When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. My lemonade recipe for the drought and the death of plants in my garden is the less outdoor work I'll have to do, the less time I'll have to spend watering plants, the lower watering bills in summer (unless they jack up the watering prices dramatically), and the opportunity to spotlight some very nice lovely drought tolerant plants. And maybe, just maybe weeds might succumb to the drought and I'll have less weeding to do (pipe dream I know as the weeds will probably thrive). The space freed up in my gardens by the plants that succumb to the drought I'll leave open to allow the survivors to stand out better. Because I grow a lot of drought tolerant plants, there are many that can stand out, lantana, rosemary, yucca, knockout rose, and various ornamental herbs and grasses. Maybe, I'll get a joyful and happy surprise and find out some of my plants are tougher than I thought and they'll make it. I'm not counting on it, but I'd be jumping for joy if my beloved blue salvias and various dahlias could make it. Even when the rains do return, I and others I've spoken with firmly believe water restrictions are here to stay because of the higher demand on water as a result of the increasing population and the piss poor planning by govt and greed of property developers. So no matter what, I'm not going to be planting impatients or other water loving plants ever again. I'm simply praying I will be able to water outside next year even if it's on a restricted schedule. And I'll be adding more rain barrels to the 3 I already have to catch any rain that does fall next spring.

things continue to go well, although some problems. I got another period 2 weeks ago, the first 24 hours I went through wearing THREE super absobent products at one time for a total of 50 products, I was changing every 2 hours, it was horrible. then it suddenly stopped and I am getting my energy back. My energy is coming back sooner, though, than it used to when I had a period every month. the night sweats have gone mostly completely away now that I can again exercise outside. the water intake is very important to my reduction of hot flashes I have noticed. For some reason, milk makes my bladder overactive. Strange things I am figuring out to make my transition work for me. it is still better than the monthly cycle,, Good luck all! Lori

My gosh. I thought I was the only one in the world, and here you all are! I'm 55. I had an hysterectomy when I was 41 and my ovaries removed at 43. I have been on estrogen only HRT since I was 44 with no issues. I had a normal mammogram six months ago. I started taking methotrexate for arthritis six months ago and my extremely sore and swollen breasts seemed to start when I moved to the higher doses of that drug. I even had some evidence of lactation from my right breast. My GP ordered hormone tests and they all came back in the normal range except SHBG which is a protein that binds to sex hormones to carry them around in the blood stream. I also had a mammogram which showed enlarged ducts with some debris. (My boobs are trashed after breast-feeding five kids but nothing they did is anything on this pain and tenderness.) I missed a couple of doses of methotrexate (taken weekly) and my breast pain seemed to start to diminish. I also stopped my HRT because I was so desperate for some relief. After a month, the pain has substantially subsided but I still have a residual tingly burn and they haven decreased much in size. I am yet to have repeat hormone tests or a repeat mammogram. I will try the flaxseed recommended above and post anything else that changes.

Hi figittts, A beta blocker is a drug that blocks the various beta receptors in our blood vessels. They are in our arteries in our brain and also in our hearts. (I'm no expert, so I'm just saying what little I know). When something activates our beta receptors, it causes our vessels to constrict, our BP and heartrate to rise. There's something about the beta blocker that prevents the spasming of blood vessels in our head, which is what causes the aura and the migraine. Supposedly, we get auras because the vessel spasm is in the vicinity of our optic nerve. Beta blockers are not without their side-effects.......like listlessness, lack of energy, motivation and for those who already have low blood pressure, it can make you feel dizzy. I'm on the drug Toprol XL and take just a smidgen of it. I'm not sure it keeps me from having migraines now, since the headaches really started easing up when the further away I got from having periods. I have the auras about every 6 months now, with just a very mild headache. How long have you had them? I'm almost afraid to say this, in case your's just started up, but they say that if you've had them your whole life, you tend to get over them during menopause. But if they just started up at menopause, then you're likely to keep them. That happened to my sister-in-law. she's on Topamax. I think it made her gain weight.......but most drugs that affect the brain do. You may have to try several different meds for migraines, until you find one that works. Are yours around the time of your period (or when your period usually is)? Look up Migraines on the internet and you'll find places that tell you things to modify, to help reduce your liklihood of getting migraines. when mine were really bad, I had to give up chocolate, nuts, MSG, and others. And I absolutely positively couldn't eat ANYTHING after 6:30 in the evening, or it would cause a migraine in the morning. I've heard that people with sleep apnea can get migraines, and once they start using CPAP, their headaches improve.