Menopause Support Group

I am already in menopause and have been for several years, but Have you heard about peri-menopause. I guess it's when you are not in full menopause, but are approaching it. The article I read about it said it makes you have a lot of the symptoms of menopause while you are not really there yet. The article said that some women get low dose hormones during this time if the symptoms are severe. Maybe this is what's going on with you. I had surgically induced menopause so I can't tell ya all the stuff leading up to it. Good luck in your research!

I was exactly what levisgranny said, peri but it didn't show in bloodwork. That was 6 years ago. Then last July I slammed into a brief period of meno and it DID show. VERY severe symptoms. I was lucky that my GYN believed in compounding pharmacists and that we have several in the area, and I already had a reltionship with one because of my CFS. She was able to mix up a very low dose of bioidentical HRT that worked wonders. It's a vanishing cream of estrogen and progesterone (or progestin?, whatever), I can fiddle around with the application dosage if I need to. If you have a compounding pharmacy in your area, you might call them and ask if they do peri consults, they can tell you if you're on the right track, wasting your money or even hurting yourself. OH, and Brevail, check out Brevail.

Thanks for all the comments on peri-menopause. I found some info on it too. I found this from www.project-aware.org


Perimenopause (premenopause)
Perimenopause is the phase before menopause actually takes place, when ovarian hormone production is declining and fluctuating, causing a host of symptoms.

Some clinicians maintain that perimenopause can last for as long as 5 to 15 years, while others refer to perimenopause as that period which is a 3 to 4 year span just before menopause. Either way, many women experience more symptoms during perimenopause than after menopause. Because this often happens at an age between 35 and 45, many women's symptoms are overlooked or ignored by their healthcare providers.

Most premenopausal women experience changes in their menstrual cycle. When estrogen levels begin to drop, the follicular phase of the cycle may be shortened, and this can shorten the total cycle from 28–30 days to 24–26 days, resulting in more frequent periods. On the other hand, some women begin having longer cycles because they are not ovulating as frequently. These changes can be quite different on an individual basis. Additionally, this declining/fluctuating estrogen level can produce a host of disturbing symptoms: hot flashes, increasing vaginal dryness, sleep problems, mood swings, breast tenderness and many other complications.

Many clinicians believe this is a perfect time to begin judicious estrogen/progesterone/testosterone therapy because then the hormone supplements do not create an excess, but are simply replacing a failing internal supply.

There is a relatively small number of women who hardly notice any changes before menopause. Their periods just stop overnight with few, if any, symptoms.

Another small percentage of women experience significant, dramatic symptoms that, when left untreated, ultimately lead to surgical intervention. Many women find at this time too many physicians strongly urging surgery and failing to provide information about the alternatives to, and consequences of, hysterectomy.

If you fall into this category, consider contacting the HERS Foundation (Hysterectomy Educational Resources & Services). It is an independent nonprofit national and international women's health education organization.

The 35 Symptoms of Menopause
This list of common symptoms that occur during perimenopause and menopause was developed from the real-life experiences of hundreds of women. All symptoms were experienced by numerous women and were either cyclical in nature, or responded to treatments (both traditional and alternative) known to address hormonal imbalances.

Click HERE for the credits to the women who developed this list.

Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling (see note)
Irregular heart beat
Irritability
Mood swings, sudden tears
Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
Loss of libido (see note)
Dry vagina (see note)
Crashing fatigue
Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom (see note)
Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
Disturbing memory lapses
Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence (see note)
Itchy, crawly skin (see note)
Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons (see note)
Increased tension in muscles
Breast tenderness
Headache change: increase or decrease
Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
Sudden bouts of bloat
Depression (see note)
Exacerbation of existing conditions
Increase in allergies
Weight gain (see note)
Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
Dizziness, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
Changes in body odor
Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head (see note)
Tingling in the extremities (see note)
Gum problems, increased bleeding
Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor
Osteoporosis (after several years)
Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, 'whooshing,' buzzing etc. (see note)



NOTES:
Symptom 1 (flashes) Hot flashes are due to the hypothalamic response to declining ovarian estrogen production. The declining estrogen state induces hypophysiotropic neurons in the arcuate nucleas of the hypothalamus to release gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in a pulsatile fashion, which in turn stimulates release of luteinizing hormone (LH). Extremely high pulses of LH occur during the period of declining estrogen production. The LH has vasodilatory effects, which leads to flushing.
Symptom 7 (loss of libido) For some women the loss is so great that they actually find sex repulsive, in much the same way as they felt before puberty. What hormones give, loss of hormones can take away.
Symptom 8 (dry vagina) results in painful intercourse
Symptom 11 (doom thoughts) includes thoughts of death, picturing one's own death
Symptom 14(incontinence) reflects a general loss of smooth muscle tone
Symptom 15 (itchy, crawly skin) feeling of ants crawling under the skin, not just dry itchy skin
Symptom 16 (aching sore joints) may include such problems as carpal tunnel syndrome
Symptom 22 (depression) different from other depression, the inability to cope is overwhelming. There is a feeling of loss of self. Hormone therapy ameliorates the depression dramatically.
Symptom 25 (weight gain) often around the waist and thighs, resulting in 'the disappearing waistline'
Symptom 29 (shock sensation) "the feeling of a rubber band snapping in the layer of tissue between skin and muscle. It is a precursor to a hot flash"
Symptom 30 (tingling in extremities) can also be a symptom of B-12 deficiency, diabetes, alterations in the flexibility of blood vessels, or a depletion of potassium or calcium
Symptom 35* (tinnitus) one of those physical conditions that seems to manifest in some women at the same time as menopause. It can be associated with health conditions such as hypothyroidism and heart disease, and is a known side-effect of many medications, including aspirin (salicylates) and Prozac.
SOME OF THE 35 SYMPTOMS MAY ALSO BE SIGNS OF THE FOLLOWING:
hypothyroidism
diabetes
depression with another etiology
other medical conditions
If you have reason to believe you may have one of these conditions, please see your doctor for treatment.

* Note added by ProjectAWARE group.

(per www.project-aware.org)