To be sick and tired of the fucking menopause?

[Miladymilord]

I'm in bed. Feel wide awake, alternatively hot then cold. I've got leg cramps, greasy hair (wtaf), I feel really grumpy. Can't relax. I know ill wake up again in about 3 hours, drenched in sweat with restless legs. It's totally shit.

I’ve lost weight on hrt. Not a lot but I was despairing of losing any.x

I am doing 5.2, well, I say doing, this is my second fast day! I find it quite easy if I'm busy.

I've found that I don't want to do anything anymore! The thought of planes airports and young reps to go on holiday feels me with dread!

Fills rather!

I agree that Gp's are woefully lacking in knowledge about the menopause. I saw a practice nurse , who after lots of flicking through reference books gave me a prescription, I took it to the chemist who asked if I had the coil fitted (I did ) and said the prescription was wrong . I just couldn' t be bothered to go back to the GP and so haven't been on HRT . I also have a family history of ovarian and bowel cancer which is a contradiction so I'm told .

Oddcat I dread something similar. My gp tried so hard to talk me out of it using no real evidence or solid information (just a kind of disapproval along the lines of 'meno is a natural process' ffs as well as an implication of unspecified risk) that I thought, hmm, I don't really want these meds from someone who seems so lacking in knowledge anyway, I wouldn't feel confident in her judgement.

To top it off she then said if I found it all unbearable I could ring up and she'd leave an hrt scrip for me, thus negating her own argument against the 'risk' of taking it.

As with birth control methods or whatever I'd like to discuss the benefits, risks and contraindications with a doctor and come to a reasonable decision together. I suspect they just haven't got time for a nuanced discussion so they form a kind of blanket opinion and stick to it.

Everyone who has mentioned memory problems - do you mind if I wash how old you are?

I’m 48 and almost certainly in Peri (not medically confirmed but periods all over the place etc) so not even full menopause yet but my memory is really worrying me. I’ve got a fast paced job and always had an excellent memory but the change is really dramatic. Word recall and detail terrible.

It’s starting to make me concerned that something else going on ...

ASK how old you are - not wash

If men had this, I’m sure they’d have sorted it all, by now!

My memory is shocking. I used to be a senior sister (not that long ago) in a busy medical unit. Thank God I’m not now....I’d fear for my patients. I am not joking. Yesterday, I stood in the kitchen with a jar of tartare sauce and a small teaspoon. I was poised ready to dish it up but was confused in a “what the fuck am I doing here” kind of way as I hadn’t got any plates out 😐. DH, just laughed at me but, I think I’m losing it.

I’m 56 dahliaaah. And frankly, I always thought menopause was something you “did” for a bit and then you got all your faculties and energy back because you’d “been through” it. I’m very anxious that I may be this fat/daft and incapable ad infinitum.

I'm 54 and my memory is shocking , almost to the point of suspecting early dementia !

I made a complete tit of myself today , talking to one of our consultants and my mind just went blank , he said something to me and I just stared at him , I hadn't heard what he said , so instead of asking him I just said 'Could we ?' . It was obviously a very odd reply as he looked at me . I sat like an idiot , grinned at him and then just slunk off. He must think I'm nuts !

Aunty that's what I thought too ... a couple of years of feeling a bit hot, nothing more. Now I find out it could last much longer, may never go away ... and is so much more than just feeling a bit hot. I wonder if this is why the doctors used to prescribe "mother's little helper" left right and centre? (Only going by what I've read there so dont shoot me!) And if so I wish they still would!

I don't feel like myself anymore, I'm a bag of hot aching tired nerves and I'm fed up.

I'm 49 and my memory is awful. It used to be really good - not my long term, thats always been a bit crap (years of splif smoking) but short term, it was on point.

Now, I've got lists everywhere and will literally forget what I need to do as I leave a room to go do it.

dahliaaah - I think memory fog etc is so common in meno, you should take comfort from that, not think it's anything else.

There are some nhs menopause clinics. My gp referred me to one but when the appointment came through it was six months away which is why I decided to see someone privately. I couldn’t cope that long with the symptoms.

Louise Newson is doing a talk at 18.45 tonight, just seen it on twitter.
hashtag is TalkingTaboos

Vitamin D supplements help me with sweats and itching.

I've only read a few posts but already I can tick off itchy skin and restless legs as newish symptoms that I hadn't realised were menopause things. I've been on HRT since May and I'm not sure what it's doing tbh.

I'm late 40s. I had many of the mentioned symptoms of peri-menopause a few years back. Interestingly all my symptoms, apart from rare but random periods, disappeared once my mental health improved. I was in a very bad place and on antidepressents and having counselling.
How did my mental health improve? I went non-contact with my separated husband and surprisingly found myself with a boyfriend!
So maybe we can sometimes question if our physical and mental health symptoms are because of peri-menopause or something else in our life. Does stress and unhappiness in our lives magnify the symptoms?

I'm dithering over the hrt. I might do a month of vogel supplements and see how I go.

Those talkkng about memory - I used to be pub quiz queen, I wouldn't dare enter one now. I can barely remember what I want to drink when I get to the bar.

When I said, 'I had many of the mentioned symptoms of peri-menopause a few years back.' I meant started many of not had. This 'cure' only happened four months back.

Having read more of the thread I am realising a lot of what I've been going through is peri and menopause related and not just (at all?) to do with some trauma and difficult times I've recently had.

I'm CERTAIN that stress exacerbates symptoms. I am WAY up and down in terms of symptoms, and was really bad in my old job. I would go so far as to say it kick started peri for me. Lots of sex does seem to help actually ( if you can face it).
I also find excercise the only other thing that helps my stress (mad anxiety) .
I do Zumba, martial arts and weights -is this the wrong kind of excercise? ?
I have been wondering why I'm pretty active yet I can't see my muff when I look down..

@Miladymilord
Did you read the link someone posted earlier today? I reckon that will swing your decision

@IfNotNowThenWhen1

That sounds a brilliant combination of exercise to me.
Zunmba for a bit of cardio
Weights for toning and muscle strength (critical at this time)
Martial arts for more tonight and more low key cardio

More like martial art for being able to legitimately deck people