“My mom went through menopause early and I started menopause at 35. I had one cycle that passed, then another month passed with a little bit of spotting, and then bingo, it was over. No hot flashes, no night sweats, no weird disposition, none of that”, said Barbara.
She explained that the most difficult time in her life was the five years before she started menopause. “My mother was dying from emphysema and came home from the hospital to stay with me. I recently had filed from divorce because my first husband was having an affair with a 17 year old girl. I had two little boys, ages two and five and I needed to find a job to support myself and them.”
“Two months after my mother came to live with me she died and my divorce became final a week later. In between the time I got divorced and found a job, I and the boys moved into the house that I grew up in with my parents. I had a 72’ Chevelle and I moved myself, my two boys, and my furniture, piece by piece, without help from anyone.”
“Everyone thought that I was going to be put in [the psychiatric ward at] Milledgeville. My doctor even gave me some nerve medication. I took two and then I flushed the rest down the toilet.”
She shared that during her second marriage and subsequent divorce she struggled with alcoholism.
“I would drink five or six beers, and a few mixed drinks as well”, said Barbara. “But Lord delivered me from that. One day I woke up, poured out all my alcohol and I’ve never had another drink since.”
Retired school teacher, Paula Clark, shared her experiences with menopause.
You see, I did not really have a "period of menopause”. The periods just ceased at age 45 -- no hot flashes, nothing like my six sisters had! I never knew why, I just considered myself fortunate in that respect.
Deborah Jackson, a 58 year old mother of three, had this to say about perimenopause.
She explained that the most difficult time in her life was the five years before she started menopause. “My mother was dying from emphysema and came home from the hospital to stay with me. I recently had filed from divorce because my first husband was having an affair with a 17 year old girl. I had two little boys, ages two and five and I needed to find a job to support myself and them.”
“Two months after my mother came to live with me she died and my divorce became final a week later. In between the time I got divorced and found a job, I and the boys moved into the house that I grew up in with my parents. I had a 72’ Chevelle and I moved myself, my two boys, and my furniture, piece by piece, without help from anyone.”
“Everyone thought that I was going to be put in [the psychiatric ward at] Milledgeville. My doctor even gave me some nerve medication. I took two and then I flushed the rest down the toilet.”
She shared that during her second marriage and subsequent divorce she struggled with alcoholism.
“I would drink five or six beers, and a few mixed drinks as well”, said Barbara. “But Lord delivered me from that. One day I woke up, poured out all my alcohol and I’ve never had another drink since.”
Retired school teacher, Paula Clark, shared her experiences with menopause.
You see, I did not really have a "period of menopause”. The periods just ceased at age 45 -- no hot flashes, nothing like my six sisters had! I never knew why, I just considered myself fortunate in that respect.
Dance teacher and exercise instructor, Lucretia Roberson, shared her experiences with hormonal replacement therapy after having a hysterectomy at age 35.
“At the time, I was teaching exercise classes and I was having a lot of bleeding. I went to the doctor and they discovered some T-cells (pre-cancerous cells). I went to several more doctors and everybody agreed that I should have a hysterectomy. My husband cried and begged me not to do it, but since cancer runs in my family I went ahead and did it.”
“The doctors did not tell me what to expect. [After the hysterectomy] they gave me estrogen shots, but that didn’t work. Then I went on the patch and then to pills. That process went on for about four years. Finally, I just stopped doing the hormones because it made me feel crazy and because of all the medical stuff [that I was hearing about] and I haven’t regretted it.”
Roberson shared that she also had problems with her thyroid. “I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at age 20 while I was still in college.”
“I still had hot flashes for a good while, but when I got involved with Weight Watchers and started eating right it helped to stop the hot flashes. Walking around Stone Mountain three times a week, doing my aerobic workouts and eating right helped me to lose 70 pounds and feel better.” Roberson also shared that she got divorced shortly after having her hysterectomy. Her advice to other women: Get with somebody who will talk with you and don’t panic because you will get to the other side. I have a little bit of hot flashes now and then, but it’s not nearly as bad.
“At the time, I was teaching exercise classes and I was having a lot of bleeding. I went to the doctor and they discovered some T-cells (pre-cancerous cells). I went to several more doctors and everybody agreed that I should have a hysterectomy. My husband cried and begged me not to do it, but since cancer runs in my family I went ahead and did it.”
“The doctors did not tell me what to expect. [After the hysterectomy] they gave me estrogen shots, but that didn’t work. Then I went on the patch and then to pills. That process went on for about four years. Finally, I just stopped doing the hormones because it made me feel crazy and because of all the medical stuff [that I was hearing about] and I haven’t regretted it.”
Roberson shared that she also had problems with her thyroid. “I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at age 20 while I was still in college.”
“I still had hot flashes for a good while, but when I got involved with Weight Watchers and started eating right it helped to stop the hot flashes. Walking around Stone Mountain three times a week, doing my aerobic workouts and eating right helped me to lose 70 pounds and feel better.” Roberson also shared that she got divorced shortly after having her hysterectomy. Her advice to other women: Get with somebody who will talk with you and don’t panic because you will get to the other side. I have a little bit of hot flashes now and then, but it’s not nearly as bad.
I began perimenopause around the age of 45 or 46. It ended about eight years later at age 53. It did interrupt my daily routine of sleep. I was very restless and unable to sleep a lot of nights for a while – [although] not the entire eight years. I took the natural progesterone made from yams – the cream in the tube that you rub on your wrist. It seemed to help some. I also later took a combination of black cohosh, soy and flax seed to help with hot flashes and sleeplessness. These seemed to help to an extent too.
I was not more emotional and irritable and did not have night sweats, just some hot flashes, [but] I think that [this was the] period of time when the vaginal dryness began and has increased ever since. It was probably when lower libido began and has continued to lower.
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