So achy

Hi there Jane - Well, I am soon to be 61,  been post menopausal for almost 6 years and have had all those aches & pains thinking I was having a heart attack etc.  I also have been grieving the loss of my parents & family members who abandoned me in the  caregiving process...so much loss.  I am beginning to think that stress plays a much bigger role in menopause  symptoms than previously thought.  I have girlfriends at my age who are still interested in dating & going out every night & I can’t even imagine how they conjur up the energy, but they haven’t endured the stress that I have...so I think that has a lot to do with it.  Now I am going thru a period of  weird indigestion....I have horrible gas, bloat than almost “The Big D” for 2 or 3 days - I have upper quadrant pain, upper & lower back pain along with this, t’s almost as if your body has to go thru all the hormone receptors in your body.  I had my fair share of sleepless nights  with all kinds of weird flushes & hot flashes,  periods  that I thought would never end, migraines etc during peri, but this weird indigestion & health anxiety takes the cake. Ugh! So over it! I just want to feel like the old me again, will it ever end? I thought by now I would be in South America doing the Cha Cha! Hah!

Hi Jane, trust me when I say you are not having any serious health issues. It’s all part of this ugly path we are on. I have done so much research in menopause and everything we are going thru is all related to the symptoms of menopause. I’m going through the joint pain right now. It travels through different areas of my body and sticks around for a while in a certain area. A few weeks ago it was my knee now it’s my hands. The thing that really helped with sleep and my anxiety was a regime of magnesium. I’m now taking devils claw to help with joint pain. I just started, but the reviews are great. Know that your not alone and don’t listen to the negative chatter that our brain likes to scare us with💜

My dear Jane, I am in exactly the same position as you. I was, together with my youngest son, with my mum until she passed away holding my hand, just before my birthday in October last year. So it is still very raw, I was especially close to my mum, because she wasnt my natural mother, she adopted me when I was 6 months old. We were best friends aswell as mother and daughter and I miss her so much every day. My dad went in 1988, and my only brother in 2011, so I am alone now except for my partner and 2 sons. One of my sons left after a big argument with his younger brother and I havent heard from him in nearly 3 years. The different hormones you release when stressed can cause physical symptoms (aches and pains) infact I was told by my dr that my late husbands' suicide stressed me out so badly at the time that it triggered fibromyalgia, and ever since then, one autoimmune disorder after another has appeared at times of severe stress. When my husband died I was put on Seroxat (Paroxitine) and I remained on them for 10 years until I started to get psychotic episodes. I got off them and all the feelings that had been surpressed by the pills came flooding out. I have nightmares, daymares bouts of depression, suicidal thoughts, but I know what happens to those who are left when someone close kills themselves. It destroys your loved ones. Although most of my family are gone now, I would never hurt my man or my son the way my late husband hurt me. These feelings wont last forever, they will ease with time and the proper support from your dr even if it is HRT to help your symptoms. I was so bad when my final hormone crash came, I could not function normally, so my dr gave me HRT. It has taken a while to kick in but it is helping my symptoms after around 5 weeks of taking it. Having my first bleed now so I know my hormones are getting back to normal levels. The one thing I have found invaluable is these forums on menopause and associated problems. There is always someone out there to talk to and they know how you are feeling as they are or have felt it too. Dont despair we are all here to help eachother as much as we can. Big hugs and x's to you at this sad and awful time.X