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Menopause and Weight Gain


Suninfrance
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My mother had me when she was 45 (all them years ago too).  It wasn't much fun for me, as the child.  The siblings all teenagers and not wanting me round them.  I wasn't an only child although, in effect, I might just as well have been.  Result, didn't get the spoiling and attention an only child might have got  but had the nasty lingering feeling that I came along when my parents least expected it and ruined their  "together" time.
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Looks like a lot of us are in the midst of the Menopause.  So can I ask has anyone been to the docs here about this.  I think I am pre menopausal - or for want of another word "unbearable".[:D]  Do you find in France that the doctors will give HRT easily? Do they only give it when your periods have actually stopped or when you have other symptoms?

Georgina

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I'm saving up (in more than one way) to go to my friend's Dr.

My Dr said, (after 5 monts pain after falling off a horse) - "take parecetemol and see me if it still hurts after 10 days."

well if it hurt enough for me to mention it after 5 months...

My friend's Dr says it's not obligatory to be incontinent in old age, just because one has had (even large) kids. My friend's Dr tells her that in this day and age they can do things to help women as they get older...

I like the sound of my friend's Dr, and when I pluck up the courage (and stop looking at peri-menopause on the net) I'm going to go and see her.

I'll keep you informed - when and if I pluck up the courage to see this Dr, and have to actually talk to her about all those things I thought were just me :)

Yeah, OK, that's just another way of saying "thank-you" for this thread :)

I'm glad I'm not alone/it's not just me!

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[quote user="hoverfrog"]OK, that's just another way of saying "thank-you" for this thread :)

I'm glad I'm not alone/it's not just me![/quote]

Um... alone?? [:P] Female* menopause is encounted by at least 50% of the population aged 50+. [:D]

I think it's only because we fear or, perhaps more likely, are embarassed to admit (to ourselves?) that we're getting older that makes this such an apparently difficult subject. If you go to a doctor with symptoms that you'd like alleviated and you get the brush off, find a more sympathetic doctor. In a world that can successfully do organ transplants, dealing with the menopause shouldn't be made that difficult. [6]

* allegedly there's a male menopause... though I don't think female cystitis is resolved by buying a bright red sportscar. [6]

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Frenchie - I am only mid-40s (cough cough - just over), so you may not have as long as you think.

If your mother is still alive (sorry sounds callous but don't want to make assumptions) the age at which she had menopause might be an indicator for you.   My mother had hysterectomy at early age, so she was no help !!

Oh, I think if you read the thread you will get a fair idea of what symptoms to look out for !!!  Generally look for increase in any tendency to insanity or homicidal tendencies, plus the sweating stuff, plus even more pronounced mood swings, crashing tiredness.  But then everyone gets the symptoms to a greater or lesser extent I guess.   If you don't have symptoms then don't worry about it would be my view !

By the way did anyone watch that celebrity chef programme, which was not that good, but ... anyone spot Anneka Rice standing in the middle of kitchen dismally staring around because she had forgotten what she was doing and think 'Aha !!!!!!!!!! - you're with us '!!!

 

And ......... I had a period about a week ago as well - but hardly worth talking about and I think its not uncommon.   

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My doctor, a lady by the way, says there is no such thing as peri menopausal. Your periods just stop and then you are menopausal, just like that!

She was a bit flummoxed 2 weeks ago when I went to see her after haemorraging madly (luckily not at work....just imagine, painters whites, all male workers, no toilets etc etc...).

Turns out I have serious thickening of the lining of my womb and have too much estrogen and not enough progesterone. The consultant at Gynae dept has put me on progesrerone for 20 days per cycle....has anyone else had this treatment? Did it work for you? Doctor says I'll have to have progesterone supplement until I reach menopause. Anyway,  needless to say I'm seriously anaemic. At least now I know why I've been so tired and depressed recently. Still doesn't explain the hot flushes though......'cos there's no such thing as peri menopausal!

This a brilliant thread, I've been following it avidly, it's wonderful to be able to get everything off my chest, as it were.

Aly

.

 

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I've been following all the posts - fascinating! I've finally managed to get back to posting; haven't been able to for months - problems with password etc.

I've had all the usual problems for several years, and tried everything, with various amounts of success. The worst thing now is sweats, which nothing seemed to stop. I've been taking 'Menoherbs 2', from Victoria Health for nearly 3 months, along with a little magnet that goes inside your panties, on the tum. Between them (may be one or both, I don't know!) they have cut sweats down to maybe 3 or 4 a week, instead of loads daily, many of them soaking me! I don't care what has cut them down, as long as it works! It's wonderful!

Jo

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This is such a fascinating thread....My menopause five years ago was really no big deal and contrary to having any hot flushes, I was, and am still always cold! I have been told this is because I have a hypothyroid problem. Can anyone else confirm this little theory?

Jen

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Hi gardengirl2

How long did it take Menoherbs2 and/or the magnet to work? I have also tried everything to try and stop the flushes and am still willing to try anything new I hear about. Where did you buy the magnet and is it specifically for the menopause?  Thanks for any info.

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Quote: Aly (used to be Charlotte3)

Turns out I have serious thickening of the lining of my womb and have too much estrogen and not enough progesterone. The consultant at Gynae dept has put me on progesrerone for 20 days per cycle....has anyone else had this treatment? Did it work for you?

I was put on a similar treatment, it did work in that it regulated my cycle as it had been anything from 22 days to 45 days. It didn't really do anything for the volume of blood loss though.  I had to stop treatment after one month because my blood pressure was way up again despite being on tablets.

At my last scan it showed I had a largish fibroid on the left side of my womb and a 'functional' cyst on my right ovary (which is apparently 'normal' and they come and go, though I don't think a 3cm cyst is at all 'normal'), and thickening of the lining of the womb.  I get severe pains at the beginning of my period, last week I hardly slept one night, nearly blacked out and eventually vomited with the pain. I wondered if it could be endometriosis with bleeding around my ovary (where the severe pain was).

I'm nearly 42 and my periods were like clockwork, short and light until about 3 years ago, now they're hell. Menopause?

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Hello Aly... I don't have the same problem but I went through similar symptoms for 5 years.  I had too much oestrogen and wildly erratic periods much like you describe... The oestrogen dominance can cause insomnia and weight gain and leave you feel drained and fed up... the last 2 years were the worst... I also had severe pain... used to reduce me to tears when I moved and confined me to bed... dreadful.  I saw three consultants... two of them bowel specialists?? they were convinced the pain was due to surgery I had as a child... had 2 exploratory ops in the process!!! eventually I saw a gynae (4 years later!!!!!!) and was told I had adhesions... outside the womb... I had surgery and felt so much better... my oestrogen levels dropped, and 2 years on my life seems normal... no pain, losing weight, get a decent nights sleep and life is fantastic! (I would never have moved to France whilst going through those problems... wouldn't have coped!)

My GP told me there is no such thing as a peri-menopause by the gynae chap said there was... and that I was suffering all the symptoms of early menopause.... triggered by the adhesions!? 

Oestrogen dominance can be a real pain... I took progesterone tablets twice... both times made me feel very sick... the gynae said it was a waste of time... I had the right amount of progesterone just too much estrogen!  I took iron tablets for a while but hated them... just found alternative foods rich in iron...  Good luck and I hope your situation improves very soon!  [:)]

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[quote user="Lisleoise"]  I get severe pains at the beginning of my period, last week I hardly slept one night, nearly blacked out and eventually vomited with the pain. I wondered if it could be endometriosis with bleeding around my ovary (where the severe pain was).

I'm nearly 42 and my periods were like clockwork, short and light until about 3 years ago, now they're hell. Menopause?
[/quote]

Lisleoise.... Just read your post... this sounds soooo familiar... I used to dread going to the loo too as the pain used to make me vomit at the start of a period... I was 37 when it started and I'm 44 now... I do hope you manage to get it sorted... I found I was printing stuff off the internet and giving it tp the doctors saying... this is what I suffer from! 

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Another menopausal symptom.......? Is anyone else suffering from insomnia (unrelated to hot flashes).  From needing eight hours sleep a night I now find myself looking at the ceiling and listening to the World Service on an off during the night for a total of about three hours.  I don't feel tired in the morning so perhaps my lil' ol' menopausal body just doesn't need so much sleep.  Or it's a guilty concience.....  Jen

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Apart from the "tropical moments" that sometimes keep me awake at night, I find it very difficult to get to sleep some nights.  I wake up every so often, then can't get back to sleep so when I do get up in the morning, I feel completely exhausted and ratty.   Having just had an unexpected period, the first since March last year, I had all the old period symptoms again.  However, now that that has gone, I find my "own personal summers" have come back with a vengeance.  Mind you, I have just replaced my old polycotton bedding with cotton sheets and duvets and believe me, it does help.  I don't wake up in the mornings now feeling like I've been in a sweaty sauna all night.

Jan 

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[quote user="Suninfrance"], I find it very difficult to get to sleep some nights.  I wake up every so often, then can't get back to sleep so when I do get up in the morning, I feel completely exhausted and ratty.   [/quote]

I am 42 , never had any " sauna moments" but  I can't sleep now..... it started three nights ago and dunno if it might be that ????????

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As I'm now 53, things 'hormonal replacement therapy-wise' do concern me. Three years ago through my doctor here in France I requested a gynae. check up, as I was pre-menopausal. The upshot of this was that at that time HRT wasn't necessary  yet. A recent chat with my GP, reveals that he isn't keen on HRT, hasn't any faith in it's effectiveness, and wouldn't recommend it to his wife! He advised a product in tablet form called 'Bioptimum', which is soya based, and apparently helps alleviate the hot flushes, [charmingly referred to as 'les bouffees de chaleur'], and the 'acceleration of ageing'. Anyway, I bought some from the pharmacy, but I can't say  for sure they did much good. I am now taking some natural HRT, which is plant based,  bought mail order from a firm in the UK. We'll have to see what happens... However, for us ladies of  larger proportions, the news is good. We retain our female hormones for much longer, making HRT either unnecessary or to be taken for a less longer period, according to my doctor. At last, a reason to be fat!!!!

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Have just discovered this thread so thought I'd add my tuppence worth. 

My periods stopped almost completely when I was about 47, just after we moved to France, and I started having hot flushes a few months later.  Despite the following years misery of sleepless nights and feeling that I was about to spontaneously combust many times daily, I resisted the idea of HRT because I didn't want to ingest chemicals on a regular basis and I was concerned about the risks of cancer. I tried soya products (yuk) but they were no help.  I also kept thinking it would pass, but we're talking 4 years by now.   Finally, my big sis said I ought try a dose of HRT just enough to stop the hot flushes.   

I  went to our doc, a young woman, and she's prescribed for me some oestrogen gel and progesterone capsules. That was 5 months ago. They took a few weeks to have an effect, but now, my tropical moments are just a bad memory.   I still don't sleep well, but that's more to do with my OH's snoring and the cats crying to come in the bedroom.   I'm just grateful we made the decision to move to France when we did, and I didn't have to go through this with the stressful job I used to have. I know I'll probably have to come off it at some point but at the moment, I'm relishing feeling normal.

Ought to say that the doc made me have a blood test before she prescribed the hrt.

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I have the impression that this thread is going to run and run.........!  Bastet, I'm glad you found an appropriate treatment - long may you feel wonderful.  About the soya treatment,  apparently taking soya with a hypothyroid problem is not recommended (thinking of  Aly here).  And on a depressing note, my best friend's mother was ninety years old and still having hot flashes! It's quite rare but not unknown! Jen

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