Please tell me, when did your menopause symptoms stop?

[theoriginalmadambee]

I have been on a thread moaning about all the nasty things our bodies do to us.

But when does it stop? I know it is highly individual, but what was it like for you?

Two years in and I have had it. I want to sleep, not feel anxious, be me instead of this hormonal rollercoaster.

Please don't say HRT, due to family history, it's something I want to avoid.

Bump?

No HRT here - it all started when I was around 48, peaked around 50-52 (brain fog, mood swings, memory problems, hot flushes every 15 mins), and now (I'm 60) has mostly eased off, though I still get the occasional hot flush. Sorry not to be able to tell you it was all over in a couple of years - but the worst bit was, at least :)

Thank you @FurryDogMother, that's a loong time. Have you had sleep problems? And if so when did it get better?

So glad to hear you are doing better .

Oh yes, I forgot (ha!) the sleep problems - insomnia was diabolical - how I managed to keep working during the early years (I don't work now) I have no idea - and that's something that's only just started to improve. I resorted to sleeping pills from the doc, but only used them when I was desperate as I didn't want to get addicted. It does pass eventually though - because I don't have a set time to get up nowadays, I tend to sleep from around 2 am - 9 am and am feeling better than I have done in years. There is hope - but the whole menopause thing was horrible - I just didn't like the idea of HRT, which is why I didn't try it. I did try most other things though - Menopace, Black Kohosh, Red Clover - but the only thing that ever had an effect was progesterone cream, and that may have been psychosomatic, because it didn't improve things for very long!

Sorry you're going through it - I expected it to be easy, but it turned out not to be at all!

Thanks you're a star . Would have loved some better news though .

I'm a night owl, but now falling asleep is a major problem (3-4 am).

Yy to thinking you can wing it through menopause 'some hot flushes for a year, a well easy piecy' - ha little did I know .

All the best to you.

I was coming to ask much the same question. I have been having symptoms for about 5 years, no periods for nearly 4 years. I think my hot flushes are getting a bit less frequent and less intense but I still have several most days and nights are a lot worse than days.
I also chose not to take HRT but I have to confess I didn't think I was going to still be suffering so much at this stage. I did try both HRT right at the beginning. The patches wouldn't stick and the tablets made me hideously nauseated so I decided to stop and let nature take its course.
I read somewhere that the average duration of symptoms is 2 years. If that is true there must be some very lucky women somewhere as more or less everyone I know has had symptoms for longer than that. I think things may be improving for me now, but I am reluctant to say that too loudly as I have thought this a few times previously and been disappointed.
Two interesting things happened to me this year though unfortunately neither offers a sustainable solution. One is that I was badly injured in an accident and spent 10 days in hospital. I was dreading hot flushes on top of everything else but I had hardly any at all for the whole hospital stay. Secondly, I went to the South of France for a week and the temperature was over 30c all the time. I was too hot, but no added hot flushes. So the answer would seem to be that I need to move somewhere hot and take huge amounts of painkillers and my symptoms will stop.
Or maybe I just need to be patient.
All the best to you and other long term sufferers. I think a lot of people do start to lose sympathy when it goes on and on.

Oh @MAFIL i do so sympathize. I have read somewhere that some have symptoms for 10 years - 10 YEARS that is just too much isn't it?

Several times I have thought that my hot flushes had stopped, they did for some months and then returned full on again.

But the lack of 'normal' sleep, sadness, health anxiety, I just want it to be over.

Would love to hear from more posters, but not many contributing unfortunately.

Best of luck .

I came to the board to ask how long the brain fog and tiredness lasted for. The hot flushes lasted for about six months and seemed to have reduced to an occasional manageable warmth now. They were never terrible compared to what some people describe. The only thing that seems to be sticking around, and which bothers me most of all and was the thing which first drove me to the doctor, is the brain fog. And I am so, so tired. All the time. I don't know whether some of that is having children late in life or whether it's meno related, but it's horrible.

Ooooh yes, the brain fog. It really does worry me that it isn't menopause and the onset of dementia. I had a woman in my local shop tell me she kept forgetting things and that she was perimenopausal and could it be that. I reassured her that It is exactly that. Some days I am thinking as clear as a bell and other days I can't articulate things well especially at work when i am under stress and sometimes even forget how to spell something! It really panics me and gets me down and makes me feel really stupid and old.
My hot flushes started when I was in my late forties when I started down the perimenopausal path. I have now been menopausal for just over a year. Now 52 and I get hot flushes in spates. They are definitely lessening. The brain fog is on and off. Oh and just recently I am suffering from breast tenderness. No idea why or where it has come from. It sucks big time. The only benefit is being free from periods - yay and sex.

The downside is that libido falls...

Jesus! I'm 48 - had the hot flushes for about 18 months and was hoping the end was in sight Terrible anxiety and total brain fog lately and now seem to be moving towards 10 day ultra heavy periods. Waaahhh! It's rubbish isn't it - friend of mine was 2 weeks on/two weeks off with periods and ended up anemic. It sucks and I'm thoroughly fed up

@madambee
I cannot have hrt either. My wonderful gp prescribed me Amlodipine, it cured the insomnia issues i was having, mainly waking around 2am and being unable to get back to sleep, it's also used for anxiety, ao it helped immensely as I'd never had it before menopause. It's changed my life.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
I started peri menopause at 44, I’m 53 now and still having hot flashes, insomnia, brain fog, palpitations and painful joints. I’ve not had a period for 3 years and I’ve put on a shitload of weight that I’m really struggling to shift.
I’m hoping it’s going to get better soon

Oh we are lucky aren't we? I would think that if we did the periods and child births, men could deal with the menopause, atleast that's what I tell my dh when I'm particularly feed up.

@AngusThermopyle re. the Amlodipine, did you get that for blood pressure issues? Cannot find anything about them and menopause treatment.

Symptoms now for 21 years. I'm 66, doc said he has some patients in their 70s with symptoms & there's nothing to be done now. When it started, I thought I'd not have HRT as it's a normal part of life. The hot flushes aren't as frequent now, but I'm really, really sick of the bad moods, mood swings etc. Ah well.

Do you mean Amitriptyline @Angusthermopile?

Started symptoms at 44. Horrendous at 51 although HRT is helping loads (I don’t advocate it - I take it for other health probs and effect on meno symptoms is a bonus).
I was hoping I’d be through this in a couple of years. Tbh it is worse than I ever imagined.

My Mum had flushes into her 80s. My meno consultant has told me that some women never ever get rid of symptoms. A large % of women have symptoms for 15 years. Some lucky women have them for a couple of years.

If you are informed of the small risks of HRT and choose to use it, then that is one option. If not, there are other treatments like ADs for hot flushes (but of course these have side effects too) but these drugs are usually 2nd choice and only for women who have had cancer and can't use HRT.

@madambee @Egghead68
Ofgs, 🤦‍♀️ yes I meant amitriptyline. Ty

I've just been reading the "symptoms" thread and am feeling, for the first time in ages, normal! (ish)
54, no periods for 4 years. But the tiredness, aches and pains and general doom and gloom feelings are getting worse, to the point I've made myself promise to go to the GP and ask for whatever she wants to chuck at me.
I was that smug 40-something who had the odd "oh is it hot in here" moment and whose already light periods went from "shit, I've missed, I can't be pregnant at 47" to nothing almost overnight

And I thought, well, that was easy.
Now I am a crumbling hormonal wreck convinced my life is over.

I have suffered with wild mood swings, brain fog, memory issues, insomnia, irritability, feelings of resentment, fluctuating weight, muscle aches...god, the list goes on...for at least two years.

At 49, I decided enough is enough and visited a menopause specialist. I am now on HRT gel (Estrogel and progesterone tablets for 12 days each month as I still have periods albeit irregularly). It’s very early days for me but the feeling of relief from just having reached out for help is immense.
HRT may not be the answer for some due to family history etc but please go and see someone who has specialised in this utterly debilitating condition. I found my doctor here: www.menopausedoctor.co.uk.

It’s not cheap but I was sick and tired (literally) of being fobbed off by my GP. Yes, all women go through this. Yes, it’s part of our natural cycle. No, you don’t have to put up with it.
This article from NY Books resonated so much with me:
www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/08/08/it-feels-like-a-derangement-menopause-depression-me/

I’m 44 and have been in full on menopause for 4 years (total hysterectomy).
The hot flushes seem to have stopped now thank god but everything else continues. I am exhausted (and I do mean exhausted not tired) every single day. The brain fog is so bad I told my GP I though I had Alzheimer’s). I also suffer from insomnia, terrible joint pain, anxiety, thinning hair, loss of confidence with things such as driving, awful mood swings and I’m unable to concentrate on things such as reading or watching tv for long. I can see no light at the end of the tunnel.

Oh bless you, it's awful isn't it- that wave of desperation. At least know you're not alone.

I'm so sorry for us all 😢

@Lolichi i just read some of your NY books link, now I'm even more depressed.

Please make it stop. 10, 15 years of this??

This is awful, isn't it? I'm 55, have been on hrt for 6 months, which stopped the hot flushes, and I think I sleep slightly better, but I'm still extremely anxious, sad, have joint pain, no libido, struggle concentrating, have put on lots of weight etc etc. I'm so fed up and can't bear the thought of this going on and on

@Thankyouplease why oh why have you not been put onto HRT? Your experience is terrible. At 44 without your ovaries you are at risk longer rterm from osteoporosis and heart disease. Was this not discussed at the time of your op? Would they remove men's balls and not supplement with testosterone? The treatment for early and surgical menopause is HRT up to age 51 at least. Please go and see a dr who knows what they are doing.