Posted by katekite on August 12, 2002, at 14:44:44
In reply to Re: need to add to 1st post » katekite, posted by sciutti on August 12, 2002, at 11:53:14
You can send whatever you feel like. Personally I like it when people just write their own message, as you did, not including previous posts, since they are already there to look at. Not sure if that's what you were asking.
Congratulations on taking the computerization step. I too live in the boonies and its become indespensible to me.
I'm convinced I'm also perimenopausal. I'm only 31 but since starting the birth control pill 24 of the 28 (not sure on the exact number there) symptoms of menopause have gone away for me. My FSH was normal although I do have high urine cortisols... which I'm working on. My current obgyn believes I am perimenopausal but a neurologist and an endocrinologist both simply smiled and said it wasn't possible due to the normal FSH. My mood is much more stable so I just smiled back and went back to the obgyn for more, LOL.
FSH will be normal until you actually stop having periods: it is not a good indicator if you occasionally or often have periods. It statistically gradually rises until after menopause but in practice varies widely, individual women are all over the place. Levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone can be helpful but vary over the day and so testing can be inaccurate.
In early 50s its hard to say what to do: one option if you still have periods might be just to try one of the lower dose birth control pills to see if it makes a difference. If that actually worsens things then next would be to try a progesterone only version.
Once you do go on hormone replacement after true menopause (if you choose to, that is) consider also replacing testosterone... women have 1/10th that of men but it is important for overall sense of well-being, libido, and drive. Virtually no one who takes testosterone replacement at a female dose grows hair or becomes mean (as a recent female endocrinologist told me would occur -- just completely silly misconception). It can be the 'missing ingredient' when things are just a little off. Testosterone is also available for women who take birth control pills but you would need to know first whether you benefited from a birth control pill in general, it is a fine tweaking thing.
If you have symptoms of perimenopause like hot flashes I would keep looking for an obgyn that takes you seriously. Hot flashes interfere with sleep, whether you sleep through them or not. No sleep predisposes to more pain. Not to mention the memory issues, emotional swings, etc that can also occur.
Symptoms of menopause like hot flashes will last 1-25 years untreated (that's the range). I would not expect it to go away just by toughing it out. I saw the 25 number and rushed out and got on the Pill and am remarkably stable these days, all the hot flashes etc went away within a few days of starting, and I just felt younger, like myself again. Also have upped my calcium intake considerably.
Not to push the birth control pill or hormone replacement too much, but even female doctors don't seem to give perimenopause much thought.
kate
PS -- I wasn't clear on whether you currently take Ritalin, had just tried it, or? Did it help with pain control? I hadn't heard of it doing that.
poster:katekite
thread:115688
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020807/msgs/116168.html