What symptom of meno really surprised you?

[menopausalfart]

I've had most symptoms associated with perimenopause, including some really nasty ones.
The symptom that surprised me the most was the memory loss. If I don't do something the moment it enters my brain, it's gone.
I've been taking HRT, vitamins, collagen, and I exercise regularly. This symptom, along with anxiety, has stubbornly persisted.

So so many things that have already been mentioned (hot wet itchy ears..WHY! Highly recommend buying something called an ear pal that helps you have a good scratch around...and the vertigo, lack of sleep, feeling like an idiot because I forget everything and THANK GOD a few of you have mentioned the watery liquid...I mean I do already have the bladder weakness but there's def something else going on there. I live in period pants to help soak things up. And I now have a load of bumpy cysts on my cervix which make smears even more unpleasant than usual. And the lumpy bits on my vulva from some blocked glands that appear every so often - whenever I notice one when showering I still panic.

But has anyone else yet mentioned the shrinking labia (inner). Might not have been an issue except mine have always been very 'generous' so the fact one has shrunk back to just a few mm makes it all very noticeable!

Is it any wonder that as recently as the 70s women were ending up in asylums for this shit...

In my next life, I'm coming back as a man. Being a woman is marvellous and amazing in some ways - i absolutely loved pregnancy and the fact I felt at my physical peak and empowered by the massive surge of hormones - and being able to give birth is so miraculous that I still look at my 3 DC in disbelief that they came from me!

But bloody hell, we don't half suffer some absolute shite for literally DECADES as women, and it's been hell since my perimenopause symptoms started - I dread another 30 years of this crap. Men don't know how lucky they are at times.

Yup, mine was a surgical menopause (ovaries removed) tpo, so straight onto HRT which was OK until uptake was disrupted by COVID, then my temperature went all over the place and I wasn't allowed out of quarantine until it went back to normal about a month later.

Even with HRT, I had rage, memory loss, word finding difficulties and an unbearably itchy mons pubis! I had to up my HRT dose for a while but most has now settled.

I have found Dr Wolfe's vaginal moisturiser is better than the extra dose of HRT.

I have always had soft medium-brown hair with a bit of yellow in it - until I started going grey, and now I have dark brown wiry hair with grey strands. The grey I understand, and the dark wiry hair is found elsewhere in my family, but wtf?

Then I definitely have the full bingo card. My gp said 32 so I went with that but my body is happily finding new and horrible ways to rebel every day!

I've always had these strange almost wart type things in my cervix which are horrible and quite painful, even before perimenopause. I remember a GP telling me that they were the same as warts but just up there 😳🙈😳 And they're quite delicate and sensitive too. I could get them cauterised but I'm too scared lol 😆

Rage
Crippling anxiety

Thank God for HRT - I felt so sorry for my poor family.

The insane periods that last weeks which made me worry I had cancer.

The leakage and not being able to leave the house because needed to change pad many times an hour.

Joint pain, thinning hair and weak nails, dry skin, instant anger over silly things and the memory loss is horrendous. I really hate my fat belly and overall weight. I was always slim and the same weight. Even after my first child, the weight just came off. Now I have a huge belly, I actually look pregnant. I lost about a stone recently over several months then in about three weeks, put it back on. I was eating normally and it just piled on. I know it sounds like vanity but nothing fits anymore and it makes me sad.
I’m also terrified of vaginal atrophy and I think it’s happening to me.
my periods are still as regular as clockwork and I’m well into my 50’s.
I try to look on the bright side as a rule but it gets me down sometimes

Christ. I have this, too. Never imagined it could be related to peri-menopause. But it makes sense.

Other stuff:
• frozen shoulder (both of them - intensely painful and debiliatating)
• anxiety
• starting to store fat under armpits (on a slim build)
• very dry feet
• cystic acne (having never really had it as a teenager)
• forgetting very familiar words and even correct spellings
• sweat during exercise starting to smell masculine, somehow
• piles (badly wish this wasn't the case, but it is – never had them before)
• UTIs

This list could be longer, unfortunately.

The memory loss and brain fog. I was doing a degree (after separating from my DH and desperately hoping it wasn’t too late to have a career of my own). College and entry exams were a breeze. Term work, assignments and tests went really well. End of year exams - like someone rubbed a whiteboard rubber across my brain. I sat there in tears, looking at the questions, thinking “I know this” while being unable to grab onto anything substantial in the fog swirling in my brain.
Lots of other things … but that, that is the absolute worst symptom. I’m happy now, but I’ll never get my degree, never have a career, and I’ll never be richer than “just surviving”.

I think I've been quite lucky but very sad I don't sleep well anymore, I was always very good at it.
I also have hot flashes, anxiety, brain fog, itchy skin, disappearing eyebrows and cant-be-arsed-ness

I don't have a medical background but a very painful shoulder with reduced shoulder arm mobility is likely to be frozen shoulder (aka adhesive capsulitis). Definitely worth pushing your dr to get a proper diagnosis. I had it on both shoulders, in succession. After finally getting diagnosed, I had steroid injections, which helped resolve it. Worth checking out as, untreated, frozen shoulder can last up to 24 months. The sooner you get it treated, the better your recovery will be.

Restless legs can be a symptom of magnesium deficiency (prompted by metabolic changes that happen during perimenopause/menopause). I've found ReMag Liquid Magnesium supplement really effective, barely get them anymore – it's expensive, but I only need a couple of drops a day, so it lasts ages. The pico-ionic formulation makes it easier for your body to absorb than tablets/powder. It also resolved my heart palpitations (one of magnesium's roles is regulation of muscle function, hence the restless legs/heart palpitations when you don't have enough of it). Friends have also found that it improved sleep (another role that magnesium has). You can find it on Amazon or from Botanica Health.

Yep ..something to do with what happens to the muscle and ligaments aroubd the shoulder causes issues. There's a good pod cast from diary of a CEO where he talks to a doctor re menopause....well worth a listen x

Post meno uterine polyps. Two hysteroscopies, polypectomies and biopsies under GA (all well).

Note - if you have been without a period for a year then you suddenly get the smallest show of blood, call the doctor and say 'post menopausal bleeding'. You must be put on the two week pathway for tests (though 9/10 cases are not cancer).

Itching. Bastard itching. Skin everywhere including inside ears. Mixing a blodge of rich unscented body lotion with a blodge of baby oil in your hand and slathering it on really helps (not in ears!).

Also more sensitive to cheap metal - had a nasty reaction to the rivets attaching the pockets & belt loops of my jeans!!

Earwax problem getting worse. Now can't get on NHS here so have to pay £60-90.

Tinnitus, possibly caused by earwax irrigations since I was in my 20s.

Eyelashes getting brittle and sparse.

Eyes constantly streaming especially in cold weather and going into different temperatures. (Dry eyes?)

Shoulder pain - yes, two bouts of adhesive capsulitis, aka frozen shoulder. Sometimes called in Japan '50 year old woman's shoulder' because it's so common. Vile.

Spots. Still getting fucking spots.

Anyone else get a libido surge around 50 ish? Didn't last but omg it was fun.

A plus - at 62 I'm now free of the godawful hot flushes and sweats, and the anxiety and dread.

Part 2 ....

Watery vag!! Yes! What is that?! Been noticing that more recently.

Feet look like they could belong to a rhino.

Hands look like they are older than I am.

One tooth fell in half while I was having lunch at work.

My libido falling off a cliff.

I have always had an average to high libido. And then, almost literally overnight....nothing.

All my hot flushes and sleep disturbances happened early in my menopause. No real memory loss above "oh who was that woman in Dinnerladies" level stuff, nothing else at all. But the libido thing was a real shock. Especially when I was (note....was) in a relationship with a man 5 years youngers (46) who had a sex drive that matched mine. So that became a big problem.

That was when I got more sympathy for his ex wife. She was 35 when he left her, and he was unhappy about the lack of sex. She wasnt happy about him trying and called him a sex pest. Then I had my menopause and he became the same to me. When I said that he said "You sound like X after her hysterectomy!" Turned out, she had a radical hysterectomy at 31 due to endo, so went through meno. I lost my shit and we are not longer together, my choice not his! I sent him an email pointing out that unless he wants to be the sad saggy 70 year old chasing 25 year olds, he needs to start educating himself about womens bodies further than their tits and genitals, but I doubt it made a difference.

Sorry to pull you up on this but from freezing to recovered, up to 5 years is considered normal. Only after that will you be considered for surgery. Steroids can work but dont always work. I had mine for 4.5 years from start to finish. Luckily I had teen DDs who would help me put my hair in a pony tail and do my bra up for me!

I saw an osteopath for my frozen shoulder which helped enormously and I was back to normal in 10 months.

Currently getting some spotting - I’ve had to stop my oestrogel 2 months ago, which I thought stopped it. It’s come back and I’m terrified they will take my patches off me.

So many of these symptoms mentioned have been an issue for me - the weight gain is driving me potty. I joined WeightWatchers a week ago (I’ve used this after two pregnancies - it worked like a dream), and I did not shift a single pound. I stuck to it too! The weight just keeps creeping up and it’s so frustrating. Even with regular exercise!!!

Insomnia - note the time of post.

Itchy ears!!!
Dry skin - my feet are in constant need of buckets of cream.
Forgetting words.
Lack of confidence.
I’m not on HRT because nothing is awful but then I worry I should be.
Worrying.

magnesium glycinate has helped mine and i think it’s helped my joint achaea and pains too. My hips aren’t as uncomfortable etc.

Joint pain everywhere - even in my feet! Hobbling like an old woman. And anxiety on steroids. Horrific.

@NooNakedJacuzzinessI had to have physio and it helped, but it just seems incredibly fragile. It doesn’t hurt as much but the whole joint feels off.

@BestZebbiethese hair things are so weird! It’s made me feel like a different person as my easy to manage straight hair was a part of my identity. It was super long and I’ve had to cut about 8 inches off as it’s just weird and fluffy now.