Hormone changes and weight gain
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issypops and KariD1114: thanks for the feedback.
I used the progesterone cream back in my early 30s for pms mood swings and noticed a bit of a difference.
I'm glad that these treatments have worked for you.0 -
Thanks for this information. I joined MFP about two weeks ago and am still learning my way around. The wealth of information is overwhelming, so I'm trying to focus on posts and groups that address my specific concerns and interests. I'm pretty sure I've been perimenopausal for at least a year, based on what seem like the typical symptoms - night sweats, difficulty sleeping, memory and concentration problems, slightly erratic periods. I also think I started having mild hot flashes about a month ago. However, I suspect my symptoms are masked or alleviated somewhat by my taking birth control pills and Estroven. Like the rest of you, I've also seen a substantial increase in belly size, despite following a pretty healthy eating plan (South Beach phases 2/3) and being regularly active. It's nice to find others who can relate and understand that for us, it's not a matter of just eating fewer calories than we burn off. I was already eating only between 1200-1400 calories a day and that was without trying! I realized this when I started tracking my foods with MFP. I can't go much lower without running the risk of a slowing metabolism. But I'll look into the remedies suggested here and see what happens. 0
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Welcome pepperpat. :flowerforyou:
There is ALOT of info on the forums and much of it is confusing and sometimes just wrong.
Hopefully we can help you figure out what works for you 0 -
bump0
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Having come out the "other side" I have discovered quite a few things over the last three to four years with the help of my Nurse Practitioner and lots of trials and errors. Early on my NP gave me an estrogen ring that really helped with my symptoms. I used it for about 4 or 5 months and then stopped. When my symptoms returned, went to a specialist to get "natural compounded" meds - estrogen and progesterone. Loved the progesterone and eventually stopped the estrogen cream and just did the PG for about six months. Then stopped. When the symptoms returned, with a few new ones, returned to my NP and have been working with her since.
I don't like the compounded creams. They don't work well for me. So, she now has me on the patch and progesterone pills (this is after two kinds of cream and another ring).
My point: Menopause is a journey. The interventions you use today are not forever. You can use them until they work and then stop. And go for months without problems. Same with the worries over "bio-identical" or not. Unless you have a history of breast cancer or other, they are safe to use for reasonable periods of time. And BTW, my Mom has been taking estrogen for 37 years. Yep, 37. And still does at 87. But that is a WHOLE other story!
Unfortunately, they don't address as well as I would like them to, the weight gain issue or the belly fat. No magic bullet there. BUT, I think they are critical in conjunction with diet and exercise.
I also know the things I did pre-menopause to lose weight are simply no longer effective and I really need to mix it up to make things happen. And it is harder. But not impossible.0 -
As Jayrudq said, it is harder, but not impossible. It's taken me a year to lose 70 pounds, at (now) 4 years post meno. That's painfully slow for the amount of work I've put into it - and light years slower than I've lost in the past - but it has happened.
Keep on keepin' on ladies.0 -
Very well said - informative - but depressing ! I'm off to see if the Wild Yam Gel is worth trying.... I've been at this for over 8 weeks now ... and only 11 pounds down - tomorrow is weigh in day - I keep putting it off - Truth is I have slipped a bit but if I ate this well 30 years ago the weight would be dripping off....0
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Oh I hear ya! Thirty years ago, I could eat a horse, and weighed in at 110 soaking wet!!! Grrrr....0
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Very well said - informative - but depressing ! I'm off to see if the Wild Yam Gel is worth trying.... I've been at this for over 8 weeks now ... and only 11 pounds down - tomorrow is weigh in day - I keep putting it off - Truth is I have slipped a bit but if I ate this well 30 years ago the weight would be dripping off....
I hear ya, MK. I think 11 lbs in 8 weeks sounds great!
I have finally came to peace with the "new me" and am solidly working on looking forward. I find that mixing it up constantly has helped somewhat. Intermittent Fasting, Carb cycling, Up, Down, lifting and running! I have been doing it all! Sounds a bit manic, and it probably is...my point being, we need to outsmart our menopausal selves and get on with it! It can happen. And it will.0 -
Sleep.... not so easy with some of the other unpleasant side effects of perimenopause / menopause.0
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I am weight training to help boost my metabolism.. I mean lifting heavy. Taking hormones and DHEA. It is a journey. So tired all the time. Eating to help my adrenal glands. I actually gave up coffee:sad: . Blood work showed they were hurting !!!! Look it up, they are all related when it comes to hormones!!! Hugs ladies!!! We can do this!!!!!
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Trying Wild Yam Gel. Many of my friends said it works great for them, hope so! :-)
Where can we get this?
Is Wild Yam something to be found at health food stores? What about Emerita (sp?)?
For me, it's mostly moodiness at this point, some night sweats, and trouble sleeping. Fortunately, I haven't had a hot flash yet. So glad for this thread and information!0 -
New to the group and looking for any tips to help me out. I'm 46 soon to be 47 years young and weight loss is a struggle. I eat good, workout regularly and nothing seems to help. Thank you in advance!!!0
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New to the group and looking for any tips to help me out. I'm 46 soon to be 47 years young and weight loss is a struggle. I eat good, workout regularly and nothing seems to help. Thank you in advance!!!
Welcome 0 -
Hi! You're in good company.New to the group and looking for any tips to help me out. I'm 46 soon to be 47 years young and weight loss is a struggle. I eat good, workout regularly and nothing seems to help. Thank you in advance!!!0 -
I am new as well, forty-eight. I wish I could be sanguine and pragmatic about this and chalk up my sudden 20 lb weight gain to a gradual middle-aged spread. I wish I could tell myself something like "Well, you can't expect to be size you were in college..." But I wore size four and weighed about 115 lbs this time last year!
I had the nightly heat waves and insomnia, and no periods for ten months.Ten in the 11th month, it came back, along with the dramatic increase in weight. It is not evenly distributed. I look like a giant inflatable pear and am really uncomfortable. How do you even shop for clothes to fit 36B-34-42" on a small-boned, narrow-shouldered frame? Maternity department? Worse yet, I had just bought a whole new career wardrobe. In size small.
My thyroid is normal and I'm not on any medications. I was already eating a clean low fat sensible diet, about 1200-1400 calories a day and doing abut 30-40 min Pilates most days. this is no longer enough. I walk everywhere. Nothing I do is affecting this baggage.
Maybe a stupid question, but the Wild Yam and Progestin, comes as a cream? Do I need a prescription? Where do I put it?0 -
I am new as well, forty-eight. I wish I could be sanguine and pragmatic about this and chalk up my sudden 20 lb weight gain to a gradual middle-aged spread. I wish I could tell myself something like "Well, you can't expect to be size you were in college..." But I wore size four and weighed about 115 lbs this time last year!
I had the nightly heat waves and insomnia, and no periods for ten months.Ten in the 11th month, it came back, along with the dramatic increase in weight. It is not evenly distributed. I look like a giant inflatable pear and am really uncomfortable. How do you even shop for clothes to fit 36B-34-42" on a small-boned, narrow-shouldered frame? Maternity department? Worse yet, I had just bought a whole new career wardrobe. In size small.
My thyroid is normal and I'm not on any medications. I was already eating a clean low fat sensible diet, about 1200-1400 calories a day and doing abut 30-40 min Pilates most days. this is no longer enough. I walk everywhere. Nothing I do is affecting this baggage.
Maybe a stupid question, but the Wild Yam and Progestin, comes as a cream? Do I need a prescription? Where do I put it?
I have not used the Wild Yam but I know you can buy both of them online.
The progesterone cream should be applied to an area with thinner skin so it can be more readily absorbed > think the inside of your forearms or upper chest just below your neck.
I'm 46 and 8 months with no period.
The hot rashes are annoying :grumble:
Sorry about your wardrobe and sudden weight gain. No fun
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If you decide to get a progesterone cream: get one that specifically says USP progesterone (none will say progestin, as that's the synthetic form). I wouldn't suggest the yam cream because it hasn't been converted to progesterone and likely wont have the same affects.0
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Yam gel, do they sell it by the gallons, because I want to fill my tub with in and bathe in it, if it will help with hot flashes? I have them so bad, I sometimes miss work because of the exhaustion and recovery process.0
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Yam gel, do they sell it by the gallons, because I want to fill my tub with in and bathe in it, if it will help with hot flashes? I have them so bad, I sometimes miss work because of the exhaustion and recovery process.
Wow, I did not know it was that bad for some women. :noway:
At work (I'm a nurse), we have gels with combinations of medications in them that include anti-anxiety and anti-nausea meds.
We rub them into areas of thin skin on our patients.
I wouldn't mind a tub full of that either, as I get nauseated right before each hot flash...:devil:0
