Hormones are driving me crazy

[Sunshine40]

Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone out there had some advice on menopause, and what I can do to help myself not be SOO moody and impatient and deal with hot flashes...but the moodiness is what i am more concerned about.

Thanks,
Sunshine40

[Eowyn]

Have you looked into bioidentical hormone therapy? If you live anywhere near Boise, Idaho I can recommend a great doctor (medical, not naturopath). Or you try Googling one in your area that prescribes bioidentical hormones. I'm not menopausal but I have other hormone issues, and that's what has worked best for me.

[applepansy]

I hibernate.

Probably not a helpful solution for most but it works for me.... sometimes.

Addition: I'm 54 and hoping this almost 20 year journey will end soon.

[pam]

I am grateful I have never gone through any of those things.

[Misshalfway]

Originally Posted by Sunshine40

Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone out there had some advice on menopause, and what I can do to help myself not be SOO moody and impatient and deal with hot flashes...but the moodiness is what i am more concerned about.

Thanks,
Sunshine40

Here is a website I like. It's called Woman to Woman. It's started by two Dr's who help with all sorts of women's issues. They have various online test's that can help you identify what might be the source or your problem and they suggest dietary changes and they sell supplements. They also have professionals/nurses you can call to discuss issues and get support.

Natural relief for women’s health problems – hormone imbalance, weight gain, adrenal fatigue & better bones

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Sunshine40

Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone out there had some advice on menopause, and what I can do to help myself not be SOO moody and impatient and deal with hot flashes...but the moodiness is what i am more concerned about.

Thanks,
Sunshine40

First of all go get a complete blood work up done, and check out if you have high blood pressure. THAT alone will and does add to moodiness.

As for the hot flashes - when I had them, they were more like hour long explosions! I kept looking in a mirror to see if I had steam coming off my head and shoulders! After a year of taking hormones with horrible side effects- I went on Black Cohosh. It took me three years to finally find the right dosage: 3000 mg a day. Took both my husband and I three hours of internet hunting to find it at a price that we could afford.

Puritan's Pride- Black Cohosh 540 mg 100 Capsules | Cohosh Well wouldn't you know it, they no longer carry the 1000 mg capsules. They are still the cheapest though. I bought 2 dz bottles. The have no adverse side effects- so I would start out with three capsules in the morning and three at night. I took my evening dose about 1 hour before bed-time. Stopped the night sweats! Got on high blood pressure meds, and that took care of the mood swings. Then when I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, I went off of the cohosh for a few months to see how much of the hot flashes was menopause and how much was from the diabetes. Turns out with insulin, oral meds and proper diet the flashes & sweats are a thing of the past. Gave my last 9 bottles of cohosh to my Visiting Teacher who was just entering the menopause stage.

My Dr at the time was all against me taking the black cohosh route- after about 6 months of his whiny protests and ragging on me I found a new Dr. An Osteopathic Physician. (D.O.)Losing him and my chiropractor when I moved to Oregon are the only downers to leaving AZ!

[Sunshine40]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I started taking supplements, and my moddiness semi-leveled off. But now I am not sure if all my physical and emotional "problems" were because of menopause. (?!)
I was just diagnosed with type 2 dibetes. I actually went to an urgent care on a Saturday for a bladder infection, and had a blood sugar level of 450 (from a glucose meter). I have been on meds since (and stopped eating junk) and my levels this morning before breakfast were down to 170...almost decent, right?)
Tomorrow I see my doctor. I guess I should ask about both menopaouse and the diabetes...I am only 40, but I had a partial hysterectomy eight and a half years ago...
We'll see.
-Sunshine

[MarginOfError]

The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Menopause

I really wish this book were freely available online. I know you can find it for download on some sites but I'm not sure about the security of those. I'll let you make your own decisions there. You might also be able to find it at a library.

[Iggy]

Being diabetic the mood swings and flashes most definitely are from that. 170 is almost decent considering you started at 450. You will want to keep it at 90-100.

If you can go to a Diabetic clinic- where they teach you what to eat, how to read the ingredients on packaged foods, how your body disperses the nutrients - go! The ones I have gone to are three day affairs, about 4 hours each.

Also if it is available to you, get yourself a Diabetic Concealer/Nurse Practitioner. Where I am living now, none is available to me, and I am having a hard time keeping on tract. Each time I eat something sweet ~ candy bar, slice of cake or a cookie, pudding, jello, ANY thing that has sugar/high fructose in it, within 10 minutes I have the hot flash/sweats. Sweat dripping off my hairline, down my spine. Ick-Ick, Icky. Also if my sugars are not below 120 any exertion causes me to have copious sweating. And to have yeast infections.

If you haven't had your menses in a year, then you are in menopause.