Heidi Rae Coaching - My Menopause Symptoms - The TMI Ones

Beauties,

If you are not into TMI, exit now!! Like, go. Run. I am about to tell you about more symptoms of my menopause. Not because I love sharing ultra personal things, but because they aren't talked about and that made me think there was something seriously wrong with me!!!

It was an all-of-a-sudden experience for me with painful sex and vaginal dryness. It came out of nowhere and it was frightening for me. I was really concerned that something was wrong.. did I have an infection? Is there something suddenly anatomically wrong with me? What is going on? I cried and cried. I had just had my first hot flash within 24 hours of this experience, but I didn't immediately put the two/three things together. It wasn't until my next hot flash that I googled menopause and realized that painful sex and vaginal dryness are also symptoms. I was emotionally and mentally relieved.

I don't know if menopause also caused me to have a lower sex-drive, or if it was fear that it was going to be painful again. Thankfully, I have an incredible partner who I tell EVERYthing to (poor guy) and so we have worked through it together. For me, I do think it's probably a mixture of fear of the pain (which I think is completely linked to the vaginal dryness) AND a slightly lower libido due to menopause.

Thankfully, I have not experienced a drastic drop in self confidence (big menopause side effect). I would imagine that a lower self-confidence would just add to the symptoms I'm already experiencing.

One symptom is hard enough. When they start multiplying, it can be (was for me) overwhelming, scary, frustrating, confusing, maddening... YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you some of the things that I'm doing that are helping with my symptoms and give you an update on my HRT.

 

Heidi Rae Coaching - Menopause & My Symptoms

Beauties!

I'm going to talk about what made me realize we had a problem all up in here! I have always been a girl who is cold. Like, all the time. I have always slept in sweats with socks, heavy blankets tucked all up around my face. Super sexy, I know! At work, I have a space heater that is on no matter what month of the year it is AND a heating pad on my back. All day, every day.

It all started with being at work, sitting (literally sedentary). OR at the gym, directly under the fan whilst drinking ice cold Diet Coke (obviously). OR in bed with no covers on and the heating pad off... and all of a sudden, outta no where BOOM! My core body temperature would jump to the point of me looking around to see if I'd just been swallowed up by some hilltop volcano that was spewing fire and ash throughout my extremities. I am not exaggerating. The term, "hot flash," does no justice to the intense flow of lava going through my veins.

I googled, "What can I do when having a hot flash?" Would you like to know what it said?! I'm going to tell you! "Imagine you are laying in a cold place." Allow me to provide my internal response to that very solid advice... WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL?! This had to have been a man, or a woman, who has never experienced these horrific "flashes." You want me to "imagine that it's cold??" I tried it, by the way. It DID.NOT.WORK.

These hot flashes, that for me occur morning and night, have increased anxiety as well. When they come on, and I cannot cool my core down immediately, I find myself panicking. I am in an actual panic, which probably intensifies the hot flash. This is not the best cycle ever invented.

Ice packs help. Stripping down naked helps, but is not recommended at the gym whilst on the treadmill evidently. Also not recommended whilst at work in a public office, it seems. Running cold water on my hands helps. Being present also seems to help me - thinking about my senses, going through them, and reminding myself that it will go away.

The hot flashes, and accompanying anxiety, has been my most common and constant symptom. But, I have others and that's up tomorrow! PREPARE YOURSELF for TMI.

 

Heidi Rae Coaching - Menopause & HRT

Beauties!

I started HRT on Friday. (patch)

What is hormone replacement therapy?

HRT is used to boost your hormone levels. Whether you use it or not should be discussed with you and your doctor. Estrogen and progesterone are hormones that are produced by a woman's ovaries. ESTROGEN: thickens the lining of your uterus, influences how your body uses calcium, helps maintain healthy cholesterol, keeps your vagina healthy, helps prevent osteoporosis. PROGESTERONE: regulates blood pressure, improves mood and sleep.

Types of HRT:

- Pills

- Creams

- Vaginal Ring

- Vaginal Tablet

- Patch

- Spray

HRT Side Effects (not a complete list):

- If you still have your uterus, you can have irregular spotting

- Breast tenderness

- Mood swings

- Fluid retention

- Headaches

- Skin discoloration

- Increased breast density

- Skin irritation under estrogen patches

I will address my experience with my HRT patch as I wear it. My doctor recommended that we try my patch, and the dosage, for four to six weeks before adjusting it.

Possible Risks of HRT (information copied from the Cleveland Clinic website):

- If you still have your uterus & are taking progestic along with estrogen: increased risk of endometrial cancer

- Increased risk of blood clots and stroke

- Increased risk of gallbladder/gallstone problems

- Increased risk of dementia if HRT is started after midlife

- Increased risk of breast cancer with long-term use

Personally, the benefits of HRT outweighed the risks that were discussed with me. Again, that was a personal decision.

 

Heidi Rae Coaching - Menopause: My Back Story & Symptoms (Common & Personal)

Beauties!

My backstory:

I have given birth four times. Prior to having babies, I had very hard periods. They were painful and heavy. When I had my fourth baby, my tubes were tied during my c-section. My periods continued to be heavy & painful. Because of the amount of bleeding, I had a vaginal ablation when I was 33. That did not work. I then had a hysterectomy shortly after. Only a portion of one of my ovaries was left.

I feel that I mourned the end of my ability to have babies then and there. I did not have any desire to have more babies, however having that ability physically taken away ... I felt that it required a grieving period. One of the symptoms of menopause is "feeling a loss of self." I feel that I went through that 13 years ago and am not experiencing that in present time.

Common Menopause Symptoms:

- Anxiety

- Changes in mood (low mood or irritability)

- Changes in skin conditions (dryness, increase in oiliness, onset of adult acne)

- Difficulty sleeping

- Discomfort during sex

- Hair loss or thinning

- Headaches or migraines

- Hot flashes (short, sudden feelings of heat, usually in the face, neck and chest)

- Increase in facial hair

- Joint stiffness, aches and pains

- Loss of self-confidence

- Night sweats

- Palpitations

- Problems with memory, concentration and brain fog

- Recurrent urinary tract infections

- Urge and stress incontinence (wetting pants)

- Reduced sex drive (this could be due to painful sex)

- Tinnitus (hearing things that have no physical source)

- Vaginal dryness and pain

My current symptoms:

Everything checked is a present symptom of mine.

NOTE: I have had a double cardiac ablation, therefore palpitations are not super awesome because I don't actually know the direct source.

NOTE: I have had a stroke, therefore problems with memory, concentration, and the presence of brain fog is always a concern.

 

Heidi Rae Coaching - My Journey with Menopause

Beauties!

We are going to talk about my journey with #menopause. Why? Because this journey has begun. It literally is horrible. Not enough people talk about it. I'm going to talk about it. It might get uncomfortable for some people. I'm not sorry about that. Why? Because I need support, therefore I know others do too.

Things are changing all up in here, Beauties.

I am going to talk about what I am experiencing. This might be different from what other women are experiencing. I would love for others to share their thoughts & things that are helping them, or not helping them! We are all in this together.

Stay tuned to this page for menopause updates! Feel free to share this page with others, too.