To eat chocolate or not to eat......

Would you say that those Brookside chocolates are good for you?

I haven't ever looked at those so I don't know. If the chocolate says 70% or more cocoa they would be OK. As far as acai berry being good for you, I've read that you need a huge amount for that to happen. But check the cocoa content on them. And I think dark chocolate is a better alternative but I don't know if good for you is the right way to put it.

Lennie,

I'm sorry you are having so much pain. Like medications, I'm learning that foods that are have health benefits can also have the not so good side of it. It's so complicated like we hear eat fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds....well, that's not so good for people with IBS (irritable bowel) so, with hormones all over the map during this new chapter of our lives, some of those rules apply. What to eat and do to keep our hormone level evened out. They say exercise is good but not too much because too much decreases estrogen...ugh...really? Why is it this complicated? So much to figure out I guess. Anyway, yes I have heard that caffeine does make fibrocystic breasts hurt worse and yet again, coffee has its benefits. What do ya do? 😝

Lyn, I went to the website that I want to tell you about but will be blocked, but I can tell you some of the things that women with the breast issue are doing, iodine, I cant say the brand, but iodine, selenium, magnesium, Evening Primrose Oil, and Some women said they rubbed castor oil on them with a cheese cloth, apparently many of these women have lumps and cysts and swelling. ALSO< vitamin e, vitamin, c and vitamin d.  no coffee at all or caffeine of any kind. i am going to get a mammongram next month. i had a lot of anxiety around it and my gut tells me this is peri-related, but, i want to be on the safe side.  i feel its peri related because it started when peri started, the pain and swelling always accompany heat flashes.  do you have the pain and swellling or just pain. also, the pain and swelling goes away periodically. vitamin="" e,="" vitamin,="" c="" and="" vitamin="" d.=""  no="" coffee="" at="" all="" or="" caffeine="" of="" any="" kind.="" i="" am="" going="" to="" get="" a="" mammongram="" next="" month.="" i="" had="" a="" lot="" of="" anxiety="" around="" it="" and="" my="" gut="" tells="" me="" this="" is="" peri-related,="" but,="" i="" want="" to="" be="" on="" the="" safe="" side.=""  i="" feel="" its="" peri="" related="" because="" it="" started="" when="" peri="" started,="" the="" pain="" and="" swelling="" always="" accompany="" heat="" flashes.=""  do="" you="" have="" the="" pain="" and="" swellling="" or="" just="" pain.="" also,="" the="" pain="" and="" swelling="" goes="" away="">

I have pain off and on but mine is more due to a botched stereotactic biopsy then had another a week later and it was benign but I do know that fibrocystic is very common and yes pain can be a perimenopause symptom. I have heard about the Primrose oil and some of the other you has mentioned. When you go for a mammogram, IF they ever say that you have calcifications, those are also very common which at the time I did not know and they threw me into instant panic by the way they approached me with it when alls they had to say how common it was especially being perimenopusal. Just a heads up on that.😉

Thank you, Lyn, I forgot also to say that I have had 4 normal mammograms in the last 7 years. Furthermore, I had a biopsy of a swelling/lump in my shoulder area, it was benign. The mammogram is more of a scratch if off the list, my supervisor has breast cancer, she said she never experienced any pain at all, she felt a lump around her breast area. One reason I was reluctant to get the mammo is not just my anxiety which is significant, but I don't like to keep getting radiated. 

Yes, that is understandable. How often do you get mammograms? When you get it, ask for the thyroid shield so you can protect that area. I hope your supervisor is going to be ok!!! It's hard getting older!😕

I had one when I was 43, 46 or 47. 50 and 52 I think, its been quite a few. They did use the shield I believe I honestly have forgotten, my supervisor is a year younger. She said her grandfather had bladder cancer.  Her sister has had breast cysts too.  The whole thing frightens me really badly, my boss is going through chemo. I pray for her very much. I know quite a few people who have had chemo and treatments and they are doing well. 

Prayer is powerful! There was a post just posted by Jamie and she asked if there was anyone who was post menopausal and has gone back to normal. Great question! I hope to hear some uplifting stories and know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I have health anxiety too but my thing is, I have a lack of trust in most Dr's as we have Dr friends and we know how the whole Dr/pharm. Rep work. Western medicine is designed to manage symptoms instead of getting to the root and treating the problem...that's so scared to me. Plus all the research I do is enough to really have anxiety but then again, you want to stay on top of things unless one is fortunate enough to have a Dr who REALLY cares and is REALLY looking out for you and want to treat the root cause and not just manage symptoms.

Lyn, prayer is very powerful and please, please pray for me and I will pray for the ladies here. I am with you 100 percent about doctors, western medicine that its mostly bandaids that never get to the root of the problem. Most of it is about money. My health food store guy told me that sugars and candida are the roots of many problems, for women our age

there is clearly an imbalance somewhere with our hormones.  I am strongly looking at adopting a very different diet and addressing my issues homeopathically. I am with you, I want to hear success stories too.

Yes I have heard NUMEROUS times that sugar and overgrowth of Candida is a lot of the issue. But usually is the root problem of unbalanced hormones. I'm trying to figure out a good diet myself with my irritable bowel. It's not easy at all. I also have heard over and over that gluten messes with hormones as well. Well, gluten is in about everything these days! If you don't eat gluten, what's left...rice based products and what's in rice? ARSCENIC! So like I said, its really hard for me to figure out a good diet plan for me with IBS. Oh and sugar is in most things too under many different names so what are we to do...starve? It's hard watching my husband eat everything and anything he wants and however much he wants when now there's so much I shouldn't eat.😕

Lyn, you have pointed to the problem. What are we supposed to eat LOL, I guess lots of vegetables and lean meat/fish.  I wonder how so many women for hundreds and hundreds of years dealt with this, my grandmother ate what she wanted. 

Well the food chain way back when wasn't pumped full of chemical like in today's food. Its almost like, have a little food with your chemicals. Be careful on the fish...the best fish to get is wild Alaskan caught...not as much mercury. Salmon and Cod are the best in what I have read. I know...it can be really depressing if you really sit and think about what we are going through and the foods we once were able to eat.😞

lyn...................had salmon tonight, i live in the UK so not sure where it was sourced, its got to be either scottish or alaskin, absolutely love it, its a fave, but yes some salmon has been known to cause cancer, but then again so could everything else, im a big fan of just everything in moderation, heck they stopped us eating butter for most o fmylife, and now its fine to eat..............scientists.............arrrrgh