Coffeemom go to Wal-mart and for $1.44 a bag buy some sugar free NIPS. They come in a creamy carmel flavor or a chocolaty coffee. GREAT and won't pack on any weight. No one has to do without sweets these days...

Menopause for only 12 months, in what solar system??? Oh, if only it were true...

coffeemom, from someone else who love that morning java:

if you have too much caffeine, that may cause hot flashes. If you drink a lot now, cut down gradually so you won't be as migrained during withdrawal.

I'm down to one or two cups a day. I used to drink a lot more.

There's chatty talking about those Nips again. Thanks for looking out for us Chatty.

LOL

I'm READY for menopause (I think). Thought I was in it when I missed my period last month. Doc actually did a pregnancy test. (WHEW! I wasn't) So of course then I got my period.

I'm 51. No hot flashes ever but I do take SSRIs which I think may prevent them. My memory is gone, I'm tired all the time, so when am I going to go through menopause? Or am I?

What a hilarious discussion! I'll be 51 this month and have been having night sweats and erratic periods. My last one was ten days! Can you believe it? I thought it would never end. Menopause is doing wonders for my sense of humor. Forget drugs. My plan is to laugh my way through it. Of course, I might change my opinion if I begin having non-stop hot flashes and start crying at the drop of a pin. Stay tuned. I'm just at the beginning of this. But it's great to know I can come here for solice. Ha!

Seems like us women are always in some hormonal crisis.
First there's puberty, then PMS. Then pregnancy and post partum depression. After that we move on to para menopause and menopause and post menopause and alzheimers and...
Heck I think I hear my hormones moaning now.
It's always something....
smile

I believe I will be expereinceing surgical menopause after my hysterectomy.

Has anybody gone through that and what was it like?

Lynn

Yep, I did Lynn and the doc put me on hormones to bring me out of it.

I'm 57, should be over this menopause gig but still have these sudden hot flashes and they usually happen when you are trying to make a good impression! Who knows when they will end.

Something else I've noticed. I always slept in a warm room at night but now, I turn on the ceiling fan and along with the AC and open a window. My husband is next to me with a terry cloth robe and the blankets pulled up to his ears, shaking and freezing and I'm lying there, stripped to nothing but my flesh and have kicked off the covers and sweating. Turning the pillows to find the cool spot. I've forgotten what a good nights sleep is! It just simply...sucks!

[ May 13, 2005, 11:23 PM: Message edited by: Dianne ]

Lynn -

I had a full hysterectomy in 2001 due to some problems I was having with my period. Up until that time I had no symptoms of menopause.

After the hysterectomy I got the hot flashes, night sweats, etc etc - but once I got the estrogen meds right - everything was fine.

But last month my doctor decided to hold my body hostage by not renewing my estrogen until I had my mammogram done. So I'm "cold turkey-ing" it and so far -- not so bad. I've had a few hot flashes and at night I get hot -- but not the terrible night sweats I used to get -- so I think that I will be able to stay off the estrogen from now on (hope hope hope hope hope)

I'll tell ya though -- its worth every hot flash I've gotten to NOT HAVE A PERIOD anymore !!! Talk about freedom !! It ranks right up there with my husbands vastectomy ;-)

I found a way to cool my body down at night when I'm so hot I can't sleep. Now, some of you can't do this because you have young children. I walk around the dark house in the nude. I know, not a pretty sight to think about but it works. I jump back into bed and can fall asleep.

Lionspaaw, you might find that you lose weight being off the estrogen. I did. It was tough at first but I'm now doing better. I now have a ton of energy and feel great.