To be over having to give up EVERYTHING due to perimenopause

[Edenspirits]

• Can’t tolerate alcohol anymore- even a couple of drinks give me a massive hangover
• Bread makes me massively bloated and I have to really watch what I eat as I get piled really easily 🙄
• Chocolate gives me a headache
• Tea gives me a massive headache
• have to watch everything I eat as the slightest deviation and I put on half a stone by barely looking
• the slightest deviation to my routine and I don’t sleep 😴

I feel like I barely recognise my own body!

Sigh- it’s SO dull!
Aibu to be really really really over perimenopause! Waiting for HRT from the doc and ready hope it helps!

Oooh itchy scalp drives me mad. Tried all the crap recommended on here, MooGoo, Ginger Shampoo, Philip Thingy. None of them work. Nizarol shampoo however is my best friend!

Is every chuffing thing pre/menopause?

Oh well I suppose it makes a change from ‘cos...covid’.

@toffeebutterpopcorn

Is every chuffing thing pre/menopause?

Oh well I suppose it makes a change from ‘cos...covid’.

No you need to get checked out as and when health issues arise

@toffeebutterpopcorn

Anyone had itchy patched on scalp too? I have 2 patched (size of 2ps) that I’ve been clawing at today and now they are angry red and weepy. Gah

I’ve had this for months now. Drives me insane.

@toffeebutterpopcorn ooh weird, I get that a lot! It’s bizarre- I actually thought I had caught a nits from my kids school 🤣

Quick question to anyone who is already out the other side

If you had HRT for peri menopause, when you moved into actual menopause did the HRT still work?

I'm asking as I have been on HRT for 2.5 years now for peri. recently I have been feeling, I'm getting all the symptoms back, no where near as bad as before HRT, but they have returned all the same.

@RainbowRaine

Quick question to anyone who is already out the other side

If you had HRT for peri menopause, when you moved into actual menopause did the HRT still work?

I'm asking as I have been on HRT for 2.5 years now for peri. recently I have been feeling, I'm getting all the symptoms back, no where near as bad as before HRT, but they have returned all the same.

I have been wondering that myself Rainbow. I know that the oestrogen only patch in my ES is often inadequate in controlling my symptoms. Thinking about asking for Conti.

It would help if doctors would test your hormone levels once in a while, wouldn't t? I think my testosterone levels are probably through the floor too. HRT would be much more effective if you knew what dosage you needed.

I am post menopausal and no longer struggle. Also do try the 12 12 low-carb diet.

In April last year I decided I couldn't stand the multiple symptoms anymore and needed to do somethabout it. Hadn't had a period for about a year at that point. Felt fat and bloated, suffered hot flushes, thinning hair, lack of sleep, lack of energy, feeling of weakness in joints. The final straw tho was the itchy skin. I was 58 at the time. Knew that i wasn't particularly healthy in general. Hadn't given hrt serious thought as have had various cysts etc in the past. Decided to change my diet drastically, started taking vitamins, started to apply cream to my skin every morning and evening and started walking more. I lost 2 stones and felt great. It was worth it but I find any variation from healthy diet allows symptoms to resurface quickly.

I am only 45 and I am literally falling apart !

@manzanilla I tried a similar pattern of eating and found it really helpful.

Yes as I was struggling to lose weight since the periods stopped but this is amazing. I also do yoga and take plenty of vitamins and supplements and fresh vegetables.

PP talking about UTIs, constant thrush, painful sex, small cuts etc - these are most likely due to vaginal atrophy another fun part of the menopause they don’t tell you about. Basically the loss of oestrogen fucks with your fanjita and you need local oestrogen like vagifem or ovestin plus a fuck ton of moisturisers to sort it out

Some GPs won’t prescribe it if you’re on systemic HRT but it’s an incredibly low dose & NICE are quite clear it’s fine to use both together and that it should be prescribed for as long as required because it’s a chronic condition.

You can get this without prescription @Theeyeballsinthesky if you are prepared to pay, I think it's about £25 a tube. The big internet pharmacies sell it, following a short consultation which you can do online. Think they are really just exploiting women's embarrassment, not a conversation most people would relish having with a GP.

You can juniper which helps but honestly GPs should bloody well prescribe it! I’m lucky that my GP prescribes HRT & vagifem but I know so many women whose GP is “one or the other” it’s crazy! I suppose shld be glad it is possible to get it online but honestly it makes me rage that GPs handwave away stuff around this with “it’s just your age” 😡

The persistent sweaty hotness, the horribly thin hair and the fucking dry vagina are the killers, especially the latter. It's like having a portable Sahara desert in my pants, I fucking hate it, so painful and a real passion killer.

I’ve started to feel it in the last year but it’s not consistent. Comes and goes. Had a really bad month earlier this year but now doesn’t seem as bad. I have a mirena so maybe that’s holding it at bay a bit. Had the itchy scalp thing last year- found TGel ( coal tar) shampoo did the trick if used for a week or so. Then I get the crawly skin and insomnia. The other thing I found really beneficial is heavy weight training. Not sure there’s any scientific basis to it but immeasurably improves my mood and brain function and I find it better than cardio now, which just makes me just feel exhausted.

So it’s all shit but at least we’re all talking about it now. Whenever people start on about the internet and fake news I remind myself how much it’s democratised the narrative.

Oh my god the itchy head!
Never thought this would be caused by menopause. I assumed I needed new hair products (I do curly girl so nizoral is out)

Thinning hair. I decided to stop colouring a full head of long hair let the grey grow out hair dresser just put in highlights to soften the effect it takes some time but the uncoloured hair is now thick again. I can only think my scalp didn't like the chemicals suddenly

I have alopecia to start with so it’s really just not fair!

Does anyone else get up multiple times in the night to pee? I’ve always got up at least once during the night to pee but over the last 8 months or so I’m up at least 2 times a night and regularly hitting 3 times, sometimes even 4. Then sometimes find it hard to get back to sleep. Especially because the sun rises so bloody early atm. This makes me even more tired which makes me even more vile to be around. I don’t drink alcohol (used to enjoy wine but just turned me into a snotty mess, assume it’s the sulphites?) avoid drinking too much water in the evening. Am type 1 diabetic but have pretty good control. Just bloody knackered. I’m only early 40’s I would give anything for a full nights sleep

Thankfully not. I’d be bouncing off the walls and tripping over laundry.

HRT made me feel better till I stood on the scales - nearly a stone gained in a month. No way was I going to stay on that, however well I felt! I’m about 3 years fully menopausal now - the symptoms come and go. But I have to eat 1500 or fewer calories per day or I gain weight. It’s crap.

What are the downsides of HRT? I’m feeling so crap I’d do anything to feel human again. At the moment I’m just hanging around waiting for death (and I’m not being melodramatic here).

Oh, toffee. Hope you find a way through this. There are things that help, lots of women have gone through this, take heart.