Menopause

[fearfulfred]

dido72

My mother lost some of her sense of taste and all her sense of smell over 20 years ago ( in her late 50s). She was tested for many things at the time, it seemed to have happened after a very bad cold. At the time there was talk of reaction to too much vitamin C. Despite working in a hospital and having access to all sorts of specialists , they never managed to cure it. The only real problem she has is not smelling food burning and having to have others taste test some of the food she is making to make sure she has not been too heavy handed with the spices! She cannot taste sweet or sour...not good for someone who loves cooking. Hope your mother can sort hers out

Fred

[dido72]

Thanks Fred that is kind of you, she has had allsorts of health problems just lately, she also seems to have loads of food allergies and if she eats the wrong thing she gets awful stomach ache (and the rest ), the loss of smell and taste all seems to stem from this.

On a good note she has lost loads of weight recently as she can't eat most things and can't taste the rest!!!!

[kexon]

I am all for people doing plenty of research before resorting to medication,but i also have alot of friends who are on HRT and have been for quite a length of time and dont appear to have any problems. I havent had to try HRT yet,but if i have another six months of being awake 3/4 times with night sweats it will probably seem worth a try!

[Troglodyfae]

Kexon, it is because I have heard conflicting views that I believe I should do some research and weigh up the pros and cons for me. You do have my sympathy, I am not suffering to the same extent as you most obviously are, but I do know what a pain it is waking up soaking wet through and then trying to change and get back to sleep again

You may well be one of the women who benefit from HRT and not suffer any ill effects. If I pull up anything of interest to you I will pass it on.

Regards

Trog

[annie_d]

My understanding is that part of the problem is some of the side effects are not detected until years after the woman has begun taking the H.R.T. Her symptoms e.g. hot flushes subside but further troubles are not apparent immediately.

[Troglodyfae]

Hi ladies

Yes I had heard that but there is nothing like a bit of head to head research. Not being *beep* I just need to read this for myself and weigh it up. I remember years ago reading this very brilliant book by Jilly Collins about the menopause and even my father commenting on what a very good book it was ( mother was then going through the menopause and we we were all trying to support where we could.) Jilly Collins was a great advocate of HRT and I guess at the time this was something new and and a great answer to so many problems.

I am still looking for the answers....lol

Oh I got beeped I think you might have guessed what I was trying to say there rsey....lol Blimey you get beeped for a minor indiscretion here ....lol

[kexon]

Many Thanks Trogs, be interesting to hear what you can find out. I am extremely reluctant to take any medication,particularly HRT as i am a smoker, and also many,many years ago i had awful period problems and my doctor tried several versions of the pill to help,but none of them agreed with me, one type ,i piled on loads of weight even though i was hardly eating anything and another type gave me the most awful migraines.Generally i dont seem to find western medication agrees with me for various reasons.I am not much of a moaner as i believe lots of people have worse medical complaints than I, but I have my days when I feel absolutely cream crackered,I just thanks my lucky stars that I am not doing the full time job I had in the UK ! I also think this forum is super and we ladies can support each other, it always feel better if your not suffering alone!!

[Troglodyfae]

Kexon, totally agree hun, it is nice to know you are not alone and there are some subjects we can discuss here which are so important to us. Sometimes I feel because I am going through this that no one understands. Fair play to the chaps in my house, they can only have limited understanding, but they are trying their best to be supportive. But having if you like soulmates here does make a very subtle difference and you are not made to feel silly for asking a question that normally would have plagued the life out of you.

As soon as I find anything of interest I will post, I promise

[Jool]

There are various books on amazon about menopause and bio-identical hormones.........and the effects oestrogen etc can have on thyroid and all sorts of other things............

A Woman´s Guide to Natural Hormones - Christine Conrad

Natural Hormone Balance for Women - Uzzi Reiss MD

Hormones, Health and Happiness - Steven F Hotze

Its a lot of quite dense info from time to time but well worth it - I cannot take HRT due to unconnected health condition..........

[karandjon]

I cannot take HRT due to unconnected health condition..........

Jool - i always had it in my mind you were a man- sorry.

[mijas-lady]

God so did I so please dont try HRT would do you no good-OH is threatening to write HIS trouble with it-please

[Troglodyfae]

Hands up me too sorry Jool

[Jool]

Oh, well what does that say about me....................... I am all woman..........

[annie_d]

OMG For CERTAIN i thought Jool was male.

[karandjon]

well, i´m glad i spoke up now, and it wasn´t just me!!

[Wicksey]

When I started this thread I thought people would be really horrible and tell me to pull myself together ....... so glad that's not been the case. I've just had a very hectic week in the UK and didn't really have any of my usual anxiety problems. Perhaps I need to be occupied more and not have the time to dwell on things .... although I don't think that will help irregular periods (and ,no, I didn't have the 'holiday period' we'd been discussing earlier in the thread, so it's nothing to do with cabin pressure )

Re HRT, there still seems to be so much conflicting information around. I've read of women doing very well on it, but then suffering from menopausal symptoms when they come off it. There is thrombosis in my family so not sure I can take it. Like Kexon, I had problems when I took the combined pill, migraines particularly, which also makes me wary of taking HRT.

I was recommended soya products to help lower my inherited high cholesterol but I started to get awful pains in my stomach shortly after eating it. I started to read up the pros and cons of it on the internet and it was so inconclusive. Some reports say it's brilliant stuff and others say it produces all sort of dreadful side effects. I feel it's the same with HRT, and it may still take some years of study to decide what the side-effects may be. I shall keep eating the seeds and nuts for the time being

[Jool]

Look into bio identical hormones, they have the same effect on the body as your own naturally produced hormones do, clinically proven. Its the chemical cosh effect of the pill and standard HRT that tends to cause so many problems....I am looking for a bio identical hormone doctor in Spain as I live here all the time......over here they use soya for women in menopause and I cannot take enough of that as underactive thyroid and the two should not be taken together as soya counteracts thyroxine.....

I have noticed I worry more and generally feel more stressed and that it has a cyclical pattern....so you are not alone. I took a 3 months course of 5HTP which is a natural serotonin enhancer and it definitely helped with the emotional effects.....available from www.naturesbest.co.uk

[kexon]

Hi Wicksey, I recently had a quick look on the internet about soya products,most of it was extremely scientific and technical,but basically,as it was an american website it was saying that soya products had been highly advertised for women and none of the side effects stressed.Aparently soya can interfere with your thyroid.Ups and downs for everything i suppose.I do know that a friend of mine cant use soya, it makes her vomit! Still as long as we keep looking for something that suits us as individuals,thats a good thing.

[Cassandra]

Jool, thank you for posting that information. I'm not at the stage where I have to consider HRT yet but would be reluctant to take it anyway for a number of reasons. I tried it once when my doctor thought I might be going into an early menopause, the only youthful feelings it brought back where morning sickness

I was going to seriously consider soya though as I sometimes use soya food products now (I'm vegetarian) but I had no idea it has an adverse reaction with thyroxine.

Maybe I should cut out soya altogether as it might explain why I have felt for years that my blood tests were wrong because despite, apparently, being on the correct dosage I still have many of the classic symptoms of an underactive thyroid

Sorry for hijacking the thread ladies

[annie_d]

Thankyou for that info Jool.

Wicksey, CERTAINLY you need to keep busy to keep well. That is one of my worried when we move to Spain permanently. If I am off work here in England for more than 4 days I feel myself sinking. This thread has been a godsend. I know women have "problems" with the menopause but the "feelings of impending doom" etc? I thought that was just me.