BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Menopause Hot Flashes

Yep! I remember having that the day or two before I would get my period I would be exhausted and if I started crying I would cry all day. What a mess.

This fatigue I get now is like that but is lasting longer - like a week instead of a day. I was just looking at a list menopausal symptoms again and the fatigue I'm experiencing is what they are describing.

Today, when I was taking my shower I felt like I might throw up. I bet the fatigue is on it's way out for a round of intermittent nausea. heh.

I need to put together a spreadsheet and start tracking this along with my "cycle". Should be interesting to see how things line up.

I think you are totally right and your doctor will suggest mood stabilizers. It might not be a bad idea. Or at least you can ask for an 'as needed' item like Ativan/Lorazepam.

Have you tried the Rescue Remedy that you use for Hannah? It should help you as well, in an as needed fashion. It's not a nice as Ativan but DOES take the edge off. Sometimes that is all one needs.

Hmm. I would have to respectfully disagree here. I can't function without prozac. I do not mean that lightly. By this I mean i actually can't get out of bed, or do a simple thing like make a phone call, or take a shower. It certainly does not make me 'accept' what is wrong. I am constantly working on my inner self, and learning and growing and working on my anxiety/depression.

From the times I have gone off the prozac (by design or not), I go right back into constant frustration, hopelessness and dread. Prozac does NOT make one 'happy.' It only brings me to something approaching functional/neurotypically normal. It is about normalizing brain chemistry.

Hi Jeanne,

I could write a book responding to you. So I will address your posts in sections.

If you love butter, your body is telling you there is something you REALLY NEED there!

Much that we were taught about healthy diet and weight loss has now been proven to be wrong. There is a whole lot being discovered that will dramatically change how we eat and take care of ourselves. It is actually very exciting.

A combination of listening to and responding to what your body is telling you with understanding how it works, can clear up many (if not all) health issues. You are really going to love learning more about this.

I was wondering how best to quickly and helpfully respond here, and hurray! I just received a new article that should open a door - Ori Hofmekler & Dr. Mercola. I have not watched the video yet, because I have to be careful with band width usage here (satellite internet in the boonies). But the text is very informative and I am sure the video is good, too.

More later...

Cheers!

Hi Jilly,

Thank you for telling us about your experience with prozac. I apologize if my comment caused you any uncomfortable feelings, and I appreciate you speaking up about it.

I realize (thank you for reminding me) that we are all different, and this means prozac (and other psychiatric meds) can be perfect for some people.

I have been through depressed periods in my life, and I have had counseling, and tried a depression drug that was prescribed which wasn't right for me (I threw it away after 1 day). I did well with taking Sam-e, though. I used that for perhaps a year, and stopped when it wasn't needed.

I ultimately discovered that I am much more resilient and upbeat if I can get more sleep and pace myself. I had been living in a state of constant responsibilities and demands. It was a hectic pace of routinely always scraping by at the last minute, working terribly hard (all-night marathons to get things ready, etc.) and then feeling apologetic for not having accomplished more. And I did it to myself, though I didn't see that at the time. So for me, depression was a symptom of my lifestyle, of the demands I had placed on myself, or trapped myself within.

I am always looking for ways to be independent of meds. I tend to look for alternatives that come from within and/or from nature and are inherently accessible. For instance, I avoid taking antibiotics unless I really need them. So prozac can be in the same category for me. I would take it if I really really needed it. And, like antibiotics, I would try to know how to never need it.

I have known a few people who took prozac regularly (and told me... who knows how many don't mention it). They seemed to me to be trapped in lifestyles that went against their natures. It seemed to me that those particular people took it so they could cope with that. They also liked it a lot, and got prozac prescriptions for their children, too. I was concerned about that.

I hope to learn from your responses to all this, and to become a better informed and wiser person. I appreciate you rounding out my knowledge. :-)

Respectfully,

The rescue remedy doesn't seem to work for me at all. I really don't want to be on a mood enhancer or any meds to I have to be weaned off from. Thus, I'll work my way through the shelf at Walgreens and maybe something will be helpful there.

My daughter, Hannah, is on prozac. I'm not an advocate of medicating children, but this is definitely helping her with her anxiety from her Asperger's. Perhaps when she is older and on her own she will be able to go off the prozac and be happy. For now, I'm going to keep her on it for the time being.

Wow, you ladies have been busy. And I presume you all had an AWESOME "Mother's Day"...

Me, got stuck with his family, but I was good - had to step away for some ALONE time a few times to avoid getting into our car and using my "spare" key to take off(lol). While I appreciate how close they ALL are, it is a "love-hate" routine - one minute they are all hugging on each other, the next minute they are cursing each other out

But I survived and I am at the library, could use the laptop at home - but NEEDED to get out and see other folks today. Yes, he finally went back to work but I did not want to hang around until he did and say something "smart" = when I am stressed or tired, my MOUTH gets me in TROUBLE!!!!

Yes, Jeanne let us know how your chart goes. That is a very wise thing to do. That is what I did when my cycles started to get irregular = that is when I figured out I was pre-menopause. Hey, did not have a mom or sisters to chat about this with (lol). But I have kept my daughter (age 24) abreast of my travels so that hopefully she will be spared alot of what I went through to finally hook up with you guys. While we may not be able to ELIMINATE the process, it does help to know how other women are handling their process.

UPDATE: Still HOT!!!

But hanging in there to see how it goes with the summer. Thank goodness we now have electric. Was dreading going into summer without any, but God was good and we back in business. YipppEEEEE!

ok, I set up my spreadsheet to track my symptoms. We'll see if any cycles pop up.

Today, I feel much much better. I've been extremely down and did a lot of crying the past ten days. Of course, my family (except my aspie girl, Hannah) basically blowing off Mother's Day wasn't helpful. I suspected my other daughter & husband weren't going to do anything, so I made up my own plans in case they ignored the holiday. So I took myself to a movie Sunday afternoon. :-)

Hope everyone else had a nice Mother's Day.

Jeanne, you deserve a great Mother's Day. This is the first year that my sons (24 & 28) have really bestirred themselves. Some kids aren't self-starters.

I'm glad you made your own fun. Hope you had a good movie day.

Connie (who is really, truly grateful for Jeanne-my spammie buddy!)

I've been using progesterone cream (non-prescription) for several years. You can buy it at Whole Foods. I buy it online because I need a fragrance free option. I also take Vitex to help regulate my periods (sporadically -- I take it following a too-soon period, for instance & it works better if you take it regularly.) But, for the most part, I'm still regular. You can buy this most anywhere in tincture or pills (I take pills).

I highly recommend reading "What your Doctor May Not Tell you Abot Perimenopause". Lots of info in the book, lots of recommended natural supplements -- geared to specific ailments.

Also, for the hot flashes (I've only had less than a dozen true "flashes" over the past few years--miserable, nausea-inducing glimpses of hell). I've always been hot-natured, though. And, now, particularly at night, I get hot. Not sweating, usually, I just like it to be COLD when I sleep (67 degrees, please).

So, what can help is one of those blue-gel ice packs you can get at the drugstore. Put it around your neck or even under your pillowcase (not directly on skin if it's frozen). Even not frozen, it's a little cool and helps a bit. I saw this on some news program recently and tried it--love it!

Definitely worth trying the progesterone cream. The book explains why very well and I think it helps me a lot.