[bizi]

I started having hot flashes a couple of weeks ago. not horrible no sweating during the day, so am thankful about that.
But I have been having some night sweats....hate them. I have one every few months.
I am wondering if my mood is being effected too.
and this weight gain.
sigh
I have not seen a period in a couple of months so that is good.
bizi
anyone relate?
I would be afraid to take hormones being bipolar 1.

[fairydustgirl]

perimenopause kickstarted my bipolar 1 at age 43, I've actually been stable since I stopped having periods altogether at 51...perimenopause and craziness for 8 very long years! My mom had breast cancer at 57 so I am not a candidate for oral estrogen, had to tough it out best I could. I was on effexor for a really long time (about 7 years) and it helped with the hot flashes and night sweats, its not why I took it but the literature says it is sometimes used for that purpose also...I only had them for a short period of time years ago. If you are a candidate, hrt might actually be helpful for the mood swings, as well as, hot flashes and night sweats...oh and the vaginal dryness thing is no joke, it's just hit me a couple of weeks ago after 2 years, I am planning to use the topical estrogen when I can finally get a dr appt. that really sucks, just when I can have sex anytime I want and finally found a partner who can keep up, my body decides to misbehave!

I have lots of symptoms of peri menopause except missing period. My periods are outrageously heavy and extremely painful and pain begins about a week before my state and a few days after I end. Mine are twice as long now too. I plan to get an IUD and hope it will help and lessen my mood issues too. I get very weepy during and before my cycle. I know lots of women say this but I mean sobbing hysterically in either happy or sad ways over everything. I am deeply effected and touched and moved and inspired and just more emilotionally passionate in a way I can't control. I hope that getting my hormones in balance will be helpful.

I hope your doctor has some suggestions. I've been a heavy sweater my entire life but having more weight does make it worse. I think my sweating is an actual medical condition. My head is usually drenched which is why I wear my hair up 24/7. We have a tempertedic mattress and it really holds the heat and somenights I drench the bed so bad I think someone poured water on me and I will wake up freezing and burning at the same time. Sucks.

[Yoda]

For me the biggest problem of perimenopause was insomnia. I used to be able to drink two or three pots of coffee per day and had no problem sleeping but now I can only drink two cups per day and still must take meds for me to sleep more than a couple of hours.

[LucyG]

Why would hormones be contra-indicated with bipolar 1?

There a good book about treating perimenopause symptoms with natural progesterone cream you can buy over the counter. I read it when I was going into perimenopause and used the cream, and I think it helped. I was so sick from side-effects from my meds that it's hard to say for sure. Here's a link to the book. Read the reviews too.

https://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Doc...+perimenopause

[Wild Coyote]

Day and night -- drenching sweats.
I carry a clean towel and a clean (dry) shirt with me if out for several hours.

I have been wondering if meds add to this?


WC

[Moose72]

Im 44. I have the mirena IUD so my periods have been gone for years. After I had my kids though I had hot flashes and drenched my pajamas with night sweats so I'm guessing that's what I'm in for. My dr said the only way to see if I'm in menopause now would be to take out the IUD. I have had blood clots in my lungs so I can't do hrt.

[bizi]

hi lucy, I tried the progesterone cream and it did not do anything.
I am afraid to take hormones because that is what triggered my first psychotic break. I had the depoprevera birth control shot in my arm. I was previously undiagnosed in 1994. I was 31.
bizi

Bizi, please Google Black Kohosh and see if any stores sell them near you (I am in the UK) and ask your GP about them. They're a natural form of female hormones, found in plants, and although HRT isn't contraindicated with bipolar meds, it's a great alternative. I went through the menopause really early - I am now 49 - and it was the only thing I could use. Made it bearable. Good luck!

[yakmom]

1st panic attack 2/26/08, last period 3/2008. I had no problems until after my last period. Didn't know it was menopause until a therapist said "all this sounds like a really bad menopause". It was and still is to some degree really bad. I took zero meds until menopause hit. Now I take metformin(diabetic), pravastatin(cholesterol),Combipatch (hormones), lorazepam (anxiety/panic d/o) Effexor sr (MDD, recurrent). Menopause turned me from an assertive professional into a sweaty, panic ridden, mess w/in a month. No kidding. Eight years later in spite of meds, I have 2-3 hot flashes a week (the ones where you stick your head in the freezer. Had my annual last week and am told some people are like this the rest of their life. Yay! (sarcasm) I remember building little altars by my bed and looking for signs from God that I wasn't going to die. I also kept my house spotless because I didn't want to die with a dirty house. Thought all my loved ones were going to die also. Yep, it was that way. Better now, but I hate menopause with a very real hate.

Hi. It's my 50th birthday this month - and do I ever feel it. I've been having the hot flashes and night sweats for a few months now. My skin and complexion has really changed. My hair seems to feel different. When I was younger my cycle was extremely regular. Over the last year it has become extremely irregular. I have been put on depo-provera (a birth control) to control this but it seems only to have gotten worse. Probably the worse thing is that I swear my bladder has shrunk several times fold.

Mental health issues seem to have intensified. I usually cycle through depression seasonally but this year it seems I'll have a day out of the blue that is instensely awful. Irritability has become an issue.

[bizi]

Fortunately I don't sweat during the day when I have a hot flash only every few months do I have a night sweat which is awful.
thank you for sharing your stories.
(((((HUGS))))))
bizi

Being sweaty all day and every day, sun, rain, sleet or shine just sucks. I'm having personal summers constantly. I'm either freezing to the bone and feel like my bones are made of shattered ice or I'm burning up like an inferno is in my core spreading out like webs through every vein and limb. Often times I'm burning hot and cold at the same time. The sweating is so gross. At work I needed a fan blowing directly on me 24/7 365. Winter and summer. I was too young for menopause but all the ladies who had been through it thought I was starting the change. I've been going through the change since puberty it seems. I started my period at 10 I believe and have been screwed since.

[JustJace2u]

Just in the last few months I've started feeling some signs of perimenopause. I'm still getting my period, but the sweating is getting to be really bad, especially at night.

[Sad Mermaid]

My midwife says that the Mirena IUD I wear will protect me when this time comes for me. She says that sometimes Mirena is inserted specifically to treat menopause symptoms, and not for birth control. I just had a new one (my 3rd) inserted and I plan to get a 4th one when I am 50 (I am 45). It is a medication without side effects - why not give it a try?

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Just to give you hope, I had early menopause (started age 34, can't know for sure I'm done because I've had a hysterectomy since--this also quickened things by cutting the blood supply to my ovaries so they died faster) but I no longer have hot flashes or night sweats so probably am all the way done at just about 41.

My bipolar has been mostly easier to control since menopause. My bipolar cycles last longer so we're not constantly trying to treat whatever I rapid cycled through last week. Now things seem to be more straight forward and with finally getting on the med that has made the most difference (clozaril) I've only had to deal with depression, no hypos or manias, for months now.

Even when menopause was most strong it didn't do bad things to my bipolar. The Mirena IUD did when we tried to use it to control bleeding but once it was out the menopause process wasn't too horrible.

I'm so confused because I'm hearing very good things and very bad things about the IUD....but they can always take it out so I'm going to give it a shot.

I hate going to the OBGYN. It's always very traumatizing for me no matter the person or conditions. It's horrifying.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

It is worth a shot. I had one of the worst bipolar responses possible so my advice is just to pay attention and if things worsen after it goes in remove it instead of waiting 9 suicidal months as I did. We had no idea that it could possibly be the problem or it would have come out sooner. It also didn't really help much with my periods; I went from very heavy bleeding for a week to moderate bleeding 2-3 weeks per month so I was still anemic and felt icky. But it was better than before it went in and the few months it was out while I waited for my hysterectomy. The hysterectomy was the best thing I could have done and while I am glad my surgeon was conservative and didn't do it first thing I am glad that she was willing to do so as soon as the Mirena failed.

[*Laurie*]

I'm 53 and have hot flashes like crazy, several times every hour. I have a very difficult time cooling off - then suddenly I feel chilled. That's short-lived, because the hot flashes come right back.

I strongly suspect that some of my mental health symptoms have worsened over the part few years due to perimenopause and menopause.

[bizi]

yes I know what you mean, hot then cold...that happened to me at a jazz concert tonight.
heavy sigh
bizi

[Moose72]

I was getting the hot then cold flashes too! Oh no. So far sex still works. Haven't gained any weight.

[Unrigged64072835]

I went into perimenopause at 46. It was awful. My anxiety hit the roof and I was also manic. I had a total hysterectomy (everything from the cervix up) when I was 47. I had an IUD but it didn't help much. Had uterine bleeding in between periods. So it all came out. I have a family history of breast and ovarian cancer so I didn't stay on any hormones. I still have hot flashes at 51 but they're pretty predictable (when I get up and go to bed, when I eat something warm, etc.) I've also put on quite a bit of weight so that doesn't help.

[bizi]

anyone have any experience using black cohosh?
bizi

[bizi]

Well the night sweats have started....last 2 nights interrupted my sleep, which is horrible for me.
sigh
bizi