Helloah my fellow vets...

I am looking for some tough love and motivation please.

Recently I have been in a massive funk - and it has lasted a lot longer than usual; lots of factors mostly stress - some of it out of my control, some of it I can and have been dealing with. It is the usual 'life' stuff and in individual doses not cause a problem, but it has all come at the same time and is getting to me. I mean things like; bereavement; work stress and work load, worry about kids, hubby having another knee op, worry about elderly parents and mother in law... but the main one that is the most personal is my menopause symptoms. They are getting to me more than ever (been going through this for many years) and the lack of sleep due to the intense hot flushes is really debilitating. I also have many, many hot flushes through the day which makes me feel like cr*p - they immediately drain me of energy and to be honest, they are embarrassing (I am a teacher; imagine trying to explain the beetroot red face covered in sweat to 30 teenagers! Not good!).

Clearly, I am feeling down... and on top of this I can't shift any more weight... and I really need to. I've just had my body fat taken at my Curves gym and it is still over 30%; even after losing over 80+lbs! I gotta be honest with you - this was a kick in the teeth because I honestly thought, from the way my clothes are fitting, that I had broken the 30 barrier and was sitting in the 20 range! Hmmm, not to be!

What I need are some tough, but kind words on how I get my mojo back - how I climb from this black hole and get completely focused on me and getting to a) my surgeon's goal; lowering my body fat percentage and c) feeling good about me and my achievements. I do realise that I have done well and improved my health and fitness immensely - but I also realise that I need to get rid of more fat to get healthier and fitter; where I want to be.

At the moment I feel like there are no 'rewards' for my efforts and that is dangerous grounds for me... I am not finished on this journey and I am getting bored of the scenery (I was sleeved July 2010; so well over 3 years!)

Thanks in advance ...

OMG - you gave me a cwtch - and on St David's Day - that has given me one serious smile - THANK YOU!!!

You have made so much sense - I often think the hormone imbalance has stopped my weight loss more than once, but I always question it wondering if I am looking of 'excuses' and that 'I am not good enough/not trying hard enough' even though I know that I am!!

My thyroid was recently checked and the doc said it was ok... she didn't expand. Regarding HRT like I said to OD, I have tried it and didn't get on with it - will try the cream and if no luck I will have to go back to see the doc.

I love what you said about 'your body messing with you' - that really rings true with me. I have often said my brain and my body are outta synch!

May I ask what your gyn has given you... perhaps it would be something I could look into?

Thanks again for your kind words my lovely!

Glad my 'cootches' were well-timed!!

I would ask the doc about the thyroid numbers -- some people are 'fine' in the normal ranges and some are still in need of supplementation. There is a lot of more recent research suggesting that treating TSH till it's close to zero is a new best practice. But you can be as high as 5 (don't know the values or how they measure them in the UK -- just that the range is pretty broad) and still be 'fine' but badly in need of thyroid! So do a bit of research, maybe ask a second opinion.

Give the HRT a try again -- do they have any bioidenticals or natural options there? Even the synthetic HRT could really help for a while. My friend slaps one of those Patches on per week and she says she can tell when it's even one day late...! My doc here gave me something called Premens, which is meant to treat PMT I think? But there are three varieties and one is for perimenopause, that's what she gave me. I have no idea what's in it...German is hard enough without trying to figure out the 15-letter ingredients...

Point is, you must advocate for your health! You clearly need some supplementation of hormones to help you through this --so do your research, ask around, push your doc a bit, etc. I think a wee dose of thyroid and some HRT of some kind and you'd be a new woman!

CWTCH!! xxx

Here is info on Effexor. Looks like lower doses work too which lowers changes of any side effects

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/74199

Gabapentin also works for hot flashes. I used that for nerve pain when on chemo and it relieved the hot flashes as well. I prefer the Effexor though because it's extended release and just 1 pill a day. Gabapentin is the precursor of Lyrica and too many pills to remember (but generic so cheaper than Lyrica - though not quite the same drug ). Effexor has a generic too so these aware both non hormonal pretty inexpensive options.

I understand exactly where you are coming from. Get your hormones balanced and checked asap. It takes some time to get them in your system but it makes a huge difference.

I take Black Cohosh 3 times a day. It really helps with the hot flashes. I also use Kokoro Progesterone cream. Not all creams are the same. This one is a bioidentical cream that will not contribute to estrogen dominance. I had to learn early the right combo for me. I had a partial hysterectomy and they wanted to put me on the birth control pill after. I opted for the natural route. As for the insomnia a little melatonin before bed helps too. Get your thyroid checked. I was just diagnosed this week with Hashimotos (hypothyroidism). Even though my TSH levels were normal my TPO was way off! I have been on meds for a week and am slowly coming out of the brain fog.

Just know that all of these changes are not in your head and you can correct them.

Hang in there and get back to the basics. Eating right, lots of Water and exercising to alleviate stress. Plus it helps you sleep better! Good luck!

Edited March 7, 201412 yr by 2bfit

I had those symptoms and it turned out to be hyperparathyroidism. My calcium was mildly high for three years and I suffered from anxiety depression bone and muscle cramps and hot flashes and my upper chest would flush. They removed a tumor on my parathyroid ( inside my thyroid which was normal) and that was what I needed. If your calcium is elevated check your parathyroid hormone. It's more common than you'd think . And anyone with parathyroid symptoms should go to parathyroid. Com. Listen to Dr Norman he is THE expert and I found a great surgeon at Univ of Penn.

Thanks for the replies everyone - I received the natural progesterone cream in the post and started allpying it - if I still feel this bad a 6-8 weeks of using it I will go and have another chat with the doc. =]

Thanks for the replies everyone - I received the natural progesterone cream in the post and started allpying it - if I still feel this bad a 6-8 weeks of using it I will go and have another chat with the doc. =]

Oh good coops! I had to take it for closer to 12 weeks for it to really kick in, and then it really took care of all of my symptoms, sleep, "thought disturbance", hot flashes...

I'm only 36 and had a total hysterectomy several years ago. I tried several different HRT including the patch, but finally settled on a cheap estrogen replacement called Progynova in Australia. I bet you have equivalent in the UK. By the way, your body is very smart. It can turn estrogen into progesterone or testosterone and vice versa, depending on what it needs. If you don't have a uterus you don't need progesterone and in fact it can cause problems like endometriosis (which you can have outside your uterus too). So if what you need is estrogen but you are taking progesterone cream, some of it will get turned into estrogen and the rest will just get flushed out of your body. Hot flashes are a symptom of low estrogen and nothing to do with progesterone. So the progesterone cream may help (but what you can get without a RX is very low dose, so don't be surprised if not), but it is likely that finding the right estrogen will be better. There are several different forms and delivery mechanisms -- Patches, pills, implants, sublingual, and maybe even injectable.

When I was preparing for my hysterectomy I found this site helpful. They are not selling anything but have a great collection of info. http://surmeno.blogspot.com.au/2006/03/symptoms-of-estrogen-imbalance.html