An Emotional Menopause..........

SueGeer
SueGeer Posts: 1,169 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there!!! 50 - 51 in June. Have lost 22lbs since end of October 2012, so weight loss has been slow but steady. I've avoided such things as hot flushes and all the other joys, but I'm really struggling with menopausal emotions recently......crying for no apparent reason. Even broke down in tears when someone at the gym asked if I was OK at the weekend. Can't put my finger on why I feel like this......everything is too much trouble and the tears are only a blink away....even crying whilst typing this. Just want to say "********" to everyone and everything.

I'm on thyroxine but not currently on HRT or anything.

Are there any special meat-free, mood-lifting foods anyone can suggest to help alleviate symptoms? Atm, sitting alone with an enormous chocolate feast is instantly appealing.......

Should be :smile: :laugh: but just want to :sad: :cry:

Replies

  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    Aww Sue, I'm so sorry, inexplicable hormone emotions are rotten *hugs*

    Do you/can you run? A hard run is the best mood-lifter I know, I've been known to go down the street with tears streaming down my eyes, but I come back with a smile on my face - not least because it's over! :flowerforyou:
  • baileysmom4
    baileysmom4 Posts: 242 Member
    Well, first off, you are not alone! I am 48 and after dropping 24 pounds started having all the symptoms of menopause. My doc told me that we store estrogen in our fat cells and since I had lost the weight the estrogen left too and thus the symptoms. I was crying and angry and moody UGH! I went and got something called Estrogen extra strength and I swear the first day on it I felt 95% better! I've been on it 4 days and no hot flashes! It's all natural and has no real estrogen in it. It's a bit pricey but I'd pay twice that amount for how I am feeling now!

    GO NOW TO THE STORE!!!! : )
  • KentWhiteRabbit
    KentWhiteRabbit Posts: 92 Member
    Hi, I can relate to your feelings...I'm only 42 but already experiencing peri-menopause. I have been a fan of Patrick Holford's books for a long time and used his diets/supplement suggestions to help with depression and a thyroid problem. I'm now increasing my vitamin C, vitamin E and fibre in take in an attempt to straighten out my hormones.

    His books Optimum Nutrition made Easy and Balance your Hormones are well worth a read.

    Good luck and hugs to you.
  • qn4bx9pzg8aifd
    qn4bx9pzg8aifd Posts: 258 Member
    Can't put my finger on why I feel like this......

    If you're experiencing perimenopause or menopause, and experiencing emotionality, the root cause is very, very, very likely hormone-based, and is due to low estradiol. It's a classic symptom (and it's real).

    I'm on thyroxine but not currently on HRT or anything.

    Are there any special meat-free, mood-lifting foods anyone can suggest to help alleviate symptoms?

    In my experience (and which involved early onset, and my experiencing many symptoms (and many of which were rather extreme), including emotionality), nothing but HRT (and specifically, bioidentical estradiol) resolved the matter (and it makes sense). Food (including those with phytoestrogens) really isn't a 'match' for 'defeating' or otherwise overriding the cascading series of biochemical consequences associated with low (let alone, fluctuating) estradiol (among other hormones and molecular machinery associated with the biochemical nightmare in question). Additionally, there is mounting (and intriguing) evidence that estradiol doesn't just function as a hormone in the body, but also as a kind of neurotransmitter.

    For me, HRT also made a noticeable difference/improvement in (and among so much else) the insulin resistance that can and often results from low estradiol (and can and often does lead to weight gain).

    Hormones are not trivial entities, and the emotionality component is real -- there *is* a biochemical basis for it (though it seems that many somehow dismiss such, or otherwise have no belief in its being a reality (I wish they could experience it for themselves)).

    Additionally, supplemental estradiol makes a difference in one's ability to get quality sleep (I don't know if you've experienced that symptom yet, but it's awful) -- lack of quality sleep (let alone the ongoing nature thereof) ends up becoming the number one complaint of women experiencing menopause -- and it's due to the (classic, and associated with restorative sleep) neurotransmitter disruption that occurs in the wake of low estradiol.

    Not getting quality sleep has its own series of cascading negative consequence (including increased insulin resistance and weight gain, along with the nightmare of perpetually feeling sleep-deprived (which can also compound the matter of emotionality, and exacerbate depressed mood (another of the many issues which can result from low estradiol))).

    Bio-identical estradiol is the only reason I have my life back. It was complete and total hell to experience the massive ongoing consequence of the suddenly low levels. My entire mood changed back to what it used to be, the insulin resistance was noticeably different/improved, my energy level was back to its norm (which is to say, being more akin to someone in their 20s), and among other things which improved, was wound healing (with the noticeably slower/compromised aspect of such having been another of the multitude of consequences one can experience due to low estradiol).

    There are a stunning number of biochemical reactions in the body that are ultimately affected by estradiol, and as a result, a decrease in estradiol can create a remarkably varied host of problems (relatively few of which ever really get discussed in the mainstream media) -- and emotionality is just one of the many realities which can result from low estradiol.
  • Scrapper58
    Scrapper58 Posts: 3
    I'm all through it and managed to take no casualties...and I made it through without HRT! I did discover one thing that was a tremendous help with my moods and that is Vitamin D3. My doc tested me and discovered that I was low. He prescribed 2000 units per day and that didn't do anything. I went to 5000 units and felt wonderful. And at times like now where we are coming off a long, long dark and cloudy winter I double it to 10000 units per day when I am feeling really down and can't find a reason.

    I had stopped it for almost a year thinking it wasn't doing anything and that's how I discovered it was really doing me loads of good.

    Hang in there Sue...I know you will make it through just fine.
  • MrsGriffin67
    MrsGriffin67 Posts: 485 Member
    I will be 46 next week and I can totally relate. I just want to sleep so I don't have to cry. It is horrible. I can't seem to pull myself out of it. Getting very frustrated at EVERYTHING! I think my husband thinks I am just an emotional wreck. I will definitely try that Vitamin D. We just gotta hang in there :flowerforyou:

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