Wellness

[Azcowgirl]

I had a GYN. Say to me ,....."I believe in BHRT because I believe quality of life is even more important than quantity of life..if it takes a few years off your life, at least you lived well" I thought , great ! That's really comforting !!! ):

[embgm]

I suffered with all the menopause symptoms for a few years. October of 2013, I had had enough. Spoke to my gyn about HRT. I wasn't sleeping,I was exhausted and the hot flashes and chills were out of control.I was miserable. My doctor was not keen on giving me any Hrt because my sister and Aunt had died very young of ovarian cancer. However he said he would give me something to get me through the worst time. After discussing this with my husband I decided to tough it out. Well that turned out to be the best decision I could have ever made. On Sept. 4th 2014 I was diagnosed with estrogen and progesterone positive breast cancer. What that means is my cancer is fed by estrogen and progesterone. So had I been taking HRT I would have been feeding my cancer. My tumor was found by a mammogram and was very small with no lymph node involvement. I have had a lumpectomy and am currently undergoing daily radiation treatments and taking arimidex. Unfortunately this drug has side effects and my hot flashes have returned daily.I very often wind up on the couch trying to sleep in the living room with the windows open!.My husband has been great. He sees my discomfort and tries to roll with it. Communicate with your husbands till they understand and think long and hard before you take any HRT.

[AnnMarie-1]

On 1/4/2015 mousiegirl said:

On 1/1/2015 Clover29 said:

I'm 53. My last period was in June (went from normal monthly to just stopping dead). I haven't had any other symptoms. I don't have anything to explain

You will, eventually.

You also might not be over periods yet, they can sometimes surprise you & come back...can happen a few times after skipping months

or you could be lucky & be done!

[mousiegirl]

On 1/4/2015 Azcowgirl said: I had a GYN. Say to me ,....."I believe in BHRT because I believe quality of life is even more important than quantity of life..if it takes a few years off your life, at least you lived well" I thought , great ! That's really comforting !!! ):

I once had an internist who tried, at every visit, to get me to take this, but I refused, as I told her that if I were ever in such bad shape that I thought I needed to take something, then we could talk about it. Her persistence was very annoying. She mentioned that it protected the heart. Mine is still ticking.

[colliemom4]

I had a terrible time with mood swings the first few years and I'm not a moody person at all. So it was tough on me and I felt sorry for my husband but he didn't complain. I guess he knew he was in for it if he did

I'm kidding. Kinda.

Seriously though all you can do is try to explain it. My doctor was of no help. I can tell you that.

[wagirl]

On 1/4/2015 embgm said: I suffered with all the menopause symptoms for a few years. October of 2013, I had had enough. Spoke to my gyn about HRT. I wasn't sleeping,I was exhausted and the hot flashes and chills were out of control.I was miserable. My doctor was not keen on giving me any Hrt because my sister and Aunt had died very young of ovarian cancer. However he said he would give me something to get me through the worst time. After discussing this with my husband I decided to tough it out. Well that turned out to be the best decision I could have ever made. On Sept. 4th 2014 I was diagnosed with estrogen and progesterone positive breast cancer. What that means is my cancer is fed by estrogen and progesterone. So had I been taking HRT I would have been feeding my cancer. My tumor was found by a mammogram and was very small with no lymph node involvement. I have had a lumpectomy and am currently undergoing daily radiation treatments and taking arimidex. Unfortunately this drug has side effects and my hot flashes have returned daily.I very often wind up on the couch trying to sleep in the living room with the windows open!.My husband has been great. He sees my discomfort and tries to roll with it. Communicate with your husbands till they understand and think long and hard before you take any HRT.

My breast cancer was hormone positive too---but I found it prob 4 years after I stopped the hrts. Had surgery, chemo and rads as well as nodes removed. I am 60 and on tamox as the other drugs caused a lot of side effects for me. I take 400iu of vit e daily for hot flashes which are very tiny, little hiccups compared to many, but that seems to control them for me. Good luck to you!!

[embgm]

Wagirl Thank you, I also take vitamin E but they seem to have no effect on the hot flashes. Right when I was beginning to see the light with diminishing hot flashes in September my cancer was detected. Now I'm back where I was in Oct. 2012 having daily hot flashes and feeling very tired.On Friday I'm gonna discuss this with my oncologist. Wishing you good health!

[Jump4joy2]

On 1/1/2015 Desi said:

Nothing will help them "get it", short of making them wear a coat in summer followed by pouring ice-water on them. If he uses the computer, send him a link to Web Md or another site where they explain it - but it won't help. They don't understand what they don't want to.

Well said and so true! Many some men are different (and more understanding), but mine was not supportive and did not understand why 'things' that used to be fun and painless, were no longer that way for me. Hope you all get my point! Menopause changes so many things!!