Hormones and Weigh loss in women 40+

shakybabe

I was just wondering if hormones would change before our actual menopause and if this would affect weight loss?

I've always had really heavy periods with bleeding for the entire week and the first two days with severe stomach cramps and back pain which are usually spent sandwiched between hot water bottles laid on sofa!

After I hit 40 (now 42) I've noticed they have gone gradually lighter and more irregular, sometimes I will have one 3 weeks after the last other times 4, the bleeding is only lasting 2 days, only one day heavy and the stomach cramps are no where near as bad and can often be controlled with painkillers much easier.. so may last the first morning rather than the first 2 days of pain.

I've been reading alot about 'oestrogen dominance' after trying to find home cures for fibroids as I'm not keen on surgery as in many reported cases they have come back anyway unless person has had complete hysterectomy. I'm thinking of trying a progesterone treatment, which I now can't start until the 12th day after my current period ends, but I'm just wondering if other women have had results with hormone treatments/progesterone creams? for either reducing size of fibroids and/or improving weight loss?

Thanks

michedarnd

Hormones definitely start to change before you stop, completely, although your fibroids may keep you irregularly bleeding LONGER than you otherwise would. You tend to start irregularity and hot flashes quite some time before completely stopping. It's called being "peri-menopausal."

I've never heard of using progesterone creams to treat fibroids, but I CAN tell you that progesterone creams have limited effectiveness due to absorption problems. The progesterone can stop really getting into your system after a fairly short period of time.

This is one of those situations where you are going to be stuck talking to a doctor who probably won't cooperate with you, much. Menopausal women are generally treated abysmally by the medical industry. That said, you don't want to totally imbalance your estrogen/progesterone balance, so I'd at least research (as you clearly are) what your ideal balance needs to be, and then, keep a close eye on it.

As for affecting weight loss -- *SIGH* -- it's MUCH more difficult to manage weight once you are post-menopausal (for many of us, anyway), and I know that I started having weight management troubles when I became (prematurely) peri-menopausal. I was thin, before that. The suggestions for weight-management for a post-menopausal woman tend to be fairly different from those of a youngster. I'd go researching post-menopausal weight-loss, too, because it's a different animal (and MUCH slower and harder).

Good luck.

shakybabe

ok Thanks. Maybe there's a tablet form that will help balance them better and not suffer absorption problems? I'll have to have a look into it and just experiment with a few things.