DO YOU HAVE THESE SYMPTOMS?

[Graceisblue]

I too thought I was going mad, with palpitations, the dizziness, whooshing, itchiness, you name it I got it.

What I have found though is that cutting down on the caffeine and chocolate will really help with the palpitations. From a heartbeat of 130 one time in A&E mine is now down to 70-80.

The dizziness I have also found to be associated with low blood sugar, so try and eat regularly and stay off the sugar if you can, it all helps.

I really feel I am not going insane now or have some incurable disease - that's until another symptom crops up that I've never had before of course!

Thank you

[mamma]

I am new to this site and found it because I was desperately seeking an answer to my dizziness and anxiety. I am so glad to see that this is also menopause and I am not going nuts. I expected and got the hot flahes, moodiness, night sweats, etc., but had never heard of this before. I thought it was just me. Does nyone know what to do to help with this?

[minniepauz]

Hello mamma...welcome aboard the menopause train! The best thing to do is start reading some of the other posts and more than likely you will find many explain exactly what you're going through.....the more education you get, the better your experience will be.

I hope to see you around and getting to know us!

[Seventeen_At_Heart]

Hi Mamma - welcome

[ladydebubba]

I definitely have these.

!. Hot flashes
2. Irritability/mood swings
3. Sudden Tears
4. Trouble sleeping
5. Irregular periods, (longer cycles, two in a row two months apart, one just under 8 weeks between, one just over 8 weeks between)
6. Loss of libido
7. Dry Vagina-very severe, bad itching this morning
8. Crashing fatigue
9. Anxiety
10. Dread, apprehension, doom
11. Incontinence
12. Increase in muscle tension
13. Breast tenderness
14. Gastrointestinal distress, flatulence and gas pain (to the point of a stinging or tingling sensation)
15. Sudden bouts of bloat (multiple)
16. Weight gain (no increase in eating)
17. Hair loss (eyebrows have bald spots, always seeing eyelashes on my shirt)
18. Dizziness
19. Tingling in extremities
20. Ringing ears
21. Muscle aches

I do not like the way the gas feels and the vaginal area feels really irritated due to dryness. I am still experiencing numbness after the cryotherapy back in December. And with these gas issues, how can I tell it is menopausal or due to my ulcerative colitis problem??? This period has been light. Had nothing for two days other than blood on the tissue, have only had to change my pad once daily the rest of the time. I have gotten by with just a pantiliner today.

Do periods spread out months apart like this when heading toward the change??? Thanks.

[minniepauz]

Yes, periods get very irratic and irregular during peri-menopause and it can go on for a year or more. Just like Girl Scouts....we must always be prepared!

As far as what is caused by menopause or by something else.....all we can do is treat the problem, no matter WHAT causes it. Some things are normal for our age and are made worse by coinciding with menopause, but there's really nothing that can be stopped just because it's a symptom of menopause.

[catmommy9]

I just found this site today, and I am so glad I did!

This past Saturday, I had this really weird feeling of lightheadedness, plus some heart palpitations. My husband said that my skin felt cold to the touch, and my skin did feel clammy to me, too. He suggested that I eat something, maybe my blood sugar was low due to not haven't eaten much the day before. I ate a candy bar, and the feeling passed.

I searched online for answers, and came to the conclusion that I was going to die of a heart attack. One site actually said "sudden death". Nothing about menopause. But menopause was not going through my mind at the time.

Yesterday, Sunday, I was fine...we went out to a ball game and then out to dinner.

Today, my husband had to go to a meeting two hours away. I was fine when I woke up, but after several hours, the scary lightheadedness started up again, complete with the heart thing. But this time, there was also what I think was a hot flash. Hot, as in when I cranked the A/C as cold as it would go, I STILL felt hot and sweaty. I was sure that I was going to die.

Once again, it passed, and I turned off the A/C because it really was cold! Then, I went back online to do some more research. That was when I found a connection between lightheadedness and menopause, something that had not occurred to me before. That was when I found the MinniePauz site and the 35 symptoms. I had not known until today that what I had been experiencing were possible symptoms of menopause!

Going down the list, I see that I have quite a few of them. I've noticed an increase in UTIs, as well as the incontinence thing, gaining weight around the tummy, itchy skin, and an occasional strange buzzing sound in the ears.

I'm 48 and have not had a period since August 2007, and that one only lasted three days. So I'm soon getting to the time when I've officially hit menopause. I was amazed at how little I knew about this subject, had no idea that a lot of things I'd been experiencing were symptoms.

Thank you for this site...I feel so much better knowing that I'm not alone!

~Christine

[minniepauz]

Christine!! Thanks for joining us and I'm so happy for you because I know that feeling of finally understanding the "strange" things that can go on with our bodies at this time of life. I'm sure you've read through the site (at least part of it) by now and I hope you will jump in and share your experiences. This is what helps other women relate. We're all so different that when we find someone that has similar experiences, it's a huge relief!

Can't wait to get to know you.....hope you'll fill out your profile (user control panel above) so we can see what kind of things you're interested in, etc.

[Shelby]

I think I have every last one of those symtoms!!! I am 50 and this has been going on 2 years. The 2nd year was worse than the first. Geez, this has GOT to get better, I'm ready to shoot myself!! Nothing seems to work.....

[Brighid Moon]

Okay, I'll bite!

1. Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats

2. Bouts of rapid heart beat

3. Irritability, Mood swings

4. Sudden tears

5. Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)

6. Irregular periods; shorter, heavier periods, flooding; shorter cycles

7. Crashing fatigue

8. Anxiety, feeling ill at ease (panic attacks)

9. Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom

10. Difficulty concentrating

11. Disturbing memory lapses

12. Incontinence, especially upon (coughing) - always have to pee!

13. Itchy skin - face during hot flash

14. Nausea

15. Depression

16. Increase in allergies

17. Hair thinning - head; increase in facial hair

18. Dizziness, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance




? Loss of libido --- what about raised libido?
? Headache change: increase or decrease --- I'm not sure, I get weird spot-pressures in my head though.
? Weight gain --- what about weight loss?

[Shelby]

I DON'T have #4, #6, #14.....

Having #10 & #11 may stop me from finding employment. It's a little scary, feel like I've turned into a complete MESS within a relatively short time. How long does it take for the worst of it to be OVER?? LOL......POOR ME!!

[minniepauz]

I know it's quite overwhelming when you see it all written down, but in many ways it helps us all to know that we're not imagining all these little quirky things going on that don't seem to be about anything....then, when you put them together and find out millions of other women are feeling the same way, you go "WHEW!!!"

So there's a moment or two of relief, then you get "the REST of the story" (as Paul Harvey says) and you find out this may go on for years and it very well may get worse. How do you face something where there's no escape and no time frame and no magic pill?

This is where the positive attitude, the education and the acceptance comes in, though not necessarily in that order. If you build up your reservoirs of each quality, you can draw on the one you need most at any given time. I can assure you there will be times when the education will be of more use than the positive attitude and there will be times when accepting where you are in life is the only thing that will get you through.

I'll be writing more on this in the near future and will let you know when it's completed. Since there are women coming to the gates of peri-menopause by the thousands every single day, I feel a responsibility to keep fresh information available. I've been post menopause for 19 years and have been talking to women on this site for 10 years, but there's so many that are in various stages of this process that it takes a constant flow (pardon the pun!!) of information, support and compassion to help them. I have kind of neglected my little articles. You can read them here: http://www.minniepauz.com/deescolumns.html

Hang in there girls...it's going to be a bumpy ride, but here's the good news....we're all living through it!!

[Shelby]

I DON'T have #4, #6, #14.....

Having #10 & #11 may stop me from finding employment. It's a little scary, feel like I've turned into a complete MESS within a relatively short time. How long does it take for the worst of it to be OVER?? LOL......POOR ME!!

Okay.....I've done a coupla things about these problems....

I like this book, it's very comforting, somehow, to read along with "Grandmother Growth:"

New Menopausal Years, The Wise Woman Way: Alternative Approaches for Women 30-90 (Wise Woman Herbal Series, Book 5) by Susun S. Weed

Thanks, Minnie Pause for providing that link.

Also, went to a new gyno today.....I am trying the combi-patch, she said it helped her. She had just about all the symptoms I am having, it's not Premarin, so I'm gonna give it a shot....

The herbal remedies have not helped, hopefully this does.

[kanga41]

Well i just learnt something, you can get cold flashes too. Think i must have had one yesterday as i come over all hot like is the norm these days then i felt really cold. I have just signed up here so i am new to all this but i find it is helping me understand a bit more of what is going on. One question though.....what natural remedy can i use for a dry vagina? This isn't common for me but it is annoying when your wanting a good romp in the bed

[Shelby]

I had been getting some 'cold' flashes as well, not near as many of those as the hot flashes.

I have to report that the dual hormones delivered in the Combi-Patch have cured me of ALL flashes! My life is soooooooo much better, it's indescribable. No side effects either. It's like a miracle to me. I'm not exagerrating, I could not be happier about losing those stupid hot flashes!!!

KY jelly for the dryness....or that Replens stuff works as well.