menopause symptoms

The following is something I found on a friend's web site and she allowed me to share it with you. To give her the credit she deserves, her site is, web page, www.womenscorner.com. She also has a baby boomer page on her site. Check it out. FYI...Lise (the site owner) designs web sites for women around the country.

My favorite part of this article is the quote by Margaret Mead!

"The most creative force in the world is a
menopausal woman with zest"
Margaret Mead

Do you feel any of these?
Doctor Northrup, who wrote the book "The Wisdom of Menopause", was on Oprah's show and confirmed that perimenopause could start as early as 13 years before menopause. And a few guests on the show were relating their experiences and they were in their 30's and 40' not the 50' like most of us would think.
And it's during that period that you experience all or a lot or some of the symptoms. I have underlined the ones I had before... See how many you have.
Common symptoms of Menopause

Hot flashes
night sweats
irregular menstrual cycles
heart palpitations
acne
cold hands and feet
fuzzy vision
migraine headaches
grumpiness
forgetfulness
mood swings
concentration difficulties
short-term memory loss
dizziness
insomnia
crying a lot
"crawly" skin
vaginal dryness
uncomfortable intercourse
urinary tract infections
incontinence
extra body hair
thinning scalp hair

Not everybody is created equal. You may have some of those, or all (poor you) while your friend may have different ones than you and then there are those who never experience anything (lucky them).

For me the worst were the night sweats (waking up every 2 or 3 hours, t-shirt completely soaked) and insomnia. Oh but then let's not forget the CRYING...Crying at commercials, watching Disney movies, especially when animals were involved (even cartoons! pleeeaaassse). Now I only cry during the movies...

In today's world, women can expect to live 30, 40 even 50 years after experiencing menopause--equivalent to half their lives! Think about it, we are then FREE. Well, that's how I look at it.

Hormone replacement therapy was one of the standard treatments for menopausal symptoms. However, HRT (hormone replacement therapy) has made the news in July 2002. An 8 year study was stopped 3 years earlier because of finding increase in breast cancer, heart attack, stroke, and blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolism) and legs (deep venous thrombosis).

The most exciting benefit of soy is its potential to support women's health as they go through menopause. Studies have alluded to its ability to:
• inhibit cancer-cell growth
• reduce the risk for osteoporosis
• help lower cholesterol levels, thus reducing the risk for heart disease
SOY helps maintain body equilibrium by replacing the lost estrogen with natural compounds known as "plant estrogens". These plant estrogens (in soy, black cohosh and don quai) are so much like the body's own estrogen that they are able to restore a feeling of normalness and calm. Isn't that we are looking for?

[ May 20, 2003, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]

If I have more than half these symptoms now, does that mean I'll actually be menopausal when I'm 38?
Sorry, I know this menopause stuff is a pain, but looking at those symptoms made me think, hey I get a lot of those.

oh no acne. At my age?

Just an alert.The parathyroid helps to regulate our calcium levels.Each of our 4 thyroids has one of these in it. When it becomes hyper it causes calcium to bypass our bones and show up in our blood as too high. I just had my hyperparathyroid removed. If I hadn't I would have been lookin at major osteoporosis,especially during my present "menopausal state".So a heads up-might want to ask your doctor to check your calcium level when going for your annual physical.

Well, I did it. I'm off the Premarin!! Yay!! No more HRT for me.. I'm now taking Black Cohosh. So far, it seems to be meeting all my needs. I've been taking it for over 2 weeks now and my body seems to have adjusted. Whew!

Even though I don't have a uterus or ovaries, I still didn't like the idea of taking those synthetic hormones for the rest of my life.

Anyone else taking Black Cohosh? What do you think?

Peace & Hugs..

I went off the HRT several months ago. The hot flashes have been running my life! What is sleep? I have tried acupuncture and black cohosh. Nothing is helping! Finally went back to HRT to get a little rest, and I still am having them, but not as often nor as bad. There must be a better way????? I just can't do soy

i'm going to add black cohosh to my soy tablet in the morning -- i'm just not happy with the HRT thing -- hope it works

I ran out of black cohosh and didn't bother to get more cause the hot flashes weren't stopped by using it. Flax,prime rose oil and soy isoflavanoids work best for me. Amazing how different things affect us.

hmm.. that's very interesting to see what works "naturally" and what doesn't. I wonder if it has anything to do with the length of time we've been menopausal?

Informal survey

How many years have you been menopausal and what natural products work for you?

I'll start

I've been menopausal for 2 years and I'm using Black Cohosh Root, Ginko, and a B-100 Complex

Menopause I am beginning to hate this word. Is there anything good about Menopause. I have been having symptoms for awhile now. Pretty much all of the above. I read where in some cultures as women age they are treated with more respect and are considered wise and are honored. These women don't understand when asked about hot flashes ect. This is a stage of life in which they feel a metamorphasis sp.??? A butterfly about to emerge from its coccoon. Could our feelings about menopause be brought on by the way our culture views women as they age???

I don't know if there is anything good about menopause, but I definitely believe there is something great about the time in our lives when we go through it.

We have become wiser women, hopefully having learned from life's experiences. We are more comfortable with who we are and know we have options about who we are to continue becoming.

Part of the journey!

You know...I was just thinking...

Men-0-Pause...this should give men a clue, don't you think?

Pause...think...Then speak!

Jawjaw, You took the words right out of my mouth. If the sweeties would just pause and think before they speak what a wonderful world it would be Dunno, maybe I am just too sensitive right now He is a good man.