Please, please never take medical advice from someone over the internet. You need to do your research and decide for yourself what's best for you. I provided a very little bit of information. You need to do a lot more research yourself using that information and any other information you get in response to your question before you decide to take your doctor's recommendation. The prozac/serafem isn't likely to do anything about the new menstrual problems you're having. Your doctor may be hoping that it will change the way you view these new problems. That's not as crazy as it sounds. Perimenopause is full of surprises and for a lot of women just knowing that these things are a normal part of menopause is calming. Everything you've listed here is normal in the years before menopause. Has your doctor done any diagnostic tests to rule out a physical cause for the changes other than menopause? An endometrial biopsy and an ultrasound might be good ideas if these have not yet been done. Bloodwork for menopause is a waste of time and money because the levels are so variable. Good luck and feel free to email me if you wish.

I married at 26 and tried to have a baby right away but no baby ever came, even after a bunch of nasty and expensive tests. I got divorced at 48. I had my last period a few days before I turned 52. I am 57 and I'm having a really hard time. Before I have a hot flash I might feel nervous or have malaise and sometimes outright nausea. I've had the feeling go on for as long as an hour but usually it lasts around five minutes. Then I get hot and then I get really cold. I have had as many as 30 hot flashes in a day. I am very emotional. The Tigers lost today and I got hysterical. They had a four-game losing streak and I was hysterical for four nights. I am still grieving over their loss today even though it has been over eight hours ago. My mother died a year ago. My cat died two months ago and I have no family because everyone is dead and I am divorced. I have financial problems because my paycheck hasn't kept up with inflation. My mother told me that menopause was great but I feel really depressed about it because I never had a baby and I feel really bad that my line is going to die out and I have no descendents. I think I am crazy.

Oilpainter,I sincerely appreciate your response. I did a little bit of research this evening, and I found a list of symptoms that could be caused by menopause. Hopefully, this will help others, too. Some of them are not the "normal" symptoms that our doctors or others tell us about and can be obscure,so it makes me feel a little bit better. Some Typical Perimenopausal Symptoms *Changes in bleeding (heavy bleeding, irregular cycles, missed cycles, light bleeding, clotting) *Anxiety, fear, depression, irritability, rebellion, crying jags, panic attacks *Fatigue, loss of energy *Low self-esteem *Suicidal thinking * Inability to tolerate tension *Inappropriate emotional responses *Low noise tolerance *Sleep disturbances, insomnia, sleepiness *Inability to concentrate, short-term memory loss *Drying and thinning of the gastrointestinal tract (causing constipation, ulceration, stomach pain, colitis, diarrhea, gas) *Bladder infections, frequency and urgency of urination, burning, incontinence *Vaginal dryness *Low sex drive, painful intercourse, reduction of fantasy, lack of lubrication during sex, diminished orgasms, lessened skin and nipple response *Hot flashes, night sweats, chills *Dizziness *Low blood sugar, trembling *Numbness, tingling, crawling feelings on skin *Dry, wrinkling skin; loss of collagen, sagging breasts *Dry, thinning hair; growth of facial hair, male pattern of hair on body *Brittle, slow-growing, and grooved nails *Osteoarthritis, bone thinning and loss, loss of height, shifting joint pains, joint degeneration, backache, mid-bone pains, muscle cramps and spasm, muscle weakness, and loss of strength *Rapid heart rate, palpitations, heart pain, increased cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, shortness of breath *Headaches, migraines, nausea *Dark gloomy circles under eyes *Weight loss or gain

I suffered from hot flashes for nine years, until I started taking Zoloft. My hot flashes were every fifteen minutes all morning and evening, with a little relief during the day. For women who have severe symptoms of menopause, precription meds are sometimes needed. If you have no quality of life because of your symptoms and you are completely miserable, like I was, thoughts of suicide can enter your brain -- prescription meds are a much better option. I tried all forms of natural remedies and NOTHING helped.