Menopause Monster

By Kenda - May, 15th 2012

“What do you mean…menopause?! I’m only 36.”

That was my reaction when my mother said that the myriad of symptoms I’ve been having over the past year sound identical to early menopause. Her response was, “I wasn’t much older than you. Your grandmother was only 38 when she started. Early menopause runs in our family.”

Ugh.

The more I researched, the more I realized they are probably right. I’ve gone over the ‘Are you in early menopause?’ checklist a hundred times and I can check off at least 80% of the symptoms. (you may remember my post about losing my hair recently) This really stinks. I’m not sad over the fact that my reproductive organs are apparently getting ready to call it quits; I decided two years ago that I was done with making babies. I’m just not excited about the several year PMS I’m approaching. I just started eating right, exercising and losing weight. Now this? Great. My mother had a horrible time with it – I remember it very well. I wasn’t around to see my grandmother go through “the change”, of course — but I can’t imagine she had much fun with it either. So I’m facing the fact that I’m next.

I’ve already had all the blood work and testing done for thyroid and/or hormonal imbalance issues – the results were clean. The only thing left is the menopause monster. Of course, it’s not full blown menopause – right now it’s just what has been recently dubbed Perimenopause.

The Symptoms of Perimenopause

• Hot flashes, night sweats, coldness
• Irregular periods that can be heavy, light, shorter or longer cycles
• Difficulty sleeping either getting to sleep or staying asleep
• Mood changes, anxiety, depression, irritability
• Heart palpitations
• Dry skin and itching
• Loss of or decreased sexual desire
• Incontinence — the inability to hold your urine
• Hair loss
• Digestive Issues

Okay….make that 90% I qualify for. I forgot about my rapid runs to the bathroom (can you say embarrassing?!). So far the only symptoms I’ve escaped are lack of sleep (I could sleep all day…and that’s bad too) and night sweats. But I’ve got the ‘coldness’ down pat.  I’ve started taking natural soy supplements, but it’s too early to tell if they will work. I can only cross my fingers and keep fighting the good fight.

Some people believe perimenopause is a myth; something in a woman’s head or just a wrong diagnosis. Because the body hasn’t stopped having a monthly cycle yet, tests can be inconclusive. But, I’m here to tell you – it’s very real. And it’s miserable. It has been known to start as early as a woman’s 20s and as late as her 40s. I’ll be 37 in July so I guess I can’t be too surprised.

Have you, or someone you know, experienced early menopause? I’d love to hear any advice, tips or just personal experiences about how best to get through this without taking a ton of medication.