Menopause, what happens down the road? (infect, skin, hormones, yoga)

[SCGranny]

Whew. I went into it early - about 45 - and am almost done. Maybe. I think.

Vaginal dryness is a slight problem that we alleviated with KY. Like the ol' Brylcream song - "A little dab'll do ya!"

Hot flashes? LAWS YES. Sitting talking with friends, and all of a sudden, WHAM - pouring sweat from every pore. Lasted about 20 minutes, then done... until the next one.

As for the bleeding perimenopause - oh, Laws. That was horrible. I've had really really bad periods since I got my tubes tied when I was 26. When perimenopause hit, I was bleeding heavy for sometimes six weeks at a time. Once it stopped for three months - and then came back for eight weeks, heavy and crampy and pouring through every protective device.

Night sweats? Still have them occasionally, but not as severely as a year ago. Kick off all the blankets and open the windows, turn on the fans - and an hour later I was FREEZING.

Funny thing was, I was always cold - before. DH said my nic was "Popsicle Toes". Once menopause hit, I couldn't get cool enough - ever. The joke about selling the heater is all too true in my case! We moved 1700 miles, out of a place that would have 115 deg summers with 100% humidity, to a place that has winters and snow and lovely breezes. Ahhhhh... even DH doesn't like it as cold as I do any more! But,well, he's older now, too...

My mom had an emergency hysterectomy when she was 30, and never took anything for it. Of course she was a mean and vicious B anyway, you couldn't tell the difference. I take my vitamins and nothing else. Sure, it would be nice not to have had all of those problems. But like I kept telling myself, "Women have been going thru this for thousands of years, no point in pretending that I'm sick, or looking for a quick fix." Although It IS nice not to be so 'intense' - of course I was like that most of the time, between premenstural, menstrual, and just general grouchiness. (OK maybe I AM like my Mom - a little bit!) But I also took a lot of stress off of myself, changing locations, jobs, etc, so that probably helped. To me it seemed that the more physical stress I was under, the more violent the emotional reactions.

One of my friends is really REALLY persnickety, a real perfectionist - so when menopause hit, her hubby begged her to go on something. She finally did, and she wasn't so apt to bite everyone's heads off. But she said it didn't help with the bleeding or the hot flashes - just kept her from killing folks. Which was a GOOD thing, because she really is great fun - as long as her head isn't turning 360 degrees and her eyes aren't shooting laser beams while she screams at everyone. She's 58 and I'm 52 - so you can't really tell by age.

[ACTS Mom]

Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate

I am 54 and had my last period almost exactly 2 years ago.
Have had a few night sweats and they still appear every now and then, especially <groan> during the summer. But I've never had to change the sheets or anything like that.
No big stomach, no vaginal dryness, not too weepy.
Have not taken HRT but did take that natural Hot Flash stuff (made by Source) for the first year of no periods.
I remember my mom was hell on wheels during her menopause, but then, she began young and still had a houseful of teenagers.
It's good to still visit the doc and check on bone density, etc.

Good point...I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 53...another pill!

I've never been weepy but I found that my tolerance for stupidity was less! But there's liberation around 50 y/o...you don't really have to do what you don't want to for the most part. My tummy (and all over generally) is a bit more weighty than I was a few years ago...I'll never see those size 6's in my closet again. But....I quit smoking 8 years ago and that's the biggest reason for the weight gain...now I just can't lose it. That's probably hormonal. Or lack thereof.

[ajzjmsmom]

I just wanted to thank everyone for posting in this thread, I am 43 and have had some symptoms of perimenopause but have never had vaginal dryness so I was thinking it was something else not perimenopause. It seems like hot flashes and vaginal dryness are the two top things people talk about when discussing menopause, it is nice to know I maynot have to deal with this during menopause.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

I started the hot flashes at 49, they are HORRIBLE! The over the counter stuff works pretty good, mine have subsided now.

[Giesela]

Well I'll be 53 end of August an its been a year since any periods. Almost 2 if you don't count a couple of really light ones. The belly fat, insomnia, memory issues and weepiness are enough for me for sure.
Hopefully I will dodge any of the other "bullets" like hot flashes.
Good tip on the bone density. Wonder why my Dr. hasn't mentioned it?

[Va-Cat]

I had the misforture of going through "mentalpause" (my own pet name for it) at 28 when I had to have a complete hysterectomy including my ovaries. Night sweats, hot flashes, weight gain and some really unbelievable mood swings went on for around 10 years. Now at 50, (22 years later) the only one I still have trouble with is sleeping through the night. Tried HRT for the 1st 5 years but hated the side effects from it so I stopped. I don't know if going through it because of surgery lessens or increases the severity but I'm sure happy that I'm not still having to deal with the worst of them. So is my husband. He was a trooper through it!

[TTTenor]

I am 63, and my last period was over six years ago.

I have hot flashes still, but usually at night, and they start with a tingly, creepy, electrical shock feeling. It gives me a warning to throw the sheet and blanket off before I start sweating.

And a lubricant is a necessity.

As for osteoporosis, I did have a bone density test several years ago, but they said they couldn't tell me much on account of my arthritis. But I don't have any arthritis symptoms in the joints they scanned. Maybe they mixed up my scan with somebody else!

[nebulous1]

I felt awful when I stopped having periods. I felt like my youth was gone. I am single, so I didn't care that I didn't have periods. My periods protected my heart and gave me the hormones I needed to stay young.

[gentlearts]

The average age for menopause is 52. I strongly suggest you do not take hormone replacement because of the danger of blood clots. I've heard that topical hormones for vaginal dryness are not absorbed into the body and so are safe. You'll probably lose your libido anyway, so the dryness is sort of a non-issue.
Hot flashes are a pain, but no big deal. Get a fan over your bed and you'll be fine. You will not be able to lose weight in the same way as you did before menopause, so if you can cut your calories it will keep you from getting fat. You might as well just accept the facts with a sense of humor...it is what it is.

[STT Resident]

I think I was about 53 when I went through menopause but (I know this sounds odd) I had started a new business at age 50 and was too darned busy to really pay much mind! I'm now 63, still doing the same business and am just THRILLED that all that is over. I had often crippling dysmenorrhea all my fertile years which is all a bad dream now. Don't recall any hot flashes but I live in the tropics so am often hot (!) and far as b*tchiness or crying jags, I'm normally cantankerous but not a cryer.

Never took any HRT meds - some of my friends had major problems with them and I don't like to take drugs anyway. Cheers!