Electrical Shocks to the Skin: Menopause

[shootingstar]

Itchiness...hmmmm I got this arm rash which I've never had before. It's going away. Somehow I think it's corn dust from peeling off the husk...or stress, which I won't go on a venting jag.

My rare 5 min. hot flash..usually early in morning lying in bed. It feels like a internal blush in the face.

Then gone.

[ny biker]

Hot flashes are my new pms symptom. But I don't get cramps anymore.

[OakLeaf]

When I quit soy I had a few months of frequent but very brief hot flashes.

It was a nice respite from being freezing all the time.

Now, I might get one every 2-3 weeks.

And now that the weather's starting to turn, I'm freezing again.

I keep getting thicker around the middle. But it could be that's my own d*mn fault ... in perimenopause I was a gym rat with a lot of upper body strength. Lately I can't stand a workout that doesn't involve sunshine, so while I'm three pounds lighter, and running mileage that I couldn't even have imagined three years ago, I've lost a good bit of muscle mass in the arms, shoulders and upper back - it might have been that muscle that was keeping the menopot off.

[Biciclista]

been getting hot flashes for at least 15 years. but they're not earth shattering, there are far worse things.
I have skin hallucinations. I will be riding down the street and it will feel like a drop of water has hit me. I will feel that place and there will be nothing, no dampness.
happens once every month or so...

[stella2]

Personally I'm loving HRT

[azfiddle]

me too. Even with the HRT, I sometimes wake up at night feeling warm, but nothing like the full on, sweating and tingling symptoms I was having.

[KnottedYet]

Most of my hot flashes are at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. I've got a routine now, where I rip off my clothes and fire up my iPod to read in the dark until the flash stops. Then I put my clothes back on, get back under the covers, and go right back to sleep.

The problem is the ones I have at work... I have to keep my clothes on.

[IFjane]

been getting hot flashes for at least 15 years. but they're not earth shattering, there are far worse things.
I have skin hallucinations. I will be riding down the street and it will feel like a drop of water has hit me. I will feel that place and there will be nothing, no dampness.
happens once every month or so...

Me too! I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, Mimi.

My hot flashes never last more than 30 seconds or so, so I cannot complain. I am at high risk for breast cancer so I refuse to use HRT. Been going cold turkey since my surgery and it's ok. I can take the heat, even if it lasts until I'm 80!

[Biciclista]

Me too! I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, Mimi.

My hot flashes never last more than 30 seconds or so, so I cannot complain. I am at high risk for breast cancer so I refuse to use HRT. Been going cold turkey since my surgery and it's ok. I can take the heat, even if it lasts until I'm 80!

oh wow, i'm not alone!! thanks for letting me know, Jane!

I don't know and I'm not concerned about it yet. By the time I have been on it for several years (currently been on it about 6 months), they may have developed a very long term option. If not, I retire in 9 years and can accommodate my symptoms. Right now I have to work, be able to think straight and concentrate, so for now it's a Godsend

Stella, I'd be very surprised if your doctor lets you use HRT for ten years! at least in the states, the "rule" is 2 years.

[KnottedYet]

Stella, I'd be very surprised if your doctor lets you use HRT for ten years! at least in the states, the "rule" is 2 years.

Yeah, I'm seeing it used in my patients as a temporary bridge, just to get a woman over the hump. Not as a way of life!

[stella2]

Stella, I'd be very surprised if your doctor lets you use HRT for ten years! at least in the states, the "rule" is 2 years.

it's 5 years in the UK, and things move on all the time with research in this field, so I'll see how it goes.

This is an up to date information paper for women wondering about HRT. Its produced by well respected UK specialists associated with the advice/support website menopausematters. Might be worth a read for anyone wondering abbot the issues. http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/pdf/HRTandYou.pdf