If you're close to menopause but not quite there yet, do you ever have everyday "scares" that makes you think that you've hit it? For that matter why does one even "hit" menopause? Is it like a brick wall or a baseball or something?
Is that gas, my period, or menopause?
05/20/2012
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It is worse that a brick wall!! Try gravitational cyclone. I hit menopause at 23 after my hysterectomy--I have NOTHING left, no ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix or lymph nodes in the groin area. I also refuse to take hormones due to the elevated cancer risk they add. I was a mess due to being so young and going through it "alone" at that age. I had friends, etc. but none old enough to help or advise me. Good luck for when you do go through it, you can message me for coping and other info if you would like, I would be happy to talk about it.
05/20/2012
I've gone into slightly premature peri-menopause. Mine started naturally (although early in my life for whatever reason) by hot flashes, periods closer together, night sweats, mood swings etc.
It's been fairly slow and not progressing much. I still get a period every month. In the last 3 years, I skip one period a year. I had my hormones tested (because I was starting to have issues having orgasms after a year or two) and my estrogen was a little low, but not drastically so. Enough so that I couldn't stand not having orgasms or taking an hour or so to have them.
I have gone on intravaginal estrogen cream and a small amount of progesterone for the first 10 days after my period. Every women needs to look at the research and her own symptoms and make her own decisions about Hormone Replacement Therapy. When I was simply having hot flashes and night sweats, I refused hormone replacement. However, when I began to have difficulty with orgasms, and mood swings which effected the people I LOVE, I decided I needed to do something, so I changed my mind and accepted a low dose of estrogen cream and a small dose of progesterone pill.
Few women who don't have hysterectomies simply stop menstruating and some women will take 10 years or more to go through peri-menopause naturally.
Surgical menopause (as js went through) is much different than naturally occuring perimenopause, and the symptoms are much different. During peri-menopause (the years when your estrogen levels gradually drop) most women will still have periods for many years, but have increasing peri-menopausal symptoms.
Menopause is actually a state when one's ovaries are completely non-functioning and the woman has gone at least one year without a period. This could take 10 years or more of peri-menopause until full menopause occurs.
Once you have gone a full year without a period and your blood work has shown that it is indeed hormonal, you are considered Post Menopausal. Most women don't reach this stage until at least several years of peri-menopausal symptoms.
Few women simply go into full menopause with no warning. Usually the first few years of peri-menopause your blood work will appear "normal" usually your blood work doesn't show a drop in estrogen and progesterone for several years into peri-menopause. Women are often still fertile until their periods stop completely, and a few women still occasionally ovulate after their periods have ended. It is always prudent to use birth control when experiencing peri-menopausal symptoms as the drop in hormones effect your eggs and becoming pregnant could lead to complications in the pregnancy and a rise in trisomies (chromosomal) disorders in the fetuses.
It's been fairly slow and not progressing much. I still get a period every month. In the last 3 years, I skip one period a year. I had my hormones tested (because I was starting to have issues having orgasms after a year or two) and my estrogen was a little low, but not drastically so. Enough so that I couldn't stand not having orgasms or taking an hour or so to have them.
I have gone on intravaginal estrogen cream and a small amount of progesterone for the first 10 days after my period. Every women needs to look at the research and her own symptoms and make her own decisions about Hormone Replacement Therapy. When I was simply having hot flashes and night sweats, I refused hormone replacement. However, when I began to have difficulty with orgasms, and mood swings which effected the people I LOVE, I decided I needed to do something, so I changed my mind and accepted a low dose of estrogen cream and a small dose of progesterone pill.
Few women who don't have hysterectomies simply stop menstruating and some women will take 10 years or more to go through peri-menopause naturally.
Surgical menopause (as js went through) is much different than naturally occuring perimenopause, and the symptoms are much different. During peri-menopause (the years when your estrogen levels gradually drop) most women will still have periods for many years, but have increasing peri-menopausal symptoms.
Menopause is actually a state when one's ovaries are completely non-functioning and the woman has gone at least one year without a period. This could take 10 years or more of peri-menopause until full menopause occurs.
Once you have gone a full year without a period and your blood work has shown that it is indeed hormonal, you are considered Post Menopausal. Most women don't reach this stage until at least several years of peri-menopausal symptoms.
Few women simply go into full menopause with no warning. Usually the first few years of peri-menopause your blood work will appear "normal" usually your blood work doesn't show a drop in estrogen and progesterone for several years into peri-menopause. Women are often still fertile until their periods stop completely, and a few women still occasionally ovulate after their periods have ended. It is always prudent to use birth control when experiencing peri-menopausal symptoms as the drop in hormones effect your eggs and becoming pregnant could lead to complications in the pregnancy and a rise in trisomies (chromosomal) disorders in the fetuses.
05/20/2012
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Unique posters: 3