I need your help - Menopause Message Board

Nanaj54 · 09-29-2003, 03:30 PM

Hi all
I have a few questions and I hope someone out there can answer them...

I am 49 and perimenapause, I am taking birth control pills for hot flashes and night sweats (which is working)and taking zoloft for my anxiety and GETTING UGLY, hehe. Anyways, I did not bleed for one month;
let me back up, for a year now I hardly bleed but I always do some! After that one month of NOT bleeding I have become more anxious than ever, upset always, just feeling crappy..

I went to see my female doctor and she put me on more antidepressant called Wellbutrin , along with my Zoloft..

Question, is that what should be done for perimenapause? I am getting scared I am taking so much. And IS it normal to feel so WEIRD FROM PERIMENAPAUSE???
Please help and thanks
Nana

Monday1954 · 09-29-2003, 03:33 PM

Hi fellow 1954, yes it is normal, that is what most of us came here seeking the answer for....is this normal or are we all crazy!!!!!

I think normal for menopause is crazy. There is a thread here that list 35 signs of perimenopause, I will find them and bump them up for you.

Nanaj54 · 09-29-2003, 03:46 PM

I certainly meet alot of those symptoms, but doing anti-depressant is that what most doctors do? I asked to start me on hormones but she say I have to NOT bleed for a year... Is anybody else taking zoloft and wellbutrin?

Monday1954 · 09-29-2003, 04:02 PM

Nana, you need to get another doctor, HRT is a help for perimenopause, some doctors put their patients on birth control pills.

If you want to keep your same doctor, study up and read all about perimenopause. It can last as long as 10 years. My doctor gave me Prempro and it had not been a year since I had a period. My initial complaint was that they were coming closer together and with quite a bit of heavy bleeding. She did a blood test that said my FSH was high, this stands for follicle stimulating hormone, when estrogen production starts to slow down, the body trys to jump start ovulation. I did skip a few months here and there but the next month they would be right back. My husband and I used to joke about it, let any occaision, holiday, or vacation come up and I would be sure to get my period, even if it had only been two weeks before.

Ask your doctor at what age he/she thinks menopause starts, it is not a cut and dried process. When you have been period free for one year is when I think they say you have GONE through menopause, not going through.

pizzaparty · 10-09-2003, 04:13 PM

Wow! I like that description! "Buried within her own body". My doctor recommended Zoloft for me as well. I felt offended, not realizing until I've read everyone here that it was common to prescribed. I felt like it was his way of saying that he didn't belive my moodiness was from the hormone shifts. In fact, he said - "far too many things get blamed on hormones!" I felt like his prescription was his subtle way of saying I was crazy! Or clinically depressed! I'm glad I haven't taken it though now that I've read your e-mail. I don't want to feel masked.