menopause: your experiences

It was pretty terrible for me in places...

She got even more weird than usual!

I'm so glad I found this site, and particularly, this thread! I was recently diagnosed autistic in Feb 2024 at age 55, and I just have a hunch that menopause is what finally brought my autism to light.  Anyone else discover their autism in menopause? 

I like the sound of this. I do struggle to trust people though. How do you ingest it? is it just herbs or potentially animal products? Don't worry if you don't know. Thanks. 

If you don't get on with HRT, as many don't, then why not see a medical herbalist who can make you a potion designed just for you, taking in all your various symptoms? I did and never regretted it for a minute, she sorted out things I wasn't even aware were problems until I wasn't having them anymore.

I'm struggling. I now realise my symptoms started approx. 2021, but it was only recognised last year. I am on HRT, which is constantly being adjusted. I resorted to paying for a specialist who understands the menopause and ASC. My ASC symptoms have become increasingly tortutous during this time. My shutdowns and burnouts are closer together and I take longer to recover each time. I work full time. Thank you for listening. 

go to the profile of the person you want to friend. there will be a connect option. The other person can either decline or accept.

TheCatWoman said:

Nobodies tried to friend me as far as I know, or follow me or whatever it they do, how would I know if they had?

Theoretically you would receive a notification but I believe they are only working intermittently. 

This site isn't the easiest to use, I've not worked out how to send or recieve private messages, I'm guessing we do have that function? Nobodies tried to friend me as far as I know, or follow me or whatever it they do, how would I know if they had?

TheCatWoman said:

Debbie I was hoping that there would be some sort of privacy function for some rooms. Can we block people we don't want to deal with ?

There is no blocking function.

There is a new forum in the offing and I think many here are hoping for better functionality including a blocking function.

With regard to PMs the only way to do this is to not accept the people as friends as even if you unfriend them, they can still PM, unfortunately.

It is a razor's edge on a slippery slope.

Debbie I was hoping that there would be some sort of privacy function for some rooms. Can we block people we don't want to deal with ?

TheCatWoman said:

This answers a question for me, which was is this room open to men and women, I see its open to men too and so does not feel like a safe space to talk about some issues.

This forum is open to the whole world actually.

This answers a question for me, which was is this room open to men and women, I see its open to men too and so does not feel like a safe space to talk about some issues.

     I can't say what it will be like for you, honestly. I did not take the HRTs so my experience will have been considerably different. Perhaps some other women who did take them and are well past it can comment here about that.

    I can say this, diet and a healthy gut bacterial population was key to my well being at that time.

    I will also ask around of women I know who did take them and see what they experienced...

"meat suit" I love it.

      Your story is very similar to mine. Very liberating. During menopause i had a book "Wise woman ways, the menopausal years" that was very helpful. I changed my diet and underwent a major intestinal cleanse. I had been looking forward to menopause to be free of the roller coaster ride that was menses. For about a year I lived on pop corn and watermelon, the only 2 foods that did not give me hot flashes.

     I did not use hormone therapies. They felt wrong to me. I felt that because this was a natural phenomenon it was counter to that nature to try and mediate it with meds. I used herbs like Don quai, wild yam, black cohosh and the like.

    I wanted to see what nature had in store for me. Also, I felt, the meds were to make men feel more comfortable with us as we aged into a stage in life they could not understand. This was the biggest reason other women gave me for taking them. It postponed the change with hormonal mimicry.  It just felt wrong. I used foods and herbs and "forest" bathing instead.

    I also started to feel more comfortable expressing myself more authentically, without feeling apologetic about it in front of others.

    To myself: "OK, young crone, let's have at it!" (rubs palms together and claps).

thanks for sharing your story.

This is in the women and girls section.

Perhaps we can hear from your partner to see how they felt?

Well. From the perspective of the man in the relationship. It's like living with a stranger. A very moody angry stranger. I don't even know why I'm still here actually.

I will post here soon. It's interesting subject HRT. .Maybe later today I will have time. (I am  12 hours different from you)

I found perimenopause harder than the actual menopause itself. I didn't want to go down the HRT route and chose a medical herbalist to make me a tailor made brew to help, after a while I dropped that and just took sage tablets for the hot flushes. There are options that aren't hormonal, when I was in hospital the consultant was happy for me to keep taking the herbs and told one of his junior collegues off for challenging me about them. He said he wished he could prescribe them as he saw to many patients with hormone sensitive cancers that would benefit from them.

On the whole I love being post menopausal, I feel liberated from the monthly round of mood swings, pain and mess, I feel like myself every day of the month, I have no libido at all and I never realised how much brain space that took up, now I feel like I've got an extension in my head, more room for the things I want to do rather than the things my meat suit needs me to do.