*Menopause*

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Ranger Butch Force

I just wanted to bump this thread up and chat more about this.

I will probably have to have a hysterectomy soon and I'm both nervous and excited at the same time. Nervous because I'm scared about "going under the knife" even though it will more than likely be a laser. Excited because I won't be in pain anymore as well as feeling better in general.

My sex drive has gone down a bit but when I told my girlfriend that it will go back up (I read that it will on several sites), she was pretty happy about that.

So, I was wondering about others experiences with the surgery, especially with recovery time.

I was thrust into surgical menopause. The hot flashes have lessened over the past 20 years but still rear their head now and then. I am still thinking the flare ups are due to diet rather than a biochemical thing. The "heavier" I eat the more likely they recur. The "lighter" I eat, the less they happen. Carbs seem to make them worse as does dehydration.

Prior to surgery my sex drive was diminished. Excessive bleeding caused fatigue, there was pain and discomfort, and just a general ill feeling. Post healing phase, the drive returned to normal.

I dont know what the recovery/healing times are like with the new methods of doing the surgery. I had the old fashioned abdominal one. Took a good month for the internal healing. Overall a couple of months to get back to feeling like my functional self again.

The only thing I wish someone had told me was the vagina, as a muscle, will lose its strength and function as a result of the surgery and lack of use. Muscle tone and strength needed to be regained post op i.e. kegels and orgasms once this was deemed medically safe to do so.

[macele]

i am 47. sigh. i haven't been to the doctor yet. i have an appointment this week. but i think that i am starting what i have been waiting for since i was 11 years old. menopause lol. o my, i am sweating up a storm. night and day. moody has hell. weight gain. crying way more than usual. etc etc.

i've read some of this thread. i am going back to the beginning. i don't think i saw my question discussed in what i have read so far. which is, has anybody experienced highs/rush? like feeling so damn good! i mean even with all these bad symptoms, i feel better (sometimes) than i've felt in a long long time.

[Smiling]

This was the thread that most closely matched what I have to say, so I hope no one minds my having posted this here....

I awakened at 3am from such a deadly sound sleep that my face was noticeably swollen from fluids accumulated (I could feel the pressure even before I scared myself by looking in the mirror, lol) while my head was planted face-down in a pillow for hours and I found my arms were completely numb beneath me.

That happens to me sometimes; on those occasions when I sleep really hard.

After I quit drinking coffee about 2 months ago, the insomnia I suffered with for the past year + seems to have completely left me; at least for now. My new problem is actually a very old one that seems to have resurfaced: sleeping so soundly that I cannot wake up without some sort of very loud, jarring aid.

This happens more frequently during that time of the month for whatever reason.

When I was much younger, I used to fall asleep for entire weekends; unable to hear alarms or the telephone ringing or even someone trying to physically rouse me. I subsequently found that when I left a TV on for background noise (and I think the room being filled with ambient light helped, too), I didn't enter into such a deep sleep state and so I had CNN on in my bedroom 24/7 for quite a few years.

Anyway, as the fogginess lifted a bit this morning, my fear began speaking directly to me. So clearly, I could almost imagine it had a voice; and just what that voice might sound like, were Fear standing right beside me in tangible form whispering quiet poison into my rapt ear.

And as I listened, I sobbed like a scared child afraid of some imaginary Bogeyman under the bed. What the heck...?

I had to pee. Then I started my period and I suddenly knew what had happened. Usually, I get a backache so severe that it reduces me to tears; I didn't get that this time. That is what I can always rely on to know I'm about to get my period, because my cycle isn't always regular. The accompanying sickness is, though.

And once I actually start bleeding, the symptoms dissipate as if by magic. It's so bizarre.

My face is still really swollen even now; just over 2 hours later. And I don't know if it is from sleeping face-down or from the crying jag. Probably both. Each month, it seems to get worse; especially so as I have gotten older.

I cannot wait for menopause. I don't mean to make light of it, as I know it creates a great deal of suffering for many people; but as it stands right now, I say please bring on the hot flashes and major mood swings. I welcome them.

Unfortunately, I'm only 38.

[Gayandgray]

BUMP! BUMP!

[Deborah*]

That women have to bleed each month, and get cramps for days each month, seems like a curse on womankind. Or like God hates women.

Deborah

[Gayandgray]

I'm 48 and suffering with terrible hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain and no energy, tired no matter how much sleep I get, and the absolute worst is the "Menopausal Brain Fog"!!!!! I forget everything and have to write myself notes daily. Oh and I cry at the drop of a hat and for absolutely no reason at all. All the time. Doctor says I will be fine, this is normal. :seeingstar s:

[homoe]

Originally Posted by Gayandgray

I'm 48 and suffering with terrible hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain and no energy, tired no matter how much sleep I get, and the absolute worst is the "Menopausal Brain Fog"!!!!! I forget everything and have to write myself notes daily. Oh and I cry at the drop of a hat and for absolutely no reason at all. All the time. Doctor says I will be fine, this is normal. :seeingstar s:

Good luck, once you get through all of this things will get back to normal