Post-menopausal stuff

[MenopauseSurvivorMaybe]

Name-change because some stuff just shouldn't be traceable on the internet.

I have finally, finally (whoop, whoop!) come through the menopause in the last few months. I was lucky not to get too much grief - night sweats were the worst, lasting 3 years on and off, and I think the rest was helped by having a Mirena in the early stages.

Because of that I've never posted on this part of MN, but now I really do need to ask some questions.

First, I was told by my GP that the Mirena (put in when I was 46) would not need to be removed. EVER. Because I would be over 50 when the 5 years was up???? (This is similar to another thread, but I didn't want to hijack that one.)

Second, I have hair loss on my lower legs (as well as in another more obvious place, ahem). Is that normal? I'm not very active, and I'm a bit worried that maybe it's due to my circulation slowing down instead.

Last, and sorry for TMI, my sex drive has gone through the fricking roof in the last few months. Isn't it supposed to go in the other direction?

Bump for you :-)

I was told mirena worked for 7 years post 50 and I would therefore be covered for contraception until 57 . This was when I was 49 and thought meno might have passed, so not impressed by the doctor.......

Hair loss, I believe, is normal. I have been told that it will no longer be necessary to shave armpits. I have no evidence for this yet.

Sex drive. I think that happens too. Or it may be the hormones in the merina waning

Thank you, Mynewmoniker I did feel vaguely sure that I wasn't the only person on MN to have gone through the menopause ...

summer, thank you too. I wasn't impressed by the GP either, and I worry when I read other threads about Mirenas getting embedded. Having had a disappeared IUD removed in my 20s I would be less than impressed if a fricking Mirena did a vanishing act on me. I suppose I should trudge to the surgery and make an appointment to have the damn thing taken out. After all, it shouldn't just lurk there for the next 20-something years, should it?

Hair loss - well, at least I feel a bit more normal! I still have to shave most of the legs and the armpits too, but there are places where there is just nothing. Depressing, and petrified that I might have a bald patch on the back of my head that everyone else apart from me can see.

Sex drive - not complaining, but it feels so overwhelming. I had a really limited libido for years, and yet suddenly it's gone mad. It isn't the Mirena hormones - those expired at least 2 years ago.

It all just feels that I have finally come through the whole MP and am out the other side. I thought that would be easy, but whose body is this, because it isn't one I recognise at all?

I think you ought to have the Mirena removed. It probably won't do any harm but there is always a (small) risk of infection in the uterus with any IUD ( via the strings) so once it's done its job why keep it?

Re. other stuff.

How old are you now? You see it's just possible that you are not as far through the meno as you think! If you had the Mirena you'd not be able to track your periods I assume ( no bleeding?)

The surge in libido which is coinciding with no sweats COULD mean that your ovaries are having one last stand- which they can do- under the influence of a surge in hormones. There are loads of women who think they are post meno after no periods for anywhere from 4-18 months, then wham- another one appears at the same time as the meno symptoms subside.

The loss of body hair is a symptom of meno though not everyone is affected the same way and some women in their 70s-80s still have to deal with leg and arm hair ( my mum!)

I don't want to bang on about HRT because not everyone wants or needs it, but women I know who use it for a few years say it does prevent the longer term effects of the menopause once the worst is over- such as osteoporosis, heart disease, urogenital symptoms ( prolapse, dryness etc), joint stiffness.

Thanks, missbopeep. I will get the Mirena removed - it does feel weird to know it is sitting there doing nothing. and I'm sure you are right about a risk of infection.

I think the ovaries have well and truly given up - I am 55 and it is 9 years since I last had a period! The first 5 were because of the Mirena, but most of the last 4 or so have been the menopause. I suppose I should just thank my lucky stars about the libido.

I know absolutely nothing about HRT, and have never considered it. I assume that it is really too late for me to think about taking it? I'm not sure that the small remaining symptoms I have would really justify it either?