Menopause???

HI Shannon,

I just wanted to pop in and suggest you check out the following site, it has been a godsend for me and my PMDD (bad PMS), I spend hours and hours searching for help, and determined most women have a hormonal imbalance and don't even know it:

www.WomenToWomen.com

Good luck!

Thanks everyone! I get my labs done again in March for my 1 year check up, and I'll definitely push for the test at my OB. (And I'll definitely check out that website!

hi ya Shannonnn,
i think its just low body weight but anything is possible i suppose. i started my peri-menapause when i was about 43 heavy heavy bleeding was the start of it
then all the things u mentioned i never had blood tests to check if i was in it. my body told me that i was. i dont believe in HRT for me. im one of those natural woman that just want to have my body go thru it naturally. i am now 51 havent had a period in 11 months then bammmmmmmmm i go and get a ever light one. grrrrrrrrr now i have to count all over again lol that has happened to me a few times . they say if u go with out a period for 1 whole year then u r in menapause i dont have mood swings only thing that is annoying to me is the " hot flashes" but they come occassionally. ohhhhh the joys of being a woman

I have been reading about it, and typically when you stop having periods due to low body fat, you don't have the other hormonal symptoms/issues. But I know rapid weight loss does weird things to your hormones. I guess I will find out. I'm not sure if I would do the HRT, I already had cancer cells that I had to get frozen off a few years ago. Maybe the bio-identicals. I would only do it if symptoms got really bad, I'm pretty tough lol.

 Hi Shannon

I want to preface this by saying I use to be on the lightweight boards a lot but have been MIA lately because of life. I do still lurk often and one of my goals this year is to get back involved with the LW boards. Congratulations on your weight loss!!!

I don't want to bum you out but last august I started having bad night sweats and hot flashes, and like you was just drenched at night. ( i'm 37) My period stopped too. I thought at first it was the RNY but my weight loss was very minimal at this point and my body fat percentage wasn't the issue for me. I went to my PCP because I honestly thought maybe I had an infection or god forbid another cancer or for me even worse premature ovarian failure. I have not had any children and it ended up being premature ovarian failure. I will go on hormone replacement eventually  but am currently working with a fertility doctor to have a baby via IVF using donor eggs. I sincerely hope this is not the case for you but just so you know I went on Effexor (venlafaxine) for the hot flashes and it worked great for me. I also was on birth control pills for the IVF cycle for a while which I'm sure helped the symptoms too. After my pregnancy I will probably go on a estrogen patch and progesterone pills. I am also a pharmacist and I think the estrogen patches are the best option for HRT for WLS people and really all people. The absorption is better and more reliable. Hang in there if you want to PM me feel free!

Amy

Sorry you have had to go through all of that! I have 3 kids and I got my tubes tied after the last one. I never want to have another baby...I'll borrow grandkids occasionally someday lol. Does this failure cause any other problems? Do they remove your ovaries if you don't want to have more kids?

 The only issues that I have been told is without adequate HRT, you can issues with osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and also the brain fuzziness You would not need to have ovaries removed or anything they are just not ovulating, and if they are the quality of the eggs isn't great From the little research I have done because it is premature ovarian failure you may need a pretty high dose of estrogen to compensate and you need to advocate for this. Even my OB wasn't very up on all this but the reproductive endocrinologist who is doing my IVF was much more informative. One other thing, my OB  re-did my FSH and estrogen level and when she drew it my FSH was normal but my estrogen was really high, this is the same as if your FSH is really high and your estrogen is low. I had a false sense of hope when this happened. I would just make sure you see someone *****ally understands all of this well and is pro-active in treating it. You really can't just treat the symptoms when it is POF.  I really hope this is not your outcome! Good luck and feel better soon...

 Hi Shannon !  

Sounds like low estrogen to me .  Now our estrogen levels lower a LOT   when we empty our fat cells out  ( they  release estrogen   to keep themselves filled and to be able to grab fat from the bloodstream and  fill up  again  grrr...)  .  This is why  for instance , few fat men have  problems with testosterone related hair loss  until they lose weight lol .   Then they go  bald  just  like the rest of the normal weight  male population ....

I like U  am in the THIN side  pre and post op for this surgery .  I like U am YOUNG  .  Yet  I too have had these symptoms .  

The good news is  my body COMPENSATED and they went away .

I really  urge U  NOT   to do HRT  or anything crazy sounding at this point .. especially  if Uve had positive cancer cells.

  I too  had HIGH estrogen  preop  and  had a breast cancer scare  ( well a VERY REAL  slightly cancerous tumor  in  my early twenties ( ! ) which was cured with a lumpectomy )     Thank God I didn't let them misdiagnose it as a cyst  because of my age as they  tried to do ....  grrr.  

This is my experience ..  when my weight ( rarely ) gets super low ..my body fights back with  hot flashes etc.    A few weeks or months later im suddenly back to "normal "  all on my own.  

As my body weight has descended  this has happened SEVERAL times .

Its kind of like my body's  rebellion at this new lower setpoint - it says U can be thin GRRLfriend, but U CAN"t be fertile too ...

I say  FINE   LOL...and  in a month or two my period is BACK .   Hot flashes are GONE  ,  skinny drawn look is GONE .....

like I said , my body COMPENSATES  .

Now I  have an unnaturally high estrogen level naturally ..... the symptoms of that  are big  firm boobies  and  a round face  no matter how thin U get  ( and  a small nose and tiny chin ....  kind of a cat - faced look)  .   A lot of models  have this  genetic makeup . 

If  this is U  ( its hard to tell from the pics  - though U are undeniably BEAUTIFUL     thanks to Ur  hard work  AND lucky  genetics  ....  I REALLY think U have NOTHING   to worry about  .

If not ,maybe U  might want to consider SOY  products .   All  tofu  and  such  contain high  levels of  estrogen  bioidenticals .   They are the NATURAL  hot flash  get -ridder - ofs .  

 

If you have thyroid issues be careful of using anything with soy, the two do not mix well.

I have a low thyroid and can not drink soy milk, use soy based protein products, or consume much soy based foods. I can have soy sauce about once every 3 months but that's it.