Thanks for the response. My post was somewhat confusing. I am not happy about these changes, I don't consider my hormone levels to be balanced, and I DO feel that I have too much estrogen in my system. I was handling menopause just fine with my HRT, but now I am back to dealing with sore bbs, periods, etc. My question I guess is: Did all these changes happen because I gained the weight? Did my estrogen dominance cause me to kick back into ovulation, etc? Or is this just a random last gasp by my body to return to pre-menopause, after 2 full years of nothing?

The following is the Q&A on Late Menopause: Q:"Are there any advantages to still having periods at the age of 56? Is there a benefit to late menopause, or is it better to undergo it earlier? "  Rosemary, Pennsylvania A: Having a late menopause (menopause after the age of around 55) is a double-edged sword. There's some evidence that a later menopause carries a decreased risk of coronary heart disease, but there may also be a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. However, the associations between these health conditions and menopause aren't very strong. The other good news is that there are ways to avoid many health problems  such as doing regular exercise, following a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and so forth. There is an association between menopause and smoking  smokers often have an earlier menopause. You are probably a nonsmoker, though, which is also good for your health. Keep in mind too that 56 is well within the normal age range for menopause, though it's toward the upper end of the spectrum. So you have nothing to worry about right now. Last Updated: 08/04/2008 JoAnn Manson, MD, is a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Boy, can I relate to this post. I could of wrote this myself. I had an FSH of 29 two years ago, along with horrible symptoms of irregular heartbeats , extreme anxiety, Insomnia...on and on. The Doc said early Menopause, I had it retested last month, it was 4 !!!!! I had the same reaction as you... I am expecting the worst, as some of my symptoms have lessened , now I am thinking it will all start over full force. I had waited to re-test the FSH , and thought that maybe I was Post , as I have felt somewhat better with some of the symptoms... I had my Uterus removed 15 years ago, so no periods to help establish where I am in all this. I am confused as to what this all means just like you, You are the first one I have found to have the same issue, sorry for you, but a relief for me to have someone to talk to !! I am wondering if it has something to do with he Thyroid.. as I am Hypothyroid, with Hashimotos Disease. I was curious before, but now I see you have Thyroid issues also, wondering if there is a connection... the Thyroid is part of the Endocrine system like the Ovaries ... Anyways, I feel like I am rambling.. just know that you are not alone, and I hope you fee better knowing that someone else is dealing with the same craziness, I know I sure do. Peace, Rebecca

All of you ladies are so right!!! I am so thankful I found this forum, to give me the courage to do what I knew inside I needed to do. After my last post to lilysuzanne last night, I sent him a text message (he was at his mom's with is kids). It was around 2:30am... if course I couldn't sleep. The text said basically I couldn't be in this relationship with him any more & I would talk to him in the mornign when he came home. This morning, we had that conversation. I did break up with him. As bad as I hurt, I feel that much more liberated. He kept saying stuff was about his kids, but as I pointed out to him, nothing he said correlated to his children. It was all about him and his fear(s) of committment, "manning up", and DEMONSTRATING his love for me. He referenced the times less than four that he has attempted to do family oriented things with me and his children. He said his son feels uncomfortable because of tension that he feels, and felt 1 or 2 other times when we were all together and his father and I were upset with one another. I reminded him that we have NEVER argued in front of or around his children; not even when we were all the same house. He said, it was "ONE" time his son flet like we were angry with one another and it made him feel uneasy... Now, everytime I am around he (his son) gets that feeling. My answer to that was: 1. The only way to overcome negative feelings is to be consistently positive, and taling advantage of those moments when the opportunity presents itself. 2. The tension his son felt was the uneasiness that we all have being on pins & needles around each other the less than four times I have been around them. Moreover, my BF does nothing to counteract his son's excuses. 3. He knows just like I know, that if a child hears bad things from BioM for years and dad does nothing to counteract the negativity, then the child will feed off of that. He said he knew that I have never done anything to disrespect or hurt his children. His children would respect me in my presence, BUT he needs to make sure that his realtionship with his kids is guarded. He is concerned about how they "view" him. To me, that was a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Another excuse! His children will always love him. All he has to do is do what is right. We went on and on--- so much was said... but the bottom line was that I told him I just couldn't do this anymore. He agreed that I was a selfLESS person, and had given up a lot. He left the house, but called in 5 minutes trying to confuse me... but I held my ground! He said... "Everytime I think we are making progress in our relationship, and getting closer to the goal of marriage something comes up to step in the way of the plan." I know his goal was to catch me off guard and say to myself, "Self, you are moving too fast. Slow down. He was about to ask you to marry him. Give him a little longer... another chance." Luckily, I could visualize every post on this forum from last night. I almost gagged, that he thought after all we talked about that I should wait one more day to move "closer..." Is he crazy? Wait! Let me answer that... YES! He is CRAZY! 9 years is long enough. THANKS LADIES, and angelz DH (for giving me a man's POV, whiched helps me to seal the deal).