Experience with menopause?

[CAMom]

Hi All~

 

I'll be 47 in June and I think I'm starting the process.  :tongue_smilie:

 

Would some of you who are going through it or have gone through it care to comment on what types of symptoms you have experienced? 

 

I haven't had hot flashes (my mom said she never experienced a hot flash). My cycle has definitely changed. Mostly, I am feeling it emotionally and through exhaustion. Some days I just go from feeling irritated to feeling sad in 2.5 seconds. :lol: I haven't felt like that since the PMS days of my early 20's. 

 

I'm also just so tired I can't see straight. When I wake up in the morning, I start counting down the time until I can take a nap. ;) I'm used to feeling like that a day or two before my cycle starts but it seems like it's all the time now. 

 

Are these typical menopause symptoms? How did you manage them and what other symptoms did you experience?

[Pawz4me]

Have you had your thyroid tested?  I blamed overwhelming fatigue on menopause for way, way too long before I went to the doctor and found out my thyroid had pretty much conked out.  I can't say that type of fatigue isn't common for late 40's/early 50's women.  It probably is.  But for me it was thyroid, and once I was medicated it went away.

[Scarlett]

You need a full work up. Have them check your hormone levels, thyroid and vitamin D levels. That crashing fatigue for me ended up being Vit D being low. And it happened this time of the year.

 

My biggest actual menopausal symptom was the anxiety. I could feel it crawling up my body into my scalp. I took hormones for 5 years but stopped them about a year ago and I am dealing fine now.

[CAMom]

Have you had your thyroid tested?  I blamed overwhelming fatigue on menopause for way, way too long before I went to the doctor and found out my thyroid had pretty much conked out.  I can't say that type of fatigue isn't common for late 40's/early 50's women.  It probably is.  But for me it was thyroid, and once I was medicated it went away.

 

I do have an underactive thyroid. I'm due to have it tested again in the next couple of weeks. :)

[CAMom]

You need a full work up. Have them check your hormone levels, thyroid and vitamin D levels. That crashing fatigue for me ended up being Vit D being low. And it happened this time of the year.

 

My biggest actual menopausal symptom was the anxiety. I could feel it crawling up my body into my scalp. I took hormones for 5 years but stopped them about a year ago and I am dealing fine now.

 

You know, I haven't been taking my Vit D supplement lately and we haven't had much sun here in the PNW this winter. I'll start taking it.

 

My anxiety came out of no where when I turned 40. I've been taking something for it for about 5 years. I can feel crawling like you could, too.

[freesia]

You need a full work up. Have them check your hormone levels, thyroid and vitamin D levels. That crashing fatigue for me ended up being Vit D being low. And it happened this time of the year.

 

My biggest actual menopausal symptom was the anxiety. I could feel it crawling up my body into my scalp. I took hormones for 5 years but stopped them about a year ago and I am dealing fine now.

Yes on the Vitamin D.

 

My biggest is also anxiety and waking at 4am and not being able to fall asleep again. I take L-theanine, which helps.

[Scarlett]

You know, I haven't been taking my Vit D supplement lately and we haven't had much sun here in the PNW this winter. I'll start taking it.

 

My anxiety came out of no where when I turned 40. I've been taking something for it for about 5 years. I can feel crawling like you could, too.

 

It is the one thing I can't tolerate...the crawling on my skin. I feel like I am losing my mind. I think it was the worst when my levels were still bouncing...once they were leveled out and I was done the anxiety subsided.

 

I think the fatigue is unrelated...and now that I know it is Vit D I notice it arrives like clockwork in January and February. I give myself permission to lay in the pool an hour per day from late April until late September....and I can tell a HUGE difference in how I feel.

[Scarlett]

Yes on the Vitamin D.

 

My biggest is also anxiety and waking at 4am and not being able to fall asleep again. I take L-theanine, which helps.

Oh yeah the not being able to sleep...forgot about that.....I take .5 adavan per night....but still wake up at 3 or 4 many nights. I never heard of L-theanine. Going to check into that.

[Guest]

Many women are blindsided by menopause. It can be a lot more than just hot flashes. Anxiety and crashing fatigue are common. Have you talked to your doctor about HRT yet?

 

I would encourage you to keep an open mind based on my own experience going without. If there is cancer in your family, it might be from unopposed estrogen or doses that we now know are too high to be safe. Your doctor can advise you about this better than a stranger on the internet.

 

< warm smiles >

Edited January 27, 2016 by Guest