Perimenopause Anyone?

[curvacious_lust]

Yeah...that explains a LOT of what is going on with me the past few months. I talked with my mom yesterday and she told me she was in full blown menopause at 40. I have less than 2 years to get there.

SOOOOOOOOO....anyone going thru this or have great hints for me?? I do see my OB/GYN in 2 weeks but no way in HELL am I going on fake hormones.

[nosleepnmesa]

Well CL. I had a hysterectomy so I have to say I didn't have the pleasures of all that. The hysterectomy wasn't by my choice but was medically ness. I take fake hormones one for the Tyroid I don't have and of course since I have had a complete hysterectomy I have to take wonderful fun estrogen pills which I am not very good at taking Let me tell you my hubby sure knows when I have forgotten.

Sorry hun not much advice for ya there. I am sure others will have great advice. Nice to see you after not seeing so long on the forum you went MIA. Nice to have you back.

[clewing]

There are a number of great OTC aids out there. Phytoestrogen (plant estrogen) helped the menopause symptoms immensely, but has soy in it, so I quit taking it when I learned that soy products counter act with thyroid medication. I was having a really difficult time with heavy, long bleeding and my doctor had run all sorts of tests and exams to show that there wasn't anything "wrong," but was talking about a hysterectomy. A friend at work told me about an herbal remedy that would help. I can't remember the name of it, but my husband went to get it at the health food store I was told had it. They no longer carried it, but he talked with the women that worked there (they told him he was a saint to be so concerned and willing to come in and discuss the problem with them) suggested Chinese Dong Quai Root. What he brought home was liquid and tastes horrible, but stopped the constant bleeding in two days! I read up on it, found that women in other countries had been using it for centuries to help with menopause (and PMS) symptoms, just knew I couldn't take the liquid on a daily basis for any length of time (it is one of those rooty tastes that just explodes in your mouth the more liquid you drink), so checked and found some in tablet form through Puritan Pride. I take one daily and have very mild menopause symptoms.

Fortunately the PA that works for my doctor, who I usually see, is open to herbal remedies, so works with me to make sure that what I am taking doesn't have any bad side effects, etc.

If you are having any breast pain, something else that plagued me about eight months ago, let me know. I'll go find the herbal remedy for that, too. I got to a point that my breasts were so tender it hurt me to wear a bra. I asked at the same health food store and was shown one that supports breast health. The pain subsided in several days and has since gone away. I've been out of the medicine for the past month or so and haven't made it back by the health food store to get more, but I've been fine. But again, first I checked with my PA to make sure nothing was wrong.