Clarification

Women's health
1

Hi Lovelies, hope everyone is doing well. This might sound stupid but just need some clarification, the 3 stages of menopause...peri which is the lead up to menopause when there's been no period for a year then I've read about post menopause...am I a nuff nuff or what?! LoL I always thought menopause was menopause, pass the 12 mth mark that's it but from what I read meno symptoms can still have a cycle like pattern till they finally settle/stop which then is post menopause...this apparently could possibly take 5yrs omg! Considering this then I am in menopause, been over a year with no periods, not post meno as I still get a cycle like pattern of symptoms despite taking Livial(has eased some symptoms) All very confusing, or is it just me being a noodle brain? 😏

Take Care, be kind to yourselves

2

Hi Nan,

You are not a noodle brain. I could use some clarification myself. I read a few different things about the phases and then I got totally confused. I think I better stop reading..hahahaha. I thought in peri you could still have a menses and meno once you have went a a full 12 months without a menses. I couldn't even tell when post meno is.

3

Iwas told by the drs, that, after a full year with no period, then you consider yourself post,  ive been post now for 1 year, my symptoms for the one year with no period, were very mild, or, non existent, a year on, i feel more balanced if you understand what i mean by that, but noticed a flaring up of my hot flushing, and heat symptoms during this same year, apparently, this is a sign you are post, and you  CAN be in post for a further 5 years after your last period with the heat flushing symptoms, some its longer,  some less,  but unfortunately, i was also told by my dr, that, some very unlucky ladies, can be in menopause with no periods for years, but continue with all their  symptoms  for life, and never go into post!! noooooo.......... poor, poor women, i would have to insist on HRT then, if that was  me, just remember its diffferent for everyone, if you bleed during your post year, but its a different colour and consistency unlike a period, its the womb cleaning itself out, and you dont need to start counting down a year again before yu consider yourself post, if however, it comes with pain, or other symptoms you dont recognise to be a period, then get it checked out to be sure,    If on the otherhand, it does resemble a period, and you get your up and down symptoms, its a period, and, then you would then have to go another year, before you can say your post.  

If you have no periods due to hysterectomy, you will still go through stages as normal even if your hysterectomy was 15/20 years ago..............hope this helps Nan!! but yes it is confusing.

4

Hello ELaine, I read with interest your last few words regarding hysterectomy and the different stages. I do believe you're right, but I am also confused.......I had a hysterectomy over 20 years ago leaving one ovary and I was fine with that - no symptoms and all was good but 2 years ago oophorectomy and so now I guess I'm either in menopause ( surgical ) or post meno, Dr said its over but I don't believe her, I still feel like every day there are different symptoms ie, anxiety which is the worst symptom, feeling weird, weight gain, fatigue, achy bones etc and some days I feel as if it's getting worse which makes me believe what you say about the stages rather than GP telling me it's over.......can you shed any light. ? I'm not on HRT due to migraines, it's all a nightmare. Hope you're doing ok x

5

Basically were a mess til were like 75 then have other more serious medical issues then die. So much to look forward to getting old.

6

Just was I was thinking, it's all hell. When you read all the comments from all the other ladies here we are all going through so much mentally and physically it's so hard to smile and carry on with all this crap x

7

Hi Lou

It must be very difficult for yourself, and other ladies who have had hysterectomys in the past,  how do you know if your already having no periods.  

The signs  your dr seems to be missing is, a worsening of anxiety, fatigue etc, which can be signs of peri, as your hormones increase and fluctuate massively during this time, i think you get a decrease in testosterone, and progesterone, but you get an increase in oestrogen, but again it fluctuates, sounds to me like your in peri, which, can last a long time, the only way i would have thought, for you to know without blood tests is, go off how your feeling instead, your already questioning what the drs said, because you know in yourself how you feel with your symptoms, and for you, i would considered myself post when i notice a decline, or, complete cessation in my peri symptoms, and its taken me this past year to pick up on that would you believe, and thats since ive been without my periods for 1 year. So, for you, when you start to notice a decline in your symptoms, thats when you will be in menopause, the sign for post is, no peri symptoms, or, very, very, mild ones, but more importantly for post,  inflammations and hot flushes come back again, thats your sign for post, and if you havent said that to your dr, then why hasnt he/she picked up on that, increasing anxiety, depression etc, is not post, drs just make it even worse, and i can see how confusing for ladies like you it can become, its confusing for us, and we havent had hysterectomys..............ha

I have 2 sisters, both of which are post, so 3 of us, dont have peri symptoms anymore, may notice very slight up and down, but nothing severe, but then  we all started back with our hot flushes, now that might be the hereditary factor, so, if you have sisters check with them also??  I also have 2 other friends, who are both in post, and have been for 5/6 years, again no peri but both still have some flushes, but thats all.

I can only guess your in stage 1 peri, my peri lasted for 8 years, however, i was on a 6 weeks cycle, and i think thats why mine took so long to stop, the majority of womens menopause last from anything to 5 years, to 15 total, and the last 5 of those years can be in post, but all this can differ from person to person, one of my sisters did have ablood test after her periods stopped, and her tests did come back saying she was post menopausal, so, you could get bloods done later on to be sure.

So was in peri for 8 years, had 1 year without periods, so considered post been on it 10 years this year in total, think i have a couple more years maybe, to do in post,  who knows, but no serious high and lows, just heat, take it thats when im nearing cycle, but other than that, im fine, feel things are a lot more balanced inside thank god..............hope this helps, good luck lou, lets us all know how you get on.  

8

Thank you for taking the time to give such an informative reply and to me the things you have said do make sense. Dr basically told me 2 years with basically everything gone then I am over it !! I don't think so. You mentioned inflammations for example and this is true - ie earaches, bad knees and wrists are happening, I had a horrid infection down below a few weeks ago, nurse took swabs which all came back clear and in the meantime was offered no antibiotics and it was nasty - doctor just said ' oh that can happen post meno! ' what ! anyway it cleared up itself. I asked about the terrible anxiety and was given Sertraline which gave me horrendous side effects so stopped them. Seems to me there is so much ignorance by some GPs on this and they seem to go by age and circumstances like mine so automatically think you're over it when it feels as if it's just beginning. I have never been offered blood tests so just thought I was over it as I knew no better but now I'm thinking differently. Immediately after my oophorectomy I was having hundreds of hot flushes one after the other and was offered no help and felt just terrible, over the last two years these have got better but now as I said other things have cropped up and at times I think I might not survive I feel so bad, I realise now that it may be early days as it could go on for years, Uugghh it's all so much to cope with. But I know I'm not alone and somehow I think the best way is to get through one day at a time. Thank you so much x

9

I always thought it was after your periods stopped that you started getting symptoms!

It's another reason why I've started with the HRT it just wasn't

going away and after they had stopped two years I just seemed to be having symptoms all the time instead of in cycles.

Now on the HRT they seem to be occasional like at start of peri.

A few seem to be here to stay unless an increase in estrogen will help at some point.

At the moment it's my shoulders all the time if I do certain things and they don't hurt it's a pleasant surprise. Sleep is useless but has changed from not being able to get off to sleep to sleep with frequent waking which is again more like early peri

10

For the MAJORITY of women,  symptoms start in stage 1 which, is classed as perimenopause, which means, before periods actually stop, but you may have period changes during your peri time which is a sign you are in stage 1 along with increasing fluctuating symptoms which you normally get, before, decrease during, then slight dip after your period stops for that month,  maybe the reason you didnt get many symptoms was because your hormones werent fluctuating around that time as much as they can, maybe your body has been doing a great job initially for compensating for your dropping hormones, which all our bodies do for us, but cant do it forever, thats why we then get such bad symptoms, but its up to your body when it actually happens, it may be therefore, that your body has been able to compensate for longer, until in fact, that  your periods actually stop maybe! and then, due to total shrinkage of ovaries, it cannot obvously compensate anymore, so, your symptoms then became much worse, and maybe in your case, this is why they switched to being constant all the time, instead of in cycles like the majority do.  If that was me i would have done the same as you, and tried HRT, menopause is not the same for every woman, i was on peri for 8 years, before my periods stopped alltogether, horrific time up until then, i was on a 6 weeks cycle so, presumed this is why it took me so long to stop, my two sisters on the otherhand were on 4 week cycles, and were only on the menopause total for 6 years from start to finish, they are both now post like me, and have no symtptoms except return of, or, left with hot flushes, which, is a sign of being in post............. but its taken me 10 years to get to this stage 3, whereas it took them 6 and we all started at the same time,, .........stage 1 is classed as peri, and Stage 2 is when periods stop which, is menopause, symptoms decline and go after having no period for 1 year, but hot flushes return or, carry on, which is a sign of Stage 3 which is post. but every woman is differen, that could be the answer but, i dont know, its just different for everyone, but as a general rule that is how it normally happens.

11

yep got it in one.

12

Hi lou

Yes that happend with me, hot flushes did die down, and other symptoms took over worse, does make you feel horrific, it will get better tho lou, drink plenty of water, eat little and often, gentle exercise, and relaxation techniques help with stress as well, sertraline can help with pain, and fatigue during menopause, but if the side effects were too much yu were right to stop them, got enough to  cope with, with all this and yes drs really dont seem to care nowadays, i have had the same experiences with them myself, total arrogance, and ignorance your right, yes you will find infections cropping up lots more now.   My two other sisters came through it much quicker than me, 6 years from start to finish, so you may be like this.   Write again, if you need anymore help with it,  if i cant help you im sure others can on this site, everyone helps everyone out, because the drs are useless, but know it will get better lou and when your post, fingers crossed, you should get a more balanced feeling inside. good luck

 

13

I don't know then Elaine, I think I must have missed stage 2. Nothing really changed at that point. I continued to get a bit of back ache fuller breasts etc. for about 18 months after my last period. Once a ninth at the right time just as if I was going to have one. Then when all that stopped I was left feeling the way you do in the week prior to your period, even down to the chocolate eating urge.

I didn't really go in for chocolate sweets and things except during that week before.

The HRT has changed that at least I'm hoping I may even start to lose some of the weight I've put on because of these constant chocolate binges I've been having for almost 3 years.

For a while there at around 6 to 8 weeks into the HRT I even thought I'd stop taking it because it brought back a few of the horrible peri symptoms with a vengeance.

Now it's settled back to a bit like early peri where they come and go and are quickly gone again.

I did want to do it naturally if I could but, like you I've had it now 10 years, 13 if you count those first few years when symptoms were there but transient.

14

Didi, lol that's exactly what I keep thinking it will go on till I'm 75 and then I can start heading out!

15

Thank you very much, I take on board everything you've said and understand more now. It all makes more sense and will tell myself my symptoms are what they are and nothing more and not let anxiety get the better of me if I can. Thank you for everything and take good care x

16

The anxiety part is the hardest for me. When these creepy symtpoms start coming on I try not to panic like I used to. I still panic a little, but I try to keep it under control as best I can. It's tough though. It will get better for you Lou. Be kind to yourself...

17

I think peri menopause, is what they use to call pre menopausal, that starts around 35, and its when some woman actually stop their periods, either through genetics, or, how their body soughted it for them, but for most of us at 35, really i only noticed a higher body temp, and that was it, then about about 3 years before i hit peri full on, i felt fantastically well couldnt believe it, i just assumed it was my body compensating for the lowering hormones, which it does do, my libido went through the roof, my husband thought it was his birthday, and xmas, all rolled into one, he thinks i hate him now.................hahahahah poor buggers!! i had loads of energy, no brain fog, fatigue, it was great, i was doing better cognitively than the younger girls at work, they couldnt believe it for my age, then aged 46/7  peri hit very hard, anxiety, depression, debilating fatigue etc.  But a year after my periods stopped, all my symptoms became very mild thankfully, and to be honest, i only really notice the hot flushes now which is 1 year into post, if it stays like this great.   I think in the early days its more down to fluctuations of hormones, than declining, that affect us more,  its two fold really i think, hormones rushing in, so you get symptoms, like we did with periods, then take a dip again when hormones come out untill you settle, its the same for the menopause, you get the high rush early on to compensate for the fall, then you get the decline when they have left your system, so we need  two things to happen, one for the rushing in of hormones to stop! and not to lose too much of our hormones after we have finished our periods, which obviously  keeps us more balanced,  maybe yours dropped too much after your periods stopped so, you got a return of symptoms, whats normal for you, may not be normal for others, and visa versa, and yes it could be possible you were just lucky like i said, your body may have compensated so well during peri, you didnt notice your symptoms, can go along with that, that would make sense then as to why you took a bigger dip after your periods stopped, because like i said, there was a time, when i felt incredibly well, and couldnt understand why women said, they were feeling so bad, i paid for it later though, maybe thats whats happened with you, or, this simply could just be your body!!  but mine has finally settled im glad to say, and its since my periods stopped that this has come about, and if your saying, you think you may have missed staged 2, that might be because your body was dealing with it for you, so you didnt get the symptoms, but, due to continual shrivelling ovaries, our boadies cannot do that forever, and we get the decline which ultimately makes us finish our periods, but initially during early peri, you get a rise in certain hormones to compensate, because of others falling, and the body doesnt like it, so fights it, completely messing us up during the process, but it thinks its doing right.

18

Hi Elaine,

You are such a great wealth of knowledge. I've always had regular cycles until

I turned 35. Then I noticed that the cycles came every 23 days heavy bleeding with clotting that would last about 7 to 8 days. I was messing up clothes and putting towels down in my bed. That lead to anemia. I had extremely sore breasts where it hurt to put clothes on, very moody and would cry all the time, headaches, sugar cravings and could eat everything in view, I gained so much weight, waking up in the morning with body all sweaty especially when my menses was on. I just thought these things were pms. Now since November, I've noticed that the cycles still come every 3 weeks, with minimal bleeding, barely any cramping, and no sore boobs, but now I have the anxiety, which I have no clue where it came from, and at times it is through the roof, doom and gloom thoughts, vivid and weird dreams, occasional heart palps, wake up every hour, weird head, chills, sometimes hot, indegestion, a whole lot of gas, i've lost a lot of weight from changing how i eat because sometimes the gas and indegstion makes me not want to eat, inside tremors and tingling, sometimes I get really mean, then other times I can't talk without crying. I've been to the ER dozens of times, also to my GP, and have several tests and scans, all come back negative. All they say is I'm anemic that I now take supplements for along with folic acid, I had high blood pressure which I've never had in my life so I take meds for that and low potassium that my GP has me eating bananas, and some sort of potassium every day. My weird symtpoms was what led my aunt to tell me about peri so when researching I came across this forum and the ladies experiences were like they were talking about me. When I tell my GP how I feel, all he did was ask if I was still having a menses and gave me a script for Ativan to help with anxiety and told me I need to relax. This has all just made me so crazy. I don't know what to do or how to feel anymore.

19

Jamie your ME, every single symptom was mine.  The reason i know a fair bit now, is because i use to see an endocrinologist for a health problem, he also saw menopausal women, so, due to my age, he tested me to see if i was on it, which i was, and thats how i learnt everything,, its his knowledge not mine...........ha im post now, so thought i would help others with it if i can, as understanding is everything, otherwise we would go mad..

And thats what i was saying to myself as well, dont know what to do or, feel anymore, everything felt like it was coming to ahead, then my periods stopped for good, so think you may be pretty close their jamie!!...........But I urge you to try drink the water when you wake feeling not so good, and with the dreams, just try it,, gulp it during the night, just half glass,  but only sip it during the day every ten mins, this is more than likely why your  potassium is low, part of our symptoms are caused by low blood volume, when this happens, our body makes us thirsty because we have dehydrated due to higher temps inside, its trying to get us too drink,  if we dont, we lose more and more of our blood volume, this drops our blood pressure, and thats  what then causes the off balance, dizziness, the fatigue, and also then puts  our electrolytes out more, but dont over do the water either, or else you will dilute your salts, and you will find if your drinking too much and that happens, you will wee more, so, if you try the water, go by that, if you start weeing more, then your supposed to put salt in instead, cant advise you to do that, as it can take blood pressure up too much, and may affect other health probs, that can only come from a dr, but if its low, a handful of salted nuts would help at this point.

Fatigue causes neurological symptoms, thats whats causing the weired dreams, the fatigue is temporarily knocks our sleep rythms out, and your body clock.  By any chance Jamie, do you ever get electric type shocks going through your body and head during the day? and/or  jerking movements as your drifting off to sleep??  when we become fatigued, we lose motivation to do things, which inturn causes low mood, but the lack of motivation is NOT due to depression, its to do more with low energy levels, when our energy levels comes back up, the low mood goes, along with the anxiety. 

Presume your gp is a man then..............you need to try and relax, you must have been having a good day when he said that................ha 

 

20

Yes I do get those electric shock feelings sometimes and when I drift off to sleep maybe for a few minutes, my eyes pop back open. I have been sipping the water. I'm going to try gulping when i wake with those crazy vivid dreams. Haha about having a good day, I was actually having a panic attack when I was in his office so he said you just need to relax. That statement was a bust. I have gotten a little better with the anxiety, trying to talk myself through it and keeping my stress down as much as possible. Try to do more relaxing things that keep me busy and my mind off the crazy symptoms. Driving and being alone still makes me a little anxious. I'm on edge when I'm alone. Still working on that. But thanks so much for your insight. You were lucky to have a specialist that could share some knowledge with you. I need a new doc. Sometimes I feel like he isn't paying me any mind. I'm just blowing smoke out my bum when I talk to him.