TheGaudyMagpie Member

I think everyone wonders if they are pregnant in peri. Even though I'm on HRT, I still get hormone fluctuations and combined with the sporadic periods, the symptoms are pretty similar. Only the passage of time has gotten me to stop wondering. I'm also one of the lucky ladies that had a boost to my bustline courtesy of the…

I hope everything goes well for you. I am much better after losing that organ. It was not nice to me.

I see a doctor outside of my usual provider network for dermatology/aesthetics stuff (skin tags, capillaries, botox) and his primary practice is as an OB/Gyn. He brought up the window the last time I saw him and he is a huge advocate of HRT. He believes that taking HRT in the window leads to better health and helps prevent…

For those considering hormones, birth control pills contain a higher dose of hormones than traditional HRT. I stopped being able to tolerate hormonal birth control in my 30s. However, I have had no issues tolerating HRT and the improvement in energy levels and general quality of life has been significant. I have been on it…

Panic attacks are a fairly common side effect of menopause. I already had an anxiety disorder so I didn't notice much difference there during the brief period my hormones were too low but I did have hot flashes. I've been on hormones for almost two years now, so no symptoms at all now.

I'm a member, but I'm in a sort of dead area between two groups. I did have a running partner from the group in the evening, but we couldn't find a place to meet up and run once it started getting dark, and she's too far to just run in one of our neighborhoods. We were trail running and the places we ran close at dusk. I…

In the past I had kind of looked at a hat and a clip on light. Does anyone use an arrangement like that? I was thinking myself that the bobbing of a headlamp might be a little annoying. I did go out and walk the neighborhood a bit tonight, and the main street through the development has streetlights and is pretty lit up,…

LOL. No moose where I am. Possible cougars but they usually don't come into the developments. Raccoons, skunks, and opossums are the main wildlife. This is all very helpful. There's not too much traffic in the development at night and there are sidewalks throughout so I'm not too concerned about cars, although being…

If you're having bathroom troubles after gallbladder removal, look into trying a bile salts/cholesterol binder like cholestyramine (Questran). It's pretty common to have problems reabsorbing the bile that now drips freely into the digestive system instead of being stored in the gallbladder, and that can cause things like…

I'm the same way. The way I felt on previous ADs was horrible so I'm very wary of them in general. I hope the trazodone works out for you or you find something better soon.

When I was on trazadone my doc said it was pretty safe to mess with the dosage. Just about any dose for insomnia is much smaller than that for therapeutic use so changing the dose only affects your sleep/sedation. I'd try half the dose and see if it works. Unfortunately it didn't do much for me (not much does -- I have…

I haven't read that book but I've likely looked at a lot of the same evidence. Analysis of a lot of different studies seems to indicate that all cause mortality rates are lower in women (on HRT vs. not) that start estrogen early in menopause and that the risks don't kick in for a few years after that. Most recently I read…

Same problem, and I won't even know I've done it until I go back and read what I've written. It's bizarre.

Hormonal BC generally contains a higher and stronger dose of hormones than HRT. I would expect women to gain more on BC, if the hormones were the sole cause of weight gain. Personally I felt my cravings and eating habits were worse before I started on HRT, and I had so much fatigue I could barely walk around the block. I…

I get aphasia (forgetting and substituting words) from my current med (Nortriptyline) but the cognitive impairment on Topamax was profound. I'm talking about forgetting the next step in tasks I had performed millions of times, being unable to form sentences, not being able to reach logical conclusions, difficulty driving…

Nope, not all bad at all. I felt so much better after starting. I hope you're soon feeling a lot better too.

As others have said it's a seizure medicine but it's also used to prevent migraines. One potential side effect is appetite suppression. I was on it for migraines and the side effects were horrible. I could not complete a thought on it to the point where my ability to do my work was seriously impaired.

I've been on the Climara patch and synthetic progesterone since March 2015. I do not feel like it interferes with weight loss. Prior to HRT I had gained a lot of fat on my waistline, and my weight redistributed pretty quickly after going on HRT. If I gain weight it is distributed more on my lower body, and I'm a lot less…

I lost fifteen pounds immediately following my gallbladder surgery. I had little appetite and I was eating very low fat so my calorie intake was very low (but acceptable to my doctor in the short term). I also think that there was a lot of inflammation that was relieved, and the doc says that healing from surgery burns a…

I've been running for a few weeks. I've been a hiker for awhile, so I actually did a 10K trail run earlier in the month with a 2000 ft. elevation gain. I only ran part of it, and came in nearly last, but I enjoyed it. I'm tentatively planning another trail 10K (flat this time!) in mid-December. Even if I can't run the…

I definitely know what you mean and it's not the normal kind of weight gain. Prior to going on HRT it seemed like the fat all settled into my belly, instead of on my lower abdomen and thighs, like it did when I was younger.

I've been kind of blah. Did a 10K the weekend before last on a mountain -- 2000 ft elevation gain according to the press. And then I could barely walk for two days. :P I've been trying to run but everyone in my family is sick this week, including me, so it's hard. I need to sign back up for the gym and start lifting again.…

I do have a bile malabsorption issue which is pretty common after gallbladder removal. I take a bile sequestrant every day and have no issues as long as I take it. Some people need to take it forever, some people adjust. I haven't adjusted so far and I still need to take it.

I was doing pretty good but had to go back on my medication for neuralgia. It's all water, but I'm up four pounds and puffy. I'm focusing on fitness goals instead of weight loss right now, but I'm very annoyed that the smaller things I was fitting into are snug again. No idea when it will change either.

I'm not sure if it will help with all of the issues, but I've been taking ashwagandha, which helps to even out cortisol and take the edge off of anxiety. I believe it's also supposed to moderate other hormones. I've noticed a difference. I'm on hormone replacement though so I don't have a lot of the usual meno symptoms. I…

I think this is absolutely true. I am generally OK with where I am right now, which makes this a fairly easy decision. The reality is that my extra 10 lbs does not have much of an impact on me and is likely to be largely addressed by increasing lean muscle and going off the med that causes my weight to fluctuate in a…

I'm in a similar spot. I was about 10 lbs from the healthy weight range but just went back on a med that messes with my water retention. I've been on it before and I know that the fluctuations are going to make me crazy. In two weeks I'll be having a procedure that will take away the need for the med (it's a pain thing and…

I think you might be able to recomp on that. The common wisdom is that you can't build muscle in a deficit, except for "newbie gains." I'm not entirely sure how true that is. I feel like here on MFP, there is kind of a canon regarding fitness that has been built up, but I've seen some indications elsewhere that it's…

I lost ten pounds the first month after surgery, and there are some other anecdotal reports here and there about that not being unusual. It is true that some people report weight gain, but I had a very rapid loss at first and I'm continuing to lose. Part of that is eating a lowfat diet, I'm sure. I'm also guessing that the…

Some people are OK with fat after and some people are not. I feel queasy if I eat too much fat, like something fried, but I can eat about 10-12 grams per meal, and I understand that will improve over time. I eat lowfat cheese and lowfat ice cream, but I did that even before the surgery. I'm about ten weeks post-surgery.…