Post-menopausal protest

Thank you so much, Esspee, for taking the trouble to explain all this to me. I'll think on it some more & maybe have a talk with my doc.

It does seem like my flushes are getting slightly less frequent now, however, maybe because I've learnt to put comfort first and to not get myself so stressed out any longer, about things and people I can't change or control. Spot, the flushes are vile though, so understand!

Night sweats are still very trying too!

Esspee i took HRT 6 months after my Hysterectomy and i felt fantastic with no hot flushes but then i started getting cramp in my leg and a little warning light came on in my brain(it takes a while) and i remembered that i had a DVT during my last pregnancy many years ago. I mentioned all of this to my GP and he went white and told me to stop the HRT straight away. I should never have been on it in the first place. 3 weeks later the hot flushes came back but it could be worse.

Ahh I'll have a look in Boots to see if I can find one, thanks Esspee

Iam64, You can buy a nasal hair trimmer for a few pounds. Very easy to use even if your vision is not great. I use one on my OH. Have to pin him down but it is essential as nothing is less attractive than a hairy nose.

Grannypiper, The miracle comes in patches these days. Why not take oestrogen instead of looking for substitutes. It is like replacing your batteries when you go on HRT. Two days after my hysterectomy the oestrogen kicked in and my surgeon found me busy repotting all the plants in the day room. Hadn't felt better in years. That was 27 years ago. Last week I took a friend to have an eye operation, the nurse then the doctor both referred to her as my mother - fortunately out of her earshot as she is only 7 years older than me!

The nose hair and the sudden appearance of one, single enormous wiry hair that grows at at 90 degree angle out of my left eyebrow always the left eyebrow . I swear it's never there when I get ready for work in the morning but it's there when I get home in the evening.

Esspee You are right but i keep hoping for a miracle

What about nose hair?! My legs and many other regions have much less visible hair than previously, my nose is another issue altogether. I've resorted to plucking, ouch, though I'm told tiny scissors is the way to go. that maybe so if eye sight was as spot on as it was prior to nose hair appearing.

I had an easy menopause at about 55/56 but do suffer from chin prickles, though always needed to be careful re overgrown hair on upper lip, eyebrows, pits and bits as had thick, dark hair. No eyebrows to speak of now, let hairy pits/bits and upper lip less problematic but chin has taken off instead!
Some hot sweats at night but not unbearable or every night.

I feel I have been very lucky..difficult to know what is directly due to being post-menopause and what is inevitable ageing! Never had HRT. Wondering if I should have!!

Granny piper, you may well get recommendations of "natural" alternatives to HRT but if you think about it oestrogen is what your body is missing and it is completely natural for all women.

Is there any real alternative to HRT? i am willing to try almost anything.

My hot flushes returned after a hysterectomy last year at 64. Luckily they are not as bad as before. I've also lost most body hair, just have chin hair.

Oh Leesa it's a real pain isn't it? Like you, I never sleep longer than 3 hours, at most, before suddenly being wide awake and having to get up. It doesn't seem to matter how tired I am when I go to bed or how early or late I go either. I long for the days when I could crash out for 7 hours again and wake refreshed.

I have to add that I have not slept longer then 3 hours at a time now for years.I am up and down all night.This must be a menopause thing too.

LOL Menopaws!
I empathise ladies I do truly.
No facial hair but hair that was curly and thick is now frizzy and thin.
Speaking as one who was always cold I am now boiling hot most of the time and especially at night.
My pleasing plumpness is now probably obese (If I am honest)
However I did get what could be described as acne for the first time ever in my late forties. I cured this with zinc (both supplements and creams) and taking a good probiotic.

Flush flush
Sweat sweat
Who what where
Hair
Insomnia tired insomnia
More flush, wet hair
Lovely red face and spots
Quilt flapping all night like a wave
Snoring like a goodun
Not quite the sexy beast I used to be!

Thank Goodness for you Gransnetters, now I feel normal again !!
I cannot believe just how the memory can be affected post menopause.
I too can forget peoples' names. It is so embarrassing and indeed worried me. Now at least I realise why. Looking forward though to the day that I can finally relegate my Epilator to the bin and have silky smooth legs without having to rip the hairs out every 3 weeks leaving my legs looking like a newly plucked chicken for hours on end.?

No nina I'm just the same but have never had problems with thin hair. Mind you I never did go in for heavy-duty waxing etc so never had nasty regrowth.
Never had facial hair at all.
Just been lucky I think.

I'm now wondering if my hairless legs and arm pits are caused by something other than the menopause seeing as most of you seem to be still waxing or what ever.
Maybe more to do with the very thin hair on my head ??

It's the hairy face that upsets me! I can tolerate the sweats and boy do I sweat!

I started going through the menopause in February 2003 and it just goes on and on and on...and it has been a living nightmare. Constant hot flushes that are unrelenting, poor memory and confusion, disturbed sleep, enormous lack of confidence to name but a few of the issues.
I have tried so hard to deal with it without intervention but it has been impossible and sought help in 2010 but symptoms becoming worse again recently. Saw a lady doctor at the GP's last week who is happy to try out hrt despite the fact that I'm 63 now, but only after I have had surgery which I need. Apparently the gynaecologist will not undertake any ops even if ithe patient is on low dose oestrogen only hrt.
So I am trying a different medication until such time as the hrt is a possibility. I had a hysterectomy at 36 because of awful problems with periods and had a few happy years between that and the onset of menopause. I think though that this is much worse because it is constant and relentless and I am totally worn out.

Me too. 12 years since menopause - was on HRT for 5 years for appalling mood swings; was suicidal/murderous with nothing in between.
Still have hot flushes at night, don't have periods, mercifully! Have lost: - memory, body hair, "bendiness", sweating (mostly), memory, body secretions (almost entirely), libido, memory... Now got facial hair [wax it], wrinkles, sleeplessness, invisibility, being patronised [poor old thing!], etc.
I suppose it all goes with getting older - don't like it much, No-one told me it would be like this, and if they had, I don't think I would have listened.

Tippy I sympathise. I had something similar arrive literally overnight while I was on holiday. Rosacea was ruled out, not sure why, I was sent for comprehensive allergy testing which didn't provide the magic answer so struggled on for years until I saw a GP who had been trained in dermatology. He diagnosed Sebhorrheic Dermatitis, prescribed and it cleared within a couple of months. Any recurrence has, so far she says with her fingers crossed, cleared very quickly. Worth asking if it could be that?

Tippy I'm also wondering if you have Rosacea rather than acne. Your GP could prescribe Finacea gel - I think it's a POM treatment, so you won't be able to just buy it. It's brilliant and, speaking as someone who has adverse/allergic reactions to just about any creams or lotions, I can highly recommend it! The other thing I've done is gone gluten free. The all-round improvement to my health and skin is amazing.

Sorry ladies, but the hot sweats never cease for a lot of us! My doc gave me a mild antidepressant that has a side effect of reducing the hot sweats as she wouldn't put me back on hrt. They used to rule my life as I had to consider which clothes wouldn't look wet after I had one and make up was a waste of time as it just ran off my face. I was becoming a recluse as I would start dripping sweat everywhere and anywhere. I still get them but now they are manageable and much less severe