Help! Confused!

Posted , 10 users are following.

hi. I'm new to this website and the groups. I was referred to this section by my doc today.

im 43 and after hormone blood tests, it's confirmed....early menopause 😕

Ive to go back to the doc in two weeks to discuss any treatments. Do I want HRT?? Should I try alternatives??? 

I feel fine apart from the flushes and night sweats and maybe little less libido but I would say that's about it.

#confused

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  • Posted

    I cannot tell you not to go on Hrt but if it were me I would definitely try alternatives. DHEA balances hormones and you only need to be on it for a short period of time. You need to see where your hormones are. If you are low you need to build them up. DHEA does that.

    Also a good diet is very important along with exercise.

  • Posted

    Hi Teejay, although it's an individual decision as to whether to try HRT or not. It depends if you are finding any of the symptoms intolerable.

    If the symptoms are interfering with your life, the hot sweats are waking you or keeping you awake. You could try.

    I was really against it and felt I should be able to deal with it without. Now I'm glad I decided to give it a go for three to six months.

    If you decide to try natural (I did until after my periods had stopped).

    A lot of women seem to go for b12 and magnesium. I also took a good quality multivitamin. Then there is sage leaf which I understand is good for hot flushes.

    If you go down the HRT route ask for a plant based bio identical type rather than horse urine derived ones.

  • Posted

    Welcome aboard or should I say my sympathies. We're all hear to listen and give good advice.

    I do not take HRT. My OB won't prescribe HRT due to it possibly causing cancer. However, I heard from others on this forum that its untrue and has helped many.

    I just take vitamins b12 and d and just try to cope as best I can with other random symptoms.

    • Posted

      The only problem I am having is interupted sleep patterns.  I cannot sleep through the night. 

      Any advice on how to get more sleep?  I have tried everything, and the only thing that seems to work is magnesium.  But after awhile it stops working.  I take a break and it works again.  I just was wondering if there was anything else.  Gaba  or lemon balm does not work.

    • Posted

      Hi didi,

      The HRT used in the trials that were stopped were the ones made using horse urine.

      The plant based bio identicals are better tolerated and not thought to be as unsafe as they use estradiol which is the same as the estrogen made by our bodies.

      There are risks with any medication. I'm just surprised that so many doctors are so happy to dish out anti depressants which increase your chances considerably of having a stroke. They are also happy to add in other medications to the mix for treating the various other meno symptoms, all of which have their own set of side effects when HRT solves a lot of the menopause symptoms with one medicine which they are aware that we are lacking.

  • Posted

    My mum had very little menopause symptoms; just hot flushes and she did not take HRT even though the doctors tried to get her on it.  She believed it to be unsafe and there is a lot of evidence to support this.  Doctors tend to underplay the dangerous side effects and pretend that any benefits outweigh them.

    The menopause is a natural, although unpleasant change in our bodies but it should be allowed to run its course without interference.  Any messing around with hormones can damage our body's equilibrium and trigger our immune system to over react.

    If your symptoms are only sweats and you feel fine otherwise, I would not bother going back to your doctor.  I would go to health food shops and try natural remedies.   I have not yet reached the menopause, but when I do, I will just tolerate the symptoms.

    • Posted

      Please be aware that very much like PMT symptoms are different for everyone - for some people it's not just the hot flashes but a very real feeling of losing control, and can affect their ability to function on a day to day to day basis - to look after their children, to do their job. It's easy to say you will 'just tolerate' the symptoms before you have them, but for many people it's simply not an issue. I know several people who felt like that before they got there - honestly I think most of us have almost no idea what it really means!! It's a last resort for most people, not their first response to any symptom, but for some people it is a genuine necessity. I am in early stages and my most difficult symptoms come and go and I am trying natrual approaches first (B12, Magnesium, Omega 3) but if the depression, anxiety, and extreme fatigue start to take over I will have to consider other options, because I simply couldn't function like that ALL the time!
    • Posted

      Hi.   The menopause is much more than 'unpleasant', and none of the ladies on this forum or elsewhere were ready for the shock to the system that peri/menopause brings.
    • Posted

      With respect, metamorphed, that's not true. The women on this forum are largely a self-selecting group. They're here because they're having a problem with menopause. But it's not true to say that "none" of us "elsewhere" were ready for the shock of menopause. Quite a lot of us sailed through it with very few problems.

      My main feeling when it happened was relief. Like my mother, grandmother and great-aunt before me, I'd suffered badly from fibroids for several years in the run-up to the menopause. When it all stopped from one day to the next after years of agonising period pains and some all-too-public attacks of heavy bleeding I felt like dancing a jig! When the hot flushes hit a couple of months later they seemed a small price to pay for the sheer relief. They went on for 18 months then stopped.

      Sure, a few things changed. Initially, my health was affected. I went from someone who had a cold every two years to having at least six colds a year, but that only lasted a couple of years. I'm 72 now and my last respiratory infection was 13 years ago in that nasty outbreak of 2003! My digestion isn't what it was either, so I've had to adjust my diet a bit, but that's no great effort. My bone density is slightly down but not in the danger zone, and I'm still able to walk an average 2-3 miles per day to keep it up. The main improvement was the energy I suddenly had. My career took off at age 48 and I didn't look back for the next 10 years. I'm still doing a demanding voluntary job, taking up 20 hours a week, even now.

      My GP at the time bumped me off her list in disgust when I told her I'd researched HRT and decided not to take it. She made me feel like the only woman in the country who wasn't on it. Which I probably almost was at the time (1990). I don't live in the UK, btw.

      I perfectly understand that some women have a very difficult time and I sympathise. I would never want to talk them out of taking HRT. I could, however, wish that the media etc. would stop banging on about menopause without HRT being the end of the world for every woman. It really isn't always.

    • Posted

      with respect also to you, the women on this site are here because their symptoms are bad and my comment about other women elsewhere is referring to many, many women who are suffering also but not on this forum, but they are suffering also.  I am glad that you found menopause a relief and am aware that many women sail through, but for those who don't, it is debilitating and they are on this forum for that very reason, to get support from other women who are suffering.

        

  • Posted

    I'm 40 and in medical menopause following removal of ovaries. I was told that if you are young you should take hrt until normal menopause age as it protects plus early hrt is said to not have the same risks as starting it later. I was advised that not taking it would be more of a risk but as your body has done this naturally it may not be same advice. If you able to cope with symptoms then do you need it but if quality of life is impacted and natural remedies don't help I'd talk your concerns through a Gp with the latest info not the women's survey done a while ago on women who's average age was 60 where starting hrt at thay age is more of a risk. Remember even when you have no periods if you have your ovaries they secrete some small amount of hormones way past menopause. My mum had ovaries removed in her 70s and started flushes albeit mild again! Good luck with decision and do your research and head off to Gp with your questions.
  • Posted

    If you feel like your life is of prrtty good quality now and you can tolerate the symptyms I would recomend that you let mother nature take care of it. I was miserable before I took HRT but its much worse now that I am off. 

     

  • Posted

    I took th the nature riute. Figured every single woman goes theough this and its how God made us. I am hapoy with that decision. Yes i had interesting things along the way, i didnt know to connect it menapause. Im im post menapause now. A few relative tried the hormones hated hated them so i was content with my decision. Seems off to treat a natural progression to me. Since you feel fine why mess with that. The sweats are interesting and at some point you will love cold and cold weather. I dont really understand why doctors play around with nature UNLESS there a serious issue going on.
    • Posted

      I agree with you Lisa. I'm more comfortable with natural remedies myself -like vitamins or herbal supplements. I'm leary of any type of medication, and don't want to give more to these pharmaceutical companies than they already have. I feel in the long run taking HRT drugs may do more harm than good.

      Sticking it out the natural way.

    • Posted

      Completely agree if I'd not had medical reasons to have ovaries removed I'd have done my darnest to go the natural route. I don't even like taking paracetamol lol

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