Menopause? (yay, such fun!)

conandrob240 said:

I was reading a weird article last night that 80% of US women report hot flashes while only 20% of women in Japan do. They don't have a good theory why. Wonder where Australia fits in?

Soy is often used in menopause relief remedies.  My guess is that Japanese women eat more soy than US women

The references about Japanese women come from a 2013 study: 

1. Reed SD, Lampe JW et al. Self reported menopausal symptoms in a racially diverse population and soy food consumption. Maturitas. 2013; Jun 75(2):152-8

If you hunt around on here, you'll find lots of good stuff and probably some Aussie stats. I notice that parts of the website haven't been officially updated in a couple of years, I think that's due to funding crises under a regressive federal government.

https://jeanhailes.org.au/heal...

awhile ago, I tried the birth control that was supposed to help with acne...and got worse acne....

conandrob240 said:

I was reading a weird article last night that 80% of US women report hot flashes while only 20% of women in Japan do. They don't have a good theory why. Wonder where Australia fits in?

Alcohol?    I bet we drink more here.   

I'd say dairy more than alcohol. (Edited to add, plus all the refined/processed food eaten here, but what do I know, maybe alcohol too.) 

My Ob just gave me Mirena two months ago to deal with increasing pain (and other symptoms) from what she thinks is a fibroid. I wish I did it years ago. I don't think my insurance would have covered it for BC but because this was deemed "medically necessary" it was covered.  My last BC experience over ten years ago was not positive (10 lb weight gain, moodiness beyond headaches, etc.) so I was very reluctant but so far, so good. 

conandrob240 said:

 I'm not going back on BC pills. Gave them up years ago and was glad to be free of the side effects.

That's the part that pissed me off though, I found a pill that agreed with my body and I had no side effects. No bloating, no weight gain, no sore boobs, no headaches, no acne, BP was perfect, no problems at all.  I had only stopped taking it  to have kids.  Then when I wanted back on, the midwife (not the care provider who prescribed the original script) insisted I use a different one. 

In regards to the 60's thing, my midwife and primary care doc are both okay with me being in perimenopause, they say it's perfectly normal at my age (mid 40's).  My endocrinologist, however, is convinced that I'm "too young" and something must be wrong.  He uses a patient of his that had regular periods until her 60's as an example of why I'm too young to be in perimenopause.  WTF, no thank you, I don't want another 20 f'ing years of Lucifer's waterfall.

I know people who swear by Mirena, but I also know someone who was in bad pain with it for months until she finally went back to her Gyn to have it removed.  No one thing works for everyone, so I get annoyed when so-called medical professionals insist that XYZ method is the best.

Fibroids are nasty business. I had some removed 4 years ago they were so many they filled a kidney dish.  Had a baby a year after that, then went straight to Mirena. That solved my anemia issues that plagued me since I was 13. I love it. 

shh said:

I'd say dairy more than alcohol. (Edited to add, plus all the refined/processed food eaten here, but what do I know, maybe alcohol too.) 

My Ob just gave me Mirena two months ago to deal with increasing pain (and other symptoms) from what she thinks is a fibroid. I wish I did it years ago. I don't think my insurance would have covered it for BC but because this was deemed "medically necessary" it was covered.  My last BC experience over ten years ago was not positive (10 lb weight gain, moodiness beyond headaches, etc.) so I was very reluctant but so far, so good. 

Gotta say, my Mirena was mostly a blessing but the growing fibroids didn't help it control hormonal flux well, outside the uterus. That's the trouble with PCOS and endo etc - when 'adhesions' and scar tissue and endometrial cells etc migrate to places they really shouldn't be, or hormone-affected cysts grow where they're not expected, the usual treatments aren't effective. 

I'm truly glad that there are many options to choose from these days - and I'm furious that bigotry and religious ignorance has blinded people (mainly male decision-makers) into cutting funding for 'birth control' or 'abortion measures' when curettage and laparoscopies for reproductive-age women are about more than a single pregnancy. 

I did Mirena after the birth of my second at 36.  I had it for 5 years, went off and went back to being regular for about 5 years.  Can't say I miss periods, and they were annoying after Mirena. I only started with the hot flashes within the past few months, but anxiety off the wall for at least a year before periods stopped.

spontaneous said:

conandrob240 said:

 I'm not going back on BC pills. Gave them up years ago and was glad to be free of the side effects.

That's the part that pissed me off though, I found a pill that agreed with my body and I had no side effects. No bloating, no weight gain, no sore boobs, no headaches, no acne, BP was perfect, no problems at all.  I had only stopped taking it  to have kids.  Then when I wanted back on, the midwife (not the care provider who prescribed the original script) insisted I use a different one. 

In regards to the 60's thing, my midwife and primary care doc are both okay with me being in perimenopause, they say it's perfectly normal at my age (mid 40's).  My endocrinologist, however, is convinced that I'm "too young" and something must be wrong.  He uses a patient of his that had regular periods until her 60's as an example of why I'm too young to be in perimenopause.  WTF, no thank you, I don't want another 20 f'ing years of Lucifer's waterfall.

I know people who swear by Mirena, but I also know someone who was in bad pain with it for months until she finally went back to her Gyn to have it removed.  No one thing works for everyone, so I get annoyed when so-called medical professionals insist that XYZ method is the best.

I think your endocrinologist is way off base.  Most women I know (and know of) reached menopause by their early 50s.  Age 60 menopause happens for a few, but it is definitely not the norm.  Perimenopause definitely sets in for many in the early to mid 40s.

And I wouldn't be happy with a provider who didn't listen to my desires/experience re BC like this.

sac said:

spontaneous said:

conandrob240 said:

 I'm not going back on BC pills. Gave them up years ago and was glad to be free of the side effects.

That's the part that pissed me off though, I found a pill that agreed with my body and I had no side effects. No bloating, no weight gain, no sore boobs, no headaches, no acne, BP was perfect, no problems at all.  I had only stopped taking it  to have kids.  Then when I wanted back on, the midwife (not the care provider who prescribed the original script) insisted I use a different one. 

In regards to the 60's thing, my midwife and primary care doc are both okay with me being in perimenopause, they say it's perfectly normal at my age (mid 40's).  My endocrinologist, however, is convinced that I'm "too young" and something must be wrong.  He uses a patient of his that had regular periods until her 60's as an example of why I'm too young to be in perimenopause.  WTF, no thank you, I don't want another 20 f'ing years of Lucifer's waterfall.

I know people who swear by Mirena, but I also know someone who was in bad pain with it for months until she finally went back to her Gyn to have it removed.  No one thing works for everyone, so I get annoyed when so-called medical professionals insist that XYZ method is the best.

I think your endocrinologist is way off base.  Most women I know (and know of) reached menopause by their early 50s.  Age 60 menopause happens for a few, but it is definitely not the norm.  Perimenopause definitely sets in for many in the early to mid 40s.

And I wouldn't be happy with a provider who didn't listen to my desires/experience re BC like this.

RE my endocrinologist, I agree.  He is awesome with everything else, but when he said I was too young for perimenopause (it threw off my TSH by a lot which is why it came up) I did do a double take.  I'm willing to let it go since he isn't trying to do anything to stop it, it just seemed like a weird point of view medically to take.

And agree 100% on the midwife.  She was new to the practice.  I butted heads with her over a separate issue also.  At this point I'm only going to make appointments with the midwives I know and trust, I'll refuse to see anyone new.  I discuss medications with other care providers, if they want to prescribe a certain medication they'll tell me why, not just say they prefer their choice over mine.  The midwife really pissed me off with her paternalistic attitude.

Reporting live from the first full day of my gorgeous Bahamas vacation to update: it's not gone for good! Just thought it'd come 16 days late just to make the vacation much more enjoyable. 

smh 

First of all, 45-55 is the norm for menopause -- I know because I had some bleeding at 56 and suddenly I'm apparently outside the curve and am getting every sonogram/biopsy known to man. What's involved with a hormone panel? That's next. Can't decide if my gyn is doing massive cya with all these tests or I'm a major risk for endometrial cancer. It's been awfully stressful in any case.

In my endo's defense, he may have been thinking I should hit it later since I had a baby at age 42 with no fertility treatments whatsoever, so in his mind going from normal fertility to perimenopause in two years might seem like a quick decline.  In fact, when he saw how much my TSH was off by (it was REALLY off) the first thing he asked was if I was pregnant again   

Gotta Love MOL!

Anybody want to compare Hydrangeas?  Wait, that's another thread!

Best Regards,

Ron Carter )

deborahg, nothing to worry about - they take blood and you might pee. Results don't necessarily mean anything sinister at this stage, but are good for working out what's going on. 

When my GP couldn't figure out what was happening with me, she got the hormone panel done, confirmed my levels apparently were starting to drop a teeny bit, and said 'don't worry, it's all ok but slow'. A couple of years later, we repeated everything with ultrasounds to be sure!!