I am soooooooo very tired of "Menopause!!!!" I never know one day to the next what mood I will be in, its just horrible. I just moved here to Colorado Springs about 4 months ago and the mood swings have just gotten worse. My doctor in Texas told me I was in menopause, (but no details) ha, and she put me on over the counter progesterone cream. That helped some back then,(1 year ago) with the hot flashes but now they are worse and the mood swings are so very bad, and angry outbursts over the simplest things. The anxiety, with the butterflies feeling in my stomach feels like thousands of ants doing battle in my stomach which gives me this crazy "jittery feeling" and irritation with a short fuse. That makes my mood swings worse. I can literally feel the hormones shifting and changing in my body almost constantly. I am not me anymore, I feel like the me I used to know has drifted down into some place inside me hiding until this all passes and that scares me because I do not even know myself anymore, nor does my family. I have a 13 year old at home going thru puberty...ha. As if that isn't a handful in itself. He is more understanding of me at times than I am of him. Poor thing. He will definitely know and be prepared for menopause in his wife someday. My husband, 38 years old. I will be 51 in Aug. Need I say more? He hasn't a clue. We argue all the time. He tells me that when I feel a mood swing coming on why don't I just control it. I know you are all thinking, what was she thinking marrying one so young? Well, at the time I was more "me" and everything was great., he and I have a great time together when all is well with me. He is a good man., and for the most part very mature., buttttt he doesn't understand this. He has no sisters and a mother who claims she never went thru it, but she drinks all day long. So how could she even know if she went thru it? I also have a 30 year old daughter and 3 beautiful grandchildren back in Texas who I love very much. Sometimes I feel like I am so all alone. The hot flashes keep me up off and on all night long, so I wake up grumpy and exhausted. I still try and push on thru the day and the least little thing said or done can set me off into a rage. Then I spend the rest of the time trying like heck to explain it all over again to my husband,...who keeps saying that he understands. Then he ends up calling his mother who totally dislikes me and venting to her about me, then when she calls she is rude to me. It goes around and around like this and I am at my wits end, because then I feel guilty and at fault for everything that goes wrong. I think my 13 understands more than my husband.My 13 year old son has a big heart and I love him so very much. I have never had night sweats but the hot flashes are awful, then comes the jittery moody swings that throw me into another outburst of some sort. I am nervous and edgy most of the time. I worry all the time. I have no insurance and most likely wont get any anytime soon, so therefore have not seen a doctor since I have been here. Can't afford it without insurance. The last thing I bought was some cream not approved by the FDA that is supposed to be a natural estrogen with red clover extract that the local pharmasist swears by. It cost me 20 dollars and does not help at all. The hot flashes I could live with, but the nervousness and jitters and mood swings are wearing me down. I am desperate for a solution to my problems with this awful menopause, as it is literally winning and getting the best of me. I used to be fun, laughed all the time. I always loved to cook, bake, and sew. Now I just struggle to get through each day. I am afraid and don't know how to handle this anymore, by myself. I just feel so alone.
Thank you all for listening,
frosti

Are you still taking the progesterone cream? Progesterone is a estrogen blocker and can make things worse for some women. Progesterone makes me irritable and grumpy. Rather than wasting your money on the stuff from the pharmacy it would be better for you to find a doctor who will give you human estradiol.

Kathy

I empathize with you. So do 1,000's of women on this board. I don't know what to say to make you feel better other than what you are feeling is "normal" to many of us women and we spend our lives just "holding on." Hopefully it will end. I am seven years post and still feel "lousy" at times.

Thank you Kathy and Sybilleruth for responding. Could you please tell me what human estradiol is please? I am still learning and need all the advice I can get. Also, is there anything over the counter that will help me until I can see a doctor? Thank you so much for the help. Having someone who understands makes a big difference also.

Our bodies make three different forms of estrogen; Estradiol (estrogen that makes us feel better), estriol (pregnancy estrogen), and estrone (estrogen made from our own fat).

You can buy Estradiol in many different forms. You can get patches, pills, gels, and creams. You can buy some of the forms at a regular pharmacy or you can have a compounding pharmacy make up a special estradiol cream/lotion for you. Here are the names of some of the estradiol products that you can get with a RX from a regular pharmacy: Estraderm patch, Climara Patch, Vivelle-Dot patch, Estrogel gel, Estrace oral. There is also a cream but I cannot remember the name. If you want to go through a compounding pharmacy, Power-Surge has a pharmacy sponsor that you can find here, there is also a mail order pharmacy called Women’s International Pharmacy that some women use. These two pharmacies may be able to help you find a doctor in your area.

If you have a uterus, you have to use progesterone or a progestin along with estrogen to prevent endometrial build-up.

There are several good books that would be helpful for you to read. My favorite author is Vliet. She has an It’s My Ovaries—Stupid book that is very good and detailed. She has another book coming out the end of this month on Amazon. It would be a good idea for you to read her book(s).

Gillespie has a book “You’re Not Crazy, It’s Your Hormones” that was helpful to me as well. Gillespie says that the amino acid Arginine can help hot flashes (start with 500 mg). She also says that black cohosh may help mood swings and Valerian root may help sleep (pg 126).

Kathy