Is this the menopause?

[janpa]

I'm feeling cross all the time (especially at DH, who does deserve it a lot of the time, but not all of the time), fed up in general, even though others would be more than happy to have my life and have had a couple of night sweats lately, where my torso is drenched. I'm 42. My mum had a hysterectomy at about this age so don't know when she would have gone through it. Could it be the start of my menopause, or am I just a cow to everyone & happens to get sweaty at night?

Hello janpa -42 is a bit early generally speaking..
Are your periods regular,or have you started missing some?

Regular, but the distance between them is getting shorter by one day at a time. Have gone from a 31 day cycle, to 27 over the last few months.

Mine did that for a while (got closer together that is) and I was also having night sweats. Saw the dr but they didn't have an answer. I think I had some sort of hormone test. Anyway it all just went back to normal after 6 months or so.

Don't know what caused it but it happened after I'd had my baby so maybe it was just hormonal fluctuations.

I was experiencing menopausal symptoms at 42 and periods stopped altogether about five years later, after having one every six months or so, usually when we went on holiday .

I thought that was it but during stressful times I still get sweats. I don't know if this is normal.

Confusing, complicated time. My husband said it was like having three teenagers in the house (we had two children).

I'm 42 and am going through the same.

The night sweats are better since seeing the homeopath, don't want hrt. Dr can only help with symptoms.

Had my first hot flush last week, very unpleasant.
I've got a mirena coil so don't have periods.

barleywood If you don't mind me asking- Have you finished your Menopause now? Did you manage without HRT? as like ChildofIsis, i don't want go on it,(although doesn't the Mirena release Progesterone CoI?)

I am 47,and my cycle started getting shorter and much heavier (flooding) at 43,but to be honest i was extremely stressed at the time..Then i only had periods every 2/3 months(which i found quite 'liberating') and night sweats / hot flushes last Summer, but all seems back to 'normal' at the moment..

It's confusing isn't it-not knowing what your body is doing.I used to suffer from terrible PMT, easier to cope with if you know there is a physical reason.. Nowadays i can never tell from one month to the next..But i know i'm not particularly grumpy or forgetful and haven't started sprouting hair anywhere it shouldn't be yet....

You'd of thought the medical profession could be just a tad more interested and informative..

If you really want answers, you need to ask to see a gyanecologist who has an interest in the menopause, if your GP isn't coming up with any answers. If you can fork out to pay it will make it quicker.

OP you might get more response on the Meno forum here.

42 is a bit young but the peri meno can take 10 years and as average age of meno is 52, then it could be starting.

Having said that, I had a meno at almost 54 and my cycles only went haywire for about a year before that- missed a couple and had a few very short cycles of 17 days.

In my late 40s my cycles went from 30 days down to about 26.

I had no other physical symptoms until my periods had stopped altogether when night sweats, insomni and hourly hot flushes during the day came along.

My dr says that lifestyle makes a huge difference to symptoms and as I was doing everything "right" already was fine about HRT to help. You need lots of exercise, cut out coffee/tea etc and eat really healthily.

I have been on HRT for 2 years and feel great on it. I see a gyane privately who is a meno expert. I also have low bone density so it helps with that.

There is a good UK meno support /info site
www.menopausematters.co.uk

Jellycat, as you say it's the confusion that gets to you.

I described it to someone as having all the symptoms of PMT with none of the relief.

You can't even take a duvet day with books and biscuits ( my preferred form of medication) well not unless you can do it every day for the whole month .

I managed without HRT, not really into medication. My symptoms weren't too bad, mainly mood and weight related. The sweats were just uncomfortable not life limiting.

My mood has definitely improved and my weight has stabilised just slightly heavier than before. I seemed to lose the extra weight without trying.

I'm sure there are others who know far more about HRT than I do and I know it's great for some people. But I also heard stories from older women who were having menopausal symptoms when they did eventually come off HRT, even into their seventies

Janpa, I started getting hot flushes, irritable etc about age 37. Had my final period at 42 - just an early menopause.

There is a really good site called Menopause Matters. Google it. They are lovely, helpful people and can give you loads of tips etc.

I cold turkeyed it and did not have HRT. At age 49 I am finally free of hot sweats/flushes. I feel a calmness I have not felt in years.

Oh see cabbage got there before me, sorry.

Yes barleywood i had heard that HRT can just delay the inevitable for some women,and it hits them the minute they come off too..

I really hope i can deal with it naturally,like agedknees and have started gathering info re.foods that contain phytohormones etc..mind you,i'm hoping my fibroids will shrink once they become oestragen starved

I did panic at first,but i think it was largely due to my gynae consultants insisting on Hysteroscopys etc. I almost felt as though i didn't know my body anymore while they intrusively fiddled around.

There is also a strange negative attitude in society towards menopause, whereas a mans equivalent of 'midlife crisis' seems a bit more glamorous- buy a 'Harley' motorbike,and go off with young women.A very simplistic view of course,i wouldn't want anymore DC, but the fact that option is being taken away almost took away how i felt as a Sexual being..

My view is to be positive now,and i already feel, like agedknees, quite peaceful about it..

agedknees I really recommend that you have a bone density scan DEXA if you haven't already.

Meno at 42 is called an nearly meno. You should have been put on HRT until you were 50/51- age of normal meno.

It is negligent of a GP not to do so.

I had a DEXA scan at around age 47 out of curiosity and found I was one stage away from osteoporosis even though I have no risk factors other than being small framed.
I have got my bones better by exercise, diet and now I am HRT although the bones got better over 2 years without it at first.

Between 1:2 and 1: 3 women have osteop. over the age of 50, so you really do need to look into this.

You should see your GP and ask for a DEXA scan.

sorry- early meno!

agedknees - my menopause started at 38 & I had my last period at 40 - all the women in my family went through the menopause at around this age.

My gp recommended HRT for at least ten years and I was happy to take it as my grandmother suffered terribly with osteoporosis. I also had a DEXA scan as mentioned by cabbageroses.

I've been lucky in that I don't suffer from night sweats or hot flushes but do feel a bit more grumpy than I used to be (maybe age rather than hormones though).

I have had a dexa scan which was normal but thank you for your concern (cabbage and poolet).

My GP did suggest HRT, but I refused it (wanted to see if I could manage without, which I did). Have got to the age of 49 now and no hot flushes/sweats/irritability.

My brain also feels like its my own (6 years of going around in a fog!!!)

I found the website menopause matters a godsend.

I started to get night sweats when i was 41. I seem to get them more at this time of the year and my face is all sweaty. horrible.

also find my periods closer together and then they stopped for a month. I was relieved to have one this month but i find i feel depressed and suffer from PMT. I am 43. My mum went through her menopause at about 50. There is the peri menopause thing which can go on for a while before the actual thing.

Just to add something about HRT, for the sake of balanced info - I was on it for 2 years (earlyish meno and some bone density loss) and had NO symptoms coming off it. Unless you count a couple of weeks' anxiety waiting for symptoms that never happened

I did have some headaches and mild hot flushes before I started the HRT, but none since. I think it just tided me over the changeover period, so to speak. I had low dose Estrace patches.

So not necessarily true that HRT 'puts menopause symptoms off' and then you get hit with them anyway.

That is interesting Elibean.
My gynae suggests everyone comes off it very slowly over a matter of 3-4 months.

He also says that if you still have bad symptoms you should start it up again if noting else is working.

The stats that gave concern have now been reviewed and most drs think that up to 5 years use is safe, if you start in early meno.

The women in the million women study were mainly over 60, overweight and taking a high dosage of HRT.

It's case of balancing risks and benefits.

Just wondered if anyone else has had this? Reasonably normal periods, couple heavier but am now having a period that hasn't stopped. Period itself usually lasts about 8 days and then sorry if TMI, just brown stains . Am still having these, and slightly redder too and am due another period in a week. Any ideas? Asked the doctor but since my smear came back clear, she just puts it down to peri-menopause and not to worry.

Hello syickyj, When i had a constant period stage a few years back, i was referred to Gynae, who wanted to eliminate Endometriosis then they discovered 2 fibroids.. Both, i believe are possibilities with constant bleeding.If it continues i'd go back to GP and ask for a referral, just to make sure..

stickj

It's low progesterone.
Lots of women get this- you need progesterone tablets from your GP if it bothers you.

Thanks, is low progesterone part of the peri-menopause? What would the tablets do please and should I be worried about the "staining"?

yes it's classic peri meno symptoms.

The tablets put back what is missing, as your hormone levels drop, and they stop the bleeding.

you need to see your GP.

Jellycat, the mirena does release a minute amount of progesterone into the local environment.
So little that it doesn't show up in a blood test.

I've found it ok, even though I react very badly to introduced hormones.
I even had an adverse reaction to 2nd trimester hormones when pg!

You are right CofI !

My Gynae wanted me to try the Mirena, and have remembered the conversation about it releasing locally.
I was put off by my history of PID.