Melting magnificence: Share your despair, experience and tips here

[Wordsaremything]

A new thread for sharing experiences, tips and so on.

To kick off, I have been taken aback by the severity of my symptoms( hourly flushes, night sweats, palpitations, insomnia, stress incontinence, exhaustion and aching hands and feet.)

So far, switching from down duvet to microfibre has helped
As has increasing fruit and veg intake and cutting down on large evg meals and red meat
And taking menopace with sage.
I now have two chilled face flannels in fridge with which to mop my menopausal brow.

But these help only marginally. So am seeing docin early October.

Over to you!

I can't see how it could work either and if it did then a couple of fridge magnets would do just as well :o ?

boots sell bach flower remedies, homeopathic remedies and copper bangles for rheumatism

I rest my case

I can sort of join in here; I have had the menopause now for around 6 years. When I went to the doctor [a female] she told me I was too young to have the menopause at 42 - even though my mother had it at 38. So I have had to do this alone.

I haven't eaten meat for 31 years so can't comment on the meaty meals issue. But smaller meals definitely helps. As does staying off the coffee. And eating pears.

I've had all the symptoms, and they are definitely easing. I still have very annoying legs. They need stretching out regularly. An evening at the theatre/opera starts becoming uncomfortable after the first hour. And nightmarish after the second. Yoga is helping definitely but you can't exactly do a downward facing dog during The Barber of Seville without attracting some raised eyebrows.

I thought the annoying legs thing was connected with general ageing/lack of activity rather than menopause - pardon me if you're not a couch-sitter like me.
I'm trying to cultivate more movement now, so try not to sit for long periods, and of course actual exercise is good for keeping the circulation going; squats, lunges etc.

Not lack of activity unfortunately. I teach mainly unruly teens and teachers horticulture. I stand up/walk about/dig/fork/use mattocks/saws/chainsaws/shift stuff about between 8 and 4 every day. I have a couch but only sit on it for about 30 mins a night - mainly due to aforementioned annoying legs. Mine has only come about since the hot flushes started.

is it 'restless legs'?
A kind of twitchy leg thing, I used to get it at night but not so much now, I'm pretty active (walk/run/cycle etc)
I think men get it too....don't they?

Is that something the magnesium/vit d mentioned upthread might help with?

No not twitchy...more just needing to stretch them out. I get tons of magnesium and vit D [I work outside all year round]...and have taken magnesium supplements to no avail.

one thing I've noticed is that I get ASMR very very easily, I can pretty much induce it at will and I rather like it, but I've heard others mention 'skin crawling' and I wonder if they are talking about a similar sensation....except they obviously dont like it

the post menopause reduced libido is also a big relief I find, as well as the obvious relief of no more periods

I was very lucky with my menopause,( all over thank goodness!) and didn't go the HRT route, as I decided that it would have to be faced somewhere down the line.
Being a real foodie, I researched/googled and I just tried to add a lot of phyto oestrogen high foods to my diet, so soya beans, linseed, sesame etc - mainly in bread, and added to cereal in the morning. I grow a lot of my own vegetables, so a lot of leafy greens as well.
I do take a magnesium supplement, but I have always worked outside in my job, so have never felt the need for Vit D.

DoreenLethal - if you are having/have had an early menopause - you really should be on HRT to help protect your heart, bones and general health. This is advised by the medical profession. Have your periods stopped? You should have started HRT when they were sporadic and continue at least until the natural average age of menopause of around 51-2. It is not too late to start and if you are not on it already I urge you to go to your doc post-haste! No amount of supplements will replace the oestrogen you are deficient in - although what you are doing is great for general health!

bookbook - it is really a fallacy to choose not to go on HRT because you will have to go through it one day! This is not a good argument not to take HRT! Firstly, if you come off it several years later, you do not have to go through the extreme hormonal fluctuations because these only occur during the peri-menopausal transition - so all you have to deal with is coming off HRT and the ultimate decline in oestrogen and possible return of symptoms.

However just say your symptoms are debilitating at age 50. You decide not to go on HRT so you suffer for X number of years - you do not know in advance how many years these might go on for - it can be as much as 14 or as little as 2 years! You will still be deficient in oestrogen from the point of menopause onwards for the rest of your life. If you are one of the women with long term symptoms - you will be suffering a long time.

Alternatively at 50 you decide to start HRT and stay on it for 14 years. You then come off it and you will either have symptoms or you won't ( which you don't know in advance) and you will also be deficient in oestrogen for the rest of your life. You've had 14 years of extra oestrogen to protect your bones etc as well as quality of life.

Most women now will have to work until 66 due to changes in state pension rules. It will surely be easier to cope with any discomfort etc due to cessation of HRT when retired than when working.

No contest really in my book.

Hi, I've suspected I'm peri menopausal for about a year now I think. My cycles have gone up and down and my periods have changed from very long to much shorter with a horrendous first two days then very little. I've had awful pmt too sometimes for two weeks before my actual period arrives. I'm currently in my third month without a period but still having bad cramps etc.
I've been a low carber for a couple of years now and don't get cravings etc and my weights fine. I get very hot at night sometimes and occasionally in the day but done seem to sweat more so don't know if these are flushes.
I'm only 46 and this all seems to be gathering pace rapidly. I can't take HRT so I'm appreciating that I seem to be having a much easier time than many. I just wish it could be over now. I hate feeling irritable, foggy brained and just generally old. It's hard to feel sexy with permanent cramps like I'm always due on.

Doreen even though you have a more outdoor lifestyle, you will still not be getting sufficient sunshine/correct UV rays on a large enough area of your body to make sufficient Vit D.

Just skimmed the thread and I feel like I am amongst friends here. I've been feeling as though I've been crumbling recently. Sleep is shockingly poor, flushes and sweats, aches, pains, stiffness etc. My breasts are agonisingly sore in the run up to a period and my periods are getting closer together. I have brain fog, concentration and memory issues. Really feeling shitty most of the time.

I stumbled across perimenopause whilst consulting Dr Google and it's been a revelation, I am clearly slow on the uptake as I should have considered it (was thinking maybe thyroid). I'm 41 and whilst I know I'm no spring chicken I thought it was a few years too early to consider menopause, but so many of the symptoms fit I'll be really surprised if it isn't, and having read around the subject a bit, 41 is by no means unheard of.

I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow so will request blood tests to rule anything else out. I'll be following a lot of the tips upthread so thank you for sharing. Also I love the thread title, it sums up how I feel!

The only symptom I don't really share is evil hormonal shouty rage - unfortunately it's hormonal contraception that does that to me. I'm already on AD's for long term anxiety and depression so possibly being treated by default, or maybe I would have avoided it anyway, who knows? I have been a bit weepy recently though - had to stop myself bawling down the phone at DD1's head of year this morning as dd is having school issues. She is hitting puberty with a vengenace atm - it's all about hormones in our house - dh and dd2 would do well to disappear off into the distance I reckon!

Re Vit D - still worth getting levels checked even if you are outside a lot - if your body isn't synthesising it effectively you may well still have low levels even if you were outside all day every day in the nude.

I already take Vit D supplements due to being dx'd with low levels a few years back. They do help with tiredness I find.

NHS info re Vit D and sunlight:
www.nhs.uk/news/2010/12December/Pages/sunlight-exposure-and-vitamin-d-advice.aspx
www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Summerhealth/Pages/vitamin-D-sunlight.aspx
www.nhs.uk/livewell/summerhealth/documents/concensus_statement%20_vitd_dec_2010.pdf

Re Vit D - still worth getting levels checked even if you are outside a lot

And how does one get the levels checked - bearing in mind they wouldn't check me for the menopause in the first place?

And how does one get the levels checked - bearing in mind they wouldn't check me for the menopause in the first place?

That is a bummer. I got mine checked as part of an arthritis test, because I was hurting. There is a lot about vit D here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2421492-Vitimin-D-can-it-have-this-effect

You can get tests privately. It is probably best done early spring when your levels are at the lowest. The actual level you need to be at is not properly established yet - below 30 means you are losing calcium from your bones, but there is increasing evidence that it needs to be above 70.

You need to be eating a minimum 3 lots of oily fish a week to maintain levels. Sardines are really nice on toast/toasted muffins during the winter . A holiday nearer the equator would also be a good thing

I haven't eaten fish for 47 years. [as in - never]. I have no intention of ever doing so.

Vitamin D3 tablets in the winter, or holiday then

Seriously, my friend who did a degree in nutrition worked out how to get the right amount of vitamin D through diet alone, and it was an awful lot of fish. There is some in dairy, eggs etc but no where near enough. You need good quality sun (which you certainly get!) , with a bit of help over the winter. Your body stores it, as it is a fat soluble vitamin, but it gets a bit low by the end of winter.

And how does one get the levels checked - bearing in mind they wouldn't check me for the menopause in the first place?

My VitD wasn't done as a menopause marker, it was part of a general screening to see if there was a "simple" solution as to why I felt so run down. It was done on the NHS. I was in my mid-late 30's at the time. If your GP isn't being helpful then could you see another one at the practice?

You can get tests on-line - about £25 I think - there will be a link in the thread mentioned above.