Menopause Survivor
Posted , 12 users are following.
Hi Girls,
It's difficult to know where to start. I had always been reasonably fit and healthy and had been quite thin all my life. About 7 years ago a routine smear test showed a small cervical cyst, trip to the gynaecologist who told me during the procedure that I was perimenopausal. Never heard of it and confused it with menopausal and, as I had no symptoms, I thought I was just going to sail through. Big mistake. Shortly afterwards I developed a strange symptom that I haven't come across in this forum or anywhere else - smelly feet. Now this might seem trivial but my feet could clear a room, the smell was strong and sickly sweet and no amount of showering, bathing or deodorant would stop it. I lost count of the pairs of shoes I had to get rid of because the smell transferred to them. It stopped at the time of what turned out to be my last menses in March 2010 to be replaced with the REAL symptoms.I piled on 2 stones in weight in next to no time and looked and felt like a badly stuffed pillow with bulges back and front and thighs that a body builder would be proud of. My stomach was painful under the strain of bloating and I felt generally under the weather. Mother Nature (The Bitch!) still had lots of plans for me. I started with migraine, something I had never experienced before, they were happening 2 or 3 times a week and the Migraleve recommended by my local chemist was not really effective. I had problems with painful joints - particularly my hands when my fingers would swell to the size of sausages. So my husband shipped me off to see the GP who was surprisingly unhelpful. She told me there was nothing she could prescribe for migraine that was any more effective than the OTC Migraleve and referred me for an Xray on my right hand. When I rang for the Xray result I was told the doctor didn't need to see me again - and she hasn't. I felt I was being treated as a neurotic attention seeker.
The hot flushes and night sweats were in full swing and it was time to decide whether I was going to live with the menopause or was the menopause going to live with me?
I tackled the migraine with paracetamol combined with a travel sickness tablet (Kwells) to deal with the awful headache and nausea and found out this really worked for me. My husband helped out and came home with a copper bracelet and vast amounts of Glucosamine gel. He looked up different supplements and vitamins and I tried things like black cohosh, St. John's wort and a host of others including Evening Primrose. The combination I came up with was
A minimum of 1gm timed release Vitamin C - useful for weakness, bleeding gums, bruising, joint pain and energy
Basic multivit with iron
Vitamin D helps with absorbing calcium
Vitamin B complex
15mg Zinc (well, who wants to catch a cold ?)
But I found the best effect was when I added Sage capsules (300mg twice a day) the hot flushes went from twice a day to about twice a week and they didn't last as long
I didn't change much diet-wise although I did find that red meat slowed down my digestion which could cause constipation so I made sure I ate a couple of small easy-peel clementines every day. The potassium in a daily banana helped regulate my heart rate, I found the knock on effect was my anxiety levels went down.
Under no circumstances would I give up chocolate...
Practical issues for dealing with hot flushes and night sweats for me included wearing lots of lightweight layers that can be removed quickly ( you don't want to be struggling to get a tight sweater over your head when your body is steaming). Get a dual control electric blanket, keep your side switched off. Ditch the nightie and sleep au naturel, kick off the covers as soon as you feel the hosepipe has been turned on.
My lovely husband helped me a lot, but I think he struggled a bit with the mood swings and the tears that came from nowhere and there were times when I felt I was the loneliest person in the world.
Okay, that was then but this is now...
I realised months ago that I couldn't remember when I last had a hot flush, a skirt I bought when the weight piled on dropped down to my knees, my side of the electric blanket is now switched on at night. I feel better physically and mentally than I have for years, the lethargy and anxiety has lifted. I can run up the stairs now instead of dragging myself up.
There is little or no support professionally for the menopause and no handbook could ever be written to guide us through it. I can't say that anything I've written will help you through, I hope it does. But there are things that I can say with confidence - it really does not last forever and in the not too distant future there will be lots of you writing on this forum as "Menopause Survivors"
Good luck and a big hug to you all
6 likes, 13 replies
metamorphed dunnit
Posted
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this and starting off the new 'Menopause Survivor' discussion which will help loads of women on this forum who are in the midst of all this madness!
I see loads of tips which I will try myself and hopefully this will encourage others aswell. This new discussion is there now for others to add to it and will be no end of help for all struggling with this. thanks again
jamie50513 dunnit
Posted
Again a big thank you to you and I'm certain this will help with so many of the ladies here going through this transition of womanhood.
Take care!!
tmpearce dunnit
Posted
Thank you!
tmpearce
Posted
nancy0925 dunnit
Posted
Sochima822 dunnit
Posted
gentleballads dunnit
Posted
yes, Im gonna read it again and again. hope im going to be able to climb our flight of stairs as swift as you one day !
Zigangie dunnit
Posted
You really make me wonder if I should have hung out just a bit longer. I had noticed last year that I was managing the stairs without dragging myself up using the banister. Not running but it was certainly a little easier.
Also bad taste had gone from mints all the time to only an occasional one.
You didn't say how long your periods had stopped for before you found things were better?
I didn't have smelt feet but on my last 3 to 4 periods I had this awful smell about me. I don't know where it was emitting from (not my underarms or down below) I just couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I can only s describe it as a dirty sorry of smell. I could sometimes smell it whilst I was bathing and after the bath and hair wash. I worried that I had some weird cancer or something. Thankfully it was short lived.
It was my libido that was suffering I'd gone from just putting up with it to absolutely hating it.
I'd never heard of using sage but will bear it in mind when I can no longer take HRT.
It's so good to know it does get better. Thanks again you've made my day!
liz53953 dunnit
Posted
I too use herbal and vitamins and find they do help . I think if we all contributed to a menopausal manual what a huge wealth of knowledge we would all be sharing !!
val50972 dunnit
Posted
didi0613 dunnit
Posted
I just recently had experienced some bad headaches, fatigue, dizziness, and my forgetfulness has been unbelievable some days. I''m amazed I make it through some days.
Night sweats are pretty bad too, but I do mostly sleep in the nude now, and the ceiling fan is my best friend. It's on every night.. So both things do help.
Luckily, I don't have the anxiety like I used to and now put back in some weight too. I don't mind being a little heavier though. I lost way too much weight last Spring/Summer. Got me really scared. I think it was mostly my anxiety, and wasn't able to eat that much. Now just the opposite. I'm hungry and probably eating too much.
So yes there are so many ways to deal with all these peri. symptoms. I mostly try to stay busy exercise, and try not to focus on all my symptoms. I'm still in peri., but think im getting closer to plsin menopsuse. Some of my symptoms are subsiding a lttle more, and now almost 5 mos. Eithout a periiod. Knock on wood. Can't wait til its all completrly over. I just want to feel my old self again.
Anyway thanks for all your advice. Good to know there is a light at this very long tunnel.
Heidi55 dunnit
Posted
jamie50513 Heidi55
Posted
I'm also in the US. You are not alone. I have the really bad anxiety, feeling like my head is under water at times, and all sorts of other symptoms. This forum is truly a blessing to me. If not for the ladies here I would have been a basketcase. I can't seem to talk about how I feel to anyone else because they don't understand and I've grown tired of trying to get them to understand. So I come here for reassurance and to not feel so alone. Like you, what keeps me holding on is knowing that one day I feel like myself again. We will get through this. Big hugs your way. Take care!!