I went back to see my GP on Monday night to get the results of my blood test expecting to be told I am pre-menopausal. The results were a bit of a surprise…apparently I appear to have gone through the menopause and be coming out the other side. The test I had measures FSH levels and she said that if it was in the twenties I would be considered menopausal. My level was 108! I think the reason I was most surprised is because when I was referred to a gynaecologist less than 3 years ago I asked her if the trouble I was having with my periods was the start of the menopause; she laughed derisively and told me it would be years before I hit the menopause – I was gutted at the time.
My GP is great though, we had a long discussion about what my options are. One thing I really like about her is she’s not one of those GPs that gets pissy when you start looking up things for yourself. I mentioned the Menopace I’ve been taking that Cake mentioned and her attitude is that different things work for different women so try them and see as long as it’s not dodgy remedies off the internet that cost a fortune. I seem to have reached a plateau with the Clonidine. I am having fewer flushes but it’s patchy and seems to be very much affected by being particularly tired or stressed. I don’t think the Menopace have made much difference at all (although I haven’t been taking them for as long) but they’re a good all round vitamin supplement so I’ll probably continue with them and she suggested that it wouldn’t hurt to take a calcium supplement as well.
We also talked about HRT. I’m reluctant to try it as I’ve had such horrible experiences with hormones in the past and I was worried about the other implications such as increased risk of stroke, breast cancer etc. On the other hand I’m on the young side to be so completely through the menopause and taking into consideration things like osteoporosis a few years on HRT might be a good idea. One thing she did do was print off a load of information about HRT and it went into quite a lot of detail about the different studies about increased risk of stroke etc and whilst there is an increased risk you’re mostly talking about 4 per 1000 on HRT as opposed to 3 per 1000 not on HRT. Having just worked through a horrendous set of day shifts due to being exhausted from lack of sleep due to hot flushes HRT is certainly looking more attractive! Getting up at 05:30 to work a 12-hour shift having had just 2 or 3 hours sleep is not to be recommended. I made a serious mistake at the weekend because I misread something. Trying to say I was so tired I could hardly see isn’t going to cut much ice.
For now I’ve decided to give the Clonidine and menopace another couple of weeks. I have one set of night shifts to work then I’m off for almost a fortnight so hopefully I will be able to recharge my batteries.
Tags: Changing
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