Ladies--anyone else coping with the big M or perio--big M(enopause,

[blondeatlast]

of course)?

I'm perio-ing and it is effing miserable! It's making my bGs go from one extreme to the other in a matter of an hour or two--UGH.

Looks like I'm a good candidate for HRT; I've weighed the risks and benefits and combined with all the other health burdens I think it's a good idea for me. It's dangerous as hell for my bGs to fluctuate this wildly--my hypos (I've had SEVEN in the past week) have been pretty severe. Tremors, loss of consciousness, the whole nine yards.

There is no history of breast cancer in my family and my mom has taken Premarin for 40 years (she's a pretty healthy 82 years now), so...

If there are any other diabetics out there who have gone through this or are going through it, I would appreciate any advice you may have--and I'll make a blatant plea for support from all comers in the meantime!

In the immortal words of Lucy van Pelt--AAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHH!

[REP]

1. I Wish

I turned 40 in December, and still no signs of menopause or even perimenopause. I had an endometrial ablation a couple of years ago, so I don't have "real" periods, but every 28 days my BG goes into the 40s/50s very easily. I'm T2, so it's not as big a deal as it is for you, but sure is annoying. I don't faint (well, not from BG; I have a lot of syncope from my very low blood pressure) but I do get the shakes and the headache and the feeling that somethig bad will happen if I don't do something.

I am not a candidate for HRT, even if I would consider such a thing ... so it's a good thing I am not a candidate! Sorry, I don't know of any studies showing it to be beneficial.

[Chalco]

2. I'm thru menapause at this point.

But, I did HRT because I couldn't take not sleeping. I did it for 3 years then stopped. Good luck with your decision. A friend of mine is doing all natural stuff because she's against medication if at all possible, but frankly, she doesn't sleep well.

[blondeatlast]

3. It's good to hear from those of us who've had to make those decisions!

I guess I'm not as suspicious of prescription remedies as others--I've taken insulin for 39 years!

Since I do research and provide reference service at a library, I pretty much can tell what's good info and bad. I've read about as much as I can. What I'm hoping for now is to hear from others who've had to make the decision.

My monm's been on Premarin for 40 years, so I guess it's not all bad. I have no family history of breast or endometrial cancer, so that doesn't shake me.

It's really tough, but if it keeps my diabetes from being controlled, I'll have to do it; even though I swore to my PCP I wouldn't. She smiled wisely and said "let's just wait and see."

I trust my PCP like I trust my husband and my family. She's seen me through some major battles! What's more is that she trusts ME. She knows I'll tell her everything, even if it isn't so good.

[Warpy]

4. It's an individual decision, made with input from your doctor.

My mother got breast cancer after she'd been on HRT for 20 years, so I decided it wasn't for me. When I first stopped having periods, the hot flashes came evry 41 minutes around the clock. It sucked, bigtime. However, I learned to cope, learned to roll over onto the cooler part of the sheets, learned to appreciate them in cold weather when I kept the thermostat set at 55.

Now that I'm relly, really old, I'm getting only a half dozen or so spread out over the 24 hours. Not going on to HRT was the right choice for me, although it was miserable for a while.

My guess is that if they're causing wide swings in glucose levels, the symptoms are a lot more dangerous for you than the hormones are. Talk it over with your doc and good luck.

[China_cat]

5. I'm not diabetic

but when I first started going through menopause, a combination of heat and/or working hard and power surge :smoke: would cause my blood sugar to plummet. (Verified in trials by my doctor)

If it would do it to someone without diabetes, I can see where it would play hell with your glucose levels.

[blondeatlast]

6. Interesting. If one can be diabetic through pregnancy, the reverse makes

good sense as well.

Thanks.

[ccjlld]

7. I'm not diabetic

but I have to be careful of low glucose. It sometimes drops into the high 60's but I can usually get it up to 115 to 120 if I catch it in time and eat something. If I go with carbs in the morning, I really have to watch it, so I try to make sure that I get a sufficient amount of protein at every meal.

I've been perimenopausal for about 1 1/2 years now. I'm 43. I currently take progestren to try to help control flooding. It doesn't seem to affect my glucose levels. It has helped with my cycle but not as much as I had hoped. I can't get by with the alternative though, my cycles are so bad that I have actually been dangerously anemic. 3 iron supplements a day don't even keep my iron levels up. Right before Christmas I ended up in the hospital getting a tranfusion. I smoke and both of my grandmothers had breast cancer, (although very late in life), but the risk of the anemia outweighs the risks from the progestren. My doctor, however, refuses to even consider adding estrogen until I quit smoking. Since the majority of my symptoms are estrogen driven, I'm not so sure that it's a bad decision.

I just wish the perimenopause was over and I would get on with menopause. My doctor told me that the perimenopause can last as long as ten years!

[blondeatlast]

9. Anemia is another problem with me.

I've been doing well for a year or so in regards to it, thank goodness, but I was having to have transfusions almost every month I was bleeding so bad up leading up to it.

[mopinko]

8. it's the sweats i hate

my self esteem is having a hard time adjusting to being a sweathog. waking up, curled up with the hubby, realizing that i am a sweaty slimeball, uuuggghhh.
i am pretty much on the other side. still have some bouts, but they are like periods- a week or so of sweats, etc, then normal again for a couple of months. i was all ready to do hrt. after having 5 kids, i felt like i had suffered enough hormone induced insanity for one person. then the big study came out. i decided to just tough it out. but if i had an excuse to make it worth the risk i would have happily taken it and avoided this crap. it wasn't cancer that scared me, it was the thought of a stroke.

[zanne]

10. I want hormones as soon as possible!

I've been through some serious bouts of depression and I don't want to take the chance of having to go through that again. I'm in peri-menopause right now, though I'd like for menopause to hurry up and get here so I can get some hormones, dammit!

[lavenderdiva]

11. have you read any of Suzanne Somers' stuff on

bioidentical hormone replacement therapy? It sounds much safer than HRT. I am going thru perimenopause, and have been reading a lot about the different ways to combat some of the symptoms, and her information makes a lot of sense. Also, I have found this great website with lots of good information:

http://hormonediva.com/amember/Free/index.html

It is written by a woman M.D. who agrees with bioidentical hormone therapy, just in a different form than Suzanne Somers. I learned a lot from reading her different articles.

[shockra]

12. I started using Natural Progesterone Cream about three years ago.

I noticed a difference right away in sleeping better, muscles more relaxed, more stable blood sugar (I've been diabetic type II for about 3 1/2 years). I had read some books on hormone therapy and learned some really scary stuff. Natural Progesterone sounded like a much safer option, and it's available at health food stores. I like the pumps where you can press out one dosage at a time.

Never was able to take birth control pills because of all the side effects, so I figured it would have been the same with hormone pills. No menopause yet...just turned 41 last week. But I read in one of the hormone books that your body starts making less of all hormones after age 25, and they keep gradually going down from there. I've had trouble with migraines for many years and natural progesterone is supposed to help with that, so that was one of my main motivations. Judging from my symptoms I sounded perimenopausal.

Most of what I've learned about Premarin has been in the last year or so. Aside from the side effects, I sure wouldn't want to try it. Premarin stands for PREgnant MAre's uRINe, and they make it by getting mares pregnant and attaching bags to their bladders while they're shut in stalls for six months at a stretch. They're deprived of water so that their urine will be more concentrated and full of estrogen. Sounds awful to me. And unnecessary now that there's synthetic estrogen.

With the progesterone cream you don't need to take estrogen because it stimulates your body with the first couple of weeks to start making more of its own. Yet you no longer have estrogen dominance because the progesterone cream ensures your progesterone level stays higher.

My mom never took hormones, and I don't have any friends or family members (that I know of) who take them, so I had to learn most everything from scratch. I'm kind of glad though because that way I didn't fall so easily into the "take a pill" tradition. In general, pills give me way too many side effects, so I don't want to take anything I don't absolutely have to.