Post menopausal symptoms - Menopause Message Board

dorri · 03-14-2005, 07:18 PM

I am now 3 years into menopause. Does anyone know if you can get symptoms revisited after being relatively symptom free for a while. Some days, I have the weepy's along with depression, slight hot flushing, and anxiety. I'm beginning to wonder if this is related to my hormones once again? Can the hormones still play the up and down game 3 years later?

Stavia · 03-15-2005, 07:01 AM

I've been trying to find the answer to that too. I'm a little over 2 years post meno and I still have some symptoms sporadically. For example, I didn't have any hot flashes at all in February, and then at the beginning of this month I had 4 in one day and none since then.

I haven't been able to find very much information but I've read that symptoms can last up to 2 years post meno, although some women continue getting hot flashes for the rest of their lives. I'm now thinking that, since we all experience peri meno differently, our experiences with post meno will also be different.

dorri · 03-15-2005, 03:46 PM

I can relate, I hardly had a hotflash finishing, but last summer ( 2 years post-meno) I was having hot flashes for weeks on end. Now, I only get them occassionally. I've read that thinner people will have more severe hotflashes, because they don't have as much estrogen in their fat cells to compensate for the lack, but this is 3 years later??? so what's up with that??? You would think it would have balanced by now.
I'm thin so I could use some of those fat cells that the body uses to produce the estrogen.

twanger · 03-16-2005, 08:47 AM

I am two years post meno and still have some of the symptoms. Last month the bladder irritation came back after two years. It lasted a couple of weeks. Now the hot flashes are coming. Not as bad as in peri but still can work up a sweat.

The anxiety never completely went away. It came on strong in peri with all the symptoms and the doom and gloom feeling. I don't have that as bad and can, in most instances, deal with it.

IBS comes and goes but I had that before. I guess that the aches and pains are there everyday but that may be due to fibro.

Overall, I feel so much better than I did in peri. However, I still suffer from some residual symptoms. I wonder how long they last.

dorri · 03-16-2005, 04:09 PM

I have some bladder pressure (irritation) as well. I found some information which says, that the estrogen drops very low post menopausally, but the body continues to produce male hormones by the adrenal gland and small amounts of female hormones. I don't think we will grow a full beard or anything like that, but some women grow coarse facial hair or fuzzy facial hair during this time.. ( I've already experienced the fuzzies and had to have my face waxed to get rid of it.) I also read that when the male hormone is dominant, some women start to lose hair from their head and gain it in other places. From my understanding these male hormones sometimes rule and disrupt our fine balance or what is left of the female hormones. Interestingly enough, some of the male hormones are converted into the female hormones, eg. testosterone can be converted into female hormones and visa versa. The body is so complex at this time, so this probably explains why we may still be having hormonal irregularities. Eventually all ovarian function is lost, so the body has to rely on the adrenal gland and the fat in our cells to produce estrone and its precursors. Like I said before, it seems to me, that it pays to have atleast some fat in the cells as this may help our bodies to continue to produce some natural estrogen, although minimal. Anyone who can explain this in simplier form or has info to add, please feel free to do so. Further advice would be appreciated.