So many symptoms-outcomes?

[Frustrated55]

Hi, I guess I am asking a question no one knows the answer to…i am in peri, been having so many symptoms over time. It’s just one thing after another. And my perimenopause journey has been lasting years, can’t see when it’s going to end.

Does so many symptoms indicate I have bad health? I thought I was relatively healthy….
Also does so many symptoms mean I am in for a long list of health problems post menopause? I am asking an impossible question to answer really. Guess I am just asking for other people’s experiences that are now long past the menopause. Thanks for hearing me out

I’m 55 and started in peri menopause at about 37/8. I went through using the pill to control symptoms them pill form Hrt and latterly gel and Mirena. That was the most successful.

hrt once I found the right one, most worked for a couple of years…really helped my symptoms of night sweats, rage, anxiety…but the progesterone made me very depressed. The Mirena didn’t give me any problems.

I’ve come off HRT now and crossed fingers,apart from some hot flushes, I feel much better and more like old me.

ithink what I’m trying to say is hang on in there it gets better!

It all depends if the symptoms are peri-related or something else.
What are they?

Typical peri and post meno symptoms are usually helped by HRT.

HRT also gives long term protection to the heart and bones if you use it for several years.

To answer another part of your question, some health issues are caused by the menopause and being post menopause means women are stuck with them and need other drugs for life (eg osteoporosis and heart disease.)

There are some experts who believe women should use hrt for life or at least until they are 70 or 80 to avoid many illnesses that estrogen will protect women from.

Im post menopause now at last - aged 59

I started with symptoms in my early 40's - flushes for a long time before I noticed anything else. Probably in my 50's the rages and the tears and then came the extreme anxiety and brain fog.and sore joints The only medical intervention was having a mirena and Sertraline prescribed. The Mirena was removed this year, the Sertraline Ive been off for a year

I was advised to start to walk in my mid 50's to help with the night sweats, and that really helped, eased the sweats and gave my head some peace. I found walking has been very beneficial to my mental and physical health and Ive kept it up, I walk up to five miles a day most days and I no longer suffer with the joint pain

Also have dealt mostly with the middle aged spread, still a belly but the BMI is back to middle of normal range and I eat a pretty well balanced diet, very few UPF's, lots of fruit and veg and lean meats. Cutting the white carbs has really helped me, white bread just bloats me and makes me feel slugish so now if I want pasta or bread its wholemeal.

I actually feel fitter now heading into my 60's then I ever did in my 40/50's and my body stats back that up. Cholestrol is down to a more normal range - still a tad high but Im not being pushed to take statins any more , my VO2 max is in the top 30% for my age range and metabolic age is 55. So for me its about keeping active and keeping an eye on my diet

Post menopause , I have to battle chin hair and I can not get away without slapping on the moisturiser and I probably do spend a bit more time and money on skin care, but my skin is clearer then its ever been. The greasy hair and skin thats plagued me all my life is more "normal" now . The menopause is certainly a huge change and it can feel so debilitating and "so this is how life is going to be now on" but you do get through it and out the other side and for most women relatively unscathed.

That's all good @suki1964 but playing Devil's advocate a little, medical information (by drs) says there is no 'other side' to menopause. Being without estrogen is a life-long state, with risks.

The ups and downs of peri - flushes etc- may settle down eventually (but not for all women who have them for life, I've been told) but in their place come the more serious risks of bone loss and heart disease which only increase with age, and other long term effects on bladder and pelvic floor including vaginal atrophy. (These can be helped with local estrogen.)

I'm not disagreeing with your lifestyle changes but sadly many women do get to their 60s and older and start creaking, breaking bones, becoming diabetic etc and not associating it with being post- meno.

@JinglingSpringbells sounds like it’s all downhill with health issues without HRT then?
I am not against using HRT. I just haven’t used it yet and I don’t know if I will use it in future…I haven’t ruled it out.
As for symptoms I have had most symptoms that have been mentioned online that are common perimenopause symptoms. I would say the worst symptom so far for me is the digestive problems-bloating, wind, stomach pain etc. Comes and goes over the years but has been bad recently but ok at the moment through cutting out certain foods. Apart from that I have had numerous symptoms such as period flooding, anxiety, irritable, feeling like having an elastic band around my head, nausea, hot flushes, tingling/burning skin, palpitations, dry mouth/eyes, achy joints, nose bleeds etc etc. I have been to docs occasionally for some of the symptoms and have had tests but nothing comes back in results, so none of these symptoms are signs of anything else, so must be just peri related.

Thanks to all for your comments on how you are doing post menopause. Good to get an insight into what life is like after menopause

@Frustrated55 I'd not say it's all downhill without hrt, but what I'd say is it all depends on your genes and family history.

Like a lot of things, it needs to be individualised treatment.

Some women manage fine with no hrt.

My friends who haven't used HRT tend to be super-active ( loads of exercise- not the gym but other things), eat really healthily and generally are health- conscious.) I definitely don't criticise them for not using hrt.

I have other friends who, despite doing most of this, had slightly earlier menopause and are suffering with loss of bone density and fractures.

If someone has a family history of CVD, maybe osteoporosis, or have other risk factors, then maybe they should think about hrt either for protection or to help peri symptoms.

If you have tummy symptoms, have you had all of those checked out?
At worst it could be serious bowel issues or ovarian tumours - not wanting to scare you but better to know the symptoms and be checked.

Or you could see a specialised dietician to help with elimination diets (eg FODMAP.)

@JinglingSpringbells ah ok, thanks for clarifying. I don’t know at this stage regarding taking HRT or not. I just want to see what happens.

Yes everyone is different and so are their menopause journeys. I was just kind of wanting to hear other’s experiences post menopause. It just feels one symptom after another for me and still not past the peri stage so feels frustrating.

Regarding the stomach problems, yes I also get health anxiety with every symptom that drags on for a long time so those thoughts did cross my mind. But since cutting out cow’s milk and less carbs, the symptoms have gone/ or some days much less stomach problems. I don’t know if have some kind of lactose intolerance or whether cutting certain foods out, help with those stomach issues to do with peri. 🤔

Im so glad @JinglingSpringbells has come back and clarified. In my peer group, where I am the youngest, the only person who is pre diabetic is a male who does diddly squat in the way of self care

I seriously must have 30 or more women, older then myself , on my radar, and not one of them is pre - or diabetic. Nor do I know a single person who has problems with brittle bones

My peer group, we have all gotten of our arses and worked on oulseves. The only woman I know in my circle who is using HRT ( SIL ) is to be quite honest another one who is veg and exercise phobic,

which is why I say most of us women get through the other side without a problem , and I say that due to what I see. Im not some rich bitch living a glorified life, Im working class,, eat the typical diet, like a pint at the weekends , and thats what I see around me

@suki1964 Sadly no matter how much we take care of ourselves (and I do) for some of us, the symptoms postmenopausally off HRT are debilitating. My menopause was as the result of surgery to remove both ovaries, and I can tell you that 'the other side' without estrogen replacement has been truly grim. I've now restarted HRT and won't be stopping it.

@suki1964 What I've posted isn't my own opinion but medical facts. It's not simply anecdotal.

1 in 2 women over 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis. Lifestyle can help prevent bone loss but on its own it's not enough for many women.

If you'd like see the medical facts, there is an excellent video by Prof John Stevenson on the British Menopause Society website under TV on the menu system.

Your peer group won't know what their bone density is unless they are having DEXA scans.

In the UK these are only done after there is a fracture (for women post menopause) or if women pay for them privately.

And, sadly, many women don't find out until they are in their 60s or 70s, break a hip or wrist and are semi disabled afterwards.

The Royal Osteoporosis Society has an excellent website with all the facts and figures. Post meno bone loss can be 5% a year for several years. All the exercise in the world can't replace all of that. (Prof Stevenson explains why.)

It's not as simple as 'getting off your arse'.
Those women may eventually discover they do have bone loss - it's not visible, is it? Over 1000 women a month die from complications of hip fractures.

Ideally, the NHS should be doing dexa scans like they offer smears and mammograms but they don't and fractures cost the NHS £2 BILLION a year.

I don't know if you are in the UK, but screening for diabetes isn't done regularly, so again, not sure how your peers know one way or the other.

HRT isn't prescribed to prevent diabetes, that would be ridiculous! But in the research papers it does say it reduces the risk, along with heart disease, bone loss, bowel cancer and possibly dementia.

We can only make choices on the facts and our own preference, and genes.