Help! Menopause - my middle is getting thicker!

[KathiCville]

I'm 50 and have had only two periods in the past year, so I'm definitely well on my way to being officially menopausal....YAYYY! I do NOT miss my period!

I have noticed that I'm a tad thicker than I used to be in the middle. I've always been slender and 'angular,' so it feels a little odd to have, mmm, 'curves.' Fortunately, doing yoga and/or Pilates regularly seems to help to maintain muscle definition. My BF has commented a couple of times recently that---to his eyes---I look like I've lost weight. I never weigh myself, but don't think I've actually dropped any pounds. I think he's just noticing the toning I get from mat-time.

Gone are the days when I could indulge my sweet tooth and count on working it off in a hurry! I definitely eat less starch (bread, pasta) and less sugar (candy, desserts) than I used to. S'OK because now my energy doesn't rocket up and down like the stock market.

My biggest challenges so far with menopause haven't been weight shift or hot flashes. Instead, the main annoyances are disrupted sleep and a ridiculously short attention span. Melatonin helps somewhat with the sleep. And my doc says that once I'm fully through the transition, the AWOL attention span should snap back into place. (Soon? Soon?)

[jobob]

My biggest challenges so far with menopause haven't been weight shift or hot flashes. Instead, the main annoyances are disrupted sleep and a ridiculously short attention span. Melatonin helps somewhat with the sleep. And my doc says that once I'm fully through the transition, the AWOL attention span should snap back into place. (Soon? Soon?)

OMG, I noticed the short attention span too. It doesn't even take shiny objects to distract me these days.

I was starting to worry that I might be in the early stages of Alzheimer's or some other dementia. Seriously! So it was very reassuring for me to read (here and elsewhere) that this is a common symptom of early menopause. Whew!

[OakLeaf]

Hmmmmmm. I was attributing the attention span to too much time on the computer.

Yippee!!! I can stay here without frying my brain!!!

[Dogmama]

Attention span....mmmm...yeah...what were we talking about? Oh yeah, the weather....

How about memory retention? I just returned to school this year..holy moly. I had a "check up from the neck up" this week and my shrink prescribed something called Cerefolin NAC. It is basically a drilled down form of folate acid (B vitamin), b-12 and an antioxidant. Just started taking it yesterday & have already noticed a surge in energy. He said it helps memory & actually is used in pre-dementia people. Anyway, I liked that it is natural - OK - as natural as a drilled down vitamin can be. I *seem* to be concentrating better but I'm thinking it may be a placebo effect. Or maybe not. What was I saying?

[sundial]

I used to have an excellent memory. Now it's shot. I forget words mid-sentence and it's really embarrassing. I feel like I've got a short in the brain.

[Dogmama]

I used to have an excellent memory. Now it's shot. I forget words mid-sentence and it's really embarrassing. I feel like I've got a short in the brain.

Oh man, do I know that one! And I'm studying to be a therapist. It ought to be fun, "Gee Mr. Jones, how do you feel about your wife having an affair with....hey how about those Dodgers?"

[sundial]

LOL!

I can't seem to get my tummy to shrink much, if any, either. What was so frustrating about this process is I managed to lose weight on the same diet that suddenly put 15 lbs on me within 6 months of my surgical menopause.