If you are post menopause how do you feel?

[cantheydothisreally]

And what would you tell a peri meno woman?

49 and need some hope 😞

Twenty years post menopause. I had a few months of brain fog and feeling quite anxious, very unusual for me, and briefly took HRT. The hot flushes were pretty bad for a couple of years, and still happen occasionally, but the sheer joy of not being bothered by periods or having to worry about pregnancy were liberating. The menopause was inconvenient but the long term benefits are worth it!

Thank you OP, it's great reading these responses.
I'm grappling with it all at the moment. I'm on patches but still get very tired at times and quite achy. My anxiety has settled down now I've got on top of my coffee habit. Quite enjoy a glass of wine now and then but really don't like being drunk any more. Hoping to feel less tired soon but absolutely love the not giving a fuck what anyone else thinks. It's so liberating.

Can I just add that I do feel sorry for younger women as all the publicity at the moment is about how awful it is and very in favour of taking HRT for any symptoms. It all seems quite frightening
It is absolutely the opposite of when I had mine when symptoms were largely downplayed or ignored and women were steered away from HRT
Hopefully at some point we'll find the happy medium where those who need HRT get it without a fight but we can also celebrate the positives of this stage of life

QueenofHiraeth
Interested to hear about the removal of carbs and the benefits you have found

I gave up bread and lost 1 1/2 stone

It is my stomach that is suffering at the moment, eating a low calorie diet a couple of days also helps

The news is full of HRT so I wanted to try and balance the options 😊

I feel great but I find other people are much more stupid than they used to be. And I've also found I've become a lot more helpful in that I feel obliged to point out how they can do better.

Last period at 54 so have been post menopausal for a few years now.
Symptoms all subsided but struggling with expanding waist & increasing weight. Was always slim throughout life, so reducing carb intake is quite a challenge.

Ha ha @MarshaMelrose , my family complain that I have become rather blunt.

I feel as though Ive stepped off the hormonal rollercoaster after 40 years, I can suddenly remember more of what child me was like pre-puberty, its interesting.
Feel a bit slow and stiff and unsexy though, also look more grey and wrinkly. Keeping extra weight off by eating less bread and skipping breakfast and snacks.
Need to get back to the gym, that helped and also need another vaginal oestrogen prescription, its quite effective.

It's quite interesting this thread. I kind of want to ditch the Hrt and ride the storm. Trouble is, the bladder and brain kick off big time.

Hoping one day I won't need artificial hormones.

Onwards and upwards 🌸

I'm not quite sure I am as my situation is complicated. Started peri at 41, then fell pregnant. Had baby at 42 and everything went haywire for a while. At 51 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am on Tamoxifen. My periods have stopped but I have horrendous cyclical ovulation pain month. Yet no period. I do get hot flushes and have terrible joint pain, brain fog etc. I can't take HRT because of the type of BC I had so I try and mitigate the effects with diet and exercise. I mean it's not been awful but it's also unpleasant at times.

Perimenopause and periods stopped at 38 which was the positive bit. 20 years later and I'm fine. Pissed off at doctors for just shrugging the very early peri and feel the symptoms didn't really hit for about 10+ years. Just got on with it tbh. No HRT as a) it was never offered and b) remember my mother saying it made her periods come back and I definitely didn't want that!

I'm not thin but look far younger than my age and feel pretty ok. Still very active.

Oh and yes - very blunt. Don't take any crap and complain about poor service/below par products.

Menopause is a permanent state. Not something you go through and come out the other sides

I take HRT, thank god. Periods stopped at 44. After 5 years is when you notice the changes (I would say), whatever age you are.

If I stop taking HRT I age overnight and feel devoid of energy and become very self centred. I cannot do this as I have a young daughter and I also want to have healthy bones and heart.
Never had a hot flush, far more insidious than that.

I also want to have a sex drive. This will fall off a cliff if you do not take HRT.

Good luck.

Menopause between 50-55 ish - I expected to have a tough time as my mother did, needing hysterectomy etc. But I didn't - I knew it was happening but it was all very easy to deal with. I had night sweats - so just slept on a towel - no daytime flushes. I didn't particularly notice being grumpy, I'm sure there were some mood fluctuations but nothing major. My exH might disagree as he walked out in the middle of it all and marrried the OW 🤷🏼‍♀️. This didn't devastate me and I got a new dream job a couple of years later.

15yrs post meno now - no HRT - discovering intermittent fasting dealt nicely with the weight issue. I'm fit, retired, walk the dog for an hour every day, lots of hobbies, love life. It's not always traumatic, my dsis has also sailed through and took up Latin American dancing in her 50's!

I'm 52, periods stopped at 48. I'm generally hot, I do get flushes but infrequently, alcohol doesn't help but I do enjoy a drink. I don't sleep very well and I'm more anxious than I used to be.

I haven't had any HRT, I'm coping with the symptoms I have which tbh are manageable. I feel I'm having a fairly good menopause and my periods had got so hideous I'll take the symptoms I have to not have them any more.

Well said.

I had chemo when 49/50. I had been peri with hot flashes, moodiness and other symptoms. Once I recovered from cancer I went on HRT and feel fantastic. Mentally I feel like I am in my 30s, steady happy mood, all my menopausal symptoms disappeared, although of course I don't have a period after chemo made me infertile. Best thing is my libido. My husband ia delighted, I really enjoy having a strong sexual desire, that defiinitly has helped me feel younger with more joie de vivre.

Condescending much?

I got through peri and out the other side into meno fairly uneventfully other than the onset of migraines. I've had to give up certain foods and, more recently red wine. My joints were always bad but I do have more subluxations, now and often have to rip my bra off around dinner time because it hurts my ribs. My battle with my weight has actually subsided though I do feel best with smaller portions of carbs and rarely eat sweet stuff. If anything, I've become a little scrawny looking, despite a bmi of 23.

No hrt. I don't fancy the side effects.

Great thread. Varied answers.

Mood wise, I could often cheerfully murder someone. It's useful.

Let your goal be taking up Latin American dancing in your 50 and not caring if yout husband leaves you.
Do not eat crap or drink or have turkey at Christmas.

All wonderful advice from those that think they have sailed through.

OP, pop on the body identical yam gel and do not look back.

okay peri happened when i was busy with teens and shit work...i had the occasional hot flash, these hot flashes were over by the time i noticed what they were (more like a brief wave of nausea). i ate due to life stress and night shift.
but like others have said, when the periods stopped it was heavenly. no breast swelling no week of menses pure bliss on that front, and no water weight fluctuations soooo i could finally start a good fitness plan.
i had no reason to see a dr about any of this. my family survived the bitchy years but they were hard years! my perspective was that some little pill was not going to change the fact i had 3 teens, bills to pay, a job that was often unpleasant, and a dh who is prone to being a workaholic with demanding levels of expectation.
sex is sex it's fine, i do suffer from dryness and did before and so use lube. but at 65 dh seems equally settled into a satisfactory pattern. as life got easier (kids leaving home cushy pre retirement job less financial worries) the bitchiness ended.
i'm too old for HRT and do worry about bone and cardiovascular health but i exercise and despite two serious falls that involved broken bones no one suggested osteo. had a recent ct scan for a dental implant and bone health was fine in that area.
aging?? well it happens to everyone. but i've often been told i don't look my age, neither does my mother.

I had horrendous perimenopause....with continuous heavy bleeds. I can remember sitting in a&e with a bath towel between my legs...I thought the bleeding would never stop. I was 44....single mum to 3 ds..was also working, studying and looking after my mum.I honestly thought I wouldn't survive those years. Gynae recommended the mirena as first choice treatment. I lasted ten days with it...the damn thing got lodged in my cervix plus I developed an infection.
I was then given HRT. It was around the time all the scare stories about the dangers of HRT ware prevalent and I was almost too scared to take it. After discussing it with my brilliant GP i finally started it. It was a life changer for me. My heavy bleeds stopped...I just had a scanty monthly bleed like clockwork every month. No more fear of sudden flooding. I stayed on that particular HRT until I was 50 then was changed to one that didn't have the monthly bleed. I can honestly say I never felt better. I'm now 62 and on an ultra low dose HRT and it will have to be prised from my cold dead hands before I come off it. At my last gynae check up I was told I can stay on it into my 70s. Yay!
The one thing I would tell my premenopausal self is to be very aware of vaginal atrophy. I often think this very debilitating condition isn't talked about enough. I've been on Vagifem(vaginal oesteogen) for five years which was working fine. I injured my back last year and couldn't insert the vagifem for nearly ten weeks. The atrophy came back with a vengeance...recurring UTIs....and a constant burning. Atrophy wasn't even considered and I had countless tests....cystoscopy...and kidney ultra sound . My doctor was even treating me for lichen schlerosis. It wasn't until I finally got an appt with gynae and the attending nurse gave me estriol cream to try that vaginal atrophy was considered. All symptoms cleared within a week and have stayed away since.

My periods stopped when I was 49, literally just fizzled out. I had night flushes and generally felt hotter all the time. From always being the coldest person at work and closing all the windows, I was the first one to open them! My sleep is much poorer now, and memory isn't as good, felt like I was in a fog much of the time. I'm 62 now, feel fine, sleep still poor, body temperature has returned to normal. Still have greasy skin and hair, no sign of either drying out. At least it means I don't have many lines!
Overall I think I got through it lightly with no HRT. Some of the posts on here are horrendous. Much sympathy to those who have had a nightmare time. This thread also shows the huge spectrum of severity.
Sadly my mum died when I was 37 and I never got the chance to ask her how she found it. Have other posters found they mirrored their mums experience?

Last period at 49. Had HRT from about 48 to 54. Dreadful night sweats. Now 62. Work full time - v busy life.

I’m stiffer and heavier than I was. Need to eat less and drink less wine.” and move more. Do do pilates.

I have quite serious osteoporosis. Hereditary plus overactive thyroid v late 20s preceded by not eating properly. Have had 5 fractures in 5 years, including two vertebrae. Have had a three year course of zolendronate infusions followed by two 18 months apart then fell and badly broke my wrist and a vertebrae. Cranking up to a two year course of teriparatide, daily injections. Remarkably fit and well all things considered but very glad I have a desk job and can drive to work but still pull 10/11 hour days.

I will not less this get to me. I have had 9 days sickness absence since 2013 and had 4 days between 2003-2013.