MENOPAUSE, SERIOUSLY?

 
I was only 45 years of age when I was bitten
by the "change of life" bug. I started having 
bouts of  insomnia  at 2 am in the morning. 
I would have these strange dreams when I 
tried to go back to sleep. I dreamed about
being in elementary school or about helping
my granddad collect chicken eggs, or about 
me walking with Yoda from the 1980's Stars
Wars movie! Was I going mad? I used to stay
cold all of the time and always grabbed all of 
the covers off my husband shoulders. This 
problem didn't last long. I had a new problem.
The nights that I was able to get a good night's
sleep without drama was diminishing rapidly. 
I began to feel like a match had been lit under 
my behind every night.  I would feel so hot that
I could have melted ice cubes.  My children did
not want to hug me. They claimed that they felt
like they were hugging an oven. Imagine that!


I had a friend who was about 5 years older than 
me, so I shared my dilemma with her. She began 
to smile. I asked her, what was so funny. She said, you are describing signs menopause. I told her to 
get real. I said,Menopause! Seriously?! I fussed at 
her for not warning me about this change of life nightmare. She said she was felt like she was living 
in hell and didn't think about me.  I said, "Thanks,
you are a true friend"!

My doctor confirmed her suspicions. She tried to 
give me a  prescription for a estrogen supplement.
I said, " No Thanks"!  I had recently seen the TV special that said that this medication was made 
with pregnant mare's urine. Their urine had potent amounts of estrogen. So, what! I knew that I didn't want to ingest urine under any circumstance.

I told my friend that the only menopause symptom
I had ever heard of was hot flashes. I went to the 
web and did some research. I saw one web site that
listed 34 symptoms!! 

I tried several herbal remedies until I found one
that kept my menopausal symptoms under control.
I took Vitamin E gel capsules.  This helped for few months. Next I tried soy pills with isoflavones and 
this helped for a few months. The last successful remedy was Phytoestrogen from the health food store. I took these pills for years  and  eventually 
my symptoms abated completely.

Every woman is different and what worked for 
me may not work for someone else. Please let
your doctor be your guide.  I was fortunate to 
be a patient at a Women's Health Center that 
used  herbal remedies and conventional drugs.

Check out this website that has lots of data on menopause:

SYMPTOMS OF MENOPAUSE