Nearing menopausal stage

I am female and yes, I have lived through menopause. I was suddenly thrown into menopause with a hysterectomy in order to deal with persistent fibroids in my uterus that defied several kinds of treatment to get rid of them.

I was 42 years of age. The doctors strongly recommend removing the ovaries because you then do not have to worry about ovarian cancer. It seemed like a logical recommendation.

However, getting thrown into sudden menopause caused very severe and constant hot flashes and dryness. My doctor prescribed estrogen patches, which did alleviate symptoms.

But it took about six months to arrive at the optimal dosage and for the symptoms to more or less disappear. I also experienced “foggy memory” and complete lack of desire for sex.

This also diminished with time. The symptoms were more difficult to control because I also was taking synthroid for a thyroid deficiency and the dosage of this medicine affects the dosage needed for the estrogen patch.

Therefore, constant tinkering of the prescription was necessary. It was very vexing to discover how little attention is paid to women’s health issues. I read many books and looked into many of the alternative treatments and herbal remedies. I tried a number of those.

Sleeplessness also became a problem for a couple of years. I used herbal remedies, mostly to solve this, and cut down on caffeine consumption. When the medical research came out saying that hormone treatments were dangerous, I stopped using the patch (after about 10 years!!).

The hot flashes returned, but not as severely as before. Some of the other symptoms came back in fits and starts, but I am sticking to herbs for menopause, mostly, and topical estrogen cream at this point.

Mind over matter is a good strategy for me right now, rather than worrying about whether the cure is worse than the disease!!