Prempro? Effexor? Ambien? Nothing???
Denise Evans
17 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (19)
zoezoe
17 years agogoldensmom
17 years agoRelated Discussions
Can we talk? I'm 54 and going crazy.
Comments (75)Unfortunately, I agree w/auntjen. My family has doctors in it back several generations (including one ancestor who treated people in both the Union and Confederate armies, believing that people are people no matter what), but they'd all be spinning in their graves/urns to see what's become of "medicine" and associated industries today. Big pharma doesn't feel it really has to "prove anything with science", either, as evidenced by the rampant cheating, misreporting, ignoring side effect reporting, balancing how many lives they can lose before the damages payments become overwhelming, before they have to do a recall, etc. Or maybe they feel the right to prove anything they want with 'science', is another way to look at it. Basically, as auntjen said, profit conquers all. Kind of funny to be warning against alternatives when some big pharma products have *just above* been revealed to be horrendous and decptively advertised. If I had waited for conventional medicine to address my hormonal issues adequately, I'd probably be in a mental hospital by now. Geting a friend's mom's reference to Emerita pro-gest when I was about 40 was the best medical thing to happen to me next to having cancerous moles taken off and a heart attack stopped with incredibly high levels of nitroglycerine. OH, and last month my pharmacy which has known me for about 5 years once again messed up my prescription for something I take every day, giving me a yet-cheaper generic rather than the somewhat-less-cheap generic they had been giving me before, even though I've told them every single month to order the somewhat-less-cheap one for me because the yet-cheaper one just *doesn't work*. Did I check this last month? NO, because I was harried and I guess I trusted them. I know them all by first name, one mom's daughter is on my daughter's XC team...but I was miserable for a MONTH because of human error in mainstream medicine, and because the so called generic "identical" meds, with loads of "science" stats behind them, are anything but. I don't trust any of it anymore....See MoreHormones or antidepressants for intolerable Perimeno symptoms????
Comments (4)I have a similar story. My gyn told me in my 30s that I had started perimenopause, but since I had very few symptoms except for some long periods, I thought nothing of it. About eight months ago, I woke to ringing in my ears, vertigo, and depression. Just one morning out of the blue. I'm now 47. I couldn't drive, go to the store, and had lost all interest in just about everything. I developed TMJ and back and neck pain. After many doctors and ents, I finally stuck with one doctor who put me on a low does valium and told me I would get better. I also have a physical therapist that works with me once a week. I took the valium for three months, then quit. And even though all my symptoms are all still here, I'm now managing. If you go down the list of peri symptoms, I have most of them. The doctor told me that depression will make symptoms worse, and if I needed to go on Xanax or valium, I would again. I understand where you are coming from and sometimes no matter how strong we think we are, we all need alittle help....See MoreSearching for help!
Comments (20)Mrs. H, you mentioned that perhaps some of those women are on antidepressants ... you may very well be right! I am 3-1/2 weeks off Effexor XR, and I have been through the most hellish withdrawal symptoms (I've read online that Effexor withdrawal is not unlike heroin withdrawal - yikes!). Effexor is commonly prescribed for menopausal women because it does seem to help with the depression and the flashes/sweats. I had taken it for over 6 years (I initially went on it to help with some anxiety/depression issues I was having), and tried four times to get off of it (both by weaning and going cold turkey) but could not bear the withdrawal, so always went back on. I finally determined that I was going to rid my body of this drug once and for all and take a natural, holistic approach to my well-being, and that's when my flashes/sweats/chills started to the point of being near-debilitating. I have just found a holistic doctor who told me that she doesn't think I'm in the full-on throes of menopause yet (although we are testing the ol' hormones, so it will be interesting to find out what's revealed there), but that my flashes/sweats/chills are directly linked to Effexor withdrawal. She's started me on a program of amino acids to help restore balance to my brain chemistry, and hopefully, my body will learn to regulate itself normally once again. At any rate, my experience with antidepressants is that they do indeed "work" (at least they did for me), but I'd rather have gone through some of my darker moments unmedicated than suffer the withdrawal that I've gone through for closing in on a month now. For anyone who may be considering antidepressants, please, please, please research thoroughly and don't just take what your doctor says at face value. (My doctor who initially prescribed the meds only told me that many of her patients take them, and that some people choose to stay on them for the rest of their lives ... yeah, because they can't get off!) I wish you all a wonderfully relaxing, happy, and sweat-free weekend. :-)...See MoreType Of HRT for Me?
Comments (18)Weight hasn't changed so much, but my energy levels have taken a nosedive. My "back in the day" equivalent is that I used to swear I'd never stop working out consistently. I was fit as a fiddle and proud of my body. I had energy to burn. When I heard older women talk about not being able get themselves to exercise, I thought they lacked willpower. I looked down on their flab. . . . What an ignorant young woman I was. I'm still a good weight, but don't have the tone I used to. The thing is, I know I'd feel a lot better if I was exercising regularly, but my lack of activity seems to have made it even harder to get going. A vicious cycle. I have an appt. next Wed. to meet with my dr. to review my hormone test results. This is for bloodwork -- est, prog, DHEA, thyroid, ferretin (iron). I'm curious to to see what my levels are. Next week I'm also meeting with an allergist for a series of skin tests. Never had food allergies before, but something new I'm dealing with along with perimenopause. I've heard that folks with thyroid problems can have allergies. It's such an issue because I can't tolerate allergy and cold medicines. They just make me feel awful -- something I don't need in addition to hormonal stuff. So, I'm hopingl to find out what foods I need to avoid. I don't care if it's my favorite, I'll drop it like a hot potato. Tina...See Morecarla17
17 years agonenerobin
17 years agobud_wi
17 years agoplumbly22
17 years agocheerful1_gw
17 years agogardener64
17 years agoplumbly22
17 years agocheerful1_gw
17 years agonancybeth
17 years agocheerful1_gw
16 years agothematerialgirl_windstream_net
13 years agopookette214_aol_com
13 years agolinnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
13 years agovala55
13 years agojjen
13 years agovpol4_roadrunner_com
13 years ago
Sponsored
shatwanee_yahoo_com