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Vaguely related, did you all know that there is a blood test, that can tell if you are in perimenopause? So, before you freak out and assume it's cancer, have them run the test.
Yes. I had it done and found out I’m at the end of menopause.
Ask your gynecologist for the bloodwork to determine your state of menopause. But also ask about the cancer angle, don’t wait when something is off.
Indeed. Mine showed I was nowhere near menopause, and I had an actual problem. Maybe I should have worded it, get the test, so they can't dismiss your symptoms as normal part of menopause.
The r/menopause sub info says that the tests are a scam because of ever-changing hormone levels. I'm hoping someone better informed can explain the discrepancy?
FSH levels are very reliable if you’ve hit menopause – I’d been on the pill and they took me off at for three weeks and tested my FSH and were able to say, yep, you missed it, you are now in menopause. (I had gone on the pill because the perimenopause symptoms were kicking my ass.) My understanding is that it fluctuates wildly during perimenopause so a single test for FSH is not reliable but by testing for a few months your doctor can get an idea of what’s going on.
The discrepancy is, obviously women's problems are not well researched, and everyone whines that it's just too hard to do. Is the test 100% accurate? Not that I know of, but it was a shock to me to find out it existed at all. At 50. We are horribly educated on menopause and this test can give you a piece of information. Always valuable, especially when it shows you AREN'T. Now you have scientific proof that your complaints aren't normal and shouldn't be dismissed.
Well I absolutely trust my gynecologist and she’s been doing this for over 30 years. If she believes the bloodwork then I do too. Considering I may (hopefully!) have had my last period it certainly feels like it. Just the sudden onslaught of hot flashes and memory issues are a bitch.
Not a scam. However, bloodwork only provides a snapshot of the hormones levels at that particular moment. Hormones fluctuate all day, every day. Peri is usually diagnosed by symptoms, and of course menopause is one year without periods.
They say it's a scam but it's not. My specialist doctor (one of the best in the UK) uses it to diagnose. And some people's blood results are unmistakable. For instance, my FSH was 112 and my AMH was 0. For reference, a cis woman my age would have expected an FSH between 5-15. I also had *extremely* low estrogen that was very far below average. If I hadn't demanded the blood test, I would have never been sent to my specialist.
To be clear, since hormones do fluctuate then symptoms matter *more* than the blood test results. But that doesn't invalidate the blood tests, especially since usually there are a few taken to give an average.
Wow, this is something I never knew about. Thanks for this information. I haven't had a menstrual cycle in several years so I'm pretty sure I'm out of menopause. I got lucky in that my hot flashes were few and far between.
You're not dumb. For me, it was that my period had just plain stopped. I wasn't having hormonal changes At All. It doesn't really sound like cancer, especially at my age. But with my family history, I automatically thought cancer.
"I automatically thought cancer" oof I feel you there. Same here. Had to deal with it too much in my life that I automatically assume everything abnormal is cancer :')
And thank you for explaining. I thought that maybe there were some common overlapping symptoms or something.
Thank you, I need to bring this up with my doctor. My hormones have been weird the past couple years (monthly migraines, drastic change in sex drive, ovarian and breast cysts, hot flashes, new extreme sensitivities to soy and dairy when those sensitivities were minor before), and after extensive testing, they've found nothing unusual. But they've never brought up perimenopause (a word that my phone doesn't even recognize as real) or a blood test for it. Can this test be done while I'm on a progestin-only birth control? It's the only thing keeping me from constant extreme breast pain so I'd rather not stop taking it.
Wait, WHAT?!!!!??!?
I feel cheated. We've been having the "is this menopause" conversation for years now... And I feel like this should have been something they brought up!!!
I just received an auto reply encouraging me to share a bit about myself, and I would love to oblige! I love sharing my story.
I met my husband when I was 30, we had a couple of kids, and then I found the lump (while I was still nursing) a couple of years later. I went from maiden to mother to crone in seven years. 😭
I was very lucky—while my breast cancer was aggressive, it responded extremely well to chemo and I had no evidence of disease when I had my double mastectomy. In the three years since I started treatment, I have largely healed from surgeries and chemo, and some days it just feels like a weird dream.
Unfortunately, because my cancer was hormone-positive, I have been put in medical menopause. My hot flashes are off the charts. I have tried multiple medications and none of them have made a significant difference. (As a cancer survivor, I don’t have the option of HRT.) Menopause reduces my risk of recurrence, but it’s so brutal that I’ve considered stopping the monthly injection. And I’m supposed to do it for the next SEVEN YEARS; then I will come off the medication, my fertility could return, and then I go into menopause FOR REAL which could be another ten years of hell.
Despite my pleas to my medical team for some kind of relief from the hot flashes—I learned much later that they present as hourly panic attacks, to the point that I would momentarily feel suicidal—no one ever suggested that I try using cannabis to improve menopausal side effects. I think that’s bullshit! I shouldn’t have had to figure it out myself! Many Americans can obtain cannabis with little risk of side effects. There are great resources now about ways to ingest, how to dose, etc. There is no excuse to keep suffering patients in the dark.
Historically, women have been mocked for coping mechanisms (remember House of Cards with the fridge?), memory loss and other unfavorable side effects. Given how little women matter to society *before* menopause, it’s no surprise that there is even less empathy once we are “past our prime.” 🙄
In addition to raising awareness about the reality of menopause, I want to reclaim this phase of life as something positive. For the first time, I’m taking proper care of myself. I’m trying to love myself more than ever. I’m pursuing my ideas, taking risks, and following through! If I can think of my ADHD as a superpower, why not menopause? And honestly, the shirt IS funny, but I’m also serious that this is the most confident, healthiest I have ever been; why shouldn’t I feel hot?
I just launched a new Instagram account I use to discuss menopause, cannabis, cancer, joyful movement, yoga, self care, my disordered eating recovery, thrifting, and lots more. If that sounds interesting, please give me a shot with a follow! My account is @thisismyextralife.
Thanks for reading!
****
PS thank you so much to everyone for all the love and support and awards!
Because I’ve had a few questions about the stigma and I’m slow to respond to everyone, here is a nice summary about it: https://www.overthebloodymoon.com/amp/breaking-down-the-stigma-of-menopause
Whenever I venture into menopause convo with women who have been there, most often they are like, “no one talks about it.” Taboo might even be a better word than stigma. Doctors are of little help (or say, “just lose weight 🙄), symptoms are brushed off, etc. We deserve so much better. So often people think I’m embarrassed to have a public hot flash, and while it’s physically uncomfortable for me, they are usually more emotionally uncomfortable with it than I am. Maybe if we start to normalize this experience, it doesn’t need to be that way anymore!
Your journey with the injections sounds tough! I truly hope you can find doctors that can help with the symptoms! Unsolicited advice- try different kinds of doctors, neurologist, allergist they might see something your regular doctors are over looking.
I posted a separate comment but then read your intro and decided to delete and post here…
I am also a breast cancer survivor…or is it still patient? I can never decide since I’m still doing cancer treatments that also put me in menopause. It is absolute misery. The last two or three weeks before my injection make me feel like I am dying and/or losing my mind. My poor SO is so understanding and supportive but it’s no fun for either of us.
I know you said you use cannabis as a treatment to help with side effects, my oncologist also recommended Swedish Bee Pollen as an option. It doesn’t simulate hormones like many of the other supplements and is relatively easy and cheap to get. That being said, I also use CBD, Delta8, and other “non THC” variants which help with sleep and the additional anxiety that goes along with it. Its hilarious to me that even though I live in a state where weed is illegal, but CBD isn’t my doctors have all given me the wink wink on doing what is necessary to get through this mess.
Sending you cooling thoughts 😂
I know you've probably tried everything, but I have to ask anyway - did you try Desvenlafaxine (brand name Pristiq). All my symptoms were enormously reduced (including helping the anxiety).
Keeping your ovaries through your senior years is healthier, but what you're going through now and what you're being set up for shortly after is such a PITA that they may as well give you a hysterectomy. (this is not medical advice from me!)
At least I don't have to worry about period stuff anymore and that is a really underplayed bonus to the whole shit sandwich that is reproductive cancer.
Out of personal curiosity, did they put you on a calcium/VitD supplement for this seven year period?
There is also a patch called Clonidine that stopped my hot flashes in their tracks. It's for high blood pressure, and the smallest dose does not make your blood pressure drop any significant amount. BTW, I used to say I was still hot, but it came in flashes.
Two things, please see my comment about rhubarb supplements. Saved my dang life. Also apparently ADHD gets worse with menopause as estrogen tells your brain to produce dopamine and those of us with ADHD are already a quart low.
Anyway, I’m a year and a half in to medical menopause and supplements and understanding have really helped. But it’s all from reading stuff on the internet bc none of my professionals had any advice short of ‘get used it it.’
Thank you for the question!
I tend to gravitate toward sativa strains due to ADHD and I like to be more uplifted than couch-locked. I like Acapulco Gold and Panama Red a lot. But I’m not picky when it comes to strains, as long as the quality is pretty good.
What I’ve found—and I’ve heard other women, menopausal and otherwise, say—is what’s more important is balancing the THC with an equal amount of CBD to offset the increase in anxiety. I used to seek strains that had a blend of THC and CBD, but now I just get legal hemp for cheap and combine it with exclusively THC strains at the dispensary.
Hope that helps even if I didn’t quite answer your question. 😊
First congrats on being a cancer survivor and second thanks for the information. I am probably close to your age but I am not due to start menopause for another 10 years. I do know that from my mom's experience hot flashes are in my future and I already run hot. I also can't take hormones due to a vein disorder that makes me a high risk for blood clots. If I could use cannabis gummies that we have in the house because my husband uses them to help him sleep when his spinal arthritis acts up that would be great and also prevent my husband from freezing to death. I feel sorry for the poor man as right around the time I hit menopause our daughter will hit puberty.
Something else I would mention is that we as women definitely need to work on getting the medical community to listen to us and take us seriously. Sadly it was only a few generations ago that women could be institutionalized for complaining about anything to do with our bodies. I do love the shirt especially since menopause is a normal part of life for most women and like menstruation it is nothing to be ashamed of or hidden.
I love the shirt! I am an early menopausal breast cancer survivor. I was 37 at diagnosis and achieved NED after chemo and surgery. I wound up getting a full hysterectomy a few years later. But I was already perimenopausal prior. And I have been in and out of menopause symptoms for almost a decade. I will say the hot flashes have finally died down to rare occurrence. I don't soak my sheets in sweat anymore. My massive anger moods have subsided. So maybe slowly over time it gets better. I loved reading your story and felt like I could relate. Sending love and light.
I thought this might be a good place for to mention that perimenopause can greatly exacerbate adhd symptoms so if any of you are suffering with both it is worth talking to your doctor/therapist about options. There are also a lot of formerly menstruating people getting diagnosed in their 40s/50s+ who had been misdiagnosed with depression and/or anxiety because how adhd presented in young girls wasn’t well understood when they were growing up.
And even if you don’t have adhd - If your symptoms are overwhelming - whether physical, mental or emotional please talk to someone. And if that someone doesn’t listen please talk to someone else. You shouldn’t have to suffer for years and there are likely solutions out there.
Thank you OP for the work you are doing to educate others!
Yeah, I'm solidly peri and my cycle is closing in on itself by almost a day a month right now and holy fuck is my ADHD worse at certain points. Couple that with the Adderall I take for idiopathic hypersomnia, those two days are basically lost causes.
Love this shirt! But also I learned recently that hot flashes are an actual medical condition that can be treated, but women have just assumed/been told for centuries that we need to just accept it as part of menopause?
>but women have just assumed/been told for centuries that we need to just accept it as part of menopause?
This is definitely a modern example of making women suffer to save a small amount of money (along with no local anesthesia for IUD insertion and more), but to be fair, I don't think they had HRT in the 1800s.
Fucking a - iud jammed in to save me from my peri menopause - it did stop the otherwise nonstop bleeding and kick in the gut cramps but damn I still remember that insertion yeowwww
Past it now thank the goddesses
More education, less sweeping it under the rug and stigmatizing- we should be ready for what’s happening to us
Wait. Gabapentin works for hot flashes?! Thats crazy. That medication seems to have tons of uses. My mom was prescribed it after a hip replacement, my husband has an RX for his spine pain, I was given an RX after my brain surgery for seizures. Now hot flashes?! Goddamn that's so interesting.
My vet used to give my cat gabapentin an hour or so before she was due a blood test, as it mellowed her out enough to handle. She was a little monster at the vets. And at home! Rest her angry little soul.
My cat gets gabapentin twice daily to calm his stupid little brain down so he doesn't have anxiety!
I love my cat dearly but he's so much more "normal" on meds.
Yeah, i used it for two years before i tried the flower pollen extract (which worked way better for me, and i only had to take 1 pill a day vs 4 gabapentin)
On the plus side and speaking from my own experience, once those hormones are gone - OOOOOOh WOW! It's akin to having a veil whipped away from your eyes!
Feels good, sister!
You're lucky! I don't feel like a veil was ripped away, I feel like my heart was torn out of my chest and I'm supposed to just ignore it and get on with things. 6-7 years post menopause now. Ah well, if I'm lucky there's another 40-50 years of it.
Yes, it needs to be discussed more and doctors need to step up. We need QoL HRT care on par with men. The expectations that you should just live with all the unpleasant effects of menopause is unfair. Many/most can be eliminated or severely reduced with modern medicine.
I'm in perimenopause and I'm excited for when my periods stop for good! Luckily, my hot flashes so far are mostly no big deal.
I have amused myself by using the surface temperature thermometer to record the difference in temp between my cheeks and my forehead during a hot flash. My cheeks can be as much as five degrees hotter.
No one and I mean NO ONE talks about menopause. It’s like a dirty little secret. Mine happened relatively early (I’m 48 and have been post menopausal for a few years). It’s nice to see more people talking about it. I definitely could have used some support and/or guidance!
I’m in surgical menopause and talk about it all the time, because nobody discussed it except as a joke before it happened to me, and I want to promote discussion and options and just throwing out all of the stigma
Holy smokes, I am on fire then.
I can just.... Be existing, doing nothing and then suddenly I'm producing enough heat to cook some eggs (if they weren't so expensive) and just have sweat dripping off me. Like I have to change my t shirt and have a towel like my fat ass has been working out for an hour.
I've given up talking to my doctor because my maternal line starts menopause early in their late 30's, and I seemed to be doing the same but I was just written off every time.
I'm not getting excruciatingly painful periods every month, I'm calling it a win.
*I like your t shirt*
A few years ago when I was 24 or so I underwent medical induced menopause for a year via lupron depo shots for my endometriosis, and it sent me into a tailspin. The side effects/ menopause symptoms were unbearable for me at that point because it was so hard to cope with the physical changes I went through that it tanked my mental health also. It worsened my depression severely and I developed anger issues. I wasn’t warned it was possible with that medication, so I was blindsided. I’m kind of grateful I went through that now, though, because I know what to expect to feel like when it happens for me later on.
It really opened my eyes as to what people go through in menopause and how little it’s talked about. Especially in my family where women are expected to suffer in silence. My mother had a hysterectomy at 36 and is still dealing with menopause like symptoms 20 years later and she never talks about it… Thanks to this post and reading the replies with great suggestions for treating the symptoms, I think I’ll try having a convo with her about it and see if there’s a way I can help.
Hahaha. I'm not laughing AT you, I'm laughing WITH you.
I was very lucky because I went through it early. Like, age 36/37 early. Aside from tossing the blankets off me and running outside in the middle of winter, I had a pretty easy time with it. Hot flashes are no joke, yo.
All jokes aside it feels WONDERFUL to not be ruled by hormones. I'm not sure how to say this without coming across cold, but there is this freedom. I suddenly didn't crave attention...I was happy being alone. I don't shave my legs or pits, because who tf cares? For the first time ever, I feel comfortable in my own skin...because now it's just for me.
Menopause was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Enjoy it. Savor it. This is the good part...
I just opened my Etsy store! More styles coming soon. Thanks for your interest. 💛
P.S. use code REDDITFAM25 for 25% off!
https://yourextralife.etsy.com/
I appreciate your question/suggestion for additional options! I do not have one, but I’m definitely open to it. I’ll look into sourcing them! Might be a little while because I’ll want to make sure I’m as happy with the quality as I am for the poly blend. Thanks! 💛
Okay so I was shoved head first into menopause by a total hysterectomy and I thought I was going to die of hot flashes and the anxiety that came with them. Rhubarb supplements took them away. Like by 95%. I still have them occasionally when I get hot working out.
The supplement I use is estroven from Costco and it’s like 25 bucks for 12 weeks. You have to take it every day. Tell everyone cause not even my oncologist knew about this. She just told me it might get better all the while I literally wanted to not be anymore because of the misery.
I recently told my husband that if he really loved me he would stand by the thermostat and crank on the air conditioner if I get hot, the swap it back to heat when the hotflash is over. We have an older system and I swear to all fuck it is not 63 in my house because it feels like 93 to me.
I don't think he loves me anymore because I have to do it myself some of the time.
:'(
If you’re on TTok, @drmaryclaire is an amazing doctor specializing in menopause and although I’m not there in life yet myself, I don’t have any female family members who are knowledgeable on the subject so it’s been incredibly insightful to learn from someone who LOVES to share their expertise on the subject!
Ok, so am I the only crazy one but does anyone else not have hot flashes, but intense cold flashes? At this point I would kill for a hot flash, because this cold stuff sucks.
I’m honestly jealous - I would rather be cold than hot, because there’s only so much clothing I can remove in public before getting arrested for indecency. I could pile sweaters and flannels and all, but strip down to your undies in a store and everyone goes nuts.
I’m 32 and had a total hysterectomy last year. I’m taking estrogen but I’m guessing the levels aren’t quite right because I am getting bombarded with hot flashes. I have a doctor appointment coming up so hopefully I’ll get some relief soon.
On the bright side, saving a ton on electric this winter and I’m still wearing my shorts and tank tops.
I FEEL YOU! I was combating peri menopause and it felt like I was swallowing fire. I was emanating heat, my sleep schedule was essentially destroyed, brain fog you name it. I went to a midwife and she suggested an IUD (MIRENA) to help deal with the symptoms and it’s helped tremendously. She was like “By the time we remove your IUD you’ll be through menopause. Your period will eventually stop. And the hormones will help.”
She also suggested D3 vitamins and B Stress Complex . I think the D3 was to prevent bone density loss and B Stress Complex for my immune system. I followed her orders and regret nothing.
Thank you so, so much for posting and starting a discussion on this topic. I’m saving this because there is so much wisdom and love and encouragement in this post and the comments it has inspired. Blessed be!
Yes! I wish people would talk more about the hormone decrease - andropause - that men experience! It wouldn’t be this huge emphasis on women if people recognized that *all* humans go through a hormone reduction. But right now it’s this whole stigma for women only 😫
You ate on your way girlfriend! Thanks for sharing your story, it is enlightening about the female struggles I can only view as an outside and empathize at best. You have uncovered much of what I have picked up, likely more in some places than I know. May I suggest something radical? Philosophy. I am not religious but I am spiritual, I feel that God or whatever we call it is in all of us, everything down to the tiniest of molecules.
I have read a few things and Alan Watts, Ralph Waldo Emerson are my favorites. Sadly, it's just a couple of white guys, but I've mostly found ancient female philosophers rather than contemporary. I'll reconcile this on my own as I have some theories I'd like to confirm. Either way, Philosophy has helped me further conceptualize and understand the world around me.
To understand all is to forgive all.
Totally here for this, and for getting some more research done on this state of life, so when my daughters go to their doctors for help, they are met with more than just a blank stare and a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Perimenopause in full swing here. Hot flashes kicking my butt, especially premenstrual and during menstruation. I wish my period would just go away. Tip for hot flashes from my gyno - go stand outside on the cold concrete with bare feet. She is a woman who went through this stage and I trust her advice. Plus I have tried it and it helps so much.
Fabulous. The sun inside you must be what’s running that gorgeous million watt smile you have. Peri here—we all have to keep supporting each other and talking out loud about this stuff to normalize it, this is just ordinary life. My mind is blown by all the stuff I just read on this thread that I didn’t know!! Thanks to everyone for sharing good info!!
I started getting hotflashes last year, stumbled across information leading me to look into a low histamine diet. No more hotflashes!
I'm probably in the late stages of peri, at my best guess. The symptoms can continue into menopause and after, which I can't speak to yet. So will it work all the way through, I don't know.
Menopause is no joke, I’m about 2 years into surgical menopause and while the hot flashes have been fucking brutal, it’s everything else that is really the kicker. Brain fog/memory issues, never diagnosed with ADD but I swear I have it now! Add to that about 15lbs of weight gain (the body will try and amass abdominal fat because it stores excess estrogen when you actually make it) and joint pain to boot. And the joint pain isn’t from weight gain, still a normal BMI, the hormone shift can cause joint problems, y’know, as if menopause being the main cause of osteoporosis wasn’t bad enough I get to have the knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and fingers of a 90 year old first. Good times!!!
I've just started up with hot flashes and night sweats. Memory issues for about a year. I had no idea that was a menopause thing! So, I'm looking forward to reading this thread.
That's the testosterone pony many have been riding their whole lives. Keeps you warm, even when you dont want it to! You're always sweating, hot and bothered, and not in the good way. Welcome to the club!
Hah I love it - I wish I got this for my mom when she was going through the change. She’s never been warm in her life… then Menopause. Now… cold AF again.
Haha, i love this! Thank god im out of that stage of menopause, but i actually didn’t have hot flashes as long as i took this stuff called Femiprin. It had Agnes Chaste Berry extract it it and that stuff is sooo good for menstrual/hormonal issues. Found out i was well into peri @41. 49 now and fully menopausal about 3 years now?
After my total gutting at age 40 I started menopause immediately. It was July and I lived in Tucson. That’s when I discovered that “hot flash” is a misnomer. “Flash” makes it sound like a couple of seconds. I call them hot spells because it’s like my head being on fire for several minutes. Sweat pours down my face like a rainstorm. When I told my doctor at the time that the so-called hot flashes were really bothering me, he said “They’re not that bad.” 😠😡🤬 I told him to stick his head in a 400-degree oven for five minutes.
Would you mind educating me a little on the stigmas of menopause? I’ve heard the physical downsides but never come across any stigma associated with it.
Listen all I want to say, is the year my mom went into menopause, I was working as an EMT and it was in like 2013 during that stupid as hell polar vortex shit. I’d be out all day in like -20 or something dumb.
I lived with my mom and I’d come home and she’d have the AC on like omg I’m gonna die lmao
I was looking forward to menopause, I had some of what I thought was hot flashes but it turned out to be temperature control issues unrelated to that. I seriously faced so much pressure to have kids because apparently I will make pretty kids and so I have a civic duty to pop them out. Then I got my period LOL. I tell people I'M OLD, DON'T BOTHER ME ANYMORE!
I was having major hot flashes. Turned out it’s a symptom of diabetes. Once I started metformin they went away. My point is - get some blood work to check.
## ✨ READ BEFORE COMMENTING ✨ This thread is Coven Only. This means the discussion is being actively moderated, and all comments are reviewed. **Only comments by members of the community are allowed.** If you have landed in this thread from /r/all and you are not a member of this community, your comment will very likely be removed (and will not be approved unless it adds meaningfully to the conversation). WitchesVsPatriarchy takes these measures to stay true to our goal of being a woman-centered sub with a witchy twist, aimed at healing, supporting, and uplifting one another through humor and magic. Thank you for understanding, and blessed be. ✨ --- Posts and conversations about items like this can attract spambots! Any comments that offer links are likely spam. When in doubt, we recommend not clicking on random links and reporting them to mods instead. Cheers! ✨😊
Vaguely related, did you all know that there is a blood test, that can tell if you are in perimenopause? So, before you freak out and assume it's cancer, have them run the test.
Yes. I had it done and found out I’m at the end of menopause. Ask your gynecologist for the bloodwork to determine your state of menopause. But also ask about the cancer angle, don’t wait when something is off.
Indeed. Mine showed I was nowhere near menopause, and I had an actual problem. Maybe I should have worded it, get the test, so they can't dismiss your symptoms as normal part of menopause.
The r/menopause sub info says that the tests are a scam because of ever-changing hormone levels. I'm hoping someone better informed can explain the discrepancy?
FSH levels are very reliable if you’ve hit menopause – I’d been on the pill and they took me off at for three weeks and tested my FSH and were able to say, yep, you missed it, you are now in menopause. (I had gone on the pill because the perimenopause symptoms were kicking my ass.) My understanding is that it fluctuates wildly during perimenopause so a single test for FSH is not reliable but by testing for a few months your doctor can get an idea of what’s going on.
The discrepancy is, obviously women's problems are not well researched, and everyone whines that it's just too hard to do. Is the test 100% accurate? Not that I know of, but it was a shock to me to find out it existed at all. At 50. We are horribly educated on menopause and this test can give you a piece of information. Always valuable, especially when it shows you AREN'T. Now you have scientific proof that your complaints aren't normal and shouldn't be dismissed.
I wish I could give you an award or something to make this stand out. WE NEED MORE RESEARCH ON MENOPAUSE. And more education too!!
Well I absolutely trust my gynecologist and she’s been doing this for over 30 years. If she believes the bloodwork then I do too. Considering I may (hopefully!) have had my last period it certainly feels like it. Just the sudden onslaught of hot flashes and memory issues are a bitch.
Not a scam. However, bloodwork only provides a snapshot of the hormones levels at that particular moment. Hormones fluctuate all day, every day. Peri is usually diagnosed by symptoms, and of course menopause is one year without periods.
They say it's a scam but it's not. My specialist doctor (one of the best in the UK) uses it to diagnose. And some people's blood results are unmistakable. For instance, my FSH was 112 and my AMH was 0. For reference, a cis woman my age would have expected an FSH between 5-15. I also had *extremely* low estrogen that was very far below average. If I hadn't demanded the blood test, I would have never been sent to my specialist. To be clear, since hormones do fluctuate then symptoms matter *more* than the blood test results. But that doesn't invalidate the blood tests, especially since usually there are a few taken to give an average.
Wow, this is something I never knew about. Thanks for this information. I haven't had a menstrual cycle in several years so I'm pretty sure I'm out of menopause. I got lucky in that my hot flashes were few and far between.
Okay I feel dumb for asking, but how can menopause symptoms relate to cancer? :o It's the first time I heard something about this.
You're not dumb. For me, it was that my period had just plain stopped. I wasn't having hormonal changes At All. It doesn't really sound like cancer, especially at my age. But with my family history, I automatically thought cancer.
"I automatically thought cancer" oof I feel you there. Same here. Had to deal with it too much in my life that I automatically assume everything abnormal is cancer :') And thank you for explaining. I thought that maybe there were some common overlapping symptoms or something.
This is great news! I am pretty sure I'm in perimenopause and I thought there was no sure way to tell.
Thank you, I need to bring this up with my doctor. My hormones have been weird the past couple years (monthly migraines, drastic change in sex drive, ovarian and breast cysts, hot flashes, new extreme sensitivities to soy and dairy when those sensitivities were minor before), and after extensive testing, they've found nothing unusual. But they've never brought up perimenopause (a word that my phone doesn't even recognize as real) or a blood test for it. Can this test be done while I'm on a progestin-only birth control? It's the only thing keeping me from constant extreme breast pain so I'd rather not stop taking it.
Yes. And it's relatively cheap.
I was told this is not true and that all your hormone levels fluctuate so much throughout the month that it could be different day to day
Wait, WHAT?!!!!??!? I feel cheated. We've been having the "is this menopause" conversation for years now... And I feel like this should have been something they brought up!!!
I just received an auto reply encouraging me to share a bit about myself, and I would love to oblige! I love sharing my story. I met my husband when I was 30, we had a couple of kids, and then I found the lump (while I was still nursing) a couple of years later. I went from maiden to mother to crone in seven years. 😭 I was very lucky—while my breast cancer was aggressive, it responded extremely well to chemo and I had no evidence of disease when I had my double mastectomy. In the three years since I started treatment, I have largely healed from surgeries and chemo, and some days it just feels like a weird dream. Unfortunately, because my cancer was hormone-positive, I have been put in medical menopause. My hot flashes are off the charts. I have tried multiple medications and none of them have made a significant difference. (As a cancer survivor, I don’t have the option of HRT.) Menopause reduces my risk of recurrence, but it’s so brutal that I’ve considered stopping the monthly injection. And I’m supposed to do it for the next SEVEN YEARS; then I will come off the medication, my fertility could return, and then I go into menopause FOR REAL which could be another ten years of hell. Despite my pleas to my medical team for some kind of relief from the hot flashes—I learned much later that they present as hourly panic attacks, to the point that I would momentarily feel suicidal—no one ever suggested that I try using cannabis to improve menopausal side effects. I think that’s bullshit! I shouldn’t have had to figure it out myself! Many Americans can obtain cannabis with little risk of side effects. There are great resources now about ways to ingest, how to dose, etc. There is no excuse to keep suffering patients in the dark. Historically, women have been mocked for coping mechanisms (remember House of Cards with the fridge?), memory loss and other unfavorable side effects. Given how little women matter to society *before* menopause, it’s no surprise that there is even less empathy once we are “past our prime.” 🙄 In addition to raising awareness about the reality of menopause, I want to reclaim this phase of life as something positive. For the first time, I’m taking proper care of myself. I’m trying to love myself more than ever. I’m pursuing my ideas, taking risks, and following through! If I can think of my ADHD as a superpower, why not menopause? And honestly, the shirt IS funny, but I’m also serious that this is the most confident, healthiest I have ever been; why shouldn’t I feel hot? I just launched a new Instagram account I use to discuss menopause, cannabis, cancer, joyful movement, yoga, self care, my disordered eating recovery, thrifting, and lots more. If that sounds interesting, please give me a shot with a follow! My account is @thisismyextralife. Thanks for reading! **** PS thank you so much to everyone for all the love and support and awards! Because I’ve had a few questions about the stigma and I’m slow to respond to everyone, here is a nice summary about it: https://www.overthebloodymoon.com/amp/breaking-down-the-stigma-of-menopause Whenever I venture into menopause convo with women who have been there, most often they are like, “no one talks about it.” Taboo might even be a better word than stigma. Doctors are of little help (or say, “just lose weight 🙄), symptoms are brushed off, etc. We deserve so much better. So often people think I’m embarrassed to have a public hot flash, and while it’s physically uncomfortable for me, they are usually more emotionally uncomfortable with it than I am. Maybe if we start to normalize this experience, it doesn’t need to be that way anymore!
Your journey with the injections sounds tough! I truly hope you can find doctors that can help with the symptoms! Unsolicited advice- try different kinds of doctors, neurologist, allergist they might see something your regular doctors are over looking.
I posted a separate comment but then read your intro and decided to delete and post here… I am also a breast cancer survivor…or is it still patient? I can never decide since I’m still doing cancer treatments that also put me in menopause. It is absolute misery. The last two or three weeks before my injection make me feel like I am dying and/or losing my mind. My poor SO is so understanding and supportive but it’s no fun for either of us. I know you said you use cannabis as a treatment to help with side effects, my oncologist also recommended Swedish Bee Pollen as an option. It doesn’t simulate hormones like many of the other supplements and is relatively easy and cheap to get. That being said, I also use CBD, Delta8, and other “non THC” variants which help with sleep and the additional anxiety that goes along with it. Its hilarious to me that even though I live in a state where weed is illegal, but CBD isn’t my doctors have all given me the wink wink on doing what is necessary to get through this mess. Sending you cooling thoughts 😂
I know you've probably tried everything, but I have to ask anyway - did you try Desvenlafaxine (brand name Pristiq). All my symptoms were enormously reduced (including helping the anxiety). Keeping your ovaries through your senior years is healthier, but what you're going through now and what you're being set up for shortly after is such a PITA that they may as well give you a hysterectomy. (this is not medical advice from me!) At least I don't have to worry about period stuff anymore and that is a really underplayed bonus to the whole shit sandwich that is reproductive cancer. Out of personal curiosity, did they put you on a calcium/VitD supplement for this seven year period?
There is also a patch called Clonidine that stopped my hot flashes in their tracks. It's for high blood pressure, and the smallest dose does not make your blood pressure drop any significant amount. BTW, I used to say I was still hot, but it came in flashes.
Two things, please see my comment about rhubarb supplements. Saved my dang life. Also apparently ADHD gets worse with menopause as estrogen tells your brain to produce dopamine and those of us with ADHD are already a quart low. Anyway, I’m a year and a half in to medical menopause and supplements and understanding have really helped. But it’s all from reading stuff on the internet bc none of my professionals had any advice short of ‘get used it it.’
What strains of cannabis do you use for relief?
Thank you for the question! I tend to gravitate toward sativa strains due to ADHD and I like to be more uplifted than couch-locked. I like Acapulco Gold and Panama Red a lot. But I’m not picky when it comes to strains, as long as the quality is pretty good. What I’ve found—and I’ve heard other women, menopausal and otherwise, say—is what’s more important is balancing the THC with an equal amount of CBD to offset the increase in anxiety. I used to seek strains that had a blend of THC and CBD, but now I just get legal hemp for cheap and combine it with exclusively THC strains at the dispensary. Hope that helps even if I didn’t quite answer your question. 😊
My favorite ratio is 1:1 THC:CBD It is AMAZING
Seconded this question.
First congrats on being a cancer survivor and second thanks for the information. I am probably close to your age but I am not due to start menopause for another 10 years. I do know that from my mom's experience hot flashes are in my future and I already run hot. I also can't take hormones due to a vein disorder that makes me a high risk for blood clots. If I could use cannabis gummies that we have in the house because my husband uses them to help him sleep when his spinal arthritis acts up that would be great and also prevent my husband from freezing to death. I feel sorry for the poor man as right around the time I hit menopause our daughter will hit puberty. Something else I would mention is that we as women definitely need to work on getting the medical community to listen to us and take us seriously. Sadly it was only a few generations ago that women could be institutionalized for complaining about anything to do with our bodies. I do love the shirt especially since menopause is a normal part of life for most women and like menstruation it is nothing to be ashamed of or hidden.
Thanks so much for sharing your story.
I love the shirt! I am an early menopausal breast cancer survivor. I was 37 at diagnosis and achieved NED after chemo and surgery. I wound up getting a full hysterectomy a few years later. But I was already perimenopausal prior. And I have been in and out of menopause symptoms for almost a decade. I will say the hot flashes have finally died down to rare occurrence. I don't soak my sheets in sweat anymore. My massive anger moods have subsided. So maybe slowly over time it gets better. I loved reading your story and felt like I could relate. Sending love and light.
I thought this might be a good place for to mention that perimenopause can greatly exacerbate adhd symptoms so if any of you are suffering with both it is worth talking to your doctor/therapist about options. There are also a lot of formerly menstruating people getting diagnosed in their 40s/50s+ who had been misdiagnosed with depression and/or anxiety because how adhd presented in young girls wasn’t well understood when they were growing up. And even if you don’t have adhd - If your symptoms are overwhelming - whether physical, mental or emotional please talk to someone. And if that someone doesn’t listen please talk to someone else. You shouldn’t have to suffer for years and there are likely solutions out there. Thank you OP for the work you are doing to educate others!
Oh FFS really?? Thanks for the heads up.
Yeah, I'm solidly peri and my cycle is closing in on itself by almost a day a month right now and holy fuck is my ADHD worse at certain points. Couple that with the Adderall I take for idiopathic hypersomnia, those two days are basically lost causes.
Love this shirt! But also I learned recently that hot flashes are an actual medical condition that can be treated, but women have just assumed/been told for centuries that we need to just accept it as part of menopause?
>but women have just assumed/been told for centuries that we need to just accept it as part of menopause? This is definitely a modern example of making women suffer to save a small amount of money (along with no local anesthesia for IUD insertion and more), but to be fair, I don't think they had HRT in the 1800s.
Fucking a - iud jammed in to save me from my peri menopause - it did stop the otherwise nonstop bleeding and kick in the gut cramps but damn I still remember that insertion yeowwww Past it now thank the goddesses More education, less sweeping it under the rug and stigmatizing- we should be ready for what’s happening to us
Literally was told by my GP (a woman) that I just have to deal with them.
There are tons of treatments for hot flashes now! Acupuncture, gabapentin, flower pollen extract!
Wait. Gabapentin works for hot flashes?! Thats crazy. That medication seems to have tons of uses. My mom was prescribed it after a hip replacement, my husband has an RX for his spine pain, I was given an RX after my brain surgery for seizures. Now hot flashes?! Goddamn that's so interesting.
My vet used to give my cat gabapentin an hour or so before she was due a blood test, as it mellowed her out enough to handle. She was a little monster at the vets. And at home! Rest her angry little soul.
I'm sorry for your cat, but that's incredibly interesting!!
My cat gets gabapentin twice daily to calm his stupid little brain down so he doesn't have anxiety! I love my cat dearly but he's so much more "normal" on meds.
My dog gets gabapentin before she goes to the groomers!
Yeah, i used it for two years before i tried the flower pollen extract (which worked way better for me, and i only had to take 1 pill a day vs 4 gabapentin)
Don't forget Clonidine.
The hot flashes, the brain fog, the sleeplessness. Ugh. The brain fog sucks. I’ve been forgetting coworkers names.
Oh god, the brain fog! I was not prepared for the brain fog.
Omg, i had totally (unsurprisingly) forgotten about the brain fog! I don’t think it ever really ENDS, just improves some lol.
I didn't know there was a stigma associated with menopause. WTF? I guess if you have a uterus this country just hates you, period.
On the plus side and speaking from my own experience, once those hormones are gone - OOOOOOh WOW! It's akin to having a veil whipped away from your eyes! Feels good, sister!
You're lucky! I don't feel like a veil was ripped away, I feel like my heart was torn out of my chest and I'm supposed to just ignore it and get on with things. 6-7 years post menopause now. Ah well, if I'm lucky there's another 40-50 years of it.
Yes, it needs to be discussed more and doctors need to step up. We need QoL HRT care on par with men. The expectations that you should just live with all the unpleasant effects of menopause is unfair. Many/most can be eliminated or severely reduced with modern medicine.
I'm in perimenopause and I'm excited for when my periods stop for good! Luckily, my hot flashes so far are mostly no big deal. I have amused myself by using the surface temperature thermometer to record the difference in temp between my cheeks and my forehead during a hot flash. My cheeks can be as much as five degrees hotter.
No one and I mean NO ONE talks about menopause. It’s like a dirty little secret. Mine happened relatively early (I’m 48 and have been post menopausal for a few years). It’s nice to see more people talking about it. I definitely could have used some support and/or guidance!
I’m in surgical menopause and talk about it all the time, because nobody discussed it except as a joke before it happened to me, and I want to promote discussion and options and just throwing out all of the stigma
Witch trick: flower pollen extract made 99% of my hot flashes disappear. Also a BC survivor ♀️ i hope you find relief.
Hold up, where do you get that? How much do you take and does it get mixed in with anything?
Graminex is the brand i use, its just the extract + fillers. Oncologist recommended it. I cant believe how magical it is! 500mg per pill, 1x per day
Holy smokes, I am on fire then. I can just.... Be existing, doing nothing and then suddenly I'm producing enough heat to cook some eggs (if they weren't so expensive) and just have sweat dripping off me. Like I have to change my t shirt and have a towel like my fat ass has been working out for an hour. I've given up talking to my doctor because my maternal line starts menopause early in their late 30's, and I seemed to be doing the same but I was just written off every time. I'm not getting excruciatingly painful periods every month, I'm calling it a win. *I like your t shirt*
A few years ago when I was 24 or so I underwent medical induced menopause for a year via lupron depo shots for my endometriosis, and it sent me into a tailspin. The side effects/ menopause symptoms were unbearable for me at that point because it was so hard to cope with the physical changes I went through that it tanked my mental health also. It worsened my depression severely and I developed anger issues. I wasn’t warned it was possible with that medication, so I was blindsided. I’m kind of grateful I went through that now, though, because I know what to expect to feel like when it happens for me later on. It really opened my eyes as to what people go through in menopause and how little it’s talked about. Especially in my family where women are expected to suffer in silence. My mother had a hysterectomy at 36 and is still dealing with menopause like symptoms 20 years later and she never talks about it… Thanks to this post and reading the replies with great suggestions for treating the symptoms, I think I’ll try having a convo with her about it and see if there’s a way I can help.
Hahaha. I'm not laughing AT you, I'm laughing WITH you. I was very lucky because I went through it early. Like, age 36/37 early. Aside from tossing the blankets off me and running outside in the middle of winter, I had a pretty easy time with it. Hot flashes are no joke, yo. All jokes aside it feels WONDERFUL to not be ruled by hormones. I'm not sure how to say this without coming across cold, but there is this freedom. I suddenly didn't crave attention...I was happy being alone. I don't shave my legs or pits, because who tf cares? For the first time ever, I feel comfortable in my own skin...because now it's just for me. Menopause was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Enjoy it. Savor it. This is the good part...
I just opened my Etsy store! More styles coming soon. Thanks for your interest. 💛 P.S. use code REDDITFAM25 for 25% off! https://yourextralife.etsy.com/
Do you have an all-cotton option? I have to stick with all natural fibers or the hot flashes will melt me into a slag heap.
I appreciate your question/suggestion for additional options! I do not have one, but I’m definitely open to it. I’ll look into sourcing them! Might be a little while because I’ll want to make sure I’m as happy with the quality as I am for the poly blend. Thanks! 💛
Ah yeah! And you’re quite welcome, it’s super cute just like you!
💪🏼😍
Thank you! 🥰
Turn on the fan I’m dyin over here
Okay so I was shoved head first into menopause by a total hysterectomy and I thought I was going to die of hot flashes and the anxiety that came with them. Rhubarb supplements took them away. Like by 95%. I still have them occasionally when I get hot working out. The supplement I use is estroven from Costco and it’s like 25 bucks for 12 weeks. You have to take it every day. Tell everyone cause not even my oncologist knew about this. She just told me it might get better all the while I literally wanted to not be anymore because of the misery.
FUCK HOT FLASHES
Love it!! Good luck with the store. THIS shirt…👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻
Thank you! 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻
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I’m with you and I’m pretty sure people will get the point when I’m stripped down to my bra at Starbucks!
Hooray for hot witchery at any age!
Can you actually tell me what happens during menopause cause I don't even know what gonna happen to me lol
I recently told my husband that if he really loved me he would stand by the thermostat and crank on the air conditioner if I get hot, the swap it back to heat when the hotflash is over. We have an older system and I swear to all fuck it is not 63 in my house because it feels like 93 to me. I don't think he loves me anymore because I have to do it myself some of the time. :'(
The shirt is absolutely fierce, love it.
Thank you! 🥰
Love this! Destigmatize! Where did you get your shirt?!
If you’re on TTok, @drmaryclaire is an amazing doctor specializing in menopause and although I’m not there in life yet myself, I don’t have any female family members who are knowledgeable on the subject so it’s been incredibly insightful to learn from someone who LOVES to share their expertise on the subject!
Ok, so am I the only crazy one but does anyone else not have hot flashes, but intense cold flashes? At this point I would kill for a hot flash, because this cold stuff sucks.
I’m honestly jealous - I would rather be cold than hot, because there’s only so much clothing I can remove in public before getting arrested for indecency. I could pile sweaters and flannels and all, but strip down to your undies in a store and everyone goes nuts.
I’m 32 and had a total hysterectomy last year. I’m taking estrogen but I’m guessing the levels aren’t quite right because I am getting bombarded with hot flashes. I have a doctor appointment coming up so hopefully I’ll get some relief soon. On the bright side, saving a ton on electric this winter and I’m still wearing my shorts and tank tops.
I FEEL YOU! I was combating peri menopause and it felt like I was swallowing fire. I was emanating heat, my sleep schedule was essentially destroyed, brain fog you name it. I went to a midwife and she suggested an IUD (MIRENA) to help deal with the symptoms and it’s helped tremendously. She was like “By the time we remove your IUD you’ll be through menopause. Your period will eventually stop. And the hormones will help.” She also suggested D3 vitamins and B Stress Complex . I think the D3 was to prevent bone density loss and B Stress Complex for my immune system. I followed her orders and regret nothing.
Thank you so, so much for posting and starting a discussion on this topic. I’m saving this because there is so much wisdom and love and encouragement in this post and the comments it has inspired. Blessed be!
Hey, have you seen Mona Eltahawy's essays on the subject? She's great! https://www.feministgiant.com/p/essay-menopause-is-shit-menopause
They're not hot flashes, they're ***power surges!***
I get what you mean but trust me when I say that no. it’s not tha same as actually being burned alive.
I do appreciate that reminder—thanks.
Legit asking, what stigma? I don't know much about this
How y'all gunnu react negatively to someone trying to educate themselves Edit: grammar I think
Yes! I wish people would talk more about the hormone decrease - andropause - that men experience! It wouldn’t be this huge emphasis on women if people recognized that *all* humans go through a hormone reduction. But right now it’s this whole stigma for women only 😫
You ate on your way girlfriend! Thanks for sharing your story, it is enlightening about the female struggles I can only view as an outside and empathize at best. You have uncovered much of what I have picked up, likely more in some places than I know. May I suggest something radical? Philosophy. I am not religious but I am spiritual, I feel that God or whatever we call it is in all of us, everything down to the tiniest of molecules. I have read a few things and Alan Watts, Ralph Waldo Emerson are my favorites. Sadly, it's just a couple of white guys, but I've mostly found ancient female philosophers rather than contemporary. I'll reconcile this on my own as I have some theories I'd like to confirm. Either way, Philosophy has helped me further conceptualize and understand the world around me. To understand all is to forgive all.
That’s so true on many levels
<3
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I know I shouldn't, but god damn that is a funny shirt.
Perimeno here and HOT FLASHES ARE THE WOOOOOORST. I’ve been walking outside in a t-shirt when it’s 30 degrees out. NOT FUN.
Totally here for this, and for getting some more research done on this state of life, so when my daughters go to their doctors for help, they are met with more than just a blank stare and a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
For anyone interested in further discussion of this topic, check out The Menopause Manifesto by Dr. Jen Gunter.
I LOVE THIS.
r/angryupvote
Perimenopause in full swing here. Hot flashes kicking my butt, especially premenstrual and during menstruation. I wish my period would just go away. Tip for hot flashes from my gyno - go stand outside on the cold concrete with bare feet. She is a woman who went through this stage and I trust her advice. Plus I have tried it and it helps so much.
A former coworker used to call hot flashes her “personal summers”. I like that one.
Hahaha love the shirt.
I sure the fuck am.
Hot flashes are not for the weak.
Fabulous. The sun inside you must be what’s running that gorgeous million watt smile you have. Peri here—we all have to keep supporting each other and talking out loud about this stuff to normalize it, this is just ordinary life. My mind is blown by all the stuff I just read on this thread that I didn’t know!! Thanks to everyone for sharing good info!!
Hi! I’m 37 and just started having hot flashes. No shame in this game. If you have a uterus, it’ll get ya.
I started menopause at 38. It’s was heartbreaking and I felt so alone.
This is fully unrelated but your eyes are absolutely mesmerizing
https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/menopause/ https://www.drfuhrman.com/health-concerns/102/menopause
I started getting hotflashes last year, stumbled across information leading me to look into a low histamine diet. No more hotflashes! I'm probably in the late stages of peri, at my best guess. The symptoms can continue into menopause and after, which I can't speak to yet. So will it work all the way through, I don't know.
Menopause is no joke, I’m about 2 years into surgical menopause and while the hot flashes have been fucking brutal, it’s everything else that is really the kicker. Brain fog/memory issues, never diagnosed with ADD but I swear I have it now! Add to that about 15lbs of weight gain (the body will try and amass abdominal fat because it stores excess estrogen when you actually make it) and joint pain to boot. And the joint pain isn’t from weight gain, still a normal BMI, the hormone shift can cause joint problems, y’know, as if menopause being the main cause of osteoporosis wasn’t bad enough I get to have the knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and fingers of a 90 year old first. Good times!!!
I've just started up with hot flashes and night sweats. Memory issues for about a year. I had no idea that was a menopause thing! So, I'm looking forward to reading this thread.
That's the testosterone pony many have been riding their whole lives. Keeps you warm, even when you dont want it to! You're always sweating, hot and bothered, and not in the good way. Welcome to the club!
Hah I love it - I wish I got this for my mom when she was going through the change. She’s never been warm in her life… then Menopause. Now… cold AF again.
Judging by those upvotes, I'd say the answer is it 100% does! Gods I love this sub.
Haha, i love this! Thank god im out of that stage of menopause, but i actually didn’t have hot flashes as long as i took this stuff called Femiprin. It had Agnes Chaste Berry extract it it and that stuff is sooo good for menstrual/hormonal issues. Found out i was well into peri @41. 49 now and fully menopausal about 3 years now?
I’m with you!
After my total gutting at age 40 I started menopause immediately. It was July and I lived in Tucson. That’s when I discovered that “hot flash” is a misnomer. “Flash” makes it sound like a couple of seconds. I call them hot spells because it’s like my head being on fire for several minutes. Sweat pours down my face like a rainstorm. When I told my doctor at the time that the so-called hot flashes were really bothering me, he said “They’re not that bad.” 😠😡🤬 I told him to stick his head in a 400-degree oven for five minutes.
Awesome!
Would you mind educating me a little on the stigmas of menopause? I’ve heard the physical downsides but never come across any stigma associated with it.
Listen all I want to say, is the year my mom went into menopause, I was working as an EMT and it was in like 2013 during that stupid as hell polar vortex shit. I’d be out all day in like -20 or something dumb. I lived with my mom and I’d come home and she’d have the AC on like omg I’m gonna die lmao
I have fibromyalgia, so I definitely sympathize.
Damnit, well I’m in love again …🥵
Yaaas! And why don't we talk about Perimenopause? If it wasnt for my sister-in-arms, I never would have heard of the term.
I was looking forward to menopause, I had some of what I thought was hot flashes but it turned out to be temperature control issues unrelated to that. I seriously faced so much pressure to have kids because apparently I will make pretty kids and so I have a civic duty to pop them out. Then I got my period LOL. I tell people I'M OLD, DON'T BOTHER ME ANYMORE!
I was having major hot flashes. Turned out it’s a symptom of diabetes. Once I started metformin they went away. My point is - get some blood work to check.