I had a Complete Hysterectomy at 33 yrs old. Was on HRT- Premarin until just 3 yrs ago. I felt GREAT !!!! Yes, a family history of cancer and heart issues. Still felt great and no problems until >>> I flew long distance flight and got DVT- PE. Now Doc's won't give me anything! Crap! I felt so good on them. No herbal stuff helps, they finally tried Paxil on me. Worked for a while but then I gained 55 lbs. in the snap of my fingers and CANNOT lose it. I am just giving up....I want my Uterus BACK a.s.a.p. !!!

Yes! I've been on BCP forever because of PCOS. My doctor told me the same thing about getting off the pill to see if I'm in menopause or not. She said I had to be off it for 3 months before she could do an accurate blood test because my hormones would even out by then. About 3 months ago (while still on the pill) I started having the hot flashes and lots of headaches and aches and pains. I decided to go off the pill to see what would happen. I also went to a proper GYN and she said I only had to be off the BCP for 7 days before she could do the FSH test and determine whether or not I was menopausal. Result was a 32 she said was post menopausal. I haven't had a period for 2 months now off the pill, however these past few days I have had a lot of cramping, am very bloated and am having discharge that looks like ovulation. I don't know if that means I'll get a period or not. They say you are not officially in menopause until you have had no period for 12 months. So to answer your question: I felt that my menopause had started breaking through the BCP as well because I was experiencing those same symptoms...maybe the BCP just masked the menopause until it started coming on too strong to be masked??

GM, a couple of years ago I was put on Effexor to try to wean off of HRT. I'm sorry I cannot remember the specific side effects, but I ended up back on HRT. I happen to be extremely sensitive to most medications and I've tried a lot of AD's because of chronic depression(in addition to menopause). I've never been able to take any of the SSRI/SNRI's(Effexor is one). These meds in general kept me up at night, made me jittery, and some made me itch intensely. That being said, Effexor did help with my hotflashes. You might ask your doctor if you can start with the very lowest dose you can, and work up from there. Maybe start with a regular release instead of the timed release you've been given so you can split pills and start with a very low dose. And, if it doesn't eventually help with your symptoms, it's very important to wean off of these drugs gradually, not by stopping cold turkey. Another drug that has been used for hotflashes is Neurontin(Gabapentin). It is I believe an anti-seizure drug that is also used 'off label' for neuropathic pain, hotflashes, and more. I tried this one too(I have FMS along with everything else), and I couldn't even get up to a therapeutic dose(typical in my case)before I had bad side effects, although it did help with hotflashes. And, it has helped others...I'm just very sensitive. So if you are against, or are not a candidate for HRT, I would give these meds a go, being careful to start at the lowest dose. Good luck to you, and keep trying! You deserve some relief!

[swoon] How emotional was I just to read igloochic's name? Bless you Sweet Woman for your words. Even though I don't even know your real name I have thought of you so freaking often on this journey. We were at Johns Hopkins and you know I thought of you there! And no, no one there thought to do this kind of testing and knew about Penelope. GW hasn't let me log on for the past few days, and I've tried on a few dif't computers. But tonight = paydirt! The floor is down and will be grouted Thursday a.m. -- no pics on this computer. I like it a lot! I really miss being able to do laundry, though. I was planning on smoothcoating the walls / ceiling in there (as I did in our powder room) but on a whim called the plaster men who did the rest of our house. It'll cost less than $400 to do the laundry room so I nearly knocked them down, afraid they might leave. "DO IT!" I practically screamed at them. After the powder room project it cost me at least that much in hand therapy due to the radial tunnel that project induced, plus, and this is not a joke, I also developed arthritis in my Middle Finger. I mean, how perfect is that?!? Of course I love showing everyone my arthritic middle finger .... I am one classy lady! flyleft -- I was so happy to see your name! I know you are our mosaicist / tile expert, so thank you so much for taking a peek! So the story is this: I was clueless as to what was happening in our son, wondering if maybe a brain tumor or could this be a transition to Autism? Not a tumor and all the "experts" agreed (along with my gut) that it wasn't Autism. A volunteer who works with my son (he does hippotherapy, therapy on horseback, 2x a week and requires three volunteers and one therapist to make this possible) talked to her neurologist about my son (bless her), and her MD said "sounds like Landau Kleffner." So she and I got busy researching LK and by golly, it sounded like a great fit! I became obsessed with it and luckily the lead neurologist with whom we were then working (at the Children's Hospital in Denver) agreed. He said the only way to definitively dx LK is with a specialized EEG, so that's what he did. Well I'll tell you: lightning struck twice. Once for this to happen to my son and then once again because the week before my son's procedure the lead neurologist was at a conference with the lead researcher from Bologna who "discovered" and named Penelope. Our MD came back, did the operation, studied the results and knew immediately "it's not LK but it absolutely is Penelope." I'm telling you it's a miracle. I have since contacted every single medical, therapeutic, educational professional who has ever crossed my son's path and not a single one, not a single one has ever heard of ESES Penelope. Not even the super-duper pediatric neurological / developmental specialists. That is incredibly telling, and not about Penelope but how much we really need to be advocates for our children / our family members / ourselves. I told my support group I'm tired of being the smartest person in the room, and by that I mean that I'm tired of steering this ship. But of course that's what we have to do, because lightning doesn't always strike, and no one has a more vested interest than we. So it's either take to my bed with a bar of chocolate and suck my thumb, or tackle home projects and sally forth. I'm still on the fence which I'll choose ... but since our bedroom / bath are now the only unrenovated rooms in the house it's not as salutary hanging out in there. But when I can afford to do them I am looking forward to a long nap and bout with depression! Ha ha on me. Oh! And about ordering the tiles: the way I did it was with Lundy at Villa Lagoon, requesting all patterns (no solids) and bright colors. I think it's now possible to order the designs you want from her, so you can be assured of the patterns you'll get. When we received our initial shipment I liked them but I noticed there was no black and not as bright as I'd hoped. Lundy agreed: these tiles had been picked and packed down in Cuba, she'd not had a hand in it, so it wasn't her fault. She then sent me a bunch more tiles with lots of black and bright colors, so it turned out really well. And I believe now she has tile in stock in Alabama, as opposed to having to come from Cuba. That would make it easier to choose the colors / patterns, plus the wait time will be greatly reduced.