Been going through menopause for about 12 years!!
Posted , 11 users are following.
Hi
I had my last period about 10 years ago, and now at the age of 63 I am still having numerous menopausal symptoms and wonder if I'm going to be one of the unlucky women who just doesn't become free of symptoms!! I still have....
hot flushes day and night
brain fog
dizziness and balance problems
overthinking things
feelings of doom and gloom
days of feeling tearful for no reason
cramp
forgetting words and mixing words up
There are more symptoms and sometimes I think that it's so easy to blame all aches and pains on the menopause.
I used to have monthly hormonal migraines when I had periods, now I get a dulled down version of them.
Ten years ago I was typing when I suddenly forgot a word that I was just about to type, it took me ages to bring it to mind, ever since this I occasionally forget words that I am about to type/write, it's so annoying, I also sometimes mix my words up, my head feels full up of things to do and things to say that it feels as if my head in in competition with itself.
I do feel as if my menopause is never going to end, nothing really bothers me about it because it has become my life! π¦ π
1 like, 34 replies
Keljo48 Betty97
Posted
Oh my, I just wrote a post with this issues, but of course mine is being sent for moderation. (story of my life). I was pretty long winded, vented and used a lot of numbers (hormones) that I am sure flagged the moderators.
I am without a period about 1.5 years. I still have menopause symptoms. I get night sweats, hot flushes, and then feeling cold. Brain Fog is a way of life for me anymore. Forgetfulness ie, where I put thing, what I was doing, what I was going to say is frustrating.
Doom and gloom, constant worry. Definitely over thinking things.
I can so relate.
I feel like Eeyore in with menopause. "It's always something". π¦ π
Betty97 Keljo48
Posted
Thank you for replying Keljo48
I forgot about the cold haha duvet is on and off like a yoyo!! I also feel the cold more, always wrapped up when I go out.
I felt sure that I should be symptom free by now, but that's sod law for you π))
I have never been on HRT, but I swear by Evening Primrose Oil, my anxiety symptoms become worse if I stop taking it, I also take VitB Complex and just started one of those Menopause supplement things, thinking about taking VitD as well
I tend to rush about in an attempt I think to prove that I can still do it. I hate the brain fog the most.
Nettie261962 Betty97
Posted
Annette, I'm 57 and going on my 10th year of the same symptoms. It's so frustrating! Makes me so sad and mad! I decided to see a counselor in hopes of trying to figure out how to deal with it better. I just started Yoga about 2 months ago and this seems to help take the edge off of it all. Do you get any tremors? The newest thing that cropped up foe me is an Intentional Tremor in my hands.
christine66659 Nettie261962
Posted
ive had this along with jaw tremor last year or so π’
Betty97 Nettie261962
Posted
Netti
Yoga sounds like a good idea, we have so many symptoms to contend with!! I don't have a tremor, but I do have tingling in my arms, legs and face, I initially went to my dr's with it, he did all the usual checks and tests and it's mainly down to an auto immune disease that I was diagnosed with many years ago, and there lies my problem! the symptoms of the auto immune and menopause are very similar so not sure which is which, but I definitely put the anxiety, brain fog, flushes, inner trembling, not sleeping as well, feelings of doom and gloom etc.... down to the menopause!! The menopause has definitely given me the feeling of what's my purpose in life more so because I spent so many years staying at home bringing my children up and then childminding grandchildren, I do realise that I need to direct myself into other interests, I have rekindled my love of reading and now have shelves full of books haha I think with positive thinking we will be ok π my worst symptom by far is the health anxiety that took hold when I hit 60!! hate it!!!!
Izzie_Lizzie Betty97
Posted
HI Annette,
I can only suggest you go back to your G.P./Doctor.
And describe all the symptoms and ask if there may be something else going on aggravating the menopause symptoms like your thyroid. And say how worried you are.
And pray they listen!
Sorry it's probably something you have done already.
Sounds so very rough for you
Betty97 Izzie_Lizzie
Posted
Hi Lizzie
Thank you for your concern! It does sound like a rough time but to be honest the symptoms listed seem bad and hard to live with but they really aren't that bad and some of the symptoms can be put down to the menopause and an auto immune disease that I was diagnosed with many years ago, the dizziness and balance are more than likely down to problems with my neck and spine that have been damaged by the disease, the brain fog is probably down to anxiety, as it is worse when I feel under pressure or rushing about trying to get things done, I've always started to stutter when under pressure, it goes away completely when I'm within my own family or feeling confident, I am very adept and confident when doing tasks on my own but give me an audience and I just can't function, it's so irrational!! and leaves me feeling silly. I have always suffered with anxiety but it definitely accelerated when I reached 60, that was a time when two children left home within weeks of each other, I also started worrying about my health because apparently most ailments are nothing serious unless you are over 60, so now I worry about all aches and pains, something I never did before this! All the invites for health screening stress me out, because I do attend them but then stress about the results, I have been invited to a routine mammogram next week, so stressing about that and thinking they're going to find something, had to go for a scan last year for a breast lump, it was a milk duct that was enlarged and completely common as we age and nothing what so ever to worry about, but to my mind it has now turned to cancer just because of this forthcoming mammogram, again so irrational!! just wish I could change my way of thinking. When anyone confides in me about a health worry I am able to see it rationally and manage to reassure them. So sorry for this long winded reply, think I have just rambled on and on haha π
christine66659 Betty97
Posted
hi this is me to im 52 and my last period ten yrs ago...symptoms coming and going..can really empathise with the dizziness and balance..i het ectopics and heart palps to..my main symptom is racing thoughts and insomnia which renders me exhausted for the nxt day anyway...post meno is for the rezt of our lifes sadly..all this time scale is a load of rubbishπ‘ spoke to so many women who still suffer yrs after xxx
Betty97 christine66659
Posted
Hi Christine, I too get palpitations but don't worry about them because I don't get them when I'm distracted, I can relate to insomnia and racing thoughts, I have the tv on all night because I sleep better with it on, as soon as I turn it off I can't sleep!
I agree when you say that the menopause never seems to end! sometimes I think the hot flushes have gone then they come back full force, also I still get tearful days for no reason, and times when I really take things to heart, I have to tell myself that it's hormones still lurking about! I often feel tired due to broken sleep and I get migraine type headaches but to a lesser degree to how I used to get them when I used to get a full blown hormonal monthly migraine, yes I think we are doomed to our fate hahe π
debra16694 Betty97
Posted
OMG annette - i could have just written what you wrote...i just turned 62, been post menopausal now for 7 years, but have been dealing with various symptoms for 10 years! i have had every single 66 symptoms & its not funny - i think for me the burning body parts, the brain fog, anxiety, doom & gloom & heart palps & hot flushing have been the worst. i am so nervous all the time as well - i pray every day that i am going to wake up symptom free - oh & now i am dealing with dibilitating aches & pains which have rendered me almost handicapped cuz i cant walk very far - all my friends think i am nuts and roll their eyes when i say its from my lack of hormones because they didnt suffer from menopause like i have - i keep thinking maybe its something else, but i know its hormone related -
Betty97 debra16694
Posted
Hi Debra
We do sound so alike with our symptoms!!! yes I get the burning but have always put it down to nerve damage, but it has a habit of moving around my body so who knows, I was once told that it was down to acid reflux and treated for it, I was on medication for a few years even though I couldn't relate to heartburn etc... I finally stopped the medication. I put the palpitations down to stress but again who knows, so many symptoms and unanswered questions, all I can say is that we have had them for so long and are still here to tell the tale. People who haven't suffered menopausal symptoms shouldn't sit in judgement because my symptoms have left me feeling like an hypochondriac!!
So sorry to read about your new aches and pains, I also suffer aches and pain due to my auto immune disease, they can be pretty dibilitating at times, but at least I have it diagnosed and can blame it for some symptoms, but I don't doubt that your symptoms are menopausal.
Feelings of doom and gloom and brain fog are my most stressful symptoms, the brain fog makes me think of things like dementia or tumours etc....but deep down I know it's anxiety causing me to feel muddled up and tongue tied, I think I can't find words because I'm thinking too hard and trying get words out too fast because of feeling under stress, I'm fine when at ease. I remember similar brain fog when busy with babies and young children haha π
Betty97 debra16694
Posted
hi debra
I have ankylosing spondylitis , it's where inflammation can spontaniously occur in any part of the body, that's the nutshell version, it's more complex than that haha
Since being on this forum I am seriously questioning if some of the symptoms I have put down to AS are more to do with the menopause or a mixture of both!!
debra16694 Betty97
Posted
morning annette - thats interesting about your auto immune - how was it determined that you had this? what were your initial symptoms? has you inflammation always been high? i am so concerned about my elevated inflammation, it seems to have come out of nowhere & i just read an article that states that plunging estrogen plays a part in increased inflammation. Oy Vey!
Betty97 debra16694
Posted
Morning Debra, although it's evening here in the uk, thinking you're from the states maybe?
I was diagnosed 21 years ago but can trace it back to my early 20's, it was diagnosed with back xrays and blood testing after an eye inflammation that wouldn't go away on it's own.
My first symptoms were an inflamed knee then a few years later a painful stiff neck, just to let you know that AS moves around the body with each new area being affected for a few years before burning itself out and moving on. The next trouble spot was my back, followed by hips, ankles, ribs and other places over the years.
I feel burning inflammation in my back, chest, stomach but it can feel inflamed anywhere. Plunging oestrogen does make a lot of sense because I have only suffered from the burning feeling for a few years!
I don't take any medication for my AS or for the inflammation preferring to live with the aches and pains
debra16694 Betty97
Posted
oh dear lord annette- i developed rosacea a couple years ago which apparently is very common in menopausal women...i have battled with it on a daily basis since everything i eat, drink & breathe seems to be a trigger for me. i have also had ocular rosacea, then, this past November 1st, i woke up with extremely bloodshot eyes, crusty eyelids and water flowing from my eyes...vision was actually impaired cuz my eyes were watering so much. Went to dermatologist who diagnosed it as ocular rosacea and after a month i went to the opthamilogist who diagnosed it with bleupharitis. All the Rx's i was put on didnt seem to do anything, except a naturopath gave me a supplement to decrease eye inflammation & i have had the best results with that. Then in december i virtually became so arthritic (like overnight) i did have an MRI on my right knee & saw an ortho, & i do have almost bone on bone, but that doesnt explain all my other debilitatings aches & pains. i am telling you all this because i find it interesting that your eye problem was the start of your AS Diagnosis. Did your regular dr diagnose you or did you have to go to a specialist? - i now have this weird sensation in my upper back that moves around to my chest - its different than the burning body parts sensation i have had, this feels a little more like inflammation or pressure moving around - i am so over this!!!
Betty97 debra16694
Posted
oooohhhh debra all that sounds so painful especially bone on bone!! and the sore eyes, I initially went to my doctor with a sore eye, he gave me some drops, they didn't work, so he said it was viral and would get better in ten days, as the days went on it became really painful and light sensitive, my youngest was three weeks old, and I found it hard to cope, I eventually couldn't stop crying because of the pain, the pupil had also stopped reacting, it was fixed, went back to the doctor who immediately sent me to the eye clinic in the local hospital, after an examination it was said to be iritis, it's when the back of the iris becomes inflamed and should have had prompter treatment! I was sent on the same day for a back xray and blood tests, this confirmed AS, I had about four further attacks of iritis over a seven year period before it eventually burnt itself out.
I would say my burning and inflammation sensations move around a bit, I can feel burning in my chest and it just disappears and moves to my stomach and vice versa, really weird, it can appear anywhere! I'm completely stumped with it, is it nerve damage due to the AS or menopause or something, all I know is is that I just live with it haha