Is It Over Yet? The Perimenopause Thread
Replies
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Update: I started using progesterone cream on my doctor's advice and I just realized I haven't had any hot flashes in a while. I use it for three weeks out of every month.4
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Oh, also...I am officially menopausal now. My last period was in February of 2017.4
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I’m bumping this because I want to rant that my periods are getting shorter, and not longer like I was promised. It was bad enough when it was 25 days throughout my 20s and 30s, but now it’s 18 days half the time. And somehow I’m still getting ovulation cravings and pain, even though I shouldn’t be ovulating with an 18 day cycle. So 6 days out of every 18 I’m craving salty sweets from pms or just want to eat with no satiation feeling from ovulation.4
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That's what happened to me for a year or so. Every other week! And for a week as well. I haven't been since last March and have everything crossed I make it till March so I can have my check up. They want you to be a year period free here in the UK.
Feeling so much better so hang in there!1 -
I'll be 50 next week, and my last period was two years ago. I was told I had premature ovarian failure when I was 44, and things slowed down from there.
The hot flashes were/are ridiculous. I had no idea they'd be so intense. Those are almost gone, but now the 'brain fog' has arrived in full force. I forget so many names and have to write everything down or it flies right out of my head. It's embarrassing sometimes.
I will say it is very nice not having a period and all the associated yuck. I don't miss it one bit.1 -
BecomingMoreAwesome wrote: »I’m bumping this because I want to rant that my periods are getting shorter, and not longer like I was promised. It was bad enough when it was 25 days throughout my 20s and 30s, but now it’s 18 days half the time. And somehow I’m still getting ovulation cravings and pain, even though I shouldn’t be ovulating with an 18 day cycle. So 6 days out of every 18 I’m craving salty sweets from pms or just want to eat with no satiation feeling from ovulation.
You're progressing well then.
It was news to me too that the days between periods really shorten for a year or two before they start lengthening.
BUT ... it might be worth having a chat to your gyn. Sometimes more frequent periods are a sign of problems. I discovered that too.2 -
BecomingMoreAwesome wrote: »I’m bumping this because I want to rant that my periods are getting shorter, and not longer like I was promised. It was bad enough when it was 25 days throughout my 20s and 30s, but now it’s 18 days half the time. And somehow I’m still getting ovulation cravings and pain, even though I shouldn’t be ovulating with an 18 day cycle. So 6 days out of every 18 I’m craving salty sweets from pms or just want to eat with no satiation feeling from ovulation.
You're progressing well then.
It was news to me too that the days between periods really shorten for a year or two before they start lengthening.
BUT ... it might be worth having a chat to your gyn. Sometimes more frequent periods are a sign of problems. I discovered that too.
Good point, thanks. I see my GP in February anyway and will check in with her about this and all the other fun 43 year old stuff. I think I get my first mammogram this year, whee!0 -
I just start taking black cohosh a couple of months ago because someone told me that it helped with the hot flashes. I still have them every now and then, but they have been greatly reduced.2
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dramaqueen45 wrote: »I just start taking black cohosh a couple of months ago because someone told me that it helped with the hot flashes. I still have them every now and then, but they have been greatly reduced.
Good to know!
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BecomingMoreAwesome wrote: »I’m bumping this because I want to rant that my periods are getting shorter, and not longer like I was promised. It was bad enough when it was 25 days throughout my 20s and 30s, but now it’s 18 days half the time. And somehow I’m still getting ovulation cravings and pain, even though I shouldn’t be ovulating with an 18 day cycle. So 6 days out of every 18 I’m craving salty sweets from pms or just want to eat with no satiation feeling from ovulation.
You're progressing well then.
It was news to me too that the days between periods really shorten for a year or two before they start lengthening.
BUT ... it might be worth having a chat to your gyn. Sometimes more frequent periods are a sign of problems. I discovered that too.
Hmm, mine were short (for me) for a few years but this month was 5 weeks and last month almost 5 weeks.
/fingers crossed/
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Hi if any of you have Facebook they have a great group for us women going thu this. It’s called peri menopausal.1
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dramaqueen45 wrote: »I just start taking black cohosh a couple of months ago because someone told me that it helped with the hot flashes. I still have them every now and then, but they have been greatly reduced.
Just to show how different we all are - black cohosh did NOTHING for my hot flashes. They are gradually letting up, thank goodness. My doctor asked if I wanted hormones and I said, isn't that just postponing the inevitable? She said yes, so I said I would just ride it out.2 -
I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
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I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I started with that dizzy symptom right about 40, and had it for a decade. I'm 51 now and still get it occasionally. Sometimes it was so bad, I could hardly walk to work or sit and look at a computer.
Night sweats ... hot flashes ... warm in general
Long, long periods
Frequent periods (every 2-3 weeks)
Fortunately I haven't been overly hungry with it all.
I can't use hormone replacement therapy ever so that's out for me.
Have you been to a gynaecologist yet? Turns out some of my symptoms are normal perimenopause, but some weren't.
Happily, and I don't want to speak to soon, but I'm almost at 5 months with no periods!! (quiet tiny little woohoo)4 -
I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I started with that dizzy symptom right about 40, and had it for a decade. I'm 51 now and still get it occasionally. Sometimes it was so bad, I could hardly walk to work or sit and look at a computer.
Night sweats ... hot flashes ... warm in general
Long, long periods
Frequent periods (every 2-3 weeks)
Fortunately I haven't been overly hungry with it all.
I can't use hormone replacement therapy ever so that's out for me.
Have you been to a gynaecologist yet? Turns out some of my symptoms are normal perimenopause, but some weren't.
Happily, and I don't want to speak to soon, but I'm almost at 5 months with no periods!! (quiet tiny little woohoo)
Yes I've been seeing a gynecologist. He just says it's pretty normal and we've been trying to deal with the heavy periods for now.1 -
Dizziness was my FIRST and my most annoying symptom. Now that I'm on the other side I'm pretty sure it was bad when estrogen was highest and progesterone was lowest. The dizziness is mostly gone (knock on wood) except when I do certain things (like climb a ladder).I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
If you're taking prometrium (progesterone) be sure to take it at bed time. It really helps with sleep and night sweats. And the drunk feeling isn't as noticeable except when you get up and pee.
I hear you on the cravings. I swear it was like 18 months of PMS. LIMITING carbs was the best thing for me.
All in all I gained probably 15Lbs during the last year of menstruating and the first full year after. Then things got a lot easier. And I'm losing the 15Lbs finally.
The day you stop bleeding it doesn't all become perfect, but it does get better!
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Any tip to stop the dizziness? I'm starting school again next week and I'm seriously dreading it. It's going to be active classes too (baking/cooking) with standing up for 4 hours. It's just so frustrating, I don't know how I'm going to go through it, honestly.
I take progesterone at bed time, I just feel like it takes 14 hours for the effects to go away completely, which isn't ideal either.
I'm not even 40 yet. I'm so defeated about all this. I FINALLY lost the weight, got back into exercising, found something I wanted to do with my life, and it just feels like my body is betraying me.4 -
Any tip to stop the dizziness? I'm starting school again next week and I'm seriously dreading it. It's going to be active classes too (baking/cooking) with standing up for 4 hours. It's just so frustrating, I don't know how I'm going to go through it, honestly.
I take progesterone at bed time, I just feel like it takes 14 hours for the effects to go away completely, which isn't ideal either.
I'm not even 40 yet. I'm so defeated about all this. I FINALLY lost the weight, got back into exercising, found something I wanted to do with my life, and it just feels like my body is betraying me.
The dizziness was definitely worse when I was dehydrated or when my blood sugars were goofy (another reason I reduced carbs some).
Gosh, you're awfully young. Sorry it's slamming you.
My dizzy spells started at about 40 too. But the rest didn't hit until much later.
One "trick" I used with the dizziness: if I had something big to do (like a conference presentation) I'd go to the room early and MAKE it happen (usually by staring down at bright carpets and moving my hands quickly). If I could make it happen before the event, I could usually get through the event easier.
fwiw, my obgyn and my gp both felt the dizziness was "vestibular migraine", but I don't think I'll ever know for sure. It really did improve (like 80-90%) once my hormones got low enough for my periods to stop, so there's that. Kinda makes a hysterectomy sound appealing!
Perhaps you could ask to switch to compounded progesterone cream? That way you can modify the dose down? The problem with the pills is the smallest dose is more than I needed. The cream doesn't help with sleep, but it's much more gentle.
Again, sorry this is happening to you. It SUCKS.3 -
Regarding the dizziness, I found taking ginger tablets sometimes helped.2
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Any tip to stop the dizziness? I'm starting school again next week and I'm seriously dreading it. It's going to be active classes too (baking/cooking) with standing up for 4 hours. It's just so frustrating, I don't know how I'm going to go through it, honestly.
I take progesterone at bed time, I just feel like it takes 14 hours for the effects to go away completely, which isn't ideal either.
I'm not even 40 yet. I'm so defeated about all this. I FINALLY lost the weight, got back into exercising, found something I wanted to do with my life, and it just feels like my body is betraying me.
The dizziness was definitely worse when I was dehydrated or when my blood sugars were goofy (another reason I reduced carbs some).
Gosh, you're awfully young. Sorry it's slamming you.
My dizzy spells started at about 40 too. But the rest didn't hit until much later.
One "trick" I used with the dizziness: if I had something big to do (like a conference presentation) I'd go to the room early and MAKE it happen (usually by staring down at bright carpets and moving my hands quickly). If I could make it happen before the event, I could usually get through the event easier.
fwiw, my obgyn and my gp both felt the dizziness was "vestibular migraine", but I don't think I'll ever know for sure. It really did improve (like 80-90%) once my hormones got low enough for my periods to stop, so there's that. Kinda makes a hysterectomy sound appealing!
Perhaps you could ask to switch to compounded progesterone cream? That way you can modify the dose down? The problem with the pills is the smallest dose is more than I needed. The cream doesn't help with sleep, but it's much more gentle.
Again, sorry this is happening to you. It SUCKS.
Was the dizziness hitting you out of nowhere when you were resting? Or was it more likely while you were active? Every once in a while lately, I’ll just be sitting minding my own business and suddenly get the roller coaster feeling and feel a bit “buzzy.” It’s most likely to happen on a day when I’ve really pushed myself exercising earlier. It’s on my list of things to talk to my doc about when I see her in February.1 -
I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I used to take Prometrium, a bio-identical progesterone. I don't remember any dizziness, but I did take them at bed time. As well as helping to regulate my periods, the Prometrium helped with sleep.
Dizziness is a symptom of anemia. What form of iron are you taking? The first two forms my doctor gave me didn't help. I'm taking https://smile.amazon.com/Solgar-Gentle-Iron-Vegetable-Capsules/dp/B00013Z0QA/ these days - two of them per day, plus getting about 100 % of the RDA of iron from food, so I have to get about 400% RDA total to stay in Low Normal.
During my period I eat Wellshire Liverwurst; 2 oz = 35% RDA iron. If I can't make it to Whole Foods I get Boar's Head Liverwurst, 2 oz = 25% RDA iron.
(For people who want more iron but don't like liver - neither do I; can't stand the stuff, but I do like liverwurst. Wellshire also makes turkey LW. Less iron, but also less fat and calories. I was going to try making chicken liver pate this time, but the livers were OOS.)
I also mix 1 T of blackstrap molasses into a cup of warm water every morning. That gives me 20% RDA. Here's what I order https://smile.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Organic-Molasses-Pack/dp/B001M0G2PO/ but caution - this brand can leak, so best to not get anything else with that order. It was the cheapest, so I continued to put up with it. (Plus last time Amazon just credited me for the whole thing.) However, I see the price has doubled since I last ordered so maybe try to get locally instead. It was $21 for three 32 oz bottles.
Vitamin C helps with iron absorption and I mix powdered, buffered vitamin C into the molasses "tea" to create a dreadful concoction. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I4AIUA/0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I used to take Prometrium, a bio-identical progesterone. I don't remember any dizziness, but I did take them at bed time. As well as helping to regulate my periods, the Prometrium helped with sleep.
Dizziness is a symptom of anemia. What form of iron are you taking? The first two forms my doctor gave me didn't help. I'm taking https://smile.amazon.com/Solgar-Gentle-Iron-Vegetable-Capsules/dp/B00013Z0QA/ these days - two of them per day, plus getting about 100 % of the RDA of iron from food, so I have to get about 400% RDA total to stay in Low Normal.
During my period I eat Wellshire Liverwurst; 2 oz = 35% RDA iron. If I can't make it to Whole Foods I get Boar's Head Liverwurst, 2 oz = 25% RDA iron.
(For people who want more iron but don't like liver - neither do I; can't stand the stuff, but I do like liverwurst. Wellshire also makes turkey LW. Less iron, but also less fat and calories. I was going to try making chicken liver pate this time, but the livers were OOS.)
I also mix 1 T of blackstrap molasses into a cup of warm water every morning. That gives me 20% RDA. Here's what I order https://smile.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Organic-Molasses-Pack/dp/B001M0G2PO/ but caution - this brand can leak, so best to not get anything else with that order. It was the cheapest, so I continued to put up with it. (Plus last time Amazon just credited me for the whole thing.) However, I see the price has doubled since I last ordered so maybe try to get locally instead. It was $21 for three 32 oz bottles.
Vitamin C helps with iron absorption and I mix powdered, buffered vitamin C into the molasses "tea" to create a dreadful concoction. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I4AIUA/
I usually take my iron pills at night, so about 2 hours after dinner. The over-the-counter stuff... I was taking 36mg, I'm upping to 65mg now, and need to get my iron tested again (I have the script, but it has other things so I need to be fasting, which is much harder for me to get done).
I like liver, it just costs an arm and a leg when I can find it. I'll look into liverwrust (I do love that stuff).0 -
@Francl27 also, last year I started taking Tranexamic Acid for the heavy bleeding and it does indeed reduce the bleeding by 25 - 50%! https://www.aafp.org/afp/2011/1015/p883.html
Was a struggle to get it approved - I'm with the VA and it wasn't in their formulary - but I persisted.
It used to take me a good week to get my energy levels back but I'm on day 4 and already starting to think about doing laundry and yoga.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I used to take Prometrium, a bio-identical progesterone. I don't remember any dizziness, but I did take them at bed time. As well as helping to regulate my periods, the Prometrium helped with sleep.
Dizziness is a symptom of anemia. What form of iron are you taking? The first two forms my doctor gave me didn't help. I'm taking https://smile.amazon.com/Solgar-Gentle-Iron-Vegetable-Capsules/dp/B00013Z0QA/ these days - two of them per day, plus getting about 100 % of the RDA of iron from food, so I have to get about 400% RDA total to stay in Low Normal.
During my period I eat Wellshire Liverwurst; 2 oz = 35% RDA iron. If I can't make it to Whole Foods I get Boar's Head Liverwurst, 2 oz = 25% RDA iron.
(For people who want more iron but don't like liver - neither do I; can't stand the stuff, but I do like liverwurst. Wellshire also makes turkey LW. Less iron, but also less fat and calories. I was going to try making chicken liver pate this time, but the livers were OOS.)
I also mix 1 T of blackstrap molasses into a cup of warm water every morning. That gives me 20% RDA. Here's what I order https://smile.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Organic-Molasses-Pack/dp/B001M0G2PO/ but caution - this brand can leak, so best to not get anything else with that order. It was the cheapest, so I continued to put up with it. (Plus last time Amazon just credited me for the whole thing.) However, I see the price has doubled since I last ordered so maybe try to get locally instead. It was $21 for three 32 oz bottles.
Vitamin C helps with iron absorption and I mix powdered, buffered vitamin C into the molasses "tea" to create a dreadful concoction. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I4AIUA/
I usually take my iron pills at night, so about 2 hours after dinner. The over-the-counter stuff... I was taking 36mg, I'm upping to 65mg now, and need to get my iron tested again (I have the script, but it has other things so I need to be fasting, which is much harder for me to get done).
I like liver, it just costs an arm and a leg when I can find it. I'll look into liverwrust (I do love that stuff).
Ya, Monday I had blood work, which not only had to be fasted for one test, but on day 1 or two of my period for another test, so that was indeed a pain to schedule. I ate more Sunday night. I really hate fasted blood work.
What form of iron is in your pills? It will say on the label.
BTW, it was the progesterone I suggest you take at night, not the iron.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I used to take Prometrium, a bio-identical progesterone. I don't remember any dizziness, but I did take them at bed time. As well as helping to regulate my periods, the Prometrium helped with sleep.
Dizziness is a symptom of anemia. What form of iron are you taking? The first two forms my doctor gave me didn't help. I'm taking https://smile.amazon.com/Solgar-Gentle-Iron-Vegetable-Capsules/dp/B00013Z0QA/ these days - two of them per day, plus getting about 100 % of the RDA of iron from food, so I have to get about 400% RDA total to stay in Low Normal.
During my period I eat Wellshire Liverwurst; 2 oz = 35% RDA iron. If I can't make it to Whole Foods I get Boar's Head Liverwurst, 2 oz = 25% RDA iron.
(For people who want more iron but don't like liver - neither do I; can't stand the stuff, but I do like liverwurst. Wellshire also makes turkey LW. Less iron, but also less fat and calories. I was going to try making chicken liver pate this time, but the livers were OOS.)
I also mix 1 T of blackstrap molasses into a cup of warm water every morning. That gives me 20% RDA. Here's what I order https://smile.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Organic-Molasses-Pack/dp/B001M0G2PO/ but caution - this brand can leak, so best to not get anything else with that order. It was the cheapest, so I continued to put up with it. (Plus last time Amazon just credited me for the whole thing.) However, I see the price has doubled since I last ordered so maybe try to get locally instead. It was $21 for three 32 oz bottles.
Vitamin C helps with iron absorption and I mix powdered, buffered vitamin C into the molasses "tea" to create a dreadful concoction. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I4AIUA/
I usually take my iron pills at night, so about 2 hours after dinner. The over-the-counter stuff... I was taking 36mg, I'm upping to 65mg now, and need to get my iron tested again (I have the script, but it has other things so I need to be fasting, which is much harder for me to get done).
I like liver, it just costs an arm and a leg when I can find it. I'll look into liverwrust (I do love that stuff).
Ya, Monday I had blood work, which not only had to be fasted for one test, but on day 1 or two of my period for another test, so that was indeed a pain to schedule. I ate more Sunday night. I really hate fasted blood work.
What form of iron is in your pills? It will say on the label.
BTW, it was the progesterone I suggest you take at night, not the iron.
I know, I just take all my pills at night. I figure there's less chance of absorption issues with iron if I haven't eaten in 2 hours anyway.
The iron tablets I was taking were plant-based. The ones I started to take are Nature Made iron pills.
The issue with fasted bloodwork is that I can't function if I don't have coffee in the morning, I'm often up one or two hours before the labs open, and I have to let the dogs out, feed them, make the kids lunches, make sure everyone is ready for work/school (yes it includes my husband) etc... So having to wait 2-3 hours to actually be able to drink coffee is... difficult. I wish she hadn't insisted on testing other things, then I wouldn't have needed to be fasting (and I can go easily during the day for that).0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I used to take Prometrium, a bio-identical progesterone. I don't remember any dizziness, but I did take them at bed time. As well as helping to regulate my periods, the Prometrium helped with sleep.
Dizziness is a symptom of anemia. What form of iron are you taking? The first two forms my doctor gave me didn't help. I'm taking https://smile.amazon.com/Solgar-Gentle-Iron-Vegetable-Capsules/dp/B00013Z0QA/ these days - two of them per day, plus getting about 100 % of the RDA of iron from food, so I have to get about 400% RDA total to stay in Low Normal.
During my period I eat Wellshire Liverwurst; 2 oz = 35% RDA iron. If I can't make it to Whole Foods I get Boar's Head Liverwurst, 2 oz = 25% RDA iron.
(For people who want more iron but don't like liver - neither do I; can't stand the stuff, but I do like liverwurst. Wellshire also makes turkey LW. Less iron, but also less fat and calories. I was going to try making chicken liver pate this time, but the livers were OOS.)
I also mix 1 T of blackstrap molasses into a cup of warm water every morning. That gives me 20% RDA. Here's what I order https://smile.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Organic-Molasses-Pack/dp/B001M0G2PO/ but caution - this brand can leak, so best to not get anything else with that order. It was the cheapest, so I continued to put up with it. (Plus last time Amazon just credited me for the whole thing.) However, I see the price has doubled since I last ordered so maybe try to get locally instead. It was $21 for three 32 oz bottles.
Vitamin C helps with iron absorption and I mix powdered, buffered vitamin C into the molasses "tea" to create a dreadful concoction. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I4AIUA/
I usually take my iron pills at night, so about 2 hours after dinner. The over-the-counter stuff... I was taking 36mg, I'm upping to 65mg now, and need to get my iron tested again (I have the script, but it has other things so I need to be fasting, which is much harder for me to get done).
I like liver, it just costs an arm and a leg when I can find it. I'll look into liverwrust (I do love that stuff).
Ya, Monday I had blood work, which not only had to be fasted for one test, but on day 1 or two of my period for another test, so that was indeed a pain to schedule. I ate more Sunday night. I really hate fasted blood work.
What form of iron is in your pills? It will say on the label.
BTW, it was the progesterone I suggest you take at night, not the iron.
I know, I just take all my pills at night. I figure there's less chance of absorption issues with iron if I haven't eaten in 2 hours anyway.
The iron tablets I was taking were plant-based. The ones I started to take are Nature Made iron pills.
Nature Made iron pills use ferrous sulfate, one of the ineffective forms I got from my doctor.
0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I went to my doctor yesterday and she basically told me that my issues are hormonal too.
Issues
- extremely dizzy before/during my period (this has been getting worse. It used to be the last days of my period. Now it started 4 days before. I'm anemic too. NOT helping.
- crazy hunger and cravings for bread
- headaches
- Waking up at night drenched in sweat
- plus I have very heavy bleeding (probably the cause of anemia) and I've been put on progesterone pills, which make me even dizzier
- periods are getting longer. 9 days now. I still get them reliably every 4th Tuesday.
- that week when I wasn't hungry after my period? GONE.
Does anyone else have the same symptoms? I've gained so much weight back because of all this (I can't exercise when I'm dizzy, let alone walk the dog or go to the grocery store, and I'm starving for 10 days straight). I'm completely depressed over this.
I used to take Prometrium, a bio-identical progesterone. I don't remember any dizziness, but I did take them at bed time. As well as helping to regulate my periods, the Prometrium helped with sleep.
Dizziness is a symptom of anemia. What form of iron are you taking? The first two forms my doctor gave me didn't help. I'm taking https://smile.amazon.com/Solgar-Gentle-Iron-Vegetable-Capsules/dp/B00013Z0QA/ these days - two of them per day, plus getting about 100 % of the RDA of iron from food, so I have to get about 400% RDA total to stay in Low Normal.
During my period I eat Wellshire Liverwurst; 2 oz = 35% RDA iron. If I can't make it to Whole Foods I get Boar's Head Liverwurst, 2 oz = 25% RDA iron.
(For people who want more iron but don't like liver - neither do I; can't stand the stuff, but I do like liverwurst. Wellshire also makes turkey LW. Less iron, but also less fat and calories. I was going to try making chicken liver pate this time, but the livers were OOS.)
I also mix 1 T of blackstrap molasses into a cup of warm water every morning. That gives me 20% RDA. Here's what I order https://smile.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Organic-Molasses-Pack/dp/B001M0G2PO/ but caution - this brand can leak, so best to not get anything else with that order. It was the cheapest, so I continued to put up with it. (Plus last time Amazon just credited me for the whole thing.) However, I see the price has doubled since I last ordered so maybe try to get locally instead. It was $21 for three 32 oz bottles.
Vitamin C helps with iron absorption and I mix powdered, buffered vitamin C into the molasses "tea" to create a dreadful concoction. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I4AIUA/
This, at least the kind I had, is a very different kind of dizziness. In fact, I usually refer to it as wobbly eyes. It's a very weird feeling of my eye and my head/brain not being in sync. (and my blood work was normal)0 -
I’m not sure if this is what’s going on with me. I’m due for my annual doc appointment soon so will ask about it.
I’m soon to be 43 years old, and my cycle started to change about a year ago. My periods started boiling down to a really light day, followed by one VERY heavy day, and then one more light day. They were still very regular schedule-wise and I could predict the start down to the hour. But, in the last 6 months or so, they have started to get closer together. My cycle shortens by a few days each month now, which is annoying.
I have also noticed my hair thinning.
The biggest issue though, for me, has been mood swings. I feel like I’ve been much more irritable and easily angered over the last year. Maybe. To be honest I can’t tell if I’m more irritable or if I’m just SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS ALL THE TIME. See what I mean. I’m snapping at strangers in the grocery store. I mean, who DOES that???
I’m going to talk to my doc about it, but the prospect of 10 years of this is not going to be fun.5 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »I’m not sure if this is what’s going on with me. I’m due for my annual doc appointment soon so will ask about it.
I’m soon to be 43 years old, and my cycle started to change about a year ago. My periods started boiling down to a really light day, followed by one VERY heavy day, and then one more light day. They were still very regular schedule-wise and I could predict the start down to the hour. But, in the last 6 months or so, they have started to get closer together. My cycle shortens by a few days each month now, which is annoying.
I have also noticed my hair thinning.
The biggest issue though, for me, has been mood swings. I feel like I’ve been much more irritable and easily angered over the last year. Maybe. To be honest I can’t tell if I’m more irritable or if I’m just SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS ALL THE TIME. See what I mean. I’m snapping at strangers in the grocery store. I mean, who DOES that???
I’m going to talk to my doc about it, but the prospect of 10 years of this is not going to be fun.
Yeah... my doc put me on anti-anxiety meds and asked me to go see a psychologist because I broke down crying at the appointment because I'm so frustrated. It's not really new, but it's been way worse the last few months.0
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