Menopause Question - Morgantown,PA

Two books that were recommended to me were, "What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Premenopause" and "What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Menopause". If you have a natural health food store near you, such as Vitamin Cottage or Whole Foods, they have an excellent book selection and their employees are very knowledgeable. Ask them for some recommendations on books or supplements that may help you. Good Luck, I'm right there with you.

Janet's 2 book recommendations are great. I found, going to 4 docs in 2 years, that if you don't meet perfect textbook symptoms, many docs ignore you. I also agree with her suggestion, that Whole Food's employees are pretty smart about supplements. *My current doc, is an MD who thinks outside of the box and suggested a couple of supplements to try first before handing me a script to handle symptoms. And said I could get them at Whole Foods.

A website I found that is very informative yet puts a funny spin on thins is www.minniepauz.com. They have a checklist you can print-off, fill out and take to your doc.

Good Luck

Another good Web site is Women to Women. They deal with any and all issues that women face, and perimenopause/menopause is a big one they cover.

I believe I have been in perimenopause since I turned 40 (4 years now), even though the "tests" say I'm not. Hey, I know my own body! I've been taking Maca Root (works really good) and also the homeopathic RX from Hyland's for Menstrual Cramps as well as Vaginitis (because I'm clearing up a systemwide Candiasis/yeast problem). I also take a herbal tincture from my naturopathic doctor for my moderate adrenal fatigue.

Two tests to take to rule out any other issues are to have your thyroid tested and also your adrenals (I don't know if allopathic doctors test for adrenal fatigue, but naturopathic doctors do; it's a simple spit/saliva test).

I had a NovaSure Ablation done, so I no longer have a period. Which makes it difficult to judge period/signs of menopause. So I have to go by what other symptoms I have. I also suffer from PMS pretty bad, which is usually how I know that I have a period. And I don't have a "period" every month anymore. Which doesn't really mean anything, since I was really irregular to begin with.

I have found the Women to Women Web page to be full of very good and timely information. They are naturopathic doctors, I believe, and I really like their commonsense information.

I'm 46 and have been having symtoms of peri-menopause since turning 40. Peri-menopause is all the Bs we go through before entering menopause. Menopause is after we're done with it all. But most call the entire process "menopause". Just wanted you to understand the technical side of it, lol.

Your best bet is to go online to reputable medical web sites like MayoClinic.com, and look up info and symptoms of it.

Be aware, they'll want to take a blood test to check your hormones and see if you're officially going through it. Many women will show their hormones are normal, like me, but still have symptoms. Before we moved, my old doctor was great. She still treated the symptoms. Every woman is different, but for me I needed birth control pills (I'm fixed after 5 kids) and a vitamin cocktail, as my doc called it. We started on one type of bc pill but after a couple years we switched to another kind. Most BC pills have the 3 weeks of active pills change hormone amounts by raising them each week until bleeding week. My doc felt with a woman who is already having wavering hormones she didn't need to have the type of BC pill that had rising hormone levels each week. So she gave me a type of BC pill that has the same hormone level each week and it did great. Keeps my hormones and hot flashes better in check. Slept better.

4 or 5 years later, now, I'm having some symptons coming back. My current doc took blood tests and said that my hormones are fine and felt he didn't need to see me again for this. He suggested I see an actual gyno for any further help. My current doc is a man and the weekly gyno that comes in is a woman. Makes ya wonder, ya know. So now I have to hook up with this woman that comes in for a few hours once a week. Miss my old doc! She was great. Didn't need everything to be fact on a piece of paper. She worked out a problem. I'm still using my vitamin cocktail of vitamin E (women don't get enough of it), high vitamin B12 for energy, high calcium doses from my triplet pregnancy that drained my life long supply, and a nightly womens multivitamin (menopause formula). Oh, the new doc did suggest Black Cohosh which seems to help with hot flashes and such.

So, long story short, check reputable medical sites for info. Don't let blood tests throw your doc cuz they usually come up clear. Taking vitamins can help including Black Cohosh. Exercise can help too, and drink plenty of water. Know your symptoms and work with them. And don't let them think you're fine or you'll start to think you must be losing your mind. What you feel is real. If you can't get help from one doc, go to another.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets