Dancer, it happened sort of when I was 55..and I suppose the total total stop was within the past year..when I was 59. But then it´s only been very little and not often at all..maybe just 2 or 3 times. My gynecologist says this relatively later menopause period could be due to the fact that I had 5 kids and the last one at 42..she (my gynec.) refers to this alittle later child birth as a kind of vitamin shot..it gave me some youth a bit longer. HOWEVER..NOW I feel as tho I am rapidly decaying..so much has happened in the past 2 years..you know, like people aren´t answering..O, but you look so young for your age..anymore
. There´s this silence and then maybe the next comment comes, such as..well, that´s life, I guess.
I am stiffer in the joints..rounder around the waist and the top part is getting baggy fast!!! Everything just kind of went POOF quite quickly over the last 2 yrs!
And I guess I better tell you that I use estrogen replacement in the form of gel that I apply once a day..I chose this because it doesn´t go totally thru my system, then. My gynecologist recommends it to me still..so I use it. I also have a "hormone coil" made from plastic that secretes hormones only in the area. I have this, at this point,to be sure that I don´t get pregnant..funnier things have happened..as you know. Again, this is recommended by my gynec. I started using it when I was about 50, instead of the copper coil because I had terribly heavy periods..I mean grose. These were partly genetical problems at the time. While I was having children..these problems did not appear too often..but when I really stopped having kids..they all came back with a BANG!!!
I have been getting hotflashes the past 2 years and some of them are quite difficult because I can feel sick while it´s going on..but I don´t have them too often..so they don´t bother me too much. I guess it´s the hormal replacement thing? Doesn´t have to be, as my gynec. tells me..
Sweetheart..there you go! You got anymore questions..just fire away..if I can be of help..I will..that´s what we´re here for right??
PS..maybe I am sounding sort of "cheeky" in this post..it could be because my son and his friends are watching, SOME KIND of MONSTER in the next room with all the metallica testerone music this entails (I am a big fan..as you know..so it´s ok
)..BUT I do want to refer back to Mountain Ash´s post where she cautions that the time of menopause is not thing to belittle or take lightly..it is a process into another level of womanhood. SOOO..it´s NOT easy at times, Dancer..all the changes that are going on with me..psychologically and physically and spiritually..Perhaps I am developing spiritually..I hope so..but the rest of me is sort of, well, getting older. I can´t count on my body as I could before..and I have pains, stiffness..conditions that have to be taken care of..therefore more doctor appointments. And I wrote before..I am not always sure of how I will react to things..weepy or wild? SOOO..I DO understand that you are wondering what´s going on..and I am here.if I can be of help.
HUGS!!! HUGS!!! HUGS!!!