Perimenopause & hormones

[Tuckervill]

I'll disagree with the idea that long term depression is not hereditary.

Yes, please. Some people who have never been depressed just cannot relate to it. It is so harmful to people who have depression to perpetuate the myth that they can just "think positive" and "get over it'. Don't you think that if it were that simple, they just would. Why would anyone choose not to do that simple thing that makes life better?

So, please, don't say it's not hereditary. There's more to it than just wishing.

Karen

[OakLeaf]

Wait, wait, wait. Whether it's hereditary and whether it's "real" are completely different questions. Broken legs aren't hereditary, but they're obviously a real, painful and disabling condition. In many cases depression may be like a broken leg - a normal response to trauma, but real, painful and disabling, and only sometimes responsive to treatment.

Back to topic: yeah, I'm perimenopausal too, and if you look at the age poll I think it's most of us

At least I'm past the age where I'm buying pregnancy tests four or five times a year because my periods aren't regular any more. Although I still have stress in that department, it's not as often...

[Tuckervill]

Wait, wait, wait. Whether it's hereditary and whether it's "real" are completely different questions. Broken legs aren't hereditary, but they're obviously a real, painful and disabling condition. In many cases depression may be like a broken leg - a normal response to trauma, but real, painful and disabling, and only sometimes responsive to treatment.

I don't really understand what you're trying to say. It's irrelevant to my point whether each and every case of depression is hereditary. Just the fact that some cases are hereditary proves it's real.

Karen

[OakLeaf]

I don't really understand what you're trying to say. It's irrelevant to my point whether each and every case of depression is hereditary. Just the fact that some cases are hereditary proves it's real.

Karen

My point is that whether it's hereditary is irrelevant to whether it's real.

[Irulan]

Yes, please. Some people who have never been depressed just cannot relate to it. It is so harmful to people who have depression to perpetuate the myth that they can just "think positive" and "get over it'. Don't you think that if it were that simple, they just would. Why would anyone choose not to do that simple thing that makes life better?

So, please, don't say it's not hereditary. There's more to it than just wishing.

Karen

I should clarify, too.... not all depressive disorders are hereditary, but there is certainly evidence that in some families, it most certainly is.

[jennrod12]

I'm now 45 and on the pill. Last year I had one or two hot flashes during the day and a period of about 3 days where I was terribly angry and picked a big long-distance fight with my sister and did not feel at all like myself. Then, one day, everything was better and I felt like I woke up from a bad dream. For the last couple of years, my period has been getting shorter and lighter, and since last year I've had a lot of night sweats, but I don't mind them, since I'm usually cold.

I'd like to get my hormones tested, but since I'm on the pill I don't think a test would show what's really going on in my body? I talked to my gyno about going off the pill, but she said that at my age they are putting women ON the pill. She said if I went off it, my period would be like it was when I was a teenager (for me it was very irregular).

Next Feb. my husband will get a vasectomy, and a few months later I can go off the pill without worrying about pregnancy. I figure if I don't like it, I can go back on the pill. I've been on the pill for 20 years and it seems like my sex drive has been lower the whole time I've been on it, so that's another reason I'd like to try going off it (and I've tried several formulations). Also another reason I'd like to get my hormones tested.

Lots of depression in my family, too. My mother had it and committed suicide when I was a baby - I don't remember her. All my sisters have it, 2 out of 3 of my sister's kids have it, and I have it too. My favorite coping strategy is to admit it and go with the flow. When I'm particularly depressed, I force myself to do a chore that I've been putting off because I hate it. I figure, I'm miserable anyway, why not do something I hate? Better than ruining a nice day later. It's usually very slow going, of course, but when the dreaded task is finished (or at least well begun), I usually get really happy about my accomplishment and feel much better.

Jenn

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'd like to get my hormones tested, but since I'm on the pill I don't think a test would show what's really going on in my body?

Jenn, they have more sensitive/accurate blood tests now than they used to for testing your hormone levels while you are still on the pill. You get your blood drawn on the last day of the week when you are not taking your pills- on the seventh day, just before you start the next pill cycle. It is supposed to let you accurately know whether you have started menopause yet, or whether you have completed it, or even if you have not started menopause at all yet. Ask your doctor about the new blood tests, hopefully he/she would know all about them.

[coyote]

Hi Dogmama,
My DGF has just started with hot flashes. She also has lupus. Her hot flashes were so intense that she could not sleep. For her, so far, cutting back on the caffeine has helped significantly. She is a big time caffeine person, so she has her 2 cups of coffee a day and perhaps a caffeinated soda during the day, but none at night. Its helped her a lot. She still has a couple at night and is a woman on fire during the day (caffeine probably).

We just goggled hot flashes and came up with some information on About.com. We do have the black cohosh that some one else mentioned. The laying off of the caffeine has worked so well, that DGF hasn't tried it.

Keep us informed on what you find out that will help. I can see that my DGF may get to the point that you are at. She too does not react as expected to hormones. Her lupus is attacking her endocrine system and that is nothing but hormones.

I wish you luck,
Mary

[jennrod12]

Jenn, they have more sensitive/accurate blood tests now than they used to for testing your hormone levels while you are still on the pill. You get your blood drawn on the last day of the week when you are not taking your pills- on the seventh day, just before you start the next pill cycle. It is supposed to let you accurately know whether you have started menopause yet, or whether you have completed it, or even if you have not started menopause at all yet. Ask your doctor about the new blood tests, hopefully he/she would know all about them.

Thanks, Lisa! I'll have to look into that.

Jenn

[dachshund]

I just noticed this thread, and thought I would weigh in.

I'm determined to get through this without hormones. I just hit a phase where the hot flashes are waking me up, but I still refuse to do HRT. Sleep medication, maybe.

My symptoms have been all over the map. I get 3 or 4 things going on, then they stop and a new set of symptoms start. In the first year I really thought something was wrong with me - I couldn't concentrate on anything for more than 30 seconds. I had the heart palpitations constantly for 2 months, then they stopped. I'd get dizziness, a sensation that feels like an electrical charge, hand pains, etc. etc. It wasn't until I found a list of common menopause symptoms that I realized it was all (probably) caused by fluctuating hormone levels.

The worst by far is what they call "mood swings." I call them Fits of Rage. I've had moments when I would have paid good money to be able to strangle the next person who came near me. Just uncontrollable rage. Once I realized that these were, too, part of menopause, it let me step back and wait them out.

I was describing the fits of rage to a friend who had already gone through this. She started laughing: "When your estrogen dips lower, you're getting a glimpse of what it's like to have more testosterone!" Yowza.

Anyway, below are a couple of lists of the common symptoms. My strategy is to spend as much time as I can making myself happy, and to limit activities that will make me irritated. Eat right, exercise as much as possible. And I'd like to comment that this might be easier to deal with if there weren't age-related changes going on at the same time. Sheesh.

http://www.minniepauz.com/35symptoms.html
http://34-menopause-symptoms.com/

[KnottedYet]

Oh, Dachsund, I'm right there with you!

And on that "Minnie Pauz" list, I think I've got all but 4 or 5!