen over a couple of days, settles in the waist, buttocks and thighs, promoting a visceral thickening from the waist down, the classic middle-aged figure.
41. Fluid Retention, Edema, commonly with swelling in the legs and ankles, though not limited to this area and it is unrelieved by urination.
42. Palpitations or Heart Racing usually comes on suddenly, without warning or provocation, and dissipates spontaneously. The experience can be so wild and intense that a woman may become alarmed and wonder if she is having a heart attack.
43. Irregularities in your Heart Rate may feel more like your heart has just done a flip-flop or skipped a beat.
44. Constipation/Diarrhea, intermittent or alternating, results from declining hormone levels, which increase the demands on liver function and alters intestinal motility.
45. Tendency towards Candidiasis can increase, even if you have no prior known history ? and if you do, it may worsen.
46. Gastrointestinal Distress, Increased Flatulence, Unrelieved Gas pains, Indigestion, Nausea all can reflect intestinal changes due to hormonal imbalances.
47. Slow Digestion often goes along with the bloat ? what previously took four to five hours to digest, now seems to take all night. It seems worse in the evenings.
48. Lack of Appetite may be experienced as more of a lack of interest in food, going to the frig and standing there with the door open and staring blankly. Feeling completely uninspired, you busy yourself with something else and forget that you need to eat.
49. Changes in Body Odor especially disturbing when it seems to focus in the groin area, but can be anywhere on the body.
50. Puffy Eyes, not only from sleep disturbances, but also can accompany low progesterone.
51. Facial Pallor alternating with Facial Flushes is often intermittent with hot flashes.
52. Flare up of Arthritis worsens with low progesterone levels and increase sugar intake.
53. Loss of Bone Density, Osteoporosis, is not only an elderly woman?s disease, though it seems to develop over an extended period and is triggered by the decline of hormone production.
54. Dry Hair, Change in Skin Tone, Integrity, and Texture, becomes more wrinkled, and may begin the thinning process.
55. Changes in your Fingernails characterized by easy breakage, bending, cracking and getting softer.
56. Itchy, Crawly Skin with a strange sensation like insects crawling around under the skin ? quite different than the dry skin feeling.
57. Muscle tone seems to slack and sag, and loose its previous response to normal exercise.
58. Pelvic Pain can be random and independent of cycles and may feel continuous for some women.
59. Dry, Itchy Eyes felt in the deep posterior aspect of the eye socket, as well as superficially.
60. Teeth Aching or the experience of a strange sensation in one?s teeth or gums, often accompanied by an increase in bleeding gums.
61. Change in the normal Tongue sensation, which can be accompanied by a feeling of burning in your tongue and roof of mouth, malodorous breath or change in breath odor, and/or a bad taste in your mouth.
62. Memory Loss or Lapses in time, makes one feel disoriented and less focused, especially when you go into another room to get something specific and seconds later cannot remember what you went to retrieve.
63. Feeling Faint for no known reason (this does not include standing up too quickly)
64. Tingling in Extremities not only feels weird and like your hands or feet are falling asleep, but if persistent can be a symptom of diabetes, B12, potassium or calcium deficiency, or a compromise in blood vessel flexibility.
65. Sensation of Electrical Stimulation,or Shock occurring in the tissue under the skin, and may signal you that a hot flash will begin.
66. Increase and worsening of Allergies occurs as hormones become imbalanced, so can our immune system.
153 likes, 3046 replies
charlotte57631 jayneejay
Posted
Hello everyone..i am 43 and going through menopause..I am experience some or all the sypmtoms listed..sometimes feel like i am going crazy😕..lately i have been experiencing aniexty and tingling and some numbness in my left foot..is there anyone else experiencing some of these same sypmtoms?
nancys21 charlotte57631
Posted
Hi, Charlotte. Yes, definitely! I used to jump out of bed with leg cramps. Last summer my left toe went numb. Thought it was the flip flops I was wearing, but it's been numb ever since. Anxiety is SO bad I'm afraid to go back to my doc for rx refills. Buspar isn't helping my anxiety. I also take thyroid medicine. SO fed up with it all!
charlotte57631 nancys21
Posted
Hey thanks for the response...so glad someone is experiencing some of what i am going through....I am on anxiety meds but only take it sometimes because it makes me sleepy by i can tell when i do take it i feel much calmer and the numbeness goes away. I feel you on being fed up..but trying to stay positive and hope to hear from you again😊
Sw62355 charlotte57631
Posted
hi Charlotte, yes I get this (except for me it's my right foot!). I'm sure mine is caused by anxiety, even though I get it even when I don't feel particularly anxious. But on bad days it goes tingly and 'numb' right up to my knee, and sometimes I get it in both feet. Very weird!
cindy.broom charlotte57631
Posted
Charlotte,
you are not alone in this. my issues started in November of 2017 with a crawling sensation on my head. Since that day, my life got turned upside down. I have suffered from heavy periods that have went longer than 2 weeks to Anxiety to the point I dont want to leave my house. I have awakened paralyzed in bed, severe leg cramps and numbness in extremities. I have learned over the last 2 yrs to stop worrying about things that I have no control over. Prayer and quite time alone has helped me tremendously.
I have been in Peri since I was 39 per my OBGYN. I am 46 now and just want this to be over. I dont think we will ever be the women we once were.
My family has supported me in all this and I am grateful for that, but they have told me I have changed so much. I haven't had a period for 4 months, but I know that means nothing. My mother only suffered from a few hot flashes, where mine is all the time. I used to be a cold natured person, but i dont want to be anywhere near heat and sweat if i get just a little warm. I know we all have to go through this, but it would be easier with medication that actually works.
So you are not going crazy, we all have different symptoms. I hope you find a way to not think the worst with new symptoms. I have went through everything on the list except for 9 of the symptoms....I now know its just changes in my hormones and can deal with it better.
tonya13787 charlotte57631
Posted
Welcome to the club of messed up bodies. Yes, my legs, feet, arms, and hands go numb and tingly at times and I worry it could be a stroke. Some times my face around my lips get tingly and again I think that I am stroking out. Just when my panic gets awful, things will calm down and be like nothing happened. It is so weird, but yes, I understand what you are going through.
tonya13787 nancys21
Posted
Hi Nancy, Your numb toe could be a nerve issue or something like carpal tunnel syndrome. Did you tell a. doctor about it? I think hormones affect our nerves/nerve endings. I know how terrifying it is to deal with these issues and that is why I come here to share with others about my experiences. It is like group therapy and it is calming to know that we are not alone. I hope your issues ease up and leave you alone. ☺
lisa95354 cindy.broom
Posted
OMG Cindy, you sound like me to the core. Have you ever had a pain in your head that starts at the top right crown and shoots down the right side. That happened to me several years ago, I think I was your exact age. And that creepy Crawley feeling on the head that is so horrible. Have you ever had electrical feelings in your back, I thought the aliens were coming to get me when that happened… LMAO. I feel the same way like not leaving the house, thank God I don’t work now, or I don’t know what I would do. Even if my husband wants to go out to eat I’m like SOB, I have to put Make up on, pick an outfit, do my hair. I know what you mean everybody tells me that too, actually they don’t tell hey think I’m bat s**t or they think I’m not the same person. Guess what I’m not the same person... good riddance to the old Lisa that always wanted to make everybody laugh and swallow my feelings, they can all kiss my you know what. I have wrote people off, I wrote a seven page letter to one friend and it was all the truth. She had epilepsy and I was there for her like a mother and I pointed out things where I told her I felt she was using me and what not and got it all off my chest. I know what you mean everybody tells me that actually they don’t tell me but I can see it in their eyes and I’m an empath so I can feel it in their energy, Like they say, if you tell A friend the truth and they get mad at you or turn on you, they were never a friend to begin with, good riddance again. I’m actually also having great difficulty with my husband, stuff that I put up with before I’m not putting up with now and I think he’s also going through manopause, talk about oil and water, I think I’m going to hitch hike to Alaska . I don’t know how to private message on this thing, if you know how to private message, send me a one and I’ll reply with some other excellent advice 😉 sorry for the ramble, I’m in a mood today. Just know you are not alone ! I just thought, we’re like that movie, Stepford wives, with Nicole Kidman, where the woman shorts out, at a party and catches on fire and starts smoking ...lol!
lisa95354 charlotte57631
Posted
hey Charlotte, I love that name 😉 I use 5– HTP and L – THEANINE for anxiety & sleep, and it works well. also chelated magnesium helps relax the muscles.
lisa95354 nancys21
Posted
Holy moly Nancy, my big toes do that numbing thing also, I thought I had neuropathy ...I though whats wrong with my liver. That’s just crazy. Magnesium, potassium and CoQ10 can help with cramps, taken daily. 5 – HTP and L - THEANINE help with anxiety and sleep. I don’t think anyone ever said anything about specifically the toe going numb. I get the feeling back but it can last sometimes for days. goodness what we women go through!
lisa95354 charlotte57631
Posted
Charlotte, that is so very very common. I can’t remember who said this on here but it was good advice, try very hard not to worry about the stuff you can’t control. There is such a bizarre array of symptoms that we just have to take a deep breath and say aloud, this is my body adjusting to the hormonal fluctuation. you’re not going crazy and remember that you’re not alone 😉
alicia79327 charlotte57631
Posted
Hello I also have anxiety and tingling in my right foot, but what's really annoying is the lightheadedness that I experience everyday since I had a vertigo episode back in 2016. I just ordered a product called Redicalm hoping it will bring some relief for my anxiety.
cindy.broom lisa95354
Posted
Lisa,
LoL... I have had some shooting pains in my head. They go around to my ear on the other side. I literally had a nervous breakdown from all this craziness. I thought there were microscopic bugs everywhere. I had crawling and pin pricks on my head, back and legs. It truly got bad. I don't know why my husband stayed... I thought they were in our clothes, furniture, mattress... I had him throw everything out after we tried spraying some insecticide and nothing worked. We literally threw out thousands of dollars worth of furniture..all the while I was crying. We even left our house and stayed with my oldest for a month. That didn't work, obviously.
My sister in law finally gave me a nerve pill to try and the crawling and pin pricks subsided. At that point i would have tried ANYTHING and I mean anything if someone would of told me it helped. It was the worse 8 months of my life. Fortunately we have been able to replace our furniture, but the cherished items that I saved from my daughter's childhoods can never be replaced.
On a lighter note, I am ready to go to Alaska also, so just let me know when...at least I will be there with someone who truly understands. I too have changed from the outgoing person who wanted to make sure everyone had a good laugh and liked to go out, to stay home and hate to even go to the store. Walmart has a new best friend with ordering groceries and picking them up. LOL
cindy.broom alicia79327
Posted
Alicia,
If that doesn't work... There is a product that you can order on amazon called Anxiousless I had success with.
lisa95354 cindy.broom
Posted
Cindy that is crazy, I thought my husband brought home bedbugs, because he’s a prison guard. I bombed our mattresses with a combination of alcohol peroxide witch hazel and Essential Oils. I also think that bugs that bite are more attracted to women because of our hormones. yes, Alaska is sounding better every day, especially since it’s cold and we won’t have to put up with hot flashes 😉
nancys21 tonya13787
Posted
Thanks, Tonya! I did not speak to my doc about the numbness. It is something I've gotten used to. It's not as bad or annoying as it was. I know it's hormone related. The little toe on my other foot is always a bit swollen. My gyn commented on it at my last visit a year ago. He also wondered why my thyroid was so swollen. Tests for that were negative. The last time we flew, they stopped/searched me at the airport, as my right knee was so swollen. This crap can be torture for sure! Just hooked up the air conditioner today. I'm ready to move to Alaska too. Just said that the other day! Hugs to all!
tonya13787 cindy.broom
Posted
Oh Cindy! Do I ever get where you are coming from. The crawling sensations are just awful! You literally tear things apart to see if it is bugs but it is nerves under your skin making you itch and flip out. When that hits me, I grab some Benadryl or other allergy med and take it. It’s the only thing that calms it down for me.
tonya13787 nancys21
Posted
You get that random swollen joint too. I have had my right thumb joint swell and burn as if it is rumatoid arthritis. At another time, my right elbow did the same thing. It is like having a gremlin lose in your body wreaking havoc. Right now, my left shoulder is giving me fits. I stubbornly keep right on forcing it to move too. Yes, it can feel torturous. Here's hoping everything subsides or just stops soon.
nancys21 tonya13787
Posted
My gp won't give me Arivan any longer. He prescribed a Benadryl like med. It knocks me out, but that's it. I wake up even more out of it than I already am!😵 Thoughts and prayers to all of us!🙏❤
nancys21
Posted
Ativan
lisa95354 cindy.broom
Posted
I get zinger weird headaches that last seconds and I’m like ...is that a brain aneurysm. Like the ones in the temples that feels like a firecracker blowing up in your head (cry emoji)
cindy.broom tonya13787
Posted
Tonya, i think what spiraled it out if control for me was i lost a good friend in Nov the year prior and had to out my dog down in Nov 16. I have a fear of bed bugs anyways, so when that first crawling sensation hit me, I immediately thought "omg, I have lice". I went out and bought lice treatment and treated myself. I checked my 3 girls that are home, but nothing... My anxiety was already up and it just took me over the edge. I deal with it now in smaller episodes and I have to just relax until it subsides. Before I found this site, the internet is swarmed with people who feed o. those suffering. 😞
cindy.broom lisa95354
Posted
Lisa, that is so true. I have always been a favorite snack for mosquitos. 😄 That isnt a problem right now since I absolutely hate warm weather. I am thinking Alaska is better suited since i am always looking for ice... I have an air conditioner in our bedroom that is set on 69, but sometimes that isnt low enough. Those darn hot flashes!!!
lisa95354 tonya13787
Posted
OMG Tanya... I currently have one of those menthol pain patches on my left inner thumb, The base of the thumb, the meaty part of the palm of your hand, that’s an awful description… LOL, it hurts so bad for days now, I thought I was gonna have to go to the ER!! My elbows hurt the worst, do you have fibromyalgia?
lisa95354 tonya13787
Posted
Tonya, I think Benadryl settles it down too. You and I are really in sync on a lot of things. Can I ask, do you have any autoimmune diseases. As I have found out when we have autoimmune diseases, Peri/menopause is much worse.
lisa95354 nancys21
Posted
Ok Nancy, this is so funny. Your GYN mentioning your pinky toe being swollen. We may as well laugh as cry, I am picturing you up in the stirrups at the appointment and your doctor staring at that littke toe, you have to admit that’s hilarious. I know what you mean sometimes I just don’t mention stuff to the doctor. You poor thing getting stopped at the airport that’s just awful, but some of the stuff would make great stand up comedian material 😉 Glad your thyroid was good though, I take sea kelp and iodine for the thyroid, that might help you. We don’t get what our thyroid needs, iodine or kelp in anything, unless we are eating a lot of fish.
lisa95354 cindy.broom
Posted
So sorry Cindy for the loss of your friend, that’s just terrible. And your precious pup, that is so very difficult losing furry family. Since I’ve been on this journey for the last 12 plus years, thinking back so many things are a blur. I remember that creepy Crawley in bed at night and I really thought I was going to lose my mind. I thought how can my husband not feel this, I actually forgot about that until you brought it up. You know when you go to church when your little they give you a Bible. At puberty they should give you a book and at peri/menopause they should give you a book on what to expect!
lisa95354 cindy.broom
Posted
yeah my Chihuahua mix pup and my husband are like ...good Lord do we live in a walk-in freezer !
lisa95354
Posted
Cindy/Nancy, which one of you had the shoulder bothering them. Did you know that frozen shoulder is very common during this time. in Chinese medicine it is called “50s shoulder“, because it is so common. I had it super bad and nt Massage Therapist worked it out over a couple months I went three times a month. But you have to be careful with it, and not rough, and either do acupuncture, massage therapy or something holistic 😃
nancys21 lisa95354
Posted
😅 Thank you, girlfriend! It was funny as hell. He's pushing on my abdomen and telling me not to fight him as I tense up. Been with him for like 27 years. Ugh! Believe me, I've thought about doing a stand up routine focusing around menopause! Fish is my favorite food, although I don't eat enough. And thank you for the tip! Most days my body craves salt. Makes sense!
maria_03422 lisa95354
Posted
omg!!! i forgot to text you..but im having the same thing with my left thumb and shoots all the way to my elbow!!! it started friday and still going on..i was so scared while in NY city..it happened to me couple years back and my dr had recommended Arnica gel..i have to get some and try it!
nancys21
Posted
No frozen shoulder yet, thank the Lord!
ImagineOneDay nancys21
Posted
Did you say salt craving! Omg, not sure why happened to my test buds but I crave salt and sugar in these days and can't resist it. I am getting bigger and bigger!
pam90720 lisa95354
Posted
lisa!!! i had frozen shoulder!!! could not move my shoulder for a year!!! i was 48 when it started (was in peri then)
❤❤
kjvands lisa95354
Posted
I get a swollen joint in my finger at times, the meaty part of my hand too, a shooting pain in one toe followed by numb, oh and the arches of my feet full of knots too at times - I think you get the foot stuff too if I remember correctly? Dang all this stuff!
I've had extensive bloodwork to check magnesium, potassium etc because of all my muscle (night leg cramps and now in the day too) and nerve issues (tingling, etc) and a few visits to the neurologist for tests and nothing shows up. I've taken a very expensive magnesium but didn't make a difference.
Where do you buy your menthol patches? (online perhaps as I'm in Toronto?! 😃
kjvands cindy.broom
Posted
Sorry you had to deal with all this and it caused you a breakdown. When I started all the creepy crawly feelings last June in addition to other symptoms it did me in too and I took my first LOA from work. Six months prior to this when late perimeno kicked in I had shooting pains in my head like an icepick stabbing me (thought I had a tumour!) and it ended up being TMJ (jaw disorder). Couldn't chew at all in Dec 2017. Probably set off by teeth grinding prior. Have spent approx $3k since on mouth appliances etc to fix it 😦
lisa95354 kjvands
Posted
Morning Karen, did you have braces is that why you had TMJ. I have TMJ and I have those pains in my head as well. And I was grinding at night years ago and had to get two crowns. The orthodontist in our town did about 95% of the people that needed them. He was focused on how the teeth looked, and didn’t focus at all on aligning the bite AT ALL.. That’s why everybody that went to him has TMJ. thats wht the majority of people that have TMJ had braces and an orthodontist that didn’t know what he was doing. Do you ever get a quick fleeting feeling at night, like you’re going to completely lose your mind. I know that sounds crazy but it always happens in the evening with me. And it’s this feeling like I could just get up and bolt or like have a mind snap and lose it or just scream like crazy. It has to be some weird hormonal thing that happens to me in the evening. And I just thought, this is the time when I would be ovulating, but I am post menopausal and don’t get my period. I think it’s horrifying that we still get the symptoms even though we don’t get the period anymore. Our bodies are so confused, they wanna ovulate they want to have a period and that’s why we have these terrible symptoms. I really don’t know what I was thinking when GOD designes woman. We can’t possibly go through all these horrible things because Eve took a bite out of that damn apple...lol 😉
lisa95354 pam90720
Posted
hello Pam, in Chinese medicine it is called, “50s shoulder“ because most women get it in perimenopause. As I said my massage therapist was able to work it out and also acupuncture and I think physical therapy can help. If you Google frozen shoulder, women in menopause. There is this excellent article that states the reason that we get it is because we feel very put upon, I will see if I can find it and forward it.
lisa95354 maria_03422
Posted
I think you did mention it Maria, get those pain patches from Dollar Tree, they help too. I do love Arnica ! I bet some NEW YORK style e cheesecake would of got rid of the pain ...lmao
lisa95354 ImagineOneDay
Posted
IMAGINEC/Nancy yes these cravings are crazy. I find what really helps the cravings is the brand “kind“ they have a delicious nutritional bar out there with nuts and dark chocolate and it’s delicious and nips the craving right in the bud. You get the sugar and the salt but not a lot. I had a whole paragraph started to both of you and this thing wiped it out, it blinked and it was gone ...grrrr between them deleting my well written posts to people and this thing duplicating paragraphs, making grammar errors with not capitalizing when it should, it’s getting very irritating ! I think we crave the sweets because our bodies are short on the serotonin due to this time in our lives and the Sweera s momentarily mimic serotonin and makes us feel better. what a sad cycle ....grrrrrr
lisa95354 nancys21
Posted
I mean those stirrups are so humiliating and they’re basically pot holder mittens that they put on the end of them, does your GYN do that? I assumed they all did. I feel like saying, are the chocolate chip cookies ready yet ...lol
nancys21 lisa95354
Posted
😆Right?! Yes he does. Too funny!
cindy.broom kjvands
Posted
Thanks... I now know why some women as they age are so hateful. I always try to be kinder now and just keep my mouth shut. I can snap in a moment, where it used to take me some time to get worked up.
I sure am sorry that you have had to take a LOA from work and all the money that is shelled out on this Peri-menopause. I have a hard time understanding as many problems as we have, why isn't there more products on the market for us?
I am trying to pass along this information to my daughter so that if anything like this happens, she wont be so scared. This time in a woman's life is not a laughing matter. I feel for each and every lady on here. Now when something occurs, I just jump on this site and am reassured it is just the hormones.
nancys21 lisa95354
Posted
Same here Lisa! When peri hit hard a few years ago, my headaches were SO bad it made me cry. And I used to be a pretty tough cookie.
nancys21 tonya13787
Posted
Thanks for responding Tonya! I pray that we all find relief some day!🙏
Nancy2121 tonya13787
Posted
Yes It's just awful! Along with the swollen/achy joints, my psoriasis came back with a vengeance. 😵
lisa95354 Nancy2121
Posted
Hey Nancy, have you tried anything holistic for the psoriasis, I mean a natural path etc.?
lisa95354 nancys21
Posted
I think we all used to be tough cookies, Nancy, until Peri-hell began;)
lisa95354 cindy.broom
Posted
it’s this way Cindy because men have always been in control, especially in the medical field. They dominate the medical field, if it was them that this happened to, there be a cure for PMS, excessive bleeding, cramping, a Dimitrios us and of course all this crazy menopausal stuff. Middle of the same with the doctors office as they are on the go home to their wives, they’re dismissive and don’t care. But if it were them it would be an entirely different story!
nancys21 lisa95354
Posted
No I haven't. It's FINALLY under control. But when it first hit me at age 22, I tried everything! Funny that's the age I was when told I needed a hysterectomy due to severe endometriosis. Didn't have another attack until peri. And this time I got 2 different forms of it at once. I think since my skin became so dry that it cleared up on it's own.
crystals51917 lisa95354
Posted
Yes! Those patches from Dollar Tree help with my back ache.
maria_03422 lisa95354
Posted
I apply Arnica gel to my neck and shoulders really helps alot!!
i didnt had a chance to have that cheese cake:))
tonya13787 lisa95354
Posted
As far as I know, no, I don't have any diseases. I'm just having a tough time with this stuff.
tonya13787 lisa95354
Posted
Not diagnosed, but would swear that I do have it. Right now, after getting up, I am hurting all over as usual. I confess that I've been back to drinking Coca-Cola due to my addiction to it. Sighs. I am such a caffeine and sugar fiend. Cutting sugar does help the pain, but, I can't stay away from it. So, I suffer with the pain.
tonya13787 lisa95354
Posted
That was me. Not 50 yet, but my left shoulder aches. I ignore it and just work with it, moving it, refusing to let it win. Hahaha.
tonya13787 cindy.broom
Posted
I'm sorry that you lost your friend and your dog. They could have been triggers to start what happened. I hope things get better for you.
lisa95354 tonya13787
Posted
I know what you mean Tonya... some days I’m like to hell with that I’m gonna eat this pizza... pie or cookies ....or I’m gonna go to the bakery and eat this... I’ll show you Menopause 😉
Finny2018 tonya13787
Posted
Tonya13787,
That is exactly how it feels - messed up bodies. Like you I was so scared it was a stroke that I went to the ER twice. They ran all of the tests - nope! I got every book on menopause, did TONS of research and then read on all of this scary stuff. Had NO idea it could be this. In fact I found a study they did in Japan and they said Hot Flashes and Numbness were the two most common symptoms. Yet why does this scare me so much when it happens? When I read your lips get tingly - I had this happen to me once last September and just had one yesterday. A Friend is like - "oh yeah that happens to me regularly. Once I get tingling somewhere or numbness in my body I know that it's a Migraine with Aura without headache coming on"...huh I think??? So then sure enough I will go and read up on that and there's all of this info on the Meno Migraine with Aura stuff Then others will say the tingling or numbness is anxiety? Hormones dropping etc. It's like an anxiety feeling can sometimes come with it, too. Logically it all makes sense when I'm having wonky periods, hot flashes, vaginal dryness etc etc - basically most symptoms on the list. Thankful we are all here for one another through this really tough time!
Finny2018 cindy.broom
Posted
Cindy,
Oh can I relate to so much of your post. In the past year I've seen 3 occasions where a woman around my age, 50, has totally lost it emotionally in public - basically irrational at a situation. And I get it now. I really had no idea it could be so hard for some of us. The symptoms can hit so fast and the hot flashes with intense moods take a while to get used to. I have a whole new compassion for we women now - I am grateful for my loved ones who've watched me "change" before their eyes and have been merciful and kind to me during this time. I'm ashamed at times of how much I've changed. I used to be the outgoing fun one and I think it was you or someone just the other day who is loving the Walmart pickup -I died! That's me NOW! Library drive through, Walmart pickup, you name it - anything to not go out and be around people. Like you I'm planning to share all of the stuff I have written down and printed off for my 2 daughters. I pray they won't have it this bad but I don't want them to be scared like I was until I read all of the books and discovered this amazing forum of women! I am on here regularly for reassurance as well. I may not always post - but this place has been a Godsend since I found it nearly a year ago. Glad we can encourage one another during this time! Take care, Cindy.
lisa95354 Finny2018
Posted
Hi Finny, you still get anxious when you know what it is because there’s no logic to this stuff at all. I used an inhaler a few years ago and didn’t realize it could cause anxiety, so that on top of the perimenopause anxiety, and it ended up sending me to the ER, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. My husband said it was anxiety. The only other word, in the English language, more hated than Menopause, has got to be anxiety 😉 It’s 2019, there really is no reason for women to suffer like this. We are just one big ATM machine to the medical field. Why find an answer for Menopause, when they can make billions off it.
lisa95354 Finny2018
Posted
Finny... funny you say that because my friend blew up in a bank several months ago and I just blew up at a fast food drive-through the other day. This young girl was being a total wench and telling me how busy they were ?? We sat at the speakerphone for 10 minutes and I said, like a mad woman, busy, what are you talking about, you were not even waiting on people ...we were sitting in line for 10 mins.!! !! That with a few other colorful words ....I left without getting any food 😉 i’m sure my pictures on the post office wall ..lol
lisa95354 maria_03422
Posted
Maria… Thank you for mentioning the cheesecake, now I want some...yum... lmao!
lisa95354 crystals51917
Posted
Crystal... I keep forgetting to tell you, your picture looks so cute. I don’t have a laptop ...I do everything on my iPhone, so I should say ...what I can see of it… LOL ...you know how declining eyesight happens with menopause also !
pam90720 lisa95354
Posted
thank you, lisa!!! sorry, i just saw your reply❤❤
lisa95354 pam90720
Posted
No worries Pam… Sometimes it takes a while for these emails to come through 😉
cindy.broom Finny2018
Posted
Finny, like you, the mood swings are just terrible. I am with you on staying out of the public crowds. I have never been one to have road rage, but that has changed also. I manage to go to church on Sundays, but thru the week I am a recluse. If there is a drive-thru, you bet I will choose it everytime.
I hope that in the next 20 yrs before my daughter starts this roller coaster, there will be some medical breakthroughs. I saw an article on google a few days ago where a lady was trying to bring to light the many symptoms of peri menopause. We will see if the women finally get some recognition for what we truly go through.
It is so nice to have this forum to refer to. It definitely helped bring all the symptoms to a better understanding of what I was going through.
tonya13787 Finny2018
Posted
Yes Finny, I too went to the ER only to be told that I am having a panic attack. Right now, insomnia is my main issue. Although, I can handle that over many of the other symptoms. Most of the main sites only want to list hot flashes and night sweats. I laugh and say I wish that is all. Unstable hormones affect your entire body. Yet, there are women out there that breeze through it. Good for them. But the rest of us have he'll to deal with for what feels like eternity. Misery does love company and it helps to know we aren't alone.
crystals51917 lisa95354
Posted
Awe Lisa, Thank you! I took that pic on my phone about 4 months ago when I had a break of symptoms. I want to feel and look like I felt then. I was told by a older lady years ago that the 50's are the best years. She must didn't experience menopause. 😦 Love you! ❤ We have each other, so we are going to get through this!
lisa95354 tonya13787
Posted
Tonya... I don’t think it’s a coincidence that every time one of us go to the ER, they tell us it’s “panic attacks”… “Anxiety“. It’s like they’re given a handbook in Medical school, that says, “at all costs do not tell Peri menopausal women, the truth, we’ve got to keep it a secret!!!!'....and the book probably says ....classified information on the cover ...lmao
lisa95354 crystals51917
Posted
Crystal...Youre welcome;) That older woman must have had rose-colored glasses on And a bottle of and a bottle of expensive scotch ...lol We are fortunate to have this forum and each other 😃 DITTO XOXO
kjvands lisa95354
Posted
Happy Saturday Lisa!
Strange start to the day for me and my boyfriend. Woke up early to make potato salad as we were to celebrate father's day today with a brunch at my sister's but big water main break downtown Toronto so we're without water. Has kind of put a halt on things currently. Hope your day is off to a great start 😃
As a child I had a retainer for a year to fix my bite as that was the most my parents could afford but I should have had extensive work e.g. jaw etc. Then at 40 I had braces to straighten my bottom teeth. It of course didn't help my clicking jaw issue. Then the TMJ at 48. So I'm not sure the braces contributed as there was an eight year gap. My current TMJ orthodontist has helped the jaw alignment issue but now my bite is off so I will probably have to get braces again to fix the bite. Sigh. My teeth however are still nice and straight lol
I can't say I get that fleeting feeling. It however sounds very unpleasant! What do you do when it happens? I do however at night often beat myself up with thoughts of guilt about all sorts of things e.g. I don't call my parents enough, etc etc and on and on. It's exhausting. I used to do this a lot and was better for some years and now with menopause I'm back at it. I'm a perfectionist, empath.. probably things that lend to this guilt issue.
I couldn't agree more that the body keeps trying to ovulate, menstruate, as it once knew. I can feel those cycles too. The fact that women keep producing a level of estrogen post menopause I'm sure doesn't help matters 😭
Ya that damn apple. What the heck?!
kjvands lisa95354
Posted
I'm on a gluten free diet but said screw menopause last eve and ate a whole wheat crust pizza at a restaurant last eve! Oh and had a moscow mule with it (rarely drink now) and a nice sugary dessert (have mostly cut refined sugar). I went to leave four hours later and my ankles were cankles and I could barely walk the 30 minutes home. WTH?! 😭
kjvands nancys21
Posted
Hi Nancy, I saw an obgyn twice in May who diagnosed me with endometriosis after describing my symptoms to her (leg pain e.g. muscle cramping and deep throbbing pain, low back pain that lays me up for days before my period, etc). This started almost two years ago. Prior to this I had severe night leg cramps that happened around my period at age 37 when it changed to a 21 day cycle (I'm now 49). I've been put on a daily progestin pill for endometriosis and have been on it for three weeks so far. What kind of symptoms do you have?
nancys21 kjvands
Posted
Hi kjvands. The lower back pain is by far my worst issue. I've just learned to live with it. Since my cycles stopped almost 2 years ago, I don't get the leg cramps which were awful. Along with that, I would get the worst menstrual cramps and periods that sometimes lasted almost 2 weeks. I am thankful to be done with that, but now days I'm wondering if I'd feel better to have my cycle back, if that makes any sense?
nancys21
Posted
I should add that birth control was really the only thing that helped. I was also perscribed Tramadol for cramps.
lisa95354 kjvands
Posted
Hey Karen, I’ve been reading articles the last year about cutting out gluten. That’s the bad part, your body gets used to that and then when you eat it, because gluten is actually poison, our bodies go bananas. It’s happened to every friend of mine that’s cut it out of their diet. You sound like me, I say to heck with it and chow down and then I pay for it 😉
lisa95354 nancys21
Posted
Morning Nancy, I’m surprised they prescribe tramadol because that is very addicting. Not judging, please don’t think that, cause I know cramps can be horrible, but that doesn’t sound right they prescribe that. My sisters doctor prescribed her that 15 years ago with no criteria, to be honest with you I don’t even know how she talked him into it ?? She is still on it and she’s addicted takes like six a day. i’m sorry that your left feeling that way, that you almost think you would be better off with your cycle back, it will get better, it really will:)
nancys21 lisa95354
Posted
Hey, Lisa. I'm sure I couldn't get it now if I tried. Same with Ativan I could once get. It was probably 20 years ago when I first got it, and took it for about 10 years. I'm just lucky I didn't become addicted or abuse it too badly. The pain was just so excruciating. Thank you for the words of encouragement! xx
kjvands nancys21
Posted
Thanks Nancy for your reply. I can't imagine how long you suffered. These last almost two years have been terrible with the increased muscle pain and yes agree the low back is the worst issue of all. I am literally flat on the couch for those days and can barely work. The pills are to stop the flow and so far so good re the low back pain but I still have some of the leg pain - mostly the leg cramps. The obgyn said I will probably have pain to some degree at times the rest of my life as we continue to produce estrogen. That shook me a bit to be honest 😦
kjvands lisa95354
Posted
I've too read that Lisa about gluten and if you cut it out and then have it occasionally you really feel it. I hope I remember last eve next time I think about having a wheat pizza!
Something else interesting I read more recently is that women have a hierarchy of ways our bodies cope with hormones at the top, then adrenals, etc. and at menopause we no longer have the hormones, our adrenals are fatigued, etc so it makes sense it's a difficult time. My friend who is post menopause made the good point women should automatically be given paid retirement at menopause so that we have the time to dedicate to a healthy lifestyle. So agree!
nancys21 kjvands
Posted
You're welcome, and I'm sorry you suffer too! It is hard to imagine the rest of our lives like this. It is debilitating to say the least. I can't even work any longer. With all the vision and balance issues it's a challenge to drive these days. I'm going to see a new gyn who will perscribe bhrt. I've heard a lot of positive stories from other women on that. I hope you find some relief, and so thankful for you and all the others here who can relate for sure. Hugs!
tonya13787 lisa95354
Posted
Lol! Or they just have a book to keep telling us that we are crazy. I don't think they know how to deal with it.
tonya13787 nancys21
Posted
Oh, those cramps that literally take me to the floor and feels like someone tearing my insides out and make my legs feel like wrung out wash rags. I know those very well. I will stubbornly try to outlast the pain until I have to crawl to take Ibuprofen. Such fun. (Sarcasm) Ugh!
nancys21 tonya13787
Posted
Couldn't have said it better, Tonya! 😵