hi ladies,


yeah, it's me, mydarling the "worry wart", geez, I wish that weren't so! I never used to be this way! I don't even feel like myself anymore! OK, the question (and worry) of the day is: I seem to have lost some weight, now, not something like say
25lbs. over a two day period, but i have lost about 25lbs. over the last say, 8 mos...now, I know that really isn't THAT big a deal,
(I was and I wasn't trying to loose weight, I "kinda" was..lol), but here's the thing, I noticed that my weight dropped at first (back
about 8 mos. ago) by about 9-10 lbs. and that ws because at that time, I had a UTI from hell, and even once it was technically
"over" I still felt really awful for about 2 weeks, and didn't eat much. So, at FIRST, I was kind of happy about the weight loss, and
decided I'd try to keep that off, and go for more by cutting out all the sweets I eat (I'm bad with sweets!).

OK, so, the first 10lbs. came off because of that UTI and the sick feeling that followed, fine, normal. But, then over the next few months, this past summer, I basically stayed around that weight, maybe 'I'd fluctuate 2-3 lbs. every now and then. NO BIGGIE.
THEN, in this last say 6 weeks, I lost say about 14-15 lbs.! Now, ok, first off, I should say that right before all this peri insanity hit
me in January, back in Nov., we had some awful horrible stress here in my house! BEYOND COMPARE! Now, I was the one
primarily dealing with it, and it took it's toll. But, I still didn't loose weight (back then, in Nov.) ... ok, now again, December came
along, and that horrible stress was still with us here in this house, (it involves a family member and depression), but not really any
BIG weight loss, maybe a few lbs......UNTIL, JANUARY! That's whehn the s*** hit the fan! (for me, peri menopausal speaking).

In the month of JANUARY alone, I have lost anohter 10 lbs.! Now, yes, I've been a basket case because that's when all these
symptoms came at me out of nowhere....the varicsoe veins, the leg pain and aches, the red streaks on my thighs, the little red
circles on my legs and feet, and the absolute SICK feeling EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!! so, I didn't eat that much, but I DID eat!
the first two weeks of Jan. I ate more, not much more, but more.......BUT THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF JANUARY I haven't eaten much
at all......I mean, I HAVE FELT SO DARN SICK and dragged, and tired, and nauseas! Then, just a few days ago, that gastranomical
thing set in....so, as of JANUARY , due to all this peri nonsense and the fear and sick feeling, I have lost 10 lbs.!

Now, before I faint of fear, will someone please respond to me, and tell me that that's at least SOMEWHERE within the
"normal" range of peri symptoms! I have googled this, and these sites (I know, I can't help it, I have to google all this or I'll
be even more scared!) ususally always speak about GAINING WEIGHT during peri....not loosing it!!!!!!!!!!

I would think, BOTH WOULD BE POSSIBLE, due to hormonal fluctuations,,,,,,that makes sense to me, but then WHY woudln't any
of these sites say this? OH MAN, I GET SO SCARED!

Yeah, tomorrow I go for the gyn check up and pap smear, but of course, I'm a nervous wreck waiting to hear ther are abnormal
cells there too! I don't get the blood results till Friday!

Thank you ladies for helping me through all this......I would be MORE frightened if I didn't have all of you!

If you were eating a lot and losing weight, that would be very worrisome. But you are losing because you are eating less. Now it's not good that this is happening because you are stressed out, but it's correctible ... unless you have an eating disorder. Are you getting a high from losing weight and eating so little ?

I struggeled with weight loss and thought I had some sort of cancer. I was under a very stressful time in my life and can only look back on it now and realize that the Dr. was right. It was the stress. It sounds like you are very worried and stressed and I wouldn't be surprised if it all lays with that. Troublesome would be if you were eating normally and losing weight despite it. It sounds like you need to get your anxiety under control, like I needed to, and soon after everything will look and feel different.

I have lost 35 pounds in less than 3 months at the begining of peri, simply becauase I had bad anxiety that resulted in gastritis onsett and complete loss of appetite. I was worried sick and thought I had stomach cancer, and after being tested for anything and everything, I was Rx ativan and started to feel better and able to eat again.
I would get checked red cicrcles and red streaks on your tighs, CBC is enough to make sure you WBC and RBC are normal. As for nausea, anxiety did it to me too, I was full after taking 2-3 bites only, and this is not me, LOL. But I don't have varicous veins or any other skin problems. I hope it is nothing, and everyones body reacts to stress differently. Please, keep us posted.
Good luck.
I.

To the senior surgette concerned about weight loss, I have read that some women do experience weight loss at menopause. This has been the case with me. Looking back I would say that I put on weight from about the age of thirty and more so between forty and fifty. When my periods packed up, I began with all the unpleasant symptoms - periodic nausea, not being able to eat things I always used to, bad anxiety. It was almost like my body was trying to s*ck all the oestrogen it could out of my fat stores and I was shrinking back to the weight I was in my twenties. I am not a tall lady and now I am very lean. It is really weird the way different women are. I have found this all very scary. My doctor said not to worry! I have read that oestrogen can be stored in fat cells - I dont think I have much excess anymore - it would be interesting to hear from other ladies on this topic. Simba 2

Hi,
I too have been losing weight. I started in Aug trying to lose by cutting back on what I ate. Only one helping, etc, no sweets. I'd had a pain in my stomach and thought I might be getting a hiatal hernia so I did a liver/colon cleanse too. I didn't feel like I was losing weight and perimenopause was the last thing on my mind, although I had skipped 2 periods by this time. In Oct, really bad anxiety/nervousness, etc hit me hard!! and I still didn't relate it so much to peri- more thyroid cause I'd been off my Synthroid. Anyway, along with all that came loss of appetite. I still don't eat anything like I used to but am not feeling good about the weight loss. I even told my pcp that I wasn't feeling good about it cause I kept worrying that there must be something wrong causing it. Even though I knew I wasn't eating alot. Just trying to watch what I ate. If I felt the urge for something sweet I would go ahead and eat it but not overdo. I've lost at least 30 pounds since Aug. I do love the fact that I'm down 2 sizes too! that's a plus! I've finally related it all to these symptoms, plus trying to cut back. I was wondering also if it's normal to lose weight since all I'd heard was that you gain weight. Looking back now though in the last 4 years probably, I'd gained almost 40 pounds- I was the apple shape, the tire around the middle. Sorry this is so long-just felt like I needed to explain my situation. I think with the nerves and anxiety does come the loss of appetite so if you're not eating as much then there would be weight loss. Hang in there!
nessa67

I did re-gain pretty much everything that I have lost once the digestive issues and anxiety was under control, so now I ma trying to lose some weight again, LOL. But I woudl rather feel OK and be able to eat healthy food even if I am up 2 sizes. I will never want to feel as before, when I was sick to my stomach 24x7.
JMO