Babette wrote:...Muse, after reading this thread, I'm not 100% sure I'm "menopausal" now. (everyone else, Muse and I have an ongoing offlist discussion about hormones, sorry)...
Babs, get them to do an FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) blood test, the higher it gets the more the brain is trying to get an egg to mature. This was and I suspect still is the gold standard for determining if you are or are not in the menopausal phase. Remember, too, during perimenopause, estrogen levels can vary by up to 500% every other day and if that's not enough to make ya nuts, I can't imagine what might. I hated perimenopause! Dreadful time, I went back on the BC pills that worked well for me to stop the night sweats that saturated my bed linens, gave me tachycardia, woke me up several times each night with sweat pouring off my scalp & into my eyes, down my back, collecting in body creases. Changing sheets several times/night is not conducive to getting any restful sleep; finally ripped open a garbage baggie and placed in under a beach towel and that under a sheet so I only had to replace those top 2 layers (hadda buy a waterproof liner for my pillow too as I ruined several pillows with sweat until it dawned on me to get a waterproof cover). This was before my apnea started...can't imagine what an awful experience this would be combined with apnea! Re-read John Lee's book on perimenopause...lots of good info, good tips too. The emotional rollercoaster is extreme as body hormones flucuate wildly from day to day. My loved ones and friends even though something was dreadfully wrong with me during that period.
Babette wrote:...beginning to suspect the new formula Birth Control Pills are causing my new symptoms. Might have to talk to the doc about this. Didn't really see it before, but this last round of PMS has made it painfully clear. I was suicidal most of Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Then suddenly on Tuesday I'm JUST FINE, thank you very much.
Might be you're outta eggs and thus not producing enough progesterone so really really really estrogen dominant...after the follicle that ripens the egg is ruptured by the release of the egg, it falls back onto the outside of the ovary and begins producing about 19-21 mgms of progesterone each day for about 14 days. When we stop ovulating (maturing & releasing an egg), our progesterone levels fall rapidly. Most Canadian & American women (in studies) by age 35 are producing almost no progesterone. Every cell in every woman's and man's body has progesterone receptors...even sperm!...so it's vital to the cells. It is produced by the adrenal glands in small amts every day but stress taxes the adrenals and all too often they can't produce what we need.
BTW, BC pills prevent maturation & release of the egg and the synthetic hormones in them typically and paradoxically have the opposite effect of the hormones the body produces. That's why topical progesterone is so popular, helps to balance the estrogens (every fat cell can produce the 3 major estrogens so unless you are one of the 3% who are painfully thin, you're producing lots of estrogens, they only drop 20-40% during menopause anyway, it's progesterone that drops to ziltch).
