I started noticing changes and my period and went to the doctor.

He laughs and said sometimes there are just changes in your cycle and it was nothing to worry about.

I started having headaches and at the time did not connect the headaches to anything but I developed a rare illness and at the age of 32 started having hot flashes that made me very ill.

Again I went to the doctor and he said that it was nothing and I was too young for menopause. This time it was decided that it was female related and I was treated.

I had hot flashes that felt like a hundred lite matches under my skin, night flashes that made me physically sick.

At the age of 37 I was finally tested and not only was I in menopause I had completed it. I talked with family, friends and the doctor.

I now take medication and I am feeling fine.

I have had one period in the span of one year, and that seemed to be due to incredible stress in my life at the time.

Things calmed down, no period since. It was not as hard as I had feared it would be, though.

Night sweats we hell, but, not constant. Mood swings, well they were no more severe than normal life.

I have had two miscarriages since my signs of menopause started. The doctor explained that my eggs were too old to give birth.

I do not miss my child bearing years, I welcome the title crone.

I hope I made the 300m word limit… Oh, no meds have been taken during the past 9 years of menopause.

I do not like the side effects, and the latest findings on hormone replacement therapy.

Three months after the surgery, symptoms of hot flushes, insomnia and irritability started. Another thing was the easy fatigability. These symptoms were frequent during the first two years.

Sometimes, I felt ashamed of the hot flushes because even if I was in an air-conditioned room I was fanning myself due to excessive sweating while during the warm weather, I was shivering.

It was good people around me understood my condition so I don’t have to make excuses. My insomnia was another thing. Every two o’clock in the morning, I can’t help but wake up either because of too much perspiration or it’s just that I had to wake up.

I lose weight because of these. These symptoms had gradually diminished during the third year. Hot flushes became infrequent and the insomnia was manageable though there were times that I stayed awake almost the whole early morning from 2 to 5 in the morning.

Since I had undergone operation, I had a regular check up. In one of the check- ups , I was advised by my doctor to take hormone replacement therapy but I refused. I opted not to have the HRT, but modified my diet and lifestyle of which it had positive results.

I shifted to vegetarian diet and fish only, no fatty and oily foods. These had helped me a lot because my temperament was also under control.

I think the most that had really helped me in coping with the symptoms was the acceptance of the changes and daily exercise of walking.

Another was doing the things I love to do to keep me occupied.

These had helped me very much. Now, it is almost five years, and I don’t feel anything unusual.

I seldom experience hot flushes and insomnia but the easy fatigability is still there. Irritability is very manageable because the situations and instances that can provoke it were recognized.

I receive the Lupron Depot shot, it’s not the same as birth control.

I didn’t start getting symptoms until my second month on the shot.

I get hot flashes about every fifteen minutes. I also get cravings and fatigue. All my symptoms have stayed the same.

I will have these symptoms probably the rest of my life.

They are also a side affect of the shot. My doctor said if they get real bad, then I can take an “add-back” pill to reduce them.

I just deal with the symptoms, because to me, these are better then the pain and suffering I was going through.

My clothes get soaking wet. It’s kind of embarrassing when I am teaching to be sweating so much, but there is not much to be done about it. Because my grandmother and mother had breast cancer, I am not going to do any kind of hormone therapy.

My mother’s breast cancer was definitely related to estrogen, so that is a warning for me. I’m going to tough it out for the next five or so years. Fortunately, I have a great doctor and he is helping me with mood issues, so I am not experiencing hormone-related mood swings.

That is a real blessing because I have had those and they are not pleasant. I have read in years past that this is sometimes a hard time to go through. I never had kids, so the end of fertility does not seem to be a big issue for me–in fact, I can’t wait until that part is done.

It’s certainly a change in how my body operates, but I know that this is a transition and the transition will be over…eventually! What I have appreciated about growing older is that I seem to have a greater understanding of people than I did twenty years ago and I am able to share that with the young folks I teach.

Some of them even listen to me!! I have also noticed in myself and other women I know that the forties are a time of shedding social expectations and becoming oneself. There’s not time to try to appease everyone in my life–I have to make choices.

This is making me a stronger person and giving me more confidence in my life. So–overall this is a good time for me despite the physical symptoms.

My opinion of the surgical menopause I have gone through is that I feel as if it has kept me young.

I think the hormones actually are a plus! I have no aches and pains, no hot flushes and I look very young for my age by not having many wrinkles or sagging yet.

I’ve always credited the hormones for this.

Part of it may have to do with heredity I suppose, but my mother was in constant pain with fibromyalgia, and my dad has choleteral problems as well a being a diabetic…I suffer from none of these.

I would not recommend hormones to everyone, it’s something that must be discussed with your Dr. My mother died of ovarian cancer and concert does run in the family. I am fortunate not to have my ovaries anymore because of the fear of getting the same cancer.

Breast cancer does not run in my family. My Dr. and I have discussed whether I should stay on the hormones or not, and he said that my quality of life was more important than the risk of taking the hormones. When I have missed a couple days of my hormone, I experience very uncomfortable hot flushes. To sum up, my menopause has been a very positive experience for me.

I am a female who began feeling the changes at age 35. I have four biological children, so the change is not a surprise. I just expected it a bit later.

I frequently wake up in the middle of the night, either freezing or, more often, sweating.

I am often asking my husband to crank up the air conditioning in the car, which makes him happy. My symptoms haven’t really changed now that I am in my early forties.

I have consulted with friends and family members, especially those in the medical profession.

I have not yet consulted with doctors or other experts. I have considered taking prescription supplements or vitamins, but have yet to do so. I have many friends who currently take replacement hormones.

I am lost, and don’t know what to do. I guess the best thing to do is to consult with my obstetrician/gynecologist.

The menopause symptoms typically last anywhere from ten minutes until two hours. I also have a decrease in sex drive, which is causing problems in my marriage. My husband would like to have sex five times a week, and I would be happy with only one time a week. This is causing an increase in marital problems.

My menopause symptoms have not really changed in time, although I feel like I have been in menopause for more than ten year already. I am not sure what else I can do. I am desperate, and would be willing to try any and all treatment options. Thanks in advance for your help.

The menopause symptoms all came very fast, moody and cranky within days of my first injection at the time I thought it was lack of sleep or something else but as the days continued and the hot flashes began I knew that was what I was experiencing.

When I would hear woman complain about hot flashes I would think are they really that bad?

YES they are miserable all of sudden my face will start to get hot and then woosh my whole body felt hot and sweaty at different intervals throughout the day.

The paranoia sets in Do I smell sweaty?? I would grab my fan at work and blow it right in face, wear lighter clothing, keep deodorant and body sprays in my desk drawers.

For me the only treatment was a birth control pill that I said no way to.

So I am due for my next Lupron in August and I am just going to say NO. And when Mother Nature sends me the natural menopause I want drugs!