Ups and downs and menopause...

MissLulu

Well-Known Member
This is one for the ladies!

I seem to cycle through good patches and bad patches in terms of how I cope with my son. Essentially nothing has changed for months. As far as we know he is stable, but we have very limited contact with him (a text once a week or so) so it's hard to be sure. In any case, there's no hard evidence that his situation has changed, but my mindset seems to vary wildly. One day I can be mentally strong, coping well and getting on with life - the next day I feel teary and anxious and I can't concentrate on anything but thoughts of my son.

I'm beginning to wonder if there is something more going on wth me - if perhaps my mood swings have a hormonal component. I'm 54 and heading towards menopause so perhaps that is why I seem to backslide so often in terms of my mood. I was wondering if anyone else fluctuates like this without a change in their child's situation? Maybe it's normal to have good days and bad days? I don't know...
 

newstart

Well-Known Member
Hi Lulu,
Menopause does mess with your emotions, but then having a child that is off track will be emotional no matter what stage you are in.
I am 4 years post menopause now and have noticed the my emotions are a bit better. My daughter goes off the rails often so it keeps me off balance still but I feel better grounded since going through the change.
I kept fit while going through menopause, exercised and tried to eat right. I hope you go through your stage quickly and smoothly. I did not get hot flashes. I got 'chills'. I drank lots of water and most important I had to get distance between me and my daughter.
 

overcome mom

Active Member
I definitely have good days and bad days. Sometimes I can figure out why I am dealing better sometimes the saddest comes out of know where. I am a good 10 years out of menopause now, but I will say when I was going through it, I did have times that my emotions seemed to be related to my hormones. I always looked at menopause as a reverse puberty.:D
 

MissLulu

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies. I guess there's no one answer. I had a bad day yesterday and was looking for answers.Today is better.

I know I need therapy to get me to the other side of this, but being in lockdown makes that tricky. On Sunday our Premier will announce the easing of restrictions. I'm not sure what that will look like yet, but it might open up the opportunity for face to face consultations with a therapist and if that's the case, I will make an appointment.

I think I was low yesterday because I texted my son tor remind him it is his father's birthday tomorrow and Father's Day (here in Australia at least - I don't know about elsewhere!) Anyway, my son didn't reply, which made me anxious and teary. That's when I thought, "This is not normal. Maybe I'm menopausal..." LOL! Today nothing's changed but I feel better.

Hope you are all having a nice day!
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
The sweating...OMG, the sweating! I would sweat through my clothes and then have to wear wet clothes the rest of the day. I quit wearing base makeup and sunscreen because I would sweat so badly it would run off my face and get in my eyes. The mood swings were pretty intense, too. Either that, or my hubby was consistently being a butthead for about eight years. I'm on two medications for depression, still, because I'm stable now and want to stay that way. I was never on hormones for menopause, not sure why.

Hope things smooth out for you soon. Menopause is miserable.
 

MissLulu

Well-Known Member
Honestly, it drives me bananas that we women have to go through this - as if we haven't had enough with the periods and the childbirth and what not! LOL. I'm generally doing okay with the peri-menopause stuff. I get the occasional night sweat but other than that, it's really just these periods of low mood that are bothering me. Maybe they're not caused by menopause, maybe it's PTSD from Difficult Child, who knows? I'm probably due for a visit to the doctor to talk about some of this stuff. As soon as restrictions are eased I'll make an appointment.
 

ksm

Well-Known Member
I had surgical menopause at age 48. I will be 65 this week. About 6 weeks after surgery, we got custody of out two DGDs who had been in foster care for a year. Yes, it took that long! I was very fatigued, thought it was still related to my surgery and menopause. Turns out, I had hypothyroidism. It helped to get on medication. But still very tired. Turned out my vit D level was extremely low. I think menopause affects a lot of things! I started on bio identical hormone replacement troches, (from a compounding pharmacy) based on my hormone levels. It helped a lot. Not all doctors agree on hormone replacement, as unopposed estrogen replacement can have risks. But bio identical has estrogen, progesterone and testosterone combined. It worked for me! I have been off hormone replacement therapy for at least 5 years.

Ksm
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I had surgical menopause at 34. I had the wildest mood swings, like being a teenager all over again. Yuck. It was bad enough the first time! You can get your hormones tested and replace them, which will effectively control the symptoms that are truly from menopause. I hope it gets better whether it is caused by menopause or something else.
 
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