Hi, I am 46 in January and have been going through perimenopause since I was about 40. Started with sore swollen breasts, then heavier periods and even heavier then I had PMS for the first time in my life (It took 2 years before I realised it was PMS due to the cycles and timings of my symptoms) then I had insomnia around my PMS time and as the years have moved on my periods are all over the place. Then night sweats, nothing major just one a night and certainly no drenching of the bedding but enough to wake me up. I have periods with no symptoms and symptoms with no periods. The hardest part is no longer being able to say "Ahh! I feel like this because I am due on" the symptoms just hit me at any time and there is no rhyme or reason to them anymore. I have been waking up every night at 5am for months and thankfully I go back to sleep within 20 to 30 minutes sometimes less. Sometimes I get insomnia when and anxiety about insomnia when I wake up and cant go back after 4 hours etc but that usually is followed by my period which is now no more than a tiny spot of old blood, if that. I am using Progesterone (Natural) pessaries 400mg daily every day no break and have done for two years. Progesterone is the calming hormone, nick named "Natures Valium" were as oestrogen is an excitatory hormone. Over the years, as we age, progesterone starts to drop, when we fail to ovulate our bodied produce no progesterone at all (Except a small amount from the brain) and this is what causes a worsening of PMS symptoms as we reach menopause. Oestrogen levels on the other hand, remains the same (over time, of course it dips and ducks throughout the month) and with xenoestrogens in the environment and in our foods, cosmetics, microwave foods contained in plastic, meats etc that women are now no longer accepting the old fashioned belief that we need "Oestrogen" when facing peri and menopause, in fact quite the opposite! Oestrogen Dominance is no more a gimmicky term used to sell progesterone products than "Oestrogen Deficiency" is to the pharmaceutical companies who sell chemical hormones to the medical profession who prescribe them. The studies done on menopause were last researched in the 1950s and were incomplete and yet the medical profession are still treating hormone issues based on that out of date information. If you research the net you will discover *new* studies showing post menopausal women in their 50s with as much Oestrogen as a 20 year old woman but almost no Progesterone. The modern era has enough xenoestrogens to push our Oestrogen levels up already without us needing to put more into our system. It's not a case of a lack of Oestrogen, its the balance or lack there of, of these two hormones that cause the issues.. and as I say, modern research shows a decline in Progesterone whilst Oestrogen remains more or less the same. Women who have PND do so due to the sudden drop of progesterone once they give birth. Our bodies make 400mg of progesterone when we are pregnant. We give birth and suffer from depression anxiety etc due to the sudden drop in Progesterone. This is why many women say that their PMS goes when they were pregnant but comes back with a vengeance when they give birth. All that said, and despite my Progesterone therapy (Which I had to convince my female doctor to prescribe as she wanted me to have a coil fitted) I DO have bad weeks and hours and not all of the symptoms have gone and I wonder if I am getting worse the closer to menopause I get. According to my research you cannot overdose on progesterone, the only thing that would happen is you would feel sleepy! Take too much Oestrogen and all Hell breaks loose not to mention the links to cancers. If anyone is interested in the research and papers to back my own belief up here is a link to a forum on the subject http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/#axzz3KNpFIkMz I am very interested in womens experiences who HAVE taken HRT in either combination, for how long and whether they feel it was working :) Many thanks, Here is a link that might be useful: Progesterone Therapy

Birth control pills may help mask menopause symptoms By TOM VALEO Published March 28, 2006 All women can expect to enter menopause sooner or later, but women taking birth control pills may not notice, at least for a while. In the meantime, they can expect several benefits from the pill beside avoiding an unwanted pregnancy: They will avoid some of the most conspicuous signs of menopause, such as hot flashes, night sweats and irritability. "A woman on the birth control pill is getting hormones at a level above what her ovaries would produce,'' said Dr. Catherine Lynch, director of General Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa. "When a woman goes into menopause, the ovaries basically shut down and no longer produce estrogen or progesterone in any significant amounts, so a woman taking the birth control pill in the standard fashion of three weeks on active pills, followed by one week of inactive pills, often won't have any symptoms of menopause until that pill-free week. She may not even realize she's in menopause because she's getting adequate estrogen and still cycling.'' During the week when she is not taking active birth control pills, the woman may even have a "withdrawal bleed" caused by the sudden drop in estrogen. A withdrawal bleed is easily mistaken for a normal period. And if the woman is taking continuous-use birth control pills, she will take inactive pills only one week out of every 12 instead of every four, so she will have a withdrawal bleed no more than once every four months. "So a woman who's, say, 51 and taking Seasonale one of the continuous-use birth control pills isn't going to have hot flashes or night sweats for 12 weeks, because she's having estrogen provided for her by the pills,'' Dr. Lynch said. "She may experience symptoms during the week she takes inactive pills, but just as symptoms start to climb, she starts taking active pills again, and she won't appreciate that these are symptoms of menopause.'' But that's not all. Taking birth control pills also seems to reduce bone loss. In fact, if the woman is also doing weight-bearing exercises and getting plenty of calcium, low-dose birth control pills may even help build bone density. Women on the pill also experience less iron deficiency anemia, and some studies suggest that the pill protects against benign breast disease, endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer. The Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, the largest to investigate this last issue, found a 40 percent decrease on average of ovarian cancer in women who had taken oral contraceptives. The risk decreased as the amount of time on the pill increased, so women who had taken the pill for seven years or longer experienced a reduction in the risk of ovarian cancer of 60 to 80 percent. Some Women on the pill also experience less iron deficiency anemia, and some studies suggest that the pill protects against benign breast disease, endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer. studies suggest that oral contraceptives might even protect against colorectal cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Taking the pill has always meant an increase in the risk of blood clots, which can cause a stroke. But a woman who does not smoke, does not have high blood pressure, and takes a low-dose oral contraceptive can almost eliminate that additional risk. So why not just stay on the pill and enjoy all the benefits of hormone-replacement therapy, known as HRT? Because even low-dose birth-control pills deliver five to seven times as much estrogen as HRT. HRT simply gives the body back what the ovaries were producing before they were shut down by menopause. The birth control pill delivers a dose of hormones large enough to shut down the ovaries, and it's pointless for a woman to keep taking hormones after menopause has begun and she has stopped ovulating. She would be better off with hormone-replacement therapy, which would provide her with the same benefits but a lower dose of hormone. "The trick is figuring out when she is in menopause,'' Dr. Lynch said. "There are a couple of ways to test this, but they're not 100 percent reliable. She can go off the pill and see if she's still cycling, but if she's sexually active, there's an outside chance she could get pregnant. "While it's rare for pregnancy to occur at the age of 50 or 51, it can happen if you're still ovulating.'' Tom Valeo is a freelance writer specializing in medical and health issues. Contact him c/o Seniority, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail features at sptimes dot com. [Last modified March 28, 2006, 08:52:07] Here is a link that might be useful: from a Florida online newspaper

Weight gain during menopause is one of womens greatest fears. Women fear menopause makes it harder for them to keep weight off. The fact is, it's hard to tell exactly what the cause is for the weight gain. Women need fewer calories because generally, women become less active as they get older. But be careful when you cut back calories because you can actually slow your metabolic rate, which means you burn less fat and actually sabotage your weight-loss efforts. You'll also notice you store the extra weight in different areas. Hips, lower abs, and bottom store more due to gravity. Do you attribute weight gain to water retention? If it's fluid retention, you will probably notice that your ankles are swollen and your hands are puffy. It can also be related to excessive salt intake or a heart, kidney, or liver condition. If you have heat or cold sensitivity, suffer chronic fatigue, or experience difficulty concentrating, these are symptoms your thyroid could be out of balance. You can also work to control your blood sugar which will help you control your weight gain. In weight loss and weight control, your first goal should be to keep insulin levels from getting too high since insulin clearly promotes fat storage. hope this helps, Bob Here is a link that might be useful: menopause weight gain

It sounds like the hormones are working for you somewhat, if it's helping anxiety, and not making other sy mptoms worse that is good. As you are on them longer, you may notice more improvement. The purpose of sleep is HEALING. The body heals during sleep, the mind is resting and it is necessary ! I think you need to find a more empathetic sleep Doctor. Have you tried Benadryl for sleepng ?? It is very sedating for most people, and available over the counter. Trazadone would be a safer alternative as far as prescription meds go. My suggestons : 1) see a different Doctor 2) check out the Power Surge forums, there is a forum specific to insomnia, many good suggestions there 3) try to get off Restoril, it's not working anyway, remember to taper. 4) stop Sonata, it's not working either 5) try Benadryl 25 to 50 mgs for sleep