The "FLAME DOLLS" (Menopause Support Group)

im am so grateful to read this im also very self aware of my body in the past i have kicked boxed did spin clases snd have never had a weight issue i could not attack and have always lost the weight im 50yrs old and have not had a period in 2 yrs up until last year i havnt had a problem this past year has been a nightmare the belly the hips and the thighs i prided myself in staying fit even for a having 5 children i dont get night sweats however i do feel sudden mood changes in me uncontrolable ones if there is a supplement that works i would love to know about it or any other tips i did find zumba i fell good about it i just want to lose the weight help anyone help

Hi, I'm Mandy, I'm 47 and going through menopause for the second time!

I had a hysterectomy when I was 31, and at 34 was experiencing erratic mood swings, severe depressive bouts, and at night it was as if I'd wet the bed! So went to the doctor who put me on HRT which suited me perfectly and put everything on hold.
I came off these about 2 1/2 years ago, and am now going through a nice gentle menopause, no moods swings and just an occasional night sweat and hot flush

I have to admit my weight had crept up over the last few years, but I now have a bad back injury, have had to sit through the last 3 months and have been "comfort eating", hence I have 50lbs to lose, having lost 5 already over the last 10 days :-)
I'm hoping to be able to start a little swimming soon to help tone up, but can hardly walk at the moment, so any other form of exercise is out until I'm much improved, so I'm having to do lose my weight through pure willpower.

It would be lovely to be in touch with ladies of that certain time of life who are determined to make the most of the youth we have left :-)

Hi, my name is Brenda and I was told I was post-menopausal at 36. It took some convincing to have my doctor do the blood work to prove it. I had been on Norplant for 10 years, the pill after that. Well, the pill caused a blood clot in my leg, so I decided I was done having children and had my tubes tied. I know there's not supposed to be any correlation between tubal ligation and menopause, but within 6 months my mood swings were insane as well as the night sweats and hot flashes. I mean, I was 36, this isn't supposed to happen yet! I am unable to take the hormone replacement therapy due to the history of blood clot, so I've had to try anything I can that's over the counter. Black Cohash seems to have helped with the hot flashes. It's been 6 years and I've still got them! My weight has steadily gone up over those 6 years, and in the past I've been able to get it to come right off. Once I turned 40, my body apparently has different ideas! It's been a struggle, that's for sure. But this time around I have mixed in weight training with my cardio and I'm hoping once I get that lean muscle built, something will start to happen!
Thank you ladies for listening!

I am 54 and was late to end. Over the last year I have had no periods but for the 2 years before I had one every 6 months. It was doing this time that my doctor said I should do a hysterectomy due to severe fibroids.....I'm like why?? I feel better than I ever have!
I have always gotten hot at night so I don't think that is any worse but I have had a handful of daytime hot flashes. I am thinking that my increased insomnia might be associated with menopause but overall I feel blessed to have had an easy transition with out any hormone replacement.

Weight has always been an issue and as we all know it gets harder as we get older. Arthritis limits what I can do for exercise but MFP really helps me control intake.

I'm Rose and I am 58. I was going through menopause in my early 50's, about the time my younger daughter hit puberty. I mostly had hot flashes and some night sweats, but in the past year those have really tapered off.

I have been overweight since my children were born, but was staying reasonably fit and strong caring for and riding horses and cleaning stalls daily. Then, the horse exercise stopped, and the weight started piling on and my muscles turned to mush. Around the same time, I developed some arthritis in my back and knees, which made exercise even less attractive. I'd "watch what I ate" for varying periods of time, but never got serious about calorie counting or exercising regularly until this spring when I found MFP. As it turns out, I'm getting my horse back within a month, so I'll again have some daily pleasurable and useful exercise to help keep the weight off. I have a hard time just exercising for the sake of exercising, so I need something like riding, horse chores, and yard work to keep fit and strong. I have been walking 30-45 minutes most days this past month or so.

I changed my eating habits recently to eat more whole foods, fewer carbs, less sodium, adequate protein and fats, and that seems to be making a difference. I'm losing weight, enjoying my food, and I'm not hungry.

Hi All, My name is Venetia and boy am I glad to have found this group! I'm 54 and I've been going through peri-menopause for over 10 years so I am ready for this to be over! As for the weight loss, I'm actually having an easier time losing weight now than when I was in my 30's and 40's. Part of the reason it's been easier this time is because I think I'm finally doing it right. I have changed my diet to focus on a healthier diet with lots of fruits and vegetables and almost no processed food. I've lost 103 pounds since 3/29/10 and because of the improved diet and exercise I've never felt better in my life. I also think it has been easier now because I've been more willing to relax and take it slow. I went into this thinking that if it took me a year or two to get to my goal, that's okay. Another advantage that I've discovered is that since I often go 3 or 4 months without a period, I'm not fighting the fluctuation on the scales from that time of the month as often. See, there are some up-sides to this getting older stuff!:happy:

Just tripped across this in today's news feed: http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/03/18/defining-perimenopause-what-it-is-and-how-to-deal

Enigmatica, thanks for posting this. Great article.

First of all, hats off to Julia for originally starting the thread on peri/postmenopause! I feel fortunate to be able to find "friends" to reap support from and lend support to and am looking forward to reading everyone's personal stories, triumps and stumbles along the way to being the best we can all be. Just think when our mothers went through menopause they didn't have the technology like we do at our fingertips to connect with others, the world wasn't as open to talking about things as now, a healthy diet wasn't a priority like now or it wasn't in my household, we had cozy comfort food 7 days a week. We've Come a Long Way Baby!

So, here I sit one year postmenopause at the highest weight I've ever been. I weigh more now than I did with any of my 5 full-term pregnancies. I could sit here and despair and do like I have in the past and say, "Okay, I'll just eat this and then I'll start tomorrow." I've made that promise to myself so many times I can't even count. The 40 pounds didn't happen slowly, it has crept on over an 8 year span where I was a divorced single parent with 5 active kids in sports, a lot of late night games, late night dinners coupled with a father's long term illness and I think that is when I really starting doing the comfort eating. I have always loved food, but I read labels like no other and really watched my diet and then I just stopped. I have no excuse because there are none.

They say sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you make a change. I've hit mine. I'm tired of feeling sluggish, hating to clothes shop, cringing at the thought of putting on a swimsuit. You get the picture and many of you have probably felt/thought the same things. I may have hit rock bottom but if I tilt my face up I can see the light, the light of a healthy new me. I had gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy at 36. I was told I would have a 10 year window after the pregnancy with a pretty high incidence of developing diabetes. Thank God I haven't had any problems with my blood sugar, but I have family members who are diabetic, I am now over 50 and I am now 40 pounds overnight. Even more the reason to make the changes I need to.

I have been remarried now 4 years to the greatest guy in the world. We may not make it to a Golden Wedding Anniversary but it won't be because I had some health catastrophe. I"m in this for the long haul and long haul doesn't mean lose it and put it back on. The long haul is for the remaining days that I walk this Earth!

We can all do this together!

My goal for the week:
Set myself mini-loss goal rewards.
When the last 2-liter diet soda bottle goes in the trash, DO NOT BUY ANOTHER ONE. Learn to LIKE water.

May Monday be the kickoff to a wonderful week to each and everyone of you!

Terry

Hello All, Im Deena, 44 years old now.
- Had 2 ectopic pregnancies and the last one resulted in losing an ovary.
- Ever since then (about 7 years ago) Ive gotten my period every 2 weeks (oh joy) and believe me they werent typical.
- On top of that I found out I had Hypothyroidism. The medication made everything taste like copper pennies.
- Then about 2 years ago I ended up with Bells Palsy, but thankfully most of the side effects went away.
- Last year I finally ended up having a hysterectomy and BAM!! started putting on weight (different size jeans almost every 2 weeks, UNBELIEVABLE).
- In a blink of an eye I gained 30 lbs, hair falling out (sucks to clean the shower drain every shower).
- Back started hurting because my boobs were getting bigger than they already are.
- Son moved to Georgia and now I live by myself (dont tell my cats I said that).

I was so good at helping everyone else with their problems and being the "shoulder" or the "ear" that I never paid attention to myself. I finally had to come to grips with making changes in my life. I had to give credit to my mood swings and weight gain and ignore the useless "comments".

Finding MFP and everyone here (especially women going through my same issues) has given me validation and a goal. I hope to be an inspiration to myself and others as well.

Thank you so much for listening (er um reading)

Deena

Love the name!!

I have to say the whole experience has been relatively easy for me. Over time my periods just got futher and futher apart: from 4 weeks like clockwork..to 5 or 6.....then to 7 or 8 with an occasional skipped one. I have never used so many pregnancy tests in my life!!

I went about 3 or 4 months without one then got one or 2 random last ones. That was about a year ago now. The only issues that I continue to have are some hot flashes, but they haven't been too terribly bad. I refuse to even consider HRT. While I get that it has helped many people, I considered my symptoms relatively mild. Instead I did a little homeowrk on my own. My doctor had already recommended that I take Calcium and D supplements. When I realized I was having hot flashes, I did a little homework and started on supplemental E, which my doctor concurred with.

Quite frankly my biggest complaint is sleep habits....and those issues started long before any of this. But that's another thread entirely ;-) We have black out curtains, took the TV out of the bedroom, stick to a regular schedule, etc. But it's a good night if I sleep more than 4 hours without waking up. At least I don't have any trouble going back to sleep anymore: I did for awhile. But is it too much to ask for 7-8 hours of solid sleep?

My name is Regina, and I am post menopausal. I think!

Hi all,

I'm Steph, and I'm 45. Just getting to that point where I'm like, OK Is it coming this month or not???? Seem to have them whenever, every couple of months or not...Total hot flashes and night sweats, mood swings the whole bit.

My funny story....I was dating my husband to be and kind of in the throws of my own sexual awakening or mid life crisis (whatever!), so when I started having hot flashes I had no idea what they were (like a huge energy rush through my whole body, not really hot at first), but they always seemed to coincide with the times I was seriously thinking about him. I thought man, I can't believe how he makes me feel!!!! I was talking to a girlfriend and she laughed at me and told me what was going on, then I felt oh soo stupid! But I still married him! He knows I'm partially crazy and puts up with my changing clothes every 5 minutes, and turning the fan on and off at night, so I think I found a keeper!
I started the pill cause my DR said it would help, but it just made me put on weight and I didn't need help there. So I started an herbal remedy and it seems to be kicking in finally and I am getting back to normal except my vision is crappy, and my memory appears to be shot! Glad there are others out there with similar aches and pains!