So who would knows about perimenopause and menopause then .. and how come we aren't taught / don't discuss in advance

[Twiglett]

OK I'm 40 so possibly in reach of the perimenopause which I understand can start 10 years before the menopause

I've had a bug that is also giving me hot sweats, I've also been raging more than normal

I've ordered a book that has been recommended to me but I know nothing

(much as I knew nothing about my cycle 'til I read Toni Weschler's book)

A very good year, Saggers

WWB, have you got fibroids?

Apparently I have a couple of small fibroids. Plus I suspect perimenopause too.

Have been having horribly long (like six weeks long) periods, gradually getting worse over nine months or so. Have been taking Norethisterone but it turns me into some mad psycho bitch that I don't like very much! Gynae suggested a choice between carrying on with the Norethisterone, having a Mirena coil, or a Novasure ablation - he was keen on the Mirena (I'm not!) but thinks that I'll end up having the ablation at a later date anyway, even if I had the Mirena.

Have been booked in for a couple of weeks but the gynae didn't give me a lot of information.

Thought of us all today as I saw The Book People have a book on eating to help you through the menopause, hang on

here you go well, here WE go, I should say.

My amazon order came today with the book I was recommended

Have only read first few pages and it seems absolutely fab

for your delectation and delight:

The Wisdom of Menopause: Dr Christiane Northrup

"As my cylic nature rewired iteslef, I put all my significant relationships under a microscope, began to heal the unfinished business from my past, experienced the first pangs of empty nest, and established an entirely new and exciting relationship with my creativity and vocation"

"in additoin to the hormonal shift that means an end to childbearing, our bodies - and, specifically, our nervous systems - are being, quite literally rewired. It's as simple as this: our brains are changing. A woman's thoughts, her ability to focus and the amount fo fuel going to the intuitive centres in the temporal lobes of her brainall are plugged into, and affected by, the circuits being rewired. After working with thousands of woman who have gone through this process, as well as experiencing it myself, I can say with great assurance that menopause is an exciting developmental stage - one that, when participated in consciously, holds enormous promise for tranforming and healing our bodies, minds and spirits at the deepest level"

great thread.
reminds me of a funny joke, well funny cos i am 8 years off 50.

why don't 50 year old women have babies.
cos they can't remember where they put them!

ha ha.

i think hitting 40 and things do start to go wrong in your body. never thought about the perimenopause though. i think the menopause is a big enough milestone without anything peri about it

Ooh Twiglett - that does sound wonderfully positive.

Oh shit.

I spent half of last year traipsing (exhaustedly of course) round Bupa specialists before having bunfight and giving up when they tried to diagnose me with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. That was bad enough.... I have 28 of the 34 symptoms and I'm only 41.

And as for "enormous promise for tranforming and healing our bodies, minds and spirits at the deepest level"?...my arse. How the hell am I going to seduce Alan Rickman with a fanjo as dry as a Jacob's cracker?

My name is Oxymandias. Gaze at my shrinking labia and despair.

LOL Squiffy. I am not feeling very positive reading that Twiglett. Not sure how I am meant to cope with a 2 year old and 4 year old whilst my brain re-wires itself. I am frightened!! Was going to finish up the Christmas cheese and biscuits tonight, not sure I can look the Jacobs crackers in the face now Squiffy.

So anyway, there I was, last night, unable to sleep (symptom number 16 or whatever) and I couldn't get this ruddy thread out of my head, especially the suggestion that Jamie Oliver is the man to guide us out of this crisis. Was so bored I spent a wee while trying to imagine a menopause guide as written by Jamie Oliver......

"...So then you just chunk up some mushrooms and bung in a blender. And - if you're feeling flush (arf, arf) - you can toss in some fresh truffle as well, 'cos we're all aiming for a nice musty fragrance, ladies, to mask those little accidents. Chuck in some olive oil - not virgin of course (arf, arf) - and wazz it all together. And there you go, a beaut of a lubricant for you, girls. Just spread it all over what's left of your lady garden and up your nookie. Keeps you fresh and fragrant. And him indoors will be chomping his laughing gear round your bits in no time"....

pmsl (symptom no. 34) squiffy. Sounds far too interesting to use for that - can we not just use it as pasta sauce?

I am slightly put out I posted on this thread now..as someone picked it up on another thread and accused me of being in a menopausal rage

I haven't found rage at all something that I have experienced in fact

[Squiff dear, word in your ear - Alan Rickman, not a tree worth barking up. If you're a lady that is, as you quite clearly are]

Ooo Bink. Is he 'on the other bus' as my mum would say? I never knew that.

PMSL at Squiffy.

lol at Squiffy and Wags (did you used to be someone else on here? )

I don't want my brian rewired either, sob

Bink, for Alan Rickman, I am prepared to tolerate certain levels of questionable behaviour... to a point (Lord Copper)...I guess it would depend upon whether - in his particular case of wrong buses - we are talking about Mr Rickman being a postman, or a letterbox? I think we should be told....

First re Alan Rickman; I bumped into him in the street in Stratford, wearing the MOST dashing army greatcoat, and being an ACTOR, when he was there with, if memory serves, Harriet Walter, Juliet Stevenson, Fiona Shaw...another year Kenneth Branagh and Brian Blessed were having a chat when I stopped and said to BB, Oh Hi! How are you? I've not seen you for ages!...he agreed....asked I was doing......I thought I knew him in RL, suddenly realised, went purple and rushed off!!

Now, why can I remember all that as though it was yesterday? When it WAS yesterday, ie Friday 11/01/08, I spent the entire day having to retrace my steps, back to the kitchen or upstairs, to work out what the hell I was doing?

And last night DNeice was in crisis re essay on Marxism and the law and rang to ask for help! HELP! I can barely string two sentences together!

Anyway, why did I want this thread; goes to kitchen...bathroom...looks in mirror AAARGH!

Any recommendations for a skin cream that does 'lifting and tightening'? After shingles and stress, my ability to bounce back has hit my face?

I can treat myself so would appreciate any advice?

Squiff, I do not at all want detail on preferences ... imagine if you got the wrong answer. Just imagine. No, don't.

But one does gather that he yes not unacquainted with Dorothy. Or indeed Kylie.

Must definitely do something on this. Menopause, not Mr Rickman.

Is that do something about it work-wise MI?Or do something about the actual menopause because if it's the actual menopause then I doubt there's much you can do. Bar top yourself when you hit 45.

God my hip is giving me jip today. I am fallin apart. Seriously.

Falling apart. Bugger finishing sentences I can't even cope with words.

Work-wise. In the hope this will constitute Preparation.

I am going to be 45 in June, you know. Although actually I don't agree that Everything Falls Apart After 40. My eyes are definitely doing fally-aparty things, but the rest seems to be holding out OK.

Hey guys (or, no doubt, that should be CRONES)

I am 45.

So there. Funnily enough, it's my eyes that are doing fall-aparty things too. Otherwise, dh brightly remarked, without engaging his brain (well, he's 46, you have to make allowances) the other day that my hands were looking old. (Luckily this does not bother me.)

Bink, all eyes do fally-aparty things after 40. Interesting and depressing things, eyes.