I can't tolerate this because it gives me GI problems, but lots of docs recommend Glucosamine/chondroitin tablets or liquid. People on it say it makes their joints feel better.........but it takes a couple months to really make a difference. You're probably dealing with some osteoarthritis. Try an ice pack on it several times a day. If that doesn't help, try a heating pad. I have intermittant really bad pain in my one thumb base, and it seems to happen from the way I'm sleeping. If this is your case, you can buy a little hand/wrist splint and sleep with it on, so you can't bend your thumb during sleep. Also, my joint pains flare up when I eat too much salt or too much sugar, so you could try limiting those things.

Maureen57 I know exactly how you feel. I joined this forum 4 years ago and it saved my sanity. I haven't had a period for 3 years and before it stopped I had had at least 7 years of awful menopause symptoms. I thought I was beginning to get back to normal but in the past month I've been having nausea, dizziness, irritability, mood swings and sweats again! When I see how many others this is happening to I feel like just giving up. As I type this now I am in tears. I have never taken anything the doctor prescribed and only gone down the natural route. I have spent thousands of pounds on vitamins(which I regularly take)and hormone creams. I watch what I eat.What else can I/we do? I said to my husband just the other day that I preferred having periods to this! I'm 53 and don't want the rest of my life to be like this. Its a truly depressing thought. Once again, this forum will be my saving grace as I know I'm not the only one.

You know, I actually had my left ovary removed at age 46 due to cramping pain in it off and on, plus really bad cramps in it during my periods. It did have a big cyst on it that had stayed there for months in spite of bc pills, so I thought that was the cause of my pain and so did my surgeon. Well, afterwards, I was surprised to find out that I STILL had pain in the region where my left ovary had been! By coincidence, I discovered that when I took a diuretic pill, the pain went away. I was the kind that always got a lot of pelvic bloat pre-period. I think the bloat pressed on a pelvic nerve, and that is what caused the pain. I'm now menopausal and on HRT, so I still get pelvic bloat when I go on the progesterone part of my "cycle", and I still get pain in the "left ovary" region at times. Once in a while the bloat has been bad enough that I felt like I had to pee all the time even though I did not have a urinary infection. I would also have a feeling of numbness "down there". I discovered that a diuretic relieved all that, so it must be a nerve compression thing. I guess when I got older, the spinal disks settled down and created a narrower channel for the nerve to go through. Now, I don't say that this is the cause of every woman's ovary pain, of course, but it might be for a few. Wouldn't hurt to try a diuretic to see if the pain is relieved, though.

There are herbal supplements you can take that work similarly to estrogen. Do a search. I recommend Susun Weed's book, "Menopause" for ways to understand it and get through it naturally. https://www.amazon.com/New-Menopausal-Years-Alternative-ALTERNATIVE/dp/B007NBWWH8 Do the surgery and deal with menopause. It's better than dealing with cancer. Wishing you good health.