I know most of the members here are a long ways away from menopause, but I thought I would share since I'm at the end of peri-menopause now. In fact, I'm watching the calendar pretty closely and the months tick by without any periods. A woman is not considered fully menopausal until she has gone 12 months without a period.
I kind of just assumed that menopause was when you didn't have to have periods anymore, and you sweat a little more sometimes. If I had only known what a nightmare it can be at times!
1. In 2016 doctors can't test you for perimenopause. You may think that is probably what is happening, but blood tests are so variable. The best way to judge if you are perimenopausal or not is to ask your mom when she stopped getting her periods.
2. Perimenopause can last a decade or longer. For instance, if your mom stopped having periods when she was 50, she entered perimenopause sometime around age 40.
3. Hot flashes are just the tip of the iceberg as far as symptoms of perimenopause. Some women have very few symptoms, others have severe symptoms. One of the most unsettling symptoms I've experienced was the blind rage I would feel over nothing. I had to stop driving for a while because of this symptom. The road rage was making me insane. Most women experience some moodiness from perimenopause. There are a ton of symptoms ranging to dry ichy skin to brain fogginess and everything inbetween. There are a lot of medical websites that list all the symptoms that women experience as a result of perimenopause.
4. It's possible that you become more fertile just before menopause. More than a few women are surprised with a pregnancy in middle age. Due to hormone fluctuations, your body may be flooding you with a hormone cocktail that makes you extra fertile, releasing more than one egg at times.
5. It's ok to have HRT before you are fully menopausal. In fact, there is recent evidence that HRT is MOST effective in perimenopausal women in relieving symptoms. That is also the safest time as the risk of heart attack or breast cancer is all by eliminated by starting HRT before menopause.
6. Bioidentical hormones are freaking expensive and not universally covered by prescription plans. If this is of concern to you, be sure to read your health plan carefully to discover if bioidentical hormones are covered. I've found there is just no comparison. Formulary hormones are just less effective (IME) at relieving symptoms. I've also never experienced any side effects from bioidentical hormones, whereas, I've had some side effects from formulary hormones. Formulary hormones cost me $15 a month, whereas bioidentical hormones cost me $180 a month with my insurance picking up 40% of the bill. So, if I had to buy them off insurance, I'm assuming it'd be more like $300 a month. I mean, we're not talking cancer-drugs expensive, but still, $300 a month for HRT is a huge expense for most women.
7. If you think you are perimenopausal, your doctor is going to be an obstacle to getting relief from symptoms. I'm not sure why women are expected to "tough it out" through menopause. I was lucky that the 1st doctor I saw diagnosed me and got me on bioidentical HRT right away. I've changed insurance plans and am now going to my 4th doctor in 4 months in an attempt to get my Rx refilled. My original doctor doesn't accept my new plan, and my old plan was discontinued completely. I didn't really think about whether my doctor I've been seeing was a preferred provider, I made an assumption and I was wrong. I will see doctor #4 later this week. The first 3 doctors I saw did not like my treatment I had been having success with at my former doctor, despite the fact that the treatment was completely effective. The problem is that it is a lot of work for the doctors on my new plan to get me on bioidentical HRT. I don't know how common it is for insurance companies to push doctors away from a particular treatment plan in favor of a different plan that may or may not be as effective? I had no problem when I was on ObamaCare. Now I'm on private insurance, so maybe there is something about private plans can eliminate certain therapies? If anyone knows if this is the case, I'd love to hear what the workaround is.
There's all the stuff mom didn't tell me about menopause! I'd love to hear about your experiences with relatives or personally going through menopause.![]()



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Avoid the progesterone creams from big chain places like WalGreens or GNC, that stuff is just really expensive hand lotion.The big chains are notorious of selling products that don't contain the ingredients that are on the label.

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