Which of these are symptoms of menopause

[Yorkshirebornandbred]

I'm 52, haven't had a period for 8 months, so entering the menopause i guess. I feel shocking most of the time, tired, clumsy, i ache all over, but particularly neck, shoulders and legs, I get terribly restless or uncomfortable arms and legs in the evening, struggle to sleep sometimes, snore more than I did, I'm forgetful - I think of something I need to do and by the time I've picked up my pen it's gone! My sex drive has gone completely and I'm irritable and tearful all the time. Oh and of course temperature fluctuations .. Not sure they're hot flushes... I don't think I go red and I'm not bathed in sweat but I'm hot and cold all evening.

I know some of these are probably menopause related, but wondered if they all are. I've a doctor's appointment tomorrow to discuss hrt after she told me my anxiety and depression could be related to the menopause.

If I take hrt what are the chances of coming off my antidepressants eventually?

And also .. any tips for exercises to get rid of my spare tyre that seems to get worse daily?

Any recommendations regarding hrt tablets or gel or patches and any names better than others?

I've visited menopause matters but it didn't answer all my questions.

It's different for everyone I think, I can only confirm that in perimenopause I'm forgetful, night sweats, increased migraines, anxious, and did I mention forgetful?

If I could just stay at home and never have to work again my life would be 1000% easier as work highlights how daft I am lately.

I'm using progesterone crime, I think it's helping a bit.

Where do you apply the progesterone cream and was it on prescription?

All your symptoms that are physical sound like peri menopause.

I'm looking at the timing of your post :) Insomnia or not in UK?

The forgetfulness stuff- some of it's just getting older I think! I'm on HRT and it works really well for me, but I can still forget why I walked into a room, or what I've sat down at the pc to do.

All your symptoms are down to oestrogen deficiency. There is no benefit in trying progesterone cream. It's not available in the UK anyway except by mail order from overseas. It was promoted on the basis of 'oestrogen dominance'- there is no such thing- and all the websites selling it are commercial organisations. You won't find any drs giving it out because the cream cannot be absorbed through the skin and converted into progesterone.

Unless you have had depression and anxiety before peri meno then it's likely your mood is down to loss of estrogen (this is the advice of NICE by the way.) And the treatment is HRT not anti-Ds. (again, NICE.)

You can help yourself though by doing lots of lifestyle stuff- exercise is as effective as ADs for mild depression (daily brisk walks for an hour) - cut out alcohol, caffeine, refined carbs and sugar. All stuff we should do anyway but all helps peri meno.

Weight- you're just going to have to eat less of the stuff that puts on weight- carbs and sugar. Fill up on veg and fruit.

Types of HRT? Patches are safer re blood clots and get into the system more easily than pills. Another option is oestrogen gel plus a separate progestogen- either Utrogestan or Norethisterone.

Sorry if there sounds a lot to take in here - but wanted to try to answer all your points.

hi

not sure if I'm on the menopause but I have not had a period since may 4th I am 48 I have hot and cold sweats and forgetful. I don't sleep much I haven't done for a few months.

Thanks Polly.

I've been to my gp this morning and she prescribed Elleste Duet Conti. She told me to give it six weeks but to come back if I have any problems. Reading online it seems patches are preferable ... she didn't mention the choice at all and I was so tired and stressed after lying awake most of the night (Yes I'm in the UK) that I didn't ask anything

I'll give them a try and hope for the best.

I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety two years ago .. now I'm wondering if it's been peri menopause symptoms all along ... all those antidepressants maybe for nothing?!

Conti HRT is for women who have not had a period for at least 12 months. Or who are over 54. You need to go back and change this for Elleste Sequi. The risk is you will have erratic bleeding on conti.

The other issue is that taking 2 hormones daily (as in conti) means that you will never know which of the hormones is possibly giving you side effects. Many women don't get on with certain types of progestogens - there are 4 to choose from in pills, patches and the Mirena coil.

If you take them daily as in conti, you can't tell if the estrogen is too low for example, or if the progestogens are making you tired, depressed etc.

In sequi, the pack follows a normal fertile cycle, with progestogens only for 2 weeks in the month. That way you can tell how you react to each hormone.

I'm in Canada so it sounds like there's a different approach here. But my cream was prescribed by a dr and the respected menopause clinic at UBC has a few mentions of cream (inc va placebo) & they say that progesterone cream is useful for women in perimenopause (though they prefer it in pill form I think). So I am confident it's not quackery. www.cemcor.ubc.ca/resources/progesterone-not-estrogen-hot-flushes-perimenopausal-and-menopausal-women

It's different in the UK Lizzie we can't get progesterone cream except from countries outside the UK.

ps A lot of the claims that it can help bone density have not been proven by research - over here the National Osteoporosis Society has investigated research and shown no change. Most of it sold in the UK is on the back of the work of the US Dr John Lee but his claims have been disproved- not sure if the work of the dr behind the website you linked to thinks the same as he does.

Thanks Polly ... it'll take me two weeks to get an appointment unless I go as an emergency, which I can't really do, can I? Do you think I can continue taking it as I took one this morning?

I told my gp that my last period was in October ... crazy that she prescribed the wrong drug!

What would you recommend that I say to her/ ask for? I've lost all confidence now I'll ask to see a different gp but unsure what to ask for.

I thought I'd read up enough on the matter but fell into the trap of trusting the doctor So angry with myself! What a waste of time! I just want to start to feel better.

Polly, not sure about Dr Lee - I can't see any info on where his degree is from etc. The link I posted is from a very well-respected Canadian university clinic. I do trust them. That site has what seems to be good information about menopause & perimenopause.

I do find it odd how we're all supposed to just get on with it.

I went to my OBGYN. She did a blood test, talked to me for a few minutes and said she would contact me with the results. She did! She sent me a print out of my lab results. I had no idea what it meant, why she was testing for those things, nothing. It might as well have been in Aramaic. So it seems I now need to get a medical degree to have any understanding of what t f is going on. Shameful.

An op ed recently discussed the idea of testing UNI applicants for not just the intellectual ability for certain studies but also the aptitude. It struck as a damn fine idea!

Are you in the US ? (Just the term 'OBGYN' is not something we tend to use in the UK but I've noticed it from posters in the US.)

I had an early menopause age 41 after I had a mirena coil. I tried lots of different HRT but eventually the thing that really worked and very quickly for me was serenity natural progesterone cream which I got online and used for 10 years.
I recently came off it only because I wanted to see what my body would do naturally. No crazy menopause symptoms - less energy than when I was younger but thats about it.
GP's won't prescribe HRT for over 50's in my area.

rizlett- Serenity cream is quite honestly a scam. It was made on the basis of the 'research' of a Dr J lee in the US who invented the idea of oestrogen dominance, which is something that doesn't exist.
There is plenty online about this. The cream cannot actually be converted into a usable type of progesterone by the body. Anyone who feels it is helping is responding to it as a placebo or their menopause symptoms have gone naturally.

Your GP won't prescribe HRT to the over 50s? Are you serious? The average age of menopause is 52. This is when most women start having symptoms. It's when most women start HRT! You need a different GP. What you have been told is nonsense- there are women in their 80s using HRT- there is no time limit.

I'd also suggest Rizlet that if you didn't use HRT for long after an early menopause you ask for a DEXA (bone density) scan as you are at high risk. Same applies to heart disease- HRT is strongly advised for all women whose periods stop before 52.

Thank you polly for your thoughts regarding the serenity cream and dr lee - the cream manufacturers fell out with him at some point too.

I'm only expressing my opinion and for me serenity cream definitely worked - I'm aware of the placebo effect - if it was that - that's ok - it worked for me for 10 years.

I'll look into the bone density though - and yes my gp said no HRT if you are over 50 - this was when I requested a hormone level test - she said not worth getting done as they won't treat me anyway. I wanted it done to test my levels after coming off the serenity.

No menopause symptoms now though so all ok.

rizlett- it can't work- sorry- because the molecules in it cannot be absorbed by the skin and changed into a type of progesterone that the body can use.

I had an early menopause age 41 after I had a mirena coil

The Mirena doesn't cause menopause. It stops the womb lining building up so some women find they have no bleeding but that doesn't mean they aren't ovulating or that they have reached the menopause.

I think it's most likely that you were one of the 25% of women who don't have many meno symptoms at all.

I've spoken to my gp on the phone this morning and she reluctantly agreed to write a prescription for elleste sequi patches. She didn't agree that the conti wasn't suitable "because I'm 52" and didn't seem pleased that I wasn't happy with it. I think I'll visit another gp next time!

Silly woman. Suggest she goes on a course run by the BMS- here is the info from MM site- written by consultant gynae who chairs the BMS.

menopausematters.co.uk/postmeno.php

POST MENOPAUSAL -
Continuous combined therapies.

"Period free" or continuous combined therapy can be used by women who are 54 + yrs, or more than 1 yr post menopausal at any age. The criteria should be fulfilled in order to offer such treatment to women who no longer have a continuing ovarian cycle, so that steady levels of both estrogen and progestogen can be achieved. When there are steady levels of estrogen and progestogen from daily administration of both, the womb lining stays thin. Although some bleeding in the first 6 months of therapy is common, there should not be bleeding after that and the lining does not go through the stages of stimulation and then shedding as it does during a normal cycle and with sequential therapy. Start with low dose preparations and increase as necessary for symptom control. The products marked * are licensed for osteoporosis treatment/prevention.
See WHY AND WHEN TO OFFER CONTINUOUS COMBINED THERAPY.

Do you consider all creams the same? I use a yam-based cream and it has worked for me. If it's placebo effect, fine, but the Canadian University of British Columbia drs have discounted placebo effect (link below).

I sleep better and rarely have night sweats now. My boobs have stopped hurting & I'm less anxious.

lizzie It's clearly not the same in Canada. The cream the other poster talked about is made from yams- lots of HRT is.

This something that's out there on the web lizzie.

www.mja.com.au/journal/2005/182/5/transdermal-progesterone-creams-postmenopausal-women-more-hype-hope