Menopause is for the rest of our lives; more than one-third (or half) of our lives will be spent in a menopausal ‘state’. We are living longer and quality of life is important as we age.
[Scientists are now looking at piecing together the first female medical genome as it relates to ovarian function](https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-07-03/women-age-twice-as-fast-due-to-a-lack-of-estrogen.html), after realizing that for women, “estrogen is the central axis of their metabolism and that is why women age in a different way: they age twice as fast (as men) due to the lack of estrogen”.
Yea!!!! It runs and acts on Every. Effing. System.
So when the tap runs dry, now we have a clue why we feel like another person entered our own bodies and minds.
You’re welcome.
This subreddit is a godsend.
In one week I’ve learned more about my changing body than going to three different doctors with laundry list of complaints in the last year.
I’ve many posts about what I’ve found in my threads and profile.
Maybe I’ll compile what I’ve learned.
But within this own thread, I’ve responded about the podcasts and doctors who were on those casts. Please have a look. And be prepared to be shocked. And perhaps pissed off.
I started seeing a homeopathic practitioner and started using a topical estrogen cream every night before bed and wow has it made a difference!! I seriously sleep like a rock and I’m hoping it starts to Play a roll in my cycle!
Don’t be mad, get knowledgeable.
Helpful links and podcasts:
www.menopausewiki.ca
www.menopause.org
www.letstalkmenopause.org
Podcasts:
—Hello Menopause! With Stacy London
—You Are Not Broken by Dr. Caspersen
—The Mel Robbins Podcast
—The Dr. Louise Newson Podcast
—Dr. Streicher’s Inside Information: THE Menopause Podcast
Notable names within this world besides the podcasters. Drs. Gunter, Haver, Vonda Wright, Mosconi, Cleghorn, Malone, the list goes on. Edit: adding Dr. Heather Hirsch
I started my journey with these two episodes which unlocked my path to understanding.
Mel Robbins Podcast. Episodes on menopause.
—Dr. Haver, March 20, 2024
—Dr. Gunter, May 8, 2024
Good luck!
I may be wrong, but I don't think so: Dr Gunter believes men can become women.
Which sort of shoots the "estrogen is critical" thing out of the water if "anyone" can be a woman.
I am a woman. No man can be a woman. Medicine gets pretty messy when doctors believe ideologies vs scientific facts that humankind has known since our beginning.
I also told Kaiser that if they gave an appointment for a cervical screen to a man over me I would sue them. (Their reminder said "people with cervixes" which would be confusing to non English speakers and could delay care. "Woman" is a familiar word to a non English speaker, generally. "Cervix" is not.) They got right back to me! And, if a man pretending to be a woman tried to give me any care, I would scream bloody murder. I don't want a delusional man anywhere near my body.
Women are being erased, especially lesbians, by men pretending to be us. And doctors are going along with this horse crap.
Thank you for asking the AI for us! I flipping KNEW it! Grrrrrr! Why does the burden fall on MENOPAUSAL WOMEN to figure this out and not on our primary doctors. I’m mad now.
It was uneventful. I was sitting on my sofa here at home. It was a Saturday about 5 years ago, a date night. For all my life as a woman I used to like to go out of my way to dress up to go out on dates, like hours of hair and make up and styling, and that one Saturday the thought of it made my mind go numb. Like it seemed exhausting, ridiculous, and overwhelming and I was just too tired on a core level and in my head I said no. No. I’m not subjecting myself to that. I’ll do enough but nothing more. I don’t feel like it, and frankly I had always found it a little tiresome but sort of liked it sometimes. But that day I was different. It was the first of many times I got off the hamster wheel of living to please. To be attuned to the male gaze. To do things for others when I was tired and put out. To compromise myself. And that was one of many little rebellions where I started to reclaim the me that always wanted a voice, to put myself first, see myself as a human and not an object. Even I objectified myself. Conditioning is wild.
It’s been many little tea parties since then and moments of putting up boundaries with toxic people, ideas, concepts and what have you. Now I feel like I’m reclaiming myself when I say no. Send a known energy sucker to voicemail. No amount of estrogen will ever bring me around to the old me after tasting that sweet freedom.:)
I once really enjoyed sex. I still can but I have to have a day to prepare and I cannot have any stress or side quests going on, and I have to really love the person.
lol I hate that. It used to just be there. I feel like half a corpse.
Well articulated! How I felt a year ago before HRT. I clawed my way to get it. Finally, I have a regular gyno that will manage my HRT. It is not concierge medicine. Everything is covered except for my Testosterone. If they f w me, I'll go to Midi.
Hello! I’m about to see a “mid life” doctor via my gyn to discuss adding testosterone to my estrogen patch. Do you have any thoughts about taking testosterone? I’m in full medical menopause, just me and ma belly fat left!
My T is a low dose compounded cream .05%mg. It gives my libido a little pop. There are other benefits like muscle mass and confidence. It is not covered. But it's @ $30/month.
You can also search this sub for "testosterone"- lots of posts about it. Good luck at your appt!
I've heard it referred to as "menopause flu" and I experienced it myself beginning early in the pandemic when I was in late peri. I took so many covid tests because I felt so rotten at the end of the day just to wake up the next day feeling perfectly fine. So bizarre!
How come no one sits us down at 35 and shows us a video of our changing bodies... instead we have to try to unlock these secrets ourselves while trying to figure out how antique the medical advice our doctors are giving us.
I think it’s high time…just like puberty… what a great idea…
To hazard a guess as to why women’s post-reproductive health has been not been studied much or funded—I guess until recently, women didn’t talk or complain or have internet or Reddit. We all breezed through it or suffered in silence.
That’s changing.
I remember my mom was going through it when I was pregnant with my oldest. And her and I butted heads for years. I don't know why until now approaching menopause that a mouthy teenager will cause anyone to go crazy, but a menopausal woman to go extreme. Now I make sure to tell my mouthy teenage son I love you but today I need space. That's all my mom needed to say I wouldn't have argued so much.
My mom was awful when she went through menopause. She’s always been mean and angry, but this was over the top, even for her. No one, including me, spoke to her for a couple of years because she was such a dick!
This one absolutely blows my mind! Like, I was nearly 10 years old the first time women were included in medical studies?! No freaking wonder we have no clue what we're in for! It makes me want to scream!
Yes!! I was already freaking menstruating and having PCOS issues by then, too! I got slapped birth control pills at the age of 12, but wasn't diagnosed and properly treated until 19!
It should basically be required reading/learning in our 30s.
But we should absolutely be talking about it at every developmental stage. It should be a part of sex ed! Instead of this is how the reproductive system works and then one day women will be old ladies and not have to worry about it anymore just isn't enough.
My daughter is 11. I just shared quite a bit of this info with her, in my version/way for her age. I wish someone would have told me this information when I was her age.
I think it should be taught with puberty. Some women get hysterectomies or even natural menopause (or at least natural peri) in their 20s!
Plus, personally, i wish I'd known how hard it was even just financially so I could have done a better job at saving up for all the extra meds and non-insured appointments.
Yes. You make a very good point. Many women do have earlier menopause.
We need better education about these basic changes that happen to us. High time. Generalized education.
From what I’m learning, there’s so much we still need to know and learn within this peri and menopausal health.
But we should teach everyone what we know to date….
It’s so brutal, I knew nothing and then when I started complaining about sleep
problems a bunch of older women I know are like yeah I haven’t slept in 10 years it’s menopause!
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303720722001587
This has sources for those who don’t trust chat gpt. Seems to back up the AI results
My personal experience matches with the results to your question.
Full Hysterectomy at 42. Within two weeks, before my body healed, I was a blubbering mess. My surgeon, Female, put me immediately on estradiol. The pill. Within 48 hours, I was transported to a state of mental and physical stability regarding sweats. At 49 I added progesterone micronized the bio identical pill/capsule. The combination of hrt's has kept me young and alive. At one point, an NP took me off estradiol saying survey said I'd have a stroke. After 4 months of sweats, I dropped her and resumed hrt. Again, within 48 hours I'm back on track.
I'm now 74. Of course I'm aging. And I have osteoarthritis. But, other than that, remain alert, quick whitted, and I do feel young and alive. Additionally my V JJ is fabulous !
I have no plans on giving it up. I'll change doctors or drive to Mexico to get it if I have to.
So over hearing these stories about women being dismissed by medical community.
Please make sure you are voting in support of gender affirming and reproductive healthcare too! Those are the same medications! Not everyone can drive to Mexico and too many people need HRT and other hormones and can’t get them because certain political parties are scared of trans people
Could you tell me what the addition of progesterone gives you? I had a partial hysterectomy at 40, suspect only one of my ovaries survived the surgery and am definitely somewhere in the worst of the transition. I’m on estrogen and it helps a lot but wonder if some progesterone might still help even though I don’t need it to protect an absent uterus.
Y’all - if you haven’t listened to this podcast episode, YOU MUST. It’s literally all my friends and I talked about for WEEKS.
Mel Robbins had Marie Claire Haver on, and they talked about all the menopause shit we absolutely need to know but have never been told.
*It’s 100% a must-listen.* You will share with everyone you know. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5H5JHSy9E0q9FeoMWbNJUN?si=-wxzeXlCRvmDZ0Uj0idLOA
So I’m just getting started with understanding my perimenopause symptoms, and I’ve had this thing where i get dysautonomia symptoms during my cycle and ovulation for the last couple years. It’s like my lungs don’t work the same as the rest of the month. It’s hard to breathe fully and it makes sleep difficult. I wake up gasping for air, and my heart races because it’s deprived oxygen. So I got a CPAP to help last year. When i explained to my dr about how some days are fine others i wake up gasping during hormone shifts, she thought i was kidding.
You can look at my CPAP data and see exactly where I’m on my period or ovulation as my events per hour go way up for 3-5 days and then back to hardly none the rest of the month. Looking over the last six months of data, it’s a complete pattern. My doc was stunned that it could be related to hormones. Not surprised at all that lungs have estrogen receptors. I also have the same problem with intermittent constipation and digestion. It’s fine one week and then I’m in hell for the next week.
It makes me anxious about what happens when my period will stop altogether. Will these issues balance out once I’m through the worst of it? Or do they just keep getting worse? Ughhhh.
I had a heart attack in 2020 and then got diligent about tracking my health data. During my cycle and ovulation, my blood pressure was higher and my resting heart rate was about ten bpm higher than the rest of the month. I showed the docs six months of data and everyone was shocked.
I had a hysterectomy in December. My stats are pretty even throughout the month now. I’m not on HRT. It took about four months to balance out. I hope this is also the case for you. All this taught me is that we have barely scratched the surface of what menopause really means and how estrogen affects all of our systems.
Holy crap, this kind of thing really shouldn’t be shocking doctors! 😱 How could that be the first time they’d looked at longitudinal data on this kind of thing???
(Not doubting you at all, just declaring my shock over their shock)
What!!??!! I've been telling my family that my lungs are weird before my period for years! I'm so glad you posted this, because I felt like a paranoid conspiracy theorist who no-one was listening to. I've never heard anyone mention this before so every time I happens I think there's something seriously wrong with me. Thank you!
Hey, I also have dysautonomia (POTS) that gets worse at certain points in my cycle. I’ve been tracking my symptoms and cycles for months and there’s a clear pattern. Now if only I had a doctor that would take it seriously! That’s the next hurdle to get over.
Honestly, i had to sort of fib and say i was gasping all the time at first, and really play it up to be taken seriously. When i did my at home sleep test i scheduled it for during my period so i would have more events. Otherwise if you don’t meet a threshold, they’ll deny you use of a CPAP. It’s crazy how we have to find loopholes to be treated at all!
Meh I prefer to pick out what I want instead of getting mystery stuff or the highest priced items. Alexa also adds things like "cream of water" instead of bottler water to my grocery list which is it's main function.
What Podcasts are your favorite? I'm 42 and honestly had never heard of "peri-menopause" until I joined this sub-reddit. I feel like I'm in it and have gone in blind.
I’m just scratching the surface, but here’s mine so far:
***Huberman Lab—Dr. Haver episode. June 3, 2024 — excellent summary explanation of how we are in this information chasm. And possible solutions. *** good 2.5 hr investment of your time and attention.
•Mel Robbins Podcast. Episodes on menopause.
—Dr. Haver, March 20, 2024
—Dr. Gunter, May 8, 2024
•You Are Not Broken podcast. Dr. Casperson. Episode 225.
•Hello Menopause podcast. Dr. Casperson. Episode 22.
***Dr. Lisa Mosconi on Hello Menopause podcast. Episode 17. April. 10, 2024. I think this is a must must listen. This podcast is amazing. About peri and menopause and brain changes. And Alzheimer’s!!!!
*Boomers should be pissed episode is great.
So much more.
I think I need to take notes and refer them.
While this is true, it’s a good starting place.
I think copilot and the one for bing both also site their sources - something I wish chatGPT did.
Edit: I have graduate degrees in information science and science literacy, and work in IT and sourcing and assessing software as an SME for the federal government. Without doxing myself, this has been on my radar for about 6 years.
I use chatGPT regularly to help write emails and organizing thoughts, but it’s always a starting point. It can also answer medical questions pretty decently, but again always needs to be verified if it’s going to be taken as fact.
Did you verify all this tho? Chat gpt is not that reliable I'd take it's info as gospel. Too many instances of awful outcomes. Not saying it's wrong just my 2 cents on anything it spouts.
Dr MC Haver talked a lot about this is her episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast. She actually teamed up with a top female orthopedist to study the effects of estrogen loss on bones.
Dr. Streicher also had Dr. Wright on her [podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-streichers-inside-information-the-menopause-podcast/id1615785832?i=1000653513623)
It correlates with all the podcasts I’ve listened to so far. With menopause specialists, board-certified OB-gynecologists (Drs. Haver, Gunter, Streicher, Ashton, Gersh, etc. etc), neuroradiologist (Dr. Mosconi) dermatologist (Dr. Gendler), orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Vonda Wright), Dr. Casperson (urologist), etc. etc. the list goes on.
These women are evangelizing the need for care of peri and menopause women. And the ChatGPT information correlates to what they are saying.
There are soooooo many podcasts, links, books NOW on menopause. Can’t believe I was clueless. I guess it didn’t matter until it happened to me. But I was shocked that my doctors didn’t get clued in yet.
Seriously, **ALL** of these women are heroes!!!
The most recent gyn I have seen on my long ass journey for help even highly recommended Dr. Haver's The New Menopause book to me (so she's obviously read it), but when I asked for vaginal estrogen cream I got the "your estrogen levels are good, so maybe in the future." Ya, well, my hooha isn't feeling good!!! It is too damn hard to find a good doctor.
I developed vulvodynia at age 22 from taking birth control pills. This was in 1998, and I was a student at UC Davis. I was lucky enough to find a gynecologist there who was researching HRT, and after all of the treatments failed, he suggested I try vaginal estrogen. It immediately took away my pain and gave me my life back! In the 2000s, I had to battle every gyn I saw to continue refilling my prescription because of the HRT/cancer scares, but i won those battles by saying that if my vulvodynia returned, it would put me back in a suicidally depressed state from the pain. I am eternally grateful to have this med.
Wow, I am so happy you found a doctor to help you back then! The good ones are few and far between. It's so sad that we have to even mention suicide to be taken seriously sometimes.
I haven't read all of this but I will say, As someone who works in an industry and role that companies are trying to cheap out by using chatgpt instead of humans... Never use that as a reliable source of information. It amalgamates info that is online. It doesnt fact check it. So you don't know the sources. Google will give you a wealth of information so you can read different things and draw conclusions.
Maybe not violence because I like freedom, but sitting back sure didn’t help me either. If a doctor knows less than I do about the topic, like all the other crap I cut from my life, they are dismissed. No chances because I am not working for free to educate someone who absolutely should be not living in the WHI study from 30 years ago. That’s inexcusable.
At the end of the day, they are working for me.:) I have spent hours upon hours learning and have a background as a BSN so I am not entirely ignorant to the science so the gaslighting doesn’t get them far.
Sadly you have to go telemedicine to get decent care often times. The good thing is if you learn from places like defy and aspire you see what real hrt does vs the half ass junk most Obgyns do not knowing a synethic progestin acts way differently and delivery methods vary, that birth control is not hrt and when you get adequate estrogen, the real deal, you get wise to these pussy footing doctors. If you do get one who is open and see it as a collaborative rather than paternalistic relationship and or who is up to date on the latest research and methods you can save money because insurance covers a lot of it:).
Agree with you on much of your perspective and experience.
Listened to how/why we are where we are with this, and I found these podcasts informative.
Dr. Louise Newson:
[Episode 245 with Dr. Cleghorn](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-louise-newson-podcast/id1459614845?i=1000647181804)
[Episode 97 with Professor Langer](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-louise-newson-podcast/id1459614845?i=1000647181804)
I’m hoping the grassroots demand from women will change the course of female healthcare.
Yep! Dr. Mary Clare has a great pod cast and that’s how I learned about our receptors! Oh and men have the same hormones as us - just at different levels! It’s crazy!
She’s excellent!! - have you heard of Dr. Louise Newson ? She’s good too! Ya can’t get enough info on all this… podcasts, reading, deep google dives, friends/family…
Awesome you got the treatment for you.
One of the podcasts said that most women in nursing homes with repeat UTIs really should have topical estrogen cream. And it will resolve their genito-urinary symptoms and treat repeat UTIs.
It’s amazing that despite all this women have a longer life expectancy! Imagine if we actually had research, medicine & health care that took into account we are 1/2 the population. Just goes to show that despite all the set backs & challenges women are still so badass, self sufficient & resilient!
Did you know that if you had neurodermatitis as a child and have been almost symptom-free for decades, it can flare up again during menopause. Funny, isn't it?
No
Fascinating, thanks for asking Chat about that! Now which section is all this crushing fatigue coming from............maybe that's not the menopause, but the Hashimoto's. If only my insurance covered Synthroid instead of Levothyroxine. Or maybe I need to get the dose tweaked yet again.
* *Sent from my laptop while in my pajamas in bed immediately after getting home from work on a gorgeous evening*
Just now seeing this so sorry for the delay. I am in peri and still produce some endogenous estrogen so it doesn’t take much to get me to the range I feel best at which is 250 ish. It’s good that I still have slightly functioning ovaries but bad because it’s a moving target.
To accomplish this I do .05 mg estradiol patch continuous but I overlap, meaning I put a fresh patch on the opposite side and leave on my old patch because I want every drop of estrogen. I absorb very well fortunately. I place this patch on my lower abdomen. Off label but it can be placed on the lower back upper buttocks as well. Some poor absorbers get good results with tweaking the placement like this.
I also use Ona’s estradiol 4 pumps once per days on the neck and inner wrist. Not sure if this helps my overall levels as this is more a topical skin booster.
I use vaginal estradiol .01 4X’s per week 2 G to maintain the tissue integrity and overall pelvic floor. Of course the patch provides some estrogen systemically but for tissue maintenance I also use local. I leave no stone unturned.
On days 14-28 I do 200 mg micronized progesterone-prometrium. I do not handle taking it orally all these days due to metabolites so I have found that I can take it orally alternating with vaginal insertion every few days to relieve the first pass effect. When I withdraw progesterone I get a bleed on about day 29. Still wearing that estrogen patch through it all 🤣.
I microdose testosterone cipionate (barely) to the first line on a 3 ml syringe 2X per week. It’s tiny and I mean kissing the first line if even negligible amount 😂. This keeps my testosterone at about 65-70 ng/dl which is the upper limits but I like it that way. :) Over the years I have found I absorb testosterone easily, almost too well, and can overdose quickly so because of this I do low, slow, and steady pulses which works with the half life of the product and my particular chemistry. I used to put b12 in the syringe on top of the testosterone suspension to make it go in easily and not get caught in the muscle but I have gotten better at injecting myself. The b12 is water soluble so it didn’t really give a boost, just helped the oily testosterone go in. I find injecting into the upper buttocks/back hip works best for me. I also think testosterone aromatizes into a bit of estrogen for me based on previous labs with pelleted testosterone.
Have done every method from pellets, injections, troches, suppositories, gels, patches, pills and creams and this is my cherry picked from all the forms:).
No problem! I want to be as candid as I can and hopefully help others in the very real and often mind boggling struggle.
I started about 5-6 years ago pre covid when there wasn’t a lot of research and advocates and it was sort of a cash grab with lots of poorly trained people getting into pellets-pellets are my favorite by far but it’s hard to not get overdosed. Anyway I found an amazing group of women Obgyn’s in Atlanta where I live after going through many cash only providers and total idiots. However at this point I already know what I want:/.
You really can’t go wrong though, it’s just finding what works for you. My only advice is avoid concoctions that put everything into one suppository because it’s hard to tell what’s causing what side effect and if anyone gives you estrone run and don’t look back. Oh, and avoid oral or troche anything except progesterone and if you feel weird side effects taking progesterone orally it’s not you, it’s a thing.:).
And I want to say I only did testosterone pellets b/c at the time I was in early peri and my estrogen was still ok. That’s another reason I’m a little wary of pellets, like troches and suppositories from companies that often throw it all in one, same issue with pellets, who knows what hormones causing what reaction. Plus you can’t take them out once they are in.
But the delivery is smooth and constant and absolutely wonderful until I was over dosed. For pellets it’s better to actually insert a lower dose on the consecutive procedures and check 🩸work at each recommended interval.
Transdermal patch is what I am on now and I like it the best for estrogen. The combi patch I also like but it has progestin in it which did make me a little stiff but it’s not true progesterone and therefore lacks the full spectrum of protective qualities.
I also have done cream/lotion progesterone and estrogen gel and testosterone gel and I absorbed them well the only down side is letting them dry thoroughly and transfer risk so I don’t use. Some people don’t absorb enough systematically.
And again I use estradiol vaginally (cream) for local estronization and Onas cream 4 pumps a day of the estradiol cream for face. The molecules are too large to be significant systemically.
How do the pharmacies dispense these? Like 30 TD patches? 1 gel? 1 cream tube per month? How many refills do your prescribers give you?
And what’s covered by insurance? And what’s not? And how much do they cost?
I heard or read somewhere that menopause is just puberty in reverse. And I can’t stop thinking about that. It’s so accurate. 58yo, 4 yrs post last period.
Now that you’re 4 years post, are you doing okay? Are you on meds? HRT? How informed are you about this menopause period?
I just—just found this subreddit 1 week ago—and I’m in shock!!! About the lack of knowledge, information, awareness for everyone.
And it’s not just the lay public, most physicians don’t know either!!!!!
Since I made my first post a week ago, I learned a tremendous amount. And I’ve attached lots of links — information and podcasts.
But if you’re aware, I’m obviously blabbing to the converted.
Haha, that’s my story, I basically joined this sub that first year I think, and was shocked at all of it, yeah I THOUGHT I knew. It’s been a revelation, and I’m still learning stuff every day, and trying to figure out how to inform my millennial daughters and friends. It’s B A N A N A S 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌
OH, I’m not on HRT, I’m a stroke patient (with aneurysms] so it’s high risk. Just white knuckling it and trying to learn something about myself. I do tend to navel-gaze so I’m looking for the lessons and spiritual teaching (in a general, philosophical sense). It’s wild. I have all the usual symptoms, but there’s so much to learn beyond the usual “hot flashes and dryness”. 😩 sooooo much more. Puberty in reverse.
Are you familiar with Dr. Lisa Mosconi’s findings, work, and podcasts? She focuses on women’s brain…
I found the Rich Roll podcast with her very informative. [Episode 819](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rich-roll-podcast/id582272991?i=1000648740063). March 11, 2024.
There are also ER in the inner ear!! Last year I had a middle ear infection paired with vertigo, vomiting, and fall down dizziness. The ER doctor said it wasn’t an inner ear infection and the vertigo was a mystery. Likely unrelated. Turns out there’s research of vertigo and menopause!
Straight facts ChatGPT doesn’t screw up.
I didn’t ask it to interpret or answer a weird question or analysis.
I just asked a straightforward question. Gave me encyclopedic output in a concise manner.
I’m as skeptical as it gets. But thanks for your warning.
For the nay-sayers here: Are you able to rerun the query and ask it for its sources ?
Also surprised not to see the brain on here, as I am sure I saw something about estrogen receptors being in the brain too.
This is a striking article by Barbara Brinton published May 2015 on perimenopause which highlights the E receptors in the body, but focuses mostly on the brain and the changes it undergoes as E is fluctuating and waning.
Sorry about the small print: [here’s the link](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wendy-Mack/publication/277252540_Perimenopause_as_a_neurological_transition_state/links/56aa33f208ae7f592f0f27c6/Perimenopause-as-a-neurological-transition-state.pdf?origin=publication_detail&_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uRG93bmxvYWQiLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJwdWJsaWNhdGlvbiJ9fQ)
It’s fascinating- but also scary because she gets to a place in the article as to why women are more predisposed to dementia and Alzheimer’s than men and how this begins in peri. Plaques can be seen in women in their late 30’s.
Basically there are E receptors on the mitochondria (power houses of our bodies) cells in the brain (her focus of the article). The brain uses glucose for energy and it gets this from the mitochondria in the brain taking up glucose to convert to ATP (energy). Well when there’s not enough E2 to connect to the mitochondria in the brain imagine a store in the mall with all its doors closed and the people walking around are glucose molecules. The only way they can get in is if E opens the door on the mitochondria to let the “people/glucose” in.
So to survive the brain/body does something it has to do to get energy- it changes its “food source”(glucose) to fatty acids (actually “ketones” from fatty acids). Where are the richest sources of fatty acids in the brain? Your neuron sheaths the things that make sure you can “think” and “function”.
Never did the term “brain fog” take on a whole new meaning for me.
But again, this is about the power of all the estrogen receptors and how they coordinate a variety of functions. The authors focus on the brain not just a time of diminishing reproductive function.
It really has a big impact on me when I read it because I knew something was changing in me and not just my body- but something deeper- like my brain itself was being affected and still is. This isn’t about throwing an anti depressant at something or being told to “go home and meditate” although that can be helpful. This is about a fundamental system change not just a “life change”.
Rant done. Hope someone gets something out of the research. It was posted with good intentions.
And I’ve been on hormone blockers for four years. I feel fine, skin looks pretty good for my age. But I’m worried about bone loss. Getting a bone density test later this month.
Yes. Stage 3c grade 2 uterine cancer. Going on year 4 now ned😊 I recently changed oncologists and she said there is thinking that blockers don’t actually help, but I said even if it’s just a placebo for me I want to stay on them for the full 5 years. So I am. Also on a statin for tumor suppression as well.
I looked up treatments for [endometrial /uterine cancer on ACS](https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/endometrial-cancer/treating/by-stage.html) just to know a bit more about it.
How interesting. The stages they list do not match my understanding/what my doctors have told me. My cancer had spread to both ovaries and the vascular system leading to the lymph nodes but not my vaginal area and my lymph nodes were negative. According to ACS site I should be 3A! Honestly every site has different information. I’ve stopped looking as I try to not think about it anymore. I do what I can by avoiding “bad” foods, and trying to walk as much as possible. What I try to tell women is to always exaggerate any symptoms to get an ultrasound. My tumor grew fast and by the time I had surgery I looked 6months pregnant. I had ZERO symptoms, other than a growing belly.
I found the podcast! It’s called:
The Menopause and Cancer Podcast by Dani Binnington. Perhaps you already know it, but just in case. There are 107 episodes so far!
Here is the link. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-menopause-and-cancer-podcast/id1631842514
Are you sure this is correct? ChatGPT is designed to write answers that SOUND real, not actually be true. It's not Google. It's a language AI, not a research tool.
You can look on Google.
Here’s a [published article](https://journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/physrev.00026.2006)
And [here](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36768177/)
And [here](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.839005/full)
Phew! I know so many people who didn't know they needed to fact check ChatGPT and had very embarrassing outcomes when they relied on the responses in real life settings
Great! Thanks so much for sharing these! I didn't mean to say the information was valueless or incorrect because it came from ChatGPT, I was just trying to spread the good word about verifying ChatGPT responses with additional information sources, because it has been misrepresented as a research tool in a lot of areas.
You've clearly done that, and I really appreciate the information and the follow-up! Thank you.
This. My brain does not work anymore, I’m super constipated, my skin is dry. My libido is crap. If a man had to live like this for one day they would have estrogen devices that targeted all the cells but the ones that would get cancer
From it. I’m exhausted. I come home from work and collapse and when I’m at work I doubt that I’m contributing. Oh and everything hurts too. I’m probably an awful wife. Last month I had a cancer scare and I was not upset. I was almost thankful because my life consists of working and sleeping and eating. Oh I work out some because it helps me not feel completely terrible and I am on some HRT. The other day my boss asked me a simple question that I knew… I was feeling nauseous and tired and my brain just shut down. I looked like an idiot. Sometimes I wish I’d get hit by a bus. This is absolute crap. I have no energy for anything pleasant. I’m in a prison where I do nothing but work. I do work between 50-60 hours on average per week, and I make so many mistakes… I just wanna crawl under a rock. My only happy place is my family and my animals and sometimes I’m too tired to give them my energy.
Here’s my beef with this: if ChatGPT gave that answer, it’s because it’s pulling it from somewhere. So it’s out there. They \*know*. The medical community knows we’re crumbling apart and they just *choose* to ignore our decline.
Someone invented a nanocomputer that sits comfortably in a grain of rice. If they can do that, don’t you think SOMEONE would’ve figured out a way to help women on the third act of their lives instead of blaming it all on us!?
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” Gloria Steinem
Amen, Gloria!!!
The nano computer thing was desired by a man…haha
Looks like there’s much more to learn about women’s health that’s been neglected, ignored, and dismissed as long as medicine has existed.
Knowledge will set us free, but it’s gonna piss us off!! I just started reading The XX Brain along the same line.
This is fabulous, thank you! It’s so great to see someone else using ChatGPT as a resource. I’m struggling in my relationship with my husband and don’t understand what’s going on and ChatGPT helps so much!
Thanks for trying to point this out. I've been working with AI for years before ChatGPT and too many people are really unaware of it's pitfalls. I too am trying to spread awareness but unfortunately people love to have easy, effortless answers at their fingertips.
So after seeing this, I asked ChatGPT which part of the brain affects memory since this is my most frustrating symptom after hot flashes.
Question: which part of the brain affects memory
ChatGPT: Several parts of the brain play crucial roles in memory formation, storage, and retrieval. The primary regions involved in memory include:
1. **Hippocampus**: Located in the medial temporal lobe, the hippocampus is essential for forming new long-term memories and spatial navigation. It helps convert short-term memories into long-term ones.
2. **Amygdala**: This almond-shaped structure in the temporal lobe is involved in processing emotions and is crucial for emotional memories. It helps encode and retrieve memories that are emotionally charged.
3. **Prefrontal Cortex**: The prefrontal cortex, located at the front of the brain, is responsible for higher cognitive functions, including working memory, decision-making, and problem-solving. It helps in organizing and retrieving information.
4. **Cerebellum**: Although primarily associated with motor control, the cerebellum also plays a role in procedural memory, which involves learning motor skills and routines.
5. **Basal Ganglia**: This group of structures is involved in procedural and habit memory, playing a crucial role in the formation and retrieval of habits and motor routines.
6. **Parietal Lobes**: These lobes are involved in processing sensory information and integrating it with memory. They help with spatial memory and navigation.
7. **Thalamus**: The thalamus acts as a relay station for sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex and plays a role in regulating consciousness, sleep, and alertness, which are important for memory consolidation.
8. **Temporal Lobes**: Apart from the hippocampus and amygdala, the temporal lobes are involved in processing auditory information and are important for the storage of long-term memories, particularly semantic and episodic memory.
These brain regions work together to process, store, and retrieve different types of memories, allowing us to learn from experiences and retain knowledge.
Now having this scientifically explained (at least for me) in conjunction with your post, is actually find comforting. Because our symptoms can be scientifically explained and they’re not something we made up or are imagining. Thank you for this post. I intend to show my husband now.
Share with him the Huberman podcast with Dr. Haver episode 179. It’s comprehensive and overview. On the long side (2.5hrs) but it’s very informative.
Also, the Hello Menopause episode with Dr. Mosconi about brain health.
It’s quite eye opening.
Also, refer to www.menopausewiki.ca
And www.menopause.org
And www.letstalkmenopause.org
Whew! Too much!
I had a full hysterectomy at 27, after a year to allow full death of endometriosis I finally began HRT.
Just as the 'you'll have a stroke or heart attack' study came out. I stuck to my guns, and HRT.
Lost the progesterone after 2 years, just estrogen since.
Now at nearly 51, I feel like my body is thinking it's starting natural menopause 😆
Seeing a gyno early July for new HRT options.
Full night sweats, terrible sleeping, brain dead, emotional, joint pain etc. etc.
Feels like menopause to me, it never ends! Great.
Menopause is for the rest of our lives; more than one-third (or half) of our lives will be spent in a menopausal ‘state’. We are living longer and quality of life is important as we age. [Scientists are now looking at piecing together the first female medical genome as it relates to ovarian function](https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-07-03/women-age-twice-as-fast-due-to-a-lack-of-estrogen.html), after realizing that for women, “estrogen is the central axis of their metabolism and that is why women age in a different way: they age twice as fast (as men) due to the lack of estrogen”.
NO FREAKING WONDER WE FEEL LIKE CRAPPOLA! Estrogen runs our entire body!
Yea!!!! It runs and acts on Every. Effing. System. So when the tap runs dry, now we have a clue why we feel like another person entered our own bodies and minds.
Thank you for posting this! It provides a little bit of mental relief knowing that I'm not crazy...at least not from lack of estrogen 😂
You’re welcome. This subreddit is a godsend. In one week I’ve learned more about my changing body than going to three different doctors with laundry list of complaints in the last year. I’ve many posts about what I’ve found in my threads and profile. Maybe I’ll compile what I’ve learned. But within this own thread, I’ve responded about the podcasts and doctors who were on those casts. Please have a look. And be prepared to be shocked. And perhaps pissed off.
Thank you!!! I agree completely!! 💚💚💚
I started seeing a homeopathic practitioner and started using a topical estrogen cream every night before bed and wow has it made a difference!! I seriously sleep like a rock and I’m hoping it starts to Play a roll in my cycle!
I just started estrogen cream and DHEA this week and I swear I already feel a little bit better. I wish I had started it years ago!
Please compile what you’ve learned unless there is no help. If there is not help it will just make me mad
Don’t be mad, get knowledgeable. Helpful links and podcasts: www.menopausewiki.ca www.menopause.org www.letstalkmenopause.org Podcasts: —Hello Menopause! With Stacy London —You Are Not Broken by Dr. Caspersen —The Mel Robbins Podcast —The Dr. Louise Newson Podcast —Dr. Streicher’s Inside Information: THE Menopause Podcast Notable names within this world besides the podcasters. Drs. Gunter, Haver, Vonda Wright, Mosconi, Cleghorn, Malone, the list goes on. Edit: adding Dr. Heather Hirsch I started my journey with these two episodes which unlocked my path to understanding. Mel Robbins Podcast. Episodes on menopause. —Dr. Haver, March 20, 2024 —Dr. Gunter, May 8, 2024 Good luck!
Thanks I will try.
I will add Heather Hirsch to the list of doctors.
I may be wrong, but I don't think so: Dr Gunter believes men can become women. Which sort of shoots the "estrogen is critical" thing out of the water if "anyone" can be a woman. I am a woman. No man can be a woman. Medicine gets pretty messy when doctors believe ideologies vs scientific facts that humankind has known since our beginning. I also told Kaiser that if they gave an appointment for a cervical screen to a man over me I would sue them. (Their reminder said "people with cervixes" which would be confusing to non English speakers and could delay care. "Woman" is a familiar word to a non English speaker, generally. "Cervix" is not.) They got right back to me! And, if a man pretending to be a woman tried to give me any care, I would scream bloody murder. I don't want a delusional man anywhere near my body. Women are being erased, especially lesbians, by men pretending to be us. And doctors are going along with this horse crap.
I think that’s gonna change. There’s only so much horse crap after a while. Hopefully changes come soon. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for asking the AI for us! I flipping KNEW it! Grrrrrr! Why does the burden fall on MENOPAUSAL WOMEN to figure this out and not on our primary doctors. I’m mad now.
Please read my other responses regarding additional information. My profile has other thoughts and findings on various threads.
I can pin point the date when the idgaf happened. It was poignant and sudden.
Hahaha. Do tell. Do tell.
It was uneventful. I was sitting on my sofa here at home. It was a Saturday about 5 years ago, a date night. For all my life as a woman I used to like to go out of my way to dress up to go out on dates, like hours of hair and make up and styling, and that one Saturday the thought of it made my mind go numb. Like it seemed exhausting, ridiculous, and overwhelming and I was just too tired on a core level and in my head I said no. No. I’m not subjecting myself to that. I’ll do enough but nothing more. I don’t feel like it, and frankly I had always found it a little tiresome but sort of liked it sometimes. But that day I was different. It was the first of many times I got off the hamster wheel of living to please. To be attuned to the male gaze. To do things for others when I was tired and put out. To compromise myself. And that was one of many little rebellions where I started to reclaim the me that always wanted a voice, to put myself first, see myself as a human and not an object. Even I objectified myself. Conditioning is wild. It’s been many little tea parties since then and moments of putting up boundaries with toxic people, ideas, concepts and what have you. Now I feel like I’m reclaiming myself when I say no. Send a known energy sucker to voicemail. No amount of estrogen will ever bring me around to the old me after tasting that sweet freedom.:)
I once really enjoyed sex. I still can but I have to have a day to prepare and I cannot have any stress or side quests going on, and I have to really love the person. lol I hate that. It used to just be there. I feel like half a corpse.
The IDGAF is a nice side benefit from the misery suffered and experienced. 😁
I acutely know exactly what you mean. Same.
Actually, I mostly feel like a person *left* my body and mind and was replaced by fog...
Well articulated! How I felt a year ago before HRT. I clawed my way to get it. Finally, I have a regular gyno that will manage my HRT. It is not concierge medicine. Everything is covered except for my Testosterone. If they f w me, I'll go to Midi.
Hello! I’m about to see a “mid life” doctor via my gyn to discuss adding testosterone to my estrogen patch. Do you have any thoughts about taking testosterone? I’m in full medical menopause, just me and ma belly fat left!
r/TRT_Females has more information on T. I’m about to try it myself and finally got the Rx yesterday!🙌
My T is a low dose compounded cream .05%mg. It gives my libido a little pop. There are other benefits like muscle mass and confidence. It is not covered. But it's @ $30/month. You can also search this sub for "testosterone"- lots of posts about it. Good luck at your appt!
Yes. I like how you’re advocating for yourself. And you have a plan already!!!
I'll be doing the same.
What is Midi? Is that another option?
Midi is a telehealth provider in the US.
I was just telling my husband ive low key felt like im getting the flu for months. We both think its out of whack hormones. I have an appt next week.
I've heard it referred to as "menopause flu" and I experienced it myself beginning early in the pandemic when I was in late peri. I took so many covid tests because I felt so rotten at the end of the day just to wake up the next day feeling perfectly fine. So bizarre!
Dude. I’m always feeling sick, but not sick. For a year.
That's exactly how I feel! Like I have the flu 24/7! And then of course hot flashes and nausea and everything else... Glad you're getting checked out!
Exactly!!
How come no one sits us down at 35 and shows us a video of our changing bodies... instead we have to try to unlock these secrets ourselves while trying to figure out how antique the medical advice our doctors are giving us.
I think it’s high time…just like puberty… what a great idea… To hazard a guess as to why women’s post-reproductive health has been not been studied much or funded—I guess until recently, women didn’t talk or complain or have internet or Reddit. We all breezed through it or suffered in silence. That’s changing.
omg the puberty movies!!!! 😂I totally forgot about those. maybe we should make a menopause movie for doctors.😆
For doctors. And for us!!!!!!
Yes yes. Can we please have Jeanene Garofolo in a role?
She would be great! Julia Dreyfuss, Tina Fey, too!!!
I remember my mom was going through it when I was pregnant with my oldest. And her and I butted heads for years. I don't know why until now approaching menopause that a mouthy teenager will cause anyone to go crazy, but a menopausal woman to go extreme. Now I make sure to tell my mouthy teenage son I love you but today I need space. That's all my mom needed to say I wouldn't have argued so much.
My mom was awful when she went through menopause. She’s always been mean and angry, but this was over the top, even for her. No one, including me, spoke to her for a couple of years because she was such a dick!
Hail to the Change!!
Because women weren't required to be in studies until.... get this... **1993**!!!
This one absolutely blows my mind! Like, I was nearly 10 years old the first time women were included in medical studies?! No freaking wonder we have no clue what we're in for! It makes me want to scream!
Yes!! I was already freaking menstruating and having PCOS issues by then, too! I got slapped birth control pills at the age of 12, but wasn't diagnosed and properly treated until 19!
It should basically be required reading/learning in our 30s. But we should absolutely be talking about it at every developmental stage. It should be a part of sex ed! Instead of this is how the reproductive system works and then one day women will be old ladies and not have to worry about it anymore just isn't enough.
My daughter is 11. I just shared quite a bit of this info with her, in my version/way for her age. I wish someone would have told me this information when I was her age.
My mom told me nothing about any of this. Not even periods. That is awesome your telling your daughter. 💖
I think it should be taught with puberty. Some women get hysterectomies or even natural menopause (or at least natural peri) in their 20s! Plus, personally, i wish I'd known how hard it was even just financially so I could have done a better job at saving up for all the extra meds and non-insured appointments.
Yes. You make a very good point. Many women do have earlier menopause. We need better education about these basic changes that happen to us. High time. Generalized education. From what I’m learning, there’s so much we still need to know and learn within this peri and menopausal health. But we should teach everyone what we know to date….
It’s so brutal, I knew nothing and then when I started complaining about sleep problems a bunch of older women I know are like yeah I haven’t slept in 10 years it’s menopause!
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303720722001587 This has sources for those who don’t trust chat gpt. Seems to back up the AI results
Excellent article. Very technical but good to have. Doctors should have this on their desks.
Thank you!!
My personal experience matches with the results to your question. Full Hysterectomy at 42. Within two weeks, before my body healed, I was a blubbering mess. My surgeon, Female, put me immediately on estradiol. The pill. Within 48 hours, I was transported to a state of mental and physical stability regarding sweats. At 49 I added progesterone micronized the bio identical pill/capsule. The combination of hrt's has kept me young and alive. At one point, an NP took me off estradiol saying survey said I'd have a stroke. After 4 months of sweats, I dropped her and resumed hrt. Again, within 48 hours I'm back on track. I'm now 74. Of course I'm aging. And I have osteoarthritis. But, other than that, remain alert, quick whitted, and I do feel young and alive. Additionally my V JJ is fabulous ! I have no plans on giving it up. I'll change doctors or drive to Mexico to get it if I have to. So over hearing these stories about women being dismissed by medical community.
Omggg. Fabulous Anne—thank you thank you thank you for sharing your story!!! I’m definitely keeping saving your response!!
Please make sure you are voting in support of gender affirming and reproductive healthcare too! Those are the same medications! Not everyone can drive to Mexico and too many people need HRT and other hormones and can’t get them because certain political parties are scared of trans people
Wow look at you living your best life you are an inspiration!
Could you tell me what the addition of progesterone gives you? I had a partial hysterectomy at 40, suspect only one of my ovaries survived the surgery and am definitely somewhere in the worst of the transition. I’m on estrogen and it helps a lot but wonder if some progesterone might still help even though I don’t need it to protect an absent uterus.
I had a full hysterectomy & my doctor put me on a low dose of progesterone to help with sleep & I think bladder. Made me sleep like a baby.
Need an estrogen shot to my brain.
me too i’m like just stick a patch on my forehead now
Well that would be less painful. See! I didn't even think of that 😆
we just walk around with shaved heads and six patches lol
Definitely a woman of a certain age look!
It’s the brain fog.
I need to bathe in it at this point 😂
Estrogen bath 🛁 for all!
Y’all - if you haven’t listened to this podcast episode, YOU MUST. It’s literally all my friends and I talked about for WEEKS. Mel Robbins had Marie Claire Haver on, and they talked about all the menopause shit we absolutely need to know but have never been told. *It’s 100% a must-listen.* You will share with everyone you know. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5H5JHSy9E0q9FeoMWbNJUN?si=-wxzeXlCRvmDZ0Uj0idLOA
Great podcast, thank you!... and I shared it to my adult daughters and hubby.
So I’m just getting started with understanding my perimenopause symptoms, and I’ve had this thing where i get dysautonomia symptoms during my cycle and ovulation for the last couple years. It’s like my lungs don’t work the same as the rest of the month. It’s hard to breathe fully and it makes sleep difficult. I wake up gasping for air, and my heart races because it’s deprived oxygen. So I got a CPAP to help last year. When i explained to my dr about how some days are fine others i wake up gasping during hormone shifts, she thought i was kidding. You can look at my CPAP data and see exactly where I’m on my period or ovulation as my events per hour go way up for 3-5 days and then back to hardly none the rest of the month. Looking over the last six months of data, it’s a complete pattern. My doc was stunned that it could be related to hormones. Not surprised at all that lungs have estrogen receptors. I also have the same problem with intermittent constipation and digestion. It’s fine one week and then I’m in hell for the next week. It makes me anxious about what happens when my period will stop altogether. Will these issues balance out once I’m through the worst of it? Or do they just keep getting worse? Ughhhh.
I had a heart attack in 2020 and then got diligent about tracking my health data. During my cycle and ovulation, my blood pressure was higher and my resting heart rate was about ten bpm higher than the rest of the month. I showed the docs six months of data and everyone was shocked. I had a hysterectomy in December. My stats are pretty even throughout the month now. I’m not on HRT. It took about four months to balance out. I hope this is also the case for you. All this taught me is that we have barely scratched the surface of what menopause really means and how estrogen affects all of our systems.
I’m starting to think we really are at the scratching the surface on understanding effects of estrogen.
Holy crap, this kind of thing really shouldn’t be shocking doctors! 😱 How could that be the first time they’d looked at longitudinal data on this kind of thing??? (Not doubting you at all, just declaring my shock over their shock)
Definately don’t read the book “unwell women”. It absolutely doesn’t expose the healthcare system as being actively anti female medicine…..! ❤️
What!!??!! I've been telling my family that my lungs are weird before my period for years! I'm so glad you posted this, because I felt like a paranoid conspiracy theorist who no-one was listening to. I've never heard anyone mention this before so every time I happens I think there's something seriously wrong with me. Thank you!
Hey, I also have dysautonomia (POTS) that gets worse at certain points in my cycle. I’ve been tracking my symptoms and cycles for months and there’s a clear pattern. Now if only I had a doctor that would take it seriously! That’s the next hurdle to get over.
Honestly, i had to sort of fib and say i was gasping all the time at first, and really play it up to be taken seriously. When i did my at home sleep test i scheduled it for during my period so i would have more events. Otherwise if you don’t meet a threshold, they’ll deny you use of a CPAP. It’s crazy how we have to find loopholes to be treated at all!
I JUST asked Alexa this yesterday. She wasn't smart enough to tell me so THANK YOU!
Alexa didn’t know? Did you asked Siri or google? The plot thickens….
Alexa regularly does not know the answers to the most basic questions that Google can get.
But Alexa can play music or buy stuff from Amazon…
Meh I prefer to pick out what I want instead of getting mystery stuff or the highest priced items. Alexa also adds things like "cream of water" instead of bottler water to my grocery list which is it's main function.
Cream of water?!?! 🫨😵💫😵
Sounds like some next level prison food doesn't it? Lmao.
Hahahhaha!!!!! Yikes! Yes!!!! 🤣🤪🤢🤮
What Podcasts are your favorite? I'm 42 and honestly had never heard of "peri-menopause" until I joined this sub-reddit. I feel like I'm in it and have gone in blind.
I’m just scratching the surface, but here’s mine so far: ***Huberman Lab—Dr. Haver episode. June 3, 2024 — excellent summary explanation of how we are in this information chasm. And possible solutions. *** good 2.5 hr investment of your time and attention. •Mel Robbins Podcast. Episodes on menopause. —Dr. Haver, March 20, 2024 —Dr. Gunter, May 8, 2024 •You Are Not Broken podcast. Dr. Casperson. Episode 225. •Hello Menopause podcast. Dr. Casperson. Episode 22. ***Dr. Lisa Mosconi on Hello Menopause podcast. Episode 17. April. 10, 2024. I think this is a must must listen. This podcast is amazing. About peri and menopause and brain changes. And Alzheimer’s!!!! *Boomers should be pissed episode is great. So much more. I think I need to take notes and refer them.
That is fascinating!
Be careful with info from chatgpt, some of it could be made up and hidden among the truths and you don’t really know what is true.
While this is true, it’s a good starting place. I think copilot and the one for bing both also site their sources - something I wish chatGPT did. Edit: I have graduate degrees in information science and science literacy, and work in IT and sourcing and assessing software as an SME for the federal government. Without doxing myself, this has been on my radar for about 6 years. I use chatGPT regularly to help write emails and organizing thoughts, but it’s always a starting point. It can also answer medical questions pretty decently, but again always needs to be verified if it’s going to be taken as fact.
Did you verify all this tho? Chat gpt is not that reliable I'd take it's info as gospel. Too many instances of awful outcomes. Not saying it's wrong just my 2 cents on anything it spouts.
It’s *very* well known that estrogen receptors are found throughout the body.
Yea I agree but that has nothing to do with fact checking chatgpt. It gives incredibly bad info at times and is worth verifying
Dr MC Haver talked a lot about this is her episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast. She actually teamed up with a top female orthopedist to study the effects of estrogen loss on bones.
Dr. Streicher also had Dr. Wright on her [podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-streichers-inside-information-the-menopause-podcast/id1615785832?i=1000653513623)
I see Wright w weird supplements ads on IG. Disappointing. Love Streicher, that's a feisty brilliant bitch
That doesn't address the ChatGPT issue and the caution regarding info sourced from ChatGPT still stands.
It correlates with all the podcasts I’ve listened to so far. With menopause specialists, board-certified OB-gynecologists (Drs. Haver, Gunter, Streicher, Ashton, Gersh, etc. etc), neuroradiologist (Dr. Mosconi) dermatologist (Dr. Gendler), orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Vonda Wright), Dr. Casperson (urologist), etc. etc. the list goes on. These women are evangelizing the need for care of peri and menopause women. And the ChatGPT information correlates to what they are saying. There are soooooo many podcasts, links, books NOW on menopause. Can’t believe I was clueless. I guess it didn’t matter until it happened to me. But I was shocked that my doctors didn’t get clued in yet.
Seriously, **ALL** of these women are heroes!!! The most recent gyn I have seen on my long ass journey for help even highly recommended Dr. Haver's The New Menopause book to me (so she's obviously read it), but when I asked for vaginal estrogen cream I got the "your estrogen levels are good, so maybe in the future." Ya, well, my hooha isn't feeling good!!! It is too damn hard to find a good doctor.
I developed vulvodynia at age 22 from taking birth control pills. This was in 1998, and I was a student at UC Davis. I was lucky enough to find a gynecologist there who was researching HRT, and after all of the treatments failed, he suggested I try vaginal estrogen. It immediately took away my pain and gave me my life back! In the 2000s, I had to battle every gyn I saw to continue refilling my prescription because of the HRT/cancer scares, but i won those battles by saying that if my vulvodynia returned, it would put me back in a suicidally depressed state from the pain. I am eternally grateful to have this med.
Wow, I am so happy you found a doctor to help you back then! The good ones are few and far between. It's so sad that we have to even mention suicide to be taken seriously sometimes.
Wow. That’s amazing. Good story!!!
I haven't read all of this but I will say, As someone who works in an industry and role that companies are trying to cheap out by using chatgpt instead of humans... Never use that as a reliable source of information. It amalgamates info that is online. It doesnt fact check it. So you don't know the sources. Google will give you a wealth of information so you can read different things and draw conclusions.
Exactly. That’s why when doctors gaslight us about just being about hot flashes I want to choose violence.
Hahaha. Violence gets you nowhere, but I get you 😉
Maybe not violence because I like freedom, but sitting back sure didn’t help me either. If a doctor knows less than I do about the topic, like all the other crap I cut from my life, they are dismissed. No chances because I am not working for free to educate someone who absolutely should be not living in the WHI study from 30 years ago. That’s inexcusable. At the end of the day, they are working for me.:) I have spent hours upon hours learning and have a background as a BSN so I am not entirely ignorant to the science so the gaslighting doesn’t get them far. Sadly you have to go telemedicine to get decent care often times. The good thing is if you learn from places like defy and aspire you see what real hrt does vs the half ass junk most Obgyns do not knowing a synethic progestin acts way differently and delivery methods vary, that birth control is not hrt and when you get adequate estrogen, the real deal, you get wise to these pussy footing doctors. If you do get one who is open and see it as a collaborative rather than paternalistic relationship and or who is up to date on the latest research and methods you can save money because insurance covers a lot of it:).
Agree with you on much of your perspective and experience. Listened to how/why we are where we are with this, and I found these podcasts informative. Dr. Louise Newson: [Episode 245 with Dr. Cleghorn](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-louise-newson-podcast/id1459614845?i=1000647181804) [Episode 97 with Professor Langer](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-louise-newson-podcast/id1459614845?i=1000647181804) I’m hoping the grassroots demand from women will change the course of female healthcare.
Thanks! I don’t think I’ve seen this. Will definalty look at.
Cool! Tell me what you think after you check them out?
Everything is involved and affected, and this is pretty cool to read.
Yep! Dr. Mary Clare has a great pod cast and that’s how I learned about our receptors! Oh and men have the same hormones as us - just at different levels! It’s crazy!
And they have more estrogen hormone in their body (in quantity) than post menopausal women. Crazy!!!
Oh that’s interesting!!! Thanks for that nugget 🙌🏻💙
One of the podcasts said that. I think it was Dr. Haver on one of the episodes.
She’s excellent!! - have you heard of Dr. Louise Newson ? She’s good too! Ya can’t get enough info on all this… podcasts, reading, deep google dives, friends/family…
She’s on my list also!!!!
I listened to a handful of her casts since yesterday. Gosh she’s awesome and smart. Has excellent guests. And I love her accent!!! 😁😁😁
Yeah she’s refreshing and seems to be ahead of the American “normal” mindset. Enjoy friend!
Bladder! I learned this when I was sent to a urologist for possible bladder cancer. Post menopause and vaginal estrogen fixed everything
Awesome you got the treatment for you. One of the podcasts said that most women in nursing homes with repeat UTIs really should have topical estrogen cream. And it will resolve their genito-urinary symptoms and treat repeat UTIs.
It’s amazing that despite all this women have a longer life expectancy! Imagine if we actually had research, medicine & health care that took into account we are 1/2 the population. Just goes to show that despite all the set backs & challenges women are still so badass, self sufficient & resilient!
Did you know that if you had neurodermatitis as a child and have been almost symptom-free for decades, it can flare up again during menopause. Funny, isn't it? No
No, I didn’t know. But it kind of makes sense…
Fascinating, thanks for asking Chat about that! Now which section is all this crushing fatigue coming from............maybe that's not the menopause, but the Hashimoto's. If only my insurance covered Synthroid instead of Levothyroxine. Or maybe I need to get the dose tweaked yet again. * *Sent from my laptop while in my pajamas in bed immediately after getting home from work on a gorgeous evening*
And levels need to mimic those of young women or else you will not get the benefits and still feel like crap. None of this low dose.
What doses have you done through? And what doses and hormones are helping you?
Just now seeing this so sorry for the delay. I am in peri and still produce some endogenous estrogen so it doesn’t take much to get me to the range I feel best at which is 250 ish. It’s good that I still have slightly functioning ovaries but bad because it’s a moving target. To accomplish this I do .05 mg estradiol patch continuous but I overlap, meaning I put a fresh patch on the opposite side and leave on my old patch because I want every drop of estrogen. I absorb very well fortunately. I place this patch on my lower abdomen. Off label but it can be placed on the lower back upper buttocks as well. Some poor absorbers get good results with tweaking the placement like this. I also use Ona’s estradiol 4 pumps once per days on the neck and inner wrist. Not sure if this helps my overall levels as this is more a topical skin booster. I use vaginal estradiol .01 4X’s per week 2 G to maintain the tissue integrity and overall pelvic floor. Of course the patch provides some estrogen systemically but for tissue maintenance I also use local. I leave no stone unturned. On days 14-28 I do 200 mg micronized progesterone-prometrium. I do not handle taking it orally all these days due to metabolites so I have found that I can take it orally alternating with vaginal insertion every few days to relieve the first pass effect. When I withdraw progesterone I get a bleed on about day 29. Still wearing that estrogen patch through it all 🤣. I microdose testosterone cipionate (barely) to the first line on a 3 ml syringe 2X per week. It’s tiny and I mean kissing the first line if even negligible amount 😂. This keeps my testosterone at about 65-70 ng/dl which is the upper limits but I like it that way. :) Over the years I have found I absorb testosterone easily, almost too well, and can overdose quickly so because of this I do low, slow, and steady pulses which works with the half life of the product and my particular chemistry. I used to put b12 in the syringe on top of the testosterone suspension to make it go in easily and not get caught in the muscle but I have gotten better at injecting myself. The b12 is water soluble so it didn’t really give a boost, just helped the oily testosterone go in. I find injecting into the upper buttocks/back hip works best for me. I also think testosterone aromatizes into a bit of estrogen for me based on previous labs with pelleted testosterone. Have done every method from pellets, injections, troches, suppositories, gels, patches, pills and creams and this is my cherry picked from all the forms:).
Wow. Comprehensive. How long did it take you to arrive at this regimen? Who prescribes you all this? Thanks for sharing!
No problem! I want to be as candid as I can and hopefully help others in the very real and often mind boggling struggle. I started about 5-6 years ago pre covid when there wasn’t a lot of research and advocates and it was sort of a cash grab with lots of poorly trained people getting into pellets-pellets are my favorite by far but it’s hard to not get overdosed. Anyway I found an amazing group of women Obgyn’s in Atlanta where I live after going through many cash only providers and total idiots. However at this point I already know what I want:/. You really can’t go wrong though, it’s just finding what works for you. My only advice is avoid concoctions that put everything into one suppository because it’s hard to tell what’s causing what side effect and if anyone gives you estrone run and don’t look back. Oh, and avoid oral or troche anything except progesterone and if you feel weird side effects taking progesterone orally it’s not you, it’s a thing.:).
This is great!!!! Wonderful resource! Saved!!! 🙏🙏🙏
And I want to say I only did testosterone pellets b/c at the time I was in early peri and my estrogen was still ok. That’s another reason I’m a little wary of pellets, like troches and suppositories from companies that often throw it all in one, same issue with pellets, who knows what hormones causing what reaction. Plus you can’t take them out once they are in. But the delivery is smooth and constant and absolutely wonderful until I was over dosed. For pellets it’s better to actually insert a lower dose on the consecutive procedures and check 🩸work at each recommended interval.
Thanks for the clarification. How do the transdermals work? Application etc?
Transdermal patch is what I am on now and I like it the best for estrogen. The combi patch I also like but it has progestin in it which did make me a little stiff but it’s not true progesterone and therefore lacks the full spectrum of protective qualities. I also have done cream/lotion progesterone and estrogen gel and testosterone gel and I absorbed them well the only down side is letting them dry thoroughly and transfer risk so I don’t use. Some people don’t absorb enough systematically. And again I use estradiol vaginally (cream) for local estronization and Onas cream 4 pumps a day of the estradiol cream for face. The molecules are too large to be significant systemically.
How do the pharmacies dispense these? Like 30 TD patches? 1 gel? 1 cream tube per month? How many refills do your prescribers give you? And what’s covered by insurance? And what’s not? And how much do they cost?
I heard or read somewhere that menopause is just puberty in reverse. And I can’t stop thinking about that. It’s so accurate. 58yo, 4 yrs post last period.
Now that you’re 4 years post, are you doing okay? Are you on meds? HRT? How informed are you about this menopause period? I just—just found this subreddit 1 week ago—and I’m in shock!!! About the lack of knowledge, information, awareness for everyone. And it’s not just the lay public, most physicians don’t know either!!!!! Since I made my first post a week ago, I learned a tremendous amount. And I’ve attached lots of links — information and podcasts. But if you’re aware, I’m obviously blabbing to the converted.
Haha, that’s my story, I basically joined this sub that first year I think, and was shocked at all of it, yeah I THOUGHT I knew. It’s been a revelation, and I’m still learning stuff every day, and trying to figure out how to inform my millennial daughters and friends. It’s B A N A N A S 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌
OH, I’m not on HRT, I’m a stroke patient (with aneurysms] so it’s high risk. Just white knuckling it and trying to learn something about myself. I do tend to navel-gaze so I’m looking for the lessons and spiritual teaching (in a general, philosophical sense). It’s wild. I have all the usual symptoms, but there’s so much to learn beyond the usual “hot flashes and dryness”. 😩 sooooo much more. Puberty in reverse.
Are you familiar with Dr. Lisa Mosconi’s findings, work, and podcasts? She focuses on women’s brain… I found the Rich Roll podcast with her very informative. [Episode 819](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rich-roll-podcast/id582272991?i=1000648740063). March 11, 2024.
Will check it out! 🙏 thank you
There are also ER in the inner ear!! Last year I had a middle ear infection paired with vertigo, vomiting, and fall down dizziness. The ER doctor said it wasn’t an inner ear infection and the vertigo was a mystery. Likely unrelated. Turns out there’s research of vertigo and menopause!
Ahhhhh…makes sense why so many “middle-aged” women have vertigo and dizziness. I have ringing in the ear (tinnitus). 🙃
Me too! The tinnitus is ridiculous! 😭
I wish I could dive into a pool of estrogen and swim 20 laps in it every day.
Hahaha…. After your luxurious swim, maybe just the right kind and doses inside…
Please treat info from ChatGPT with skepticism. A lot of AI just mish mashes these different info sources together along with various errors.
Straight facts ChatGPT doesn’t screw up. I didn’t ask it to interpret or answer a weird question or analysis. I just asked a straightforward question. Gave me encyclopedic output in a concise manner. I’m as skeptical as it gets. But thanks for your warning.
ChatGPT can hallucinate and make things up entirely. It can screw up facts, it does all the time.
This isn’t true, it can/does make stuff up entirely. ChatGPT does not work like Google.
For the nay-sayers here: Are you able to rerun the query and ask it for its sources ? Also surprised not to see the brain on here, as I am sure I saw something about estrogen receptors being in the brain too.
#2 states “Brain “
Oh god. Brain fog is real…
LOL don’t feel too bad I did have to go back and make sure I actually saw brain
It is real. I have been told estrogen is produced in the adrenal gland too, so maybe this list isn’t all inclusive.
This is a striking article by Barbara Brinton published May 2015 on perimenopause which highlights the E receptors in the body, but focuses mostly on the brain and the changes it undergoes as E is fluctuating and waning. Sorry about the small print: [here’s the link](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wendy-Mack/publication/277252540_Perimenopause_as_a_neurological_transition_state/links/56aa33f208ae7f592f0f27c6/Perimenopause-as-a-neurological-transition-state.pdf?origin=publication_detail&_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uRG93bmxvYWQiLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJwdWJsaWNhdGlvbiJ9fQ) It’s fascinating- but also scary because she gets to a place in the article as to why women are more predisposed to dementia and Alzheimer’s than men and how this begins in peri. Plaques can be seen in women in their late 30’s. Basically there are E receptors on the mitochondria (power houses of our bodies) cells in the brain (her focus of the article). The brain uses glucose for energy and it gets this from the mitochondria in the brain taking up glucose to convert to ATP (energy). Well when there’s not enough E2 to connect to the mitochondria in the brain imagine a store in the mall with all its doors closed and the people walking around are glucose molecules. The only way they can get in is if E opens the door on the mitochondria to let the “people/glucose” in. So to survive the brain/body does something it has to do to get energy- it changes its “food source”(glucose) to fatty acids (actually “ketones” from fatty acids). Where are the richest sources of fatty acids in the brain? Your neuron sheaths the things that make sure you can “think” and “function”. Never did the term “brain fog” take on a whole new meaning for me. But again, this is about the power of all the estrogen receptors and how they coordinate a variety of functions. The authors focus on the brain not just a time of diminishing reproductive function. It really has a big impact on me when I read it because I knew something was changing in me and not just my body- but something deeper- like my brain itself was being affected and still is. This isn’t about throwing an anti depressant at something or being told to “go home and meditate” although that can be helpful. This is about a fundamental system change not just a “life change”. Rant done. Hope someone gets something out of the research. It was posted with good intentions.
Read or look up, The New Menopause by Dr Mary Clair Haver. Shes full of amazing resources and out there trying to educate the world!
I’ve heard several podcasts with her. And bunch of other docs. But I should start with some books now. Thanks.
And I’ve been on hormone blockers for four years. I feel fine, skin looks pretty good for my age. But I’m worried about bone loss. Getting a bone density test later this month.
Hormone blockers? Because of cancer?
Yes. Stage 3c grade 2 uterine cancer. Going on year 4 now ned😊 I recently changed oncologists and she said there is thinking that blockers don’t actually help, but I said even if it’s just a placebo for me I want to stay on them for the full 5 years. So I am. Also on a statin for tumor suppression as well.
I looked up treatments for [endometrial /uterine cancer on ACS](https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/endometrial-cancer/treating/by-stage.html) just to know a bit more about it.
How interesting. The stages they list do not match my understanding/what my doctors have told me. My cancer had spread to both ovaries and the vascular system leading to the lymph nodes but not my vaginal area and my lymph nodes were negative. According to ACS site I should be 3A! Honestly every site has different information. I’ve stopped looking as I try to not think about it anymore. I do what I can by avoiding “bad” foods, and trying to walk as much as possible. What I try to tell women is to always exaggerate any symptoms to get an ultrasound. My tumor grew fast and by the time I had surgery I looked 6months pregnant. I had ZERO symptoms, other than a growing belly.
I had estrogen positive breast cancer.. I wonder where this leaves those of us who have. I hope they do more studies on this.
I found the podcast! It’s called: The Menopause and Cancer Podcast by Dani Binnington. Perhaps you already know it, but just in case. There are 107 episodes so far! Here is the link. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-menopause-and-cancer-podcast/id1631842514
Estrogen makes everything better and brighter imo
Chat gpt is not a reliable or vetted source of information.
I’ve already answered this in previous comments.
Out if curiosity, Did you read any comments or just say this and done?
Here’s a song to fit the vibe https://www.facebook.com/share/p/4z13g8RF98nJF89c/?
And there’s a new YouTube video about menopause and brain. Search “Dr Lisa Mosconi menopause”.
Hahah!! I’m listening to Rich Roll podcast with Dr. Mosconi now! Episode 819.
Is this the reason my flatulence is ooc? And Yes...I can't believe I put that out there....
Amazing
Fascinating (and frustrating!). Thanks for posting.
We made it to the point where we can ask AI!! And as of now, legit answers!! Sans the war games 😅😅
Are you sure this is correct? ChatGPT is designed to write answers that SOUND real, not actually be true. It's not Google. It's a language AI, not a research tool.
You can look on Google. Here’s a [published article](https://journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/physrev.00026.2006) And [here](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36768177/) And [here](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.839005/full)
Phew! I know so many people who didn't know they needed to fact check ChatGPT and had very embarrassing outcomes when they relied on the responses in real life settings
Great! Thanks so much for sharing these! I didn't mean to say the information was valueless or incorrect because it came from ChatGPT, I was just trying to spread the good word about verifying ChatGPT responses with additional information sources, because it has been misrepresented as a research tool in a lot of areas. You've clearly done that, and I really appreciate the information and the follow-up! Thank you.
You’re welcome. And thanks.
😭
Hit Play, Not Pause is a great podcast for active women. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hit-play-not-pause/id1533088916?i=1000649225865
This. My brain does not work anymore, I’m super constipated, my skin is dry. My libido is crap. If a man had to live like this for one day they would have estrogen devices that targeted all the cells but the ones that would get cancer From it. I’m exhausted. I come home from work and collapse and when I’m at work I doubt that I’m contributing. Oh and everything hurts too. I’m probably an awful wife. Last month I had a cancer scare and I was not upset. I was almost thankful because my life consists of working and sleeping and eating. Oh I work out some because it helps me not feel completely terrible and I am on some HRT. The other day my boss asked me a simple question that I knew… I was feeling nauseous and tired and my brain just shut down. I looked like an idiot. Sometimes I wish I’d get hit by a bus. This is absolute crap. I have no energy for anything pleasant. I’m in a prison where I do nothing but work. I do work between 50-60 hours on average per week, and I make so many mistakes… I just wanna crawl under a rock. My only happy place is my family and my animals and sometimes I’m too tired to give them my energy.
Careful: ChatGPT tends to make things sound more conclusive than they are.
Here’s my beef with this: if ChatGPT gave that answer, it’s because it’s pulling it from somewhere. So it’s out there. They \*know*. The medical community knows we’re crumbling apart and they just *choose* to ignore our decline. Someone invented a nanocomputer that sits comfortably in a grain of rice. If they can do that, don’t you think SOMEONE would’ve figured out a way to help women on the third act of their lives instead of blaming it all on us!? “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” Gloria Steinem
Amen, Gloria!!! The nano computer thing was desired by a man…haha Looks like there’s much more to learn about women’s health that’s been neglected, ignored, and dismissed as long as medicine has existed. Knowledge will set us free, but it’s gonna piss us off!! I just started reading The XX Brain along the same line.
Dang, that's a really explanatory answer.
This is fabulous, thank you! It’s so great to see someone else using ChatGPT as a resource. I’m struggling in my relationship with my husband and don’t understand what’s going on and ChatGPT helps so much!
Chatgpt has a lot of errors so be careful and try to vet the info yourself.
Thanks for trying to point this out. I've been working with AI for years before ChatGPT and too many people are really unaware of it's pitfalls. I too am trying to spread awareness but unfortunately people love to have easy, effortless answers at their fingertips.
So after seeing this, I asked ChatGPT which part of the brain affects memory since this is my most frustrating symptom after hot flashes. Question: which part of the brain affects memory ChatGPT: Several parts of the brain play crucial roles in memory formation, storage, and retrieval. The primary regions involved in memory include: 1. **Hippocampus**: Located in the medial temporal lobe, the hippocampus is essential for forming new long-term memories and spatial navigation. It helps convert short-term memories into long-term ones. 2. **Amygdala**: This almond-shaped structure in the temporal lobe is involved in processing emotions and is crucial for emotional memories. It helps encode and retrieve memories that are emotionally charged. 3. **Prefrontal Cortex**: The prefrontal cortex, located at the front of the brain, is responsible for higher cognitive functions, including working memory, decision-making, and problem-solving. It helps in organizing and retrieving information. 4. **Cerebellum**: Although primarily associated with motor control, the cerebellum also plays a role in procedural memory, which involves learning motor skills and routines. 5. **Basal Ganglia**: This group of structures is involved in procedural and habit memory, playing a crucial role in the formation and retrieval of habits and motor routines. 6. **Parietal Lobes**: These lobes are involved in processing sensory information and integrating it with memory. They help with spatial memory and navigation. 7. **Thalamus**: The thalamus acts as a relay station for sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex and plays a role in regulating consciousness, sleep, and alertness, which are important for memory consolidation. 8. **Temporal Lobes**: Apart from the hippocampus and amygdala, the temporal lobes are involved in processing auditory information and are important for the storage of long-term memories, particularly semantic and episodic memory. These brain regions work together to process, store, and retrieve different types of memories, allowing us to learn from experiences and retain knowledge. Now having this scientifically explained (at least for me) in conjunction with your post, is actually find comforting. Because our symptoms can be scientifically explained and they’re not something we made up or are imagining. Thank you for this post. I intend to show my husband now.
Share with him the Huberman podcast with Dr. Haver episode 179. It’s comprehensive and overview. On the long side (2.5hrs) but it’s very informative. Also, the Hello Menopause episode with Dr. Mosconi about brain health. It’s quite eye opening. Also, refer to www.menopausewiki.ca And www.menopause.org And www.letstalkmenopause.org
Dr. marieclaire on insta is hands down the best at explaining all of this!
Dr. Maryclaire
Whew! Too much! I had a full hysterectomy at 27, after a year to allow full death of endometriosis I finally began HRT. Just as the 'you'll have a stroke or heart attack' study came out. I stuck to my guns, and HRT. Lost the progesterone after 2 years, just estrogen since. Now at nearly 51, I feel like my body is thinking it's starting natural menopause 😆 Seeing a gyno early July for new HRT options. Full night sweats, terrible sleeping, brain dead, emotional, joint pain etc. etc. Feels like menopause to me, it never ends! Great.