Peri menopause/menopause..do most women have terrible symptoms

[Grinchpyjamasalready]

And what age did your symptoms start?
Reading about all the horrible symptoms, i’m starting to feel a bit freaked out.
Suffered with endo and hormone imbalances & bad pmt all my life, will this mean a horrific menopause
I’m 44 and seeing possible signs…long, horrible periods with clots and the moment and constantly emotional or angry 😫

[tinx]

I’m just about to turn 41, having symptoms hot sweats and the anger and anxiety is intolerable at times heavy painful periods

had a test my hormone levels are not too bad the Gp was fantastic she’s given me hrt suppositories that do not enter the blood stream it only stays within the down there area to ease symptoms of dryness and the rest.. recommended me the plant paradox diet and more strength training less cardio which I’m slowly switching over too I’m feeling slightly better. Weight training is helping with the anxiety I feel less worn out after working out, when I was doing too much HIIT and cardio I had more anxiety and very worn out.

not nice at all

[tinx]

Also my mum went through the menopause at 44 no symptoms what’s do ever she took delight telling me she didn’t even notice it happened 😂

[BeyondMyWits]

I am menopausal, no periods for 18 months now. I get hot flushes, joint pain, brain fog, insomnia and night sweats... but not ALL of them all at once nor even any of them ALL of the time. The symptoms drift in and out, not totally debilitating, not feeling great or awful, just drudging on through.

[Badbaddogagain]

I’ve found vitamin D really helps with the joint pain

[tigger1001]

@Brefugee

Womens health has been a joke for years. Menopause has been used in the workplace for years by some as the punchline for jokes and for putting women down.

I work with a lot of younger people, office based but mostly WFH. When i first started there i was in an office with a "safety window" that doesn't open and i boiled. Got a fan, but didn't help much. So i asked if i could move and hit resistance until i got a bit fed up and said why. And then they found me the best desk (for me) never gets sun on it at any time of day, window opens, it's cool, not too noisy and it's fantastic.

And nobody jokes, and whenever i have to leap up and open the window, most of the time one of the others will do it before i even get there. The young fellows are the best. It does help to be open about it and the more we talk about it the better. We also have older chaps who are telling all the young ones to get their prostrate checked too. Germans tend to be very open about health issues, though

This is exactly why I am glad it's being talked about more and more here.

Open conversation is the way forward

[BrownTableMat]

@tigger1001

This is exactly why I am glad it's being talked about more and more here.

Open conversation is the way forward

I agree. I was recently able to share my struggles with my (older, male, not particularly comfortable with discussing women’s issues) boss and he was great and really supportive. I’m now sure that would have happened without the recent move to discuss menopause more openly.

[FamilyTreeBuilder]

Agree with the point that if you're sailing through and doing fine, you're not going to be posting/talking about it as you've nothing to say.

Also until VERY recently it was a taboo subject. Many of us who are struggling have had huge issues with GPs and trying to get help, the knowledge is just not there and you get frustrated and post ranty threads on MN.

Personally, I have been fairly badly affected. Hot flushes are one thing and what everyone jokes about, but the crushing anxiety and low mood was the worst thing ever. Two (middle aged, female) GPs did not connect the dots between my age, a partial hysterectomy and me bursting into tears at the GP for the first time ever. And the repeated UTIs because of vaginal dryness.

Now on HRT and feel so much better. Jealous of the women who sail through without a blip.

[FamilyTreeBuilder]

I find it amazing that, among women in their 60s and older who were never offered HRT as an option because of the supposed risks at that time, very few suffered debilitating symptoms yet now, since all the media focus, lots do and I wonder how many younger women now are frightened into taking HRT.

Many probably did suffer debilitating symptoms. They just didn't talk about it. Or if they did, were given anti depressants.

[Jewel1968]

I didn't have the classic symptoms. But I did have lots of joint pain and osteoarthritis. I have ongoing back problems due to slipped discs etc ... As an experiment I take HRT and joint pain much diminished. Not gone completely though. My theory that it was connected to meno seems probably right. The osteoarthritis pain is also much diminished.

However no change n my irritability but I do think that is probably situational rather than hormonal.

[sweetkitty]

I’m getting the heavy period thing just now too despite being on the mini pill which clearly isn’t working. I’m like one week period a week clear next week period I’m taking iron tablets to guard against anaemia.

loads of other symptoms like mood swings, tiredness, itching too. Doesn’t help it’s very difficult to actually get to see a GP here.

[mamabear715]

Do you all take vitamins? Just wondering because of some of the symptoms.. a GP once told me that it just makes drug companies rich - but then I read about the condition of the soil that grows our food..
I've had regular blood tests for 'fatty liver' for instance. It could be a total coincidence but since I've upped all my vits, my blood tests came back clear (totally shocked!)

[tigger1001]

@Lidlcustardtart

@Benjispruce4 itchy skin in any part of the body'is actually a well documented peri symptom.

There are some silly comments on here about this debate being somehow antifeminist. In my workplace no-one would assume you must be 'struggling' just because of your age. But if you are struggling, what a breakthrough if you now feel you can talk about it and get support.

Women did not all "sail through" in times past either. Where do you think the clichés about housewives on valium come from? DM feels she had an easy menopause and didn't need HRT but I wonder looking back if she was suffering badly with brain fog. She seems to remember almost nothing of my teen years and she suffers now with dry eyes and osteopenia, both hormone related.

I have been on HRT for 2 years and am 45. Much improved although I still have symptoms and it is not a miracle cure.

My skin is so incredibly itchy. Basically from head to toe. The doctor won't consider that it's peri menopause related. Instead I'm on basically double strength antihistamine twice a day.

The same with my insomnia- treating that with anti depressants rather than looking to tweak my hrt. Add in my rage has come back I can't help but think it's all hormone related. But gp wants to treat everything separately.

I also don't think women sailed through the menopause in older generations, I think they were told to either get on with it or just handed anti depressants if they went to the gp at all.

My own mum had chronic migraines which now in her late 60's have disappeared. Her memory was awful as was her self confidence.

Women have been failed for years regarding healthcare. I am pleased that it's finally being taken more seriously.

I actually said to the doctor that I thought my brain fog was early onset dementia - and her response was that's what lots of women think. She also said that still many women won't go to the doctor as they feel they won't be listened to or that it's natural so just need to suffer through it.

And while I do think my hrt needs tweaked, I am grateful for it as it's made me feel like me again.

[WarriorN]

I think some women are simply more prone to being vulnerable to the inflammation caused by peri and menopause. It's particularly the ups and downs of the hormones at first in my experience.

Oestrogen and testosterone are anti inflammatory; it's no coincidence that women in peri and not on hormonal pills have often (not always) fared worse with covid. Individual genetic make up adds to all this.

I've found it interesting that Davina who's been very into exercising for so many years was hit badly; she's also on thyroxine for hypothyroidism and has been since much younger (she said in an insta post.) it has made me wonder if that's one of the reasons why I've personally been hit badly. I developed asthma too during peri; which does seem to have improved a little on hrt bizarrely. auto immune inflammatory things.

[JanesBond]

I actually said to the doctor that I thought my brain fog was early onset dementia

Me too! I was doing online dementia tests, genuinely thinking that was it!

[tigger1001]

@JanesBond

I actually said to the doctor that I thought my brain fog was early onset dementia

Me too! I was doing online dementia tests, genuinely thinking that was it!

I genuinely, when I was younger, never thought I would be grateful to discover I was going through the menopause but I actually can't describe the fear I felt when I thought it was early onset dementia. And then to discover it wasn't and I could actually do something to help the symptoms was just overwhelming. I was glad it was something I could do to help these symptoms. And while my brain fog hasn't completely disappeared it is much better than it was.

I can totally understand why some women either completely leave the workplace or take a less demanding job. The destruction of confidence can be just overwhelming.

I think sometimes these who are lucky and don't get these symptoms don't realise how awful, and sometimes frightening these symptoms can be, and the open discussions that are now taking place around menopause are an incredibly good thing. They really can make these of us who are suffering not feel alone and allow honest discussions with doctors/family/work. The fact that these programmes are encouraging women to get help, if needed, rather than just putting up with it is good and can be, for some life saving.

Menopause shouldn't be a taboo subject but sadly it has been for far too long.

[Jewel1968]

I have terrible dry eyes that HRT hasn't helped (it might have a little) but the joint pain is so much better especially my hips. That makes sense to me as women probably need good hip flexibility for pregnancy etc...


I had a baby quite late in life and my aunt (who also has a baby late in life) said to me - you won't experience menopause now. An old wives tale but I often wonder if my lack of the typical symptoms might have been connected. Hormones are such a strange thing and we seem to know very little about them. I used to get terrible brain fog as part of PMT and that disappeared when menopause hit. I started to think more clearly. All very odd.

[GinJeanie]

A consultant I saw recently said about 70% of women have symptoms they find debilitating to a greater/lesser extent. Probably more of my friends take HRT than don't which tallies with that I guess... I really hope you're one of the fortunate ones who have a relatively easy time! Some people can be a bit anti- HRT for various reasons but personally I've found it really helpful 🙂

[lljkk]

I don't take vitamins.
Just how many drugs is Davina on?

[Benjispruce4]

I won’t take HRT. DMand DGMhad a hormone fed breast cancer. DGM got it in her 80s but DM in late 60s. DM was on HRT for 10 years. I can’t get away from that. Luckily my symptoms are mild if at all spa far. 10 months without a period, a few sweats but nothing major.

[Benjispruce4]

So far not spa far.

[Benjispruce4]

I had dry eyes over the summer but after the heatwave when I turned my bedroom fan off, it went away.

[SunscreenCentral]

I've always been a light sleeper, but the insomnia was by far the most difficult symptom for me.

HRT has really helped.

[WarriorN]

@lljkk

I don't take vitamins.
Just how many drugs is Davina on?

4 hormones.

The thyroxine is akin to insulin in that its necessary for stayin' alive which is why there's no prescription charge.

[BrownTableMat]

My mother had a hormone responsive breast cancer in her 70s (no HRT), which did give me pause. But apparently given her age and the type of cancer it doesn’t up my risk
much if at all. And I decided I simply couldn’t lose my 40s to the level of debilitating symptoms I’ve been having. I would have had to stop working, just as my career is really taking off, without anything to fall back o. So I’d be destitute. And I had no energy for a social life or hobbies. I decided that even if I do get breast cancer or something HRT-related later, it’s a risk I’m prepared to take. Also, HRT protects against other health risks.