Perimenopause & hormones

[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!