What is post menopause like?

[DustyLee123]

For those of you who are post menopause and not on HRT, what is it like? Do you still get some symptoms or have they gone now?

Dry mainly. Dry skin, dry hair, dry everywhere! I no longer get huge bursts of heat but am completely intolerant of any kind of warm environment.

Completely gone.

Accelerated ageing on the outside.... so probably on the inside too.....
Muscle pain- but that unfortunately is looking like it might be fibromyalgia- poor sleep and a touch of brain fog- not enough to try HRT. No hot flushes/ night sweats/ moods swings etc. 4+ years

Very occasional hot flushes and I have oestrogen pessaries (not systemic HRT), but otherwise brilliant. DEXA scan in my late 40s (menopause was 45) showed I have bones like a mammoth! Should be OK on that front till 90+.

There's no such thing as post menopause - once you've got through perimenopause you're in menopause forever (the hormones don't come back, unless you replace them with hrt)

Post menopause, as in no more periods - my last period was 17 years ago, but I started with menopause symptoms 7 years prior to that. I was still getting hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog etc up to a few weeks ago, but not quite as severe or frequent, that I finally made an appointment to see the menopause nurse at my GP surgery in August. I was armed with all the info to back up wanting HRT at the age of nearly 67, but after a very thorough appointment came away with sprays and tablets. 5 weeks in and most symptoms have eased if not gone. Review is next month.
My mum had menopause symptoms till the day she passed away at 81.

I'm 10 years since I went through the menopause, ie had my last period, and I feel OK. It didn't just stop, the symptoms faded away over the years.

I'm 60 and it's been 7 years since my last period, never had hrt. My main symptoms were dreadful night sweats and hot flushes all throughout the day. Those stopped about 5 years ago.
I agree with pp about dryness of skin, hair, nails, everything. I cannot stand being in a hot environment but I'm also fat so that doesn't help. I also find that when I'm too hot I sweat a lot from my head which didn't happen before.
I also don't sleep very well in that I wake up in the night, I can easily get back to sleep but wake several times.

This. Why wouldn't you take HRT if there is nothing preventing you from doing so? It has so many health benefits.

But doesn't your body adjust to having less/no oestrogen, and everything balances out? Different (drier) but level and better? Reading lots of these posts, it seems it does for most.

Because the thought of being on regular medication again after years of taking contraceptive hormones is depressing.
I don't want to have to stress about booking doctors appointments and not knowing if my symptoms are caused by them or me. Not really keen on going back to having periods of some sort either.

I have seriously thought about it but getting an appointment to see my GP is such a ball ache I don't bother.

I’ve booked an appointment with my GP to discuss HRT because I’m so tired of joint and muscle pain. And the dryness. I want to be C3PO sitting in an oil bath. I recently joined some friends for a short break in Munich and was so embarrassed that I couldn’t keep up with them, at 56!

@AndThereSheGoes if you're not having periods now, taking hrt won't suddenly make you start having them.

My Mum had hot flushes right into her 80s, and insomnia and night sweats.

There is no common experience. Everyone is different.
My consultant says that some women have these symptoms forever (without HRT.)

My Mum asked for hrt in her 60s (decades ago) and was refused as being too old.

@AndThereSheGoes You don't need to be 'going to the drs'. Legally, there is an annual review the same as for all prescribed meds. You wouldn't have periods- post meno women can use bleed-free HRT.

No. Your body ages in ways you can't see like loss of bone density and an increase in heart disease risk so it doubles that of men's.

The women who say they feel okay are not aware of changes that they can't see and would only be identified with scans etc.

1:2 women get osteoporosis and 100,000 die from complications of it every year.

Looking at my Mum's friends, all in their early 80s, almost all of them have osteoporosis, (discovered after breaking a hip) .

@ISeriouslyDoubtIt I also sweat from the head and face, that never happened before meno.

I'm 60, just taking topical HRT which seems very effective at sorting some local discomfort; no other symptoms to speak of. Was experiencing fatigue and diagnosed with insufficient Vitamin D but a fairly hefty supplement seems to be sorting that out so I don't think it was down to menopause.

Two years period free 🙌 apart from some aching legs at night and an extra stubborn stone around the middle, and maybe more colds ( although may not be related) I feel better than I did for the previous ten years.no hrt

@JinglingSpringbells Maybe, but at some point it just becomes 'ageing', surely? I'm wondering how much of those risks you mention could be mitigated by exercise, diet and supplements. I'm not anti-hrt and I use it myself, but I hope that by age 60 or so I might be through the worst of the symptoms and able to wean off it.

This is me .
I sailed through menopause but now at 59 feel worse than ever . I feel like my body has aged 20yrs overnight and don't get me started on the tiredness/ lack of motivation.

How is taking daily medication depressing?

Do you not have a system in the Uk to call for a repeat script without the need to see the doctor each time.

But to get to age 80 without a broken hip or if not needing a replacement is not at all uncommon.
80! I mean seriously!
Usually if you feel unwell you are given a scan anyway give the likelyness of these condtions...fgs.

For me, much the same as pre-menopause, just without the need for contraception or sanpro.

The only other thing that changed was I can no longer eat white wheat products or upfs, or drink much alcohol. As long as I eat a simple, very healthy diet, lots of fruit & veg I'm fine.

I think some of them can be improved with diet/exercise etc, It’s 3 years since my last period. I exercise, take supplants and have a good diet but they’re not enough of themselves to make the difference I need so I take HRT too

That's not what the menopause expert said who gave the training/awareness session at my workplace. She said that menopause is a one-off event, generally agreed to be the day 1 year after you had your last period. After that you are post-menopausal.