Wondering about earlyish menopause

[Pricklypearorpawpaw]

Hi all,

I'm 40. I feel like I'm going nuts. Periods have gone a bit haywire, very heavy, more irregular than before, quite limiting to my life. When I get hot I can't stop being hot. Weight more difficult to shift than before. And my mental state is horrendous. I'm forgetful, angry, sad. Having stupid rows with my husband which are mostly my fault. Today one happened in frnot of my children, which I am utterly ashamed of. I'm not myself, husband isn't dealing with it well. Maybe I'm a bit depressed? Don't know, not had that before.

I'm currently having an ovarian cyst investigated. Could it be that causing hormonal things? The cyst is nothing sinister, they've ruled that out, I'm just waiting on a gynaecology appointment to figure out what to do with it.

I just really hate how I am at the moment.

It's peri-menopause, op, and it can last for years. HRT can really help.

www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/113666670/perimenopause-lead-up-to-menopause-very-uncomfortable-and-poorly-understood

HRT sounds so, I don't know, too serious for me! But I suppose life gets serious at times. Added to my symptoms are some mentioned in that article, notably insomnia.

Are there natural alternatives, or is this something that only chemicals will fix? I'm quite generally fit and healthy, there are probably a few improvements I could make, but I don't need to overhaul my diet or exercise radically I don't think.

HRT isn't "serious", it's very necessary, especially at your age to help preserve your bone strength as you get older. There is absolutely no reason to suffer with all the symptoms you have. There are also different types of HRT. Those for peri and those for menopause. For peri, often the mini pill is adequate to make a massive difference in your life.

It just feels serious - only seems like last week I was figuring out the start of my periods!

I've got my gynaecology appointment next week. I'll bring it up with them, see what they say. My mum has osteoporosis, I'd rather do things to avoid it if I can.

With your family history of osteoporosis, you really need to investigate HRT. It also is good for preventing heart disease, especially for women like the both of us who started peri-menopause a bit on the early side.