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?

I was prone to spots around ovulation for all my adult life. In peri this then appeared as breast ulcers and was most uncomfortable and unpleasant.

My menopause lasted ten years from aged 48 to 58. Regular periods until 53 then sporadic but still there. I’m on HRT and at the moment never want to give it up. On occasions I come off the awful flushing comes back and insomnia.

Living a long time after menopause is not what the human body is designed to do. Its not drama, its evolution.

4 years post-meno and feel great tbh. Yes, bits of me are aging and slowing down but I'm no longer a slave to the hormonal rollercoaster. Debilitating monthly migraines which started when I was 13 stopped forever. Peri was bad, mainly anxiety, rage and depression, but I've come out the other side feeling reborn. No HRT, just Vagirux to keep my fanny happy. I can't tolerate alcohol or wheat anymore at all. And I lost 3 and a half stone after being fat all my life. Some of us thrive being low on oestrogen!

Well you might be fitter at 60 than you were at 30, but the majority of people aren't. There probably isn't anything that I can't do at 65 that I could at 30, but it just wouldn't be as easy to do now. People age, there is no getting away from it and while those who put in a lot of work are going to be fitter than those who don't we do slow down. I still walk everywhere, and have even done labouring work in my early 60s - but I'm sure it made me ache more than it would have done when I was 30!

So why is it quite common to see women in their 80s, 90s, and even in their 100s?? I very much doubt that these women have all been taking HRT since menopause.

I have dry eyes, ears and vagina. Take HRT pessaries which are a very low dose.
Someone asked why not just take general HRT? It is not recommended that you take it for the rest of your life. At some point you have to come off it and then all the symptoms can come back as your body adjusts to living without HRT. I would rather have it all over with.
Also amazed at people who say they are fitter at 30 than 60. That is not usual. Generally people who are fit at 60 were not lazy unfit slobs when they were 30.

Someone asked why not just take general HRT? It is not recommended that you take it for the rest of your life.

Says who?

Dry skin, hair loss, brain fog, bladder problems, repeated chronic uti, wetting myself, insomnia.

I think I'm 4 years gone. I sailed thru. Barely even noticed I was 45. But now that my daughter gets her period I get hot flashes at the same time.

My GP, who I saw last week, says she is happy to prescribe it until I'm 80.

But I'm sure people on mumsnet know better!

I do realise that HRT doesn't stop the ageing process!

All I know is that I am fit and healthy with plenty of energy (spemt yesterday loading and unloading hay bales and have no aches this morning!) and a sharp mind. I also have less anxiety and I like myself more than I did at 30. Whether any of that is due to the standard dose of HRT that I take is up for debate.

Where did you see that @Floofydawg ?

You can take it forever. I've been told that there are women on it in their 90s.

It's down to choice and your individual risks v benefits.

@Blanketyre Your GPs a bit out of date as 80 is not a cut off point any more than 60 or 70.

I think it was a figure of speech, basically saying i can take it as long as I want.

In Mumsnst you can the impression that everyone's taking HRT, and that it's foolish not to. However, in reality it's only about 15%, I believe. I know plenty of people who've never taken it, including a 95 year old, who's strong as an ox.

I know loads of older women who have never taken it. It is a personal choice. Most of my late 50s early 60s friends take it though.

I would imagine it’s more than 15% now as those figures are over 12 months old.

I doubt the increase is that significant. It will still be a minority. I'm about to turn 50 and don't feel the need for it yet. Let's see how the next few years go, though!

Never say never!
I had plans to do without but the rage wasn’t fair on me or my family.

You are never " all over it". Your vaginal atrophy will continue and your tendency to get UTIs may do too. An untreated UTI is one of the most dangerous things for an elderly patient. It's an individual choice that people have to make but there is so much misinformation out there.

Out of my close circle 4 of us are on it and 3 are not. These are women in their late 60s.

@JinglingSpringbells I can't find the quote now. I wonder if it's been removed.

Perhaps as it's inaccurate?
Look at the BMS site and the consensus statements- no time limit on HRT.
What you may find is that specialists/experts are far more flexible on this (as they know more) than most GPs.

And who knows what the 'rest of their life is'? Some women die in their 50s, others reach 90+.

I'm loving menopause so much!

I tried HRT because I have lifelong insomnia and had heard it might help. It didn't, and it made me feel oddly disconnected from myself, so I stopped.

I still carry pads, and I occasionally wear one "just in case", but the freedom of not bleeding is amazing!

The wellbeing that comes from stable hormones and the absence of a 10 day hell each month (I used to struggle with PMS) is wonderful.

I've always been dry everywhere, and this ramped up in the decade-ish long peri, so there's nothing new there for me.

The only thing I miss is the surge of hormones after a period. I would feel good and thought I looked good, I felt powerful and happy. I do still experience these in a less vibrant and stable way daily, but it felt a bit like becoming super woman for a few days each month and I don't get that hit anymore obviously.

Throughout my reproductive years I used to wake each morning to a sweaty heatwave. In peri, I had some phases of hot flushes but it wasn't as bad as it can get for others. Now in menopause, my inner temp has been left a little high, but that's ok.

Same. Have always kept active and eaten well and incorporated exercise into every day, but now a heavy day will mean I'm wiped out the next - as if someone has taken my batteries out, total power loss - it's about recovery time. Also sleep - which is disturbed by a nightly pee - if I don't get my 8 - 9, I simply cannot function and fall into depression really fast.

UTIs - after six months of the damn things this year I finally got an appointment for the GP to prescribe a course of vagirux. REALLY helped. Asked if I could have it on repeat, got referred the the 'women's health' nurse, who knew jackshit and gave me ONE more course... 🙄 So I can see I'm going to have to fight that one... or just get it from Boots (do they have to report it to your GP?)

Periods stopped at 48 when I stopped the pill - just never came back. I had about a year of hell as I plunged into meno - hair loss, got shingles, sweated through a mattress, awful anxiety... Never took systemic HRT and in any case got hormone-receptive breast cancer at 52 so that's off the table.

Weight is about the same as always but has shifted more to the belly, regardless of the diet and exercises that always used to work. I don't mind that or the wrinkles. I DO mind the joint pain. Because exercise is vital to my physical and mental health, and the pain makes it challenging... 🙁

Nice to hear something positive!