<p>ahh a nerf soccer ball…sounds safer than Botox for our Fetching Fifties.</p>
<p>anxiousmom, I went 6 months in the fall/winter without a period and when I suddenly realized it one day, I thought, WOW! Maybe this is IT! Finally!</p>
<p>And then two days later I got a doozie. Sigh… So yeah, don’t count the chickens just yet.</p>
<p>I’m 52 and have missed a couple of periods but have been pretty regular, but am past due now… and the hot flashes just started getting very intense just last week. Before that I was having really mild hot flashes – feeling a little warm, but not really uncomfortable. I also have always had migraines associated with my periods, and I thought menopause would mean those would go away… but instead it seems that with the intense hot flashes I have had one continuous low level migraine --it feels like they do when they are just coming on, but doesn’t develop into the head-pounding agony that I usually resign myself to once a month, so I guess I can live with this. </p>
<p>Just a word about perimenopause and weight gain. When I was in my 40’s I gained a lot of weight and I attributed it to hormonal changes, and I attributed a lot of other “symptoms” such as edema, joint pain & lack of energy, and various other discomforts I had to pre-menopause. Well, then when I turned 50 I decided to do something about the weight. I joined a gym and started going regularly and also changed my eating habits radically – I lost about 60 lb. and got down to normal weight for my height – and a whole lot of my symptoms/problems went away. </p>
<p>So I think that hormonal changes can be a big factor in weight gain, but then the weight itself gives rise to its own set of problems – so if I had it all to do over again I would have gotten serious about diet and exercise 10 years before, because I really felt a lot better once I got myself back in shape. So the exercise + eat right stuff does help – and in a way I feel I lost some years of my life to thinking my body was giving in to middle age sooner than it had to. It’s nice to have my 38 year old body back, I just wish I could get back the face that went with it. ;)</p>
<p>This thread is hysterical! I crossed over into full menopause over four years ago. The month before my 45th birthday marked my last period (scant bit of next-to-nothing that it was). And I’ve been having raging hot flashes for over five years now. Occasionally, they’re not too bad (just a bit “warm”), but mostly I feel like I could just spontaneously combust! I wake up several times a night feeling like there’s a blast furnice just beneath my diaphragm. The heat starts there, making my back (I’m a back sleeper) feel so hot, I suspect the mattress might catch fire, before the inferno quickly engulfs the rest of me (even my feet!). What I hate is the way I vascillate between being hot as a chili pepper during the flash, and then chilly as a penquin a few minutes later—throw the covers off, hit the button on the remote to turn the tower fan on gale force—grab the covers back minutes later as the chill sets in. Turn fan off. Repeat hourly until morning.
I’ve tried various suppliments formulated for menopausal symptoms, with varying degrees of success, but today, I hitched up my skirts and ran to the health food market for some Black Cohosh. I sure hope this helps, because hot flashes during the summer are brutal. My mom is 20 years older than me and still gets them fairly regularly! I’ve got battery operated personal fans stationed throughout the house, and I NEVER leave home without a folding manual fan in my purse. </p>
<p>But still, I count myself somewhat lucky. I don’t get nightsweats (knocking wood now). I use to get them during the peri-menopause stage (wake up drenched, change night clothes), but they stopped when the hot flashes began in earnest. I don’t know what I’d do if the sweats and flashes were to tag team me during the night. Probably beg my GP for hormone replacement therapy (though the idea of HRT actually scares me senseless).</p>
<p>I really resent getting old----yes, I know, I’m not REALLY old, but this getting grey (alarmingly and prematurely, I might add), getting fat (a good 50 pounds over what I weighed just 15 years ago), really eratic sleep schedule (notice the time this post was posted), and seeing my granny in the mirror every time I go to the bathroom is JUST NOT FAIR!!! Ok, Mini-tantrum over…:o</p>
<p>Well, I don’t mind the getting gray part, because I found a real easy solution to that one in a bottle. 
I’ve got a color that I like & works well for me at home, so it’s just a once a month shampoo-in thing for me. </p>
<p>I also have the can’t-sleep thing, which is why I am posting now at 3 am…</p>
<p>poetsheart - that’s me with the fan thing, too. I go to bed with the ceiling fan on low, covers on, then have to get up and turn it to high for 5-10 minutes, then I’m freezing again and have to turn it back down. My poor husband is huddled under the covers suffering in silence. Wonder if they make fans with remote controls?</p>
<p>calmom - your post about the weight gain hits home. I lived the first 38 years of my life skinny as a rail and then, after S2 was born, the pounds started creeping on at a rate of 1 or 2 a year. Now here I am at 54, 30 pounds overweight with all the accompanying problems like sore knees, no energy, high cholesterol, etc. I make all the usual excuses about why I can’t get to a gym - working full time, raising 2 kids, no spare time. Your success gives me the inspiration to quit whining and feeling sorry for myself and blaming menopause and just DO IT. Thanks!</p>
<p>Last year at this time I was undergoing surgery and radiation for breast cancer and I just felt too overwhelmed to really get going on a diet and exercise plan. It’s time now to count my blessings for my recovery and start taking care of myself.</p>
<p>I picked up More magazine in the grocery line for the first time and had to have it for the above titled article; (June '06).
It’s Anne Kreamer’s tale of the 18 months it took to grow out the dye she’d been using for many years.
There is also a gorgeous photo of Emmylou Harris and her beautiful gray hair on page 25.</p>
<p>I’m 46 and have been Clairoling it for about 2 years. My hair doesn’t have a lot of grey but was getting incredibly drab. I love my brighter color but fear the chemicals more than I fear going on HRT.</p>
<p>Has anyone tried natural dyes? The one I got at Whole Foods turned my hair into straw. It was terrible!</p>
<p>Patsmom: congratulations on your recovery; you’ve had more important things on your mind than gray and a few pounds.</p>
<p>Calmom, thanks. Your story is great to hear. </p>
<p>I, too, started taking better care of myself for the last 2 years when I discovered I had type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. Although I don’t think I am as religious going to the gym as I should be. I have lost weight (although not as radically as Calmom) and have gained some back. But I don’t eat as much as I used to and feel great now. I try as much as I can…and perhaps being fitter than before helps with mood as well.</p>
<p>Patsmom, hang in there…and congrats on your recovery.</p>
<p>I am beginning to discover that the hot flashes happen sitting here at the computer!</p>
<p>Patsmom - yes, congrats on your recovery and congratulations for moving on to exercise and taking care of yourself! And, darn it, I thought that 5 months w/o a period meant I was done for good! And now I hear that that may not be so - and there is more to come??? I can see that I will have to do a lot more research and self-education about menopause. I figured that hot flashes DISAPPEAR after menopause - but from what I’m reading here, they can continue on for years. Ouch! We are a bunch of middle-aged, greying women, walking around chronically sleep-deprived. Maybe that’s why my brain feels like mush much of the time? :)</p>
<p>patsmom, best wishes to you…sometimes we take every day of good health that we have for granted. Stay healthy!</p>
<p>Weight Watchers is great for taking weight off and keeping it off. I had gained about 15 pounds after I turned 50. I honestly didn’t really much care, and thought it was just there to stay. But then a trip to Hawaii for a family wedding beckoned, and I decided to lose some weight so I wouldn’t feel too awful there. I lost all 15 pounds and have kept it off for over a year now, and run about 20 miles a week, at a quick pace (for a 54 year old that is!), plus lift weights (more in the winter than in the summer), do yoga and pilates exercises. </p>
<p>I remember that last August, I found myself sprinting several blocks in East Cost 90 degree heat/90% humidity heat to and from a car to carry several large boxes to a UPS store, and realized that I felt absolutely great doing it, and that I had all the energy of a 20 year old. I think that moment is what inspires me to keep off the weight and to keep running. I really feel good all the time. I know sooner or later I’ll probably get something like arthritis or an injury that will slow me down, but until then I’m keeping those running shoes on!</p>
<p>Spinner, I have been using Clairol Natural Instincts and love it. It is not a permanent dye – they say it lasts 28 shampoos, and I find that works for me to use it once every 4-5 weeks. I have no clue as to what is in it - I don’t blindly believe every label I see that has the word “Natural” in it – but it is obvious that is does NOT have any ammonia in it; it does have peroxide. It is a very easy shampoo-in dye and my hair is always very soft and full after I use it. </p>
<p>I decided to look it up online and and found this info, which pretty much gives an exhaustive list of ingredients:
<a href=“http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=3021034[/url]”>http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=3021034</a></p>
<p>Patient, I was having all sorts of “arthritis” problems when I was so heavy, and they all went away when I started exercising and lost weight – and I wasn’t exercising that much. I joined Curves, which is a good go-slow approach for an overweight, middle-age couch potato like me, and the only other exercise I get really is to walk about a mile regularly with my dog a few times a week. So bottom line, exercise is good. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to suggest that anyone with serious arthritis will have it cured by exercise - just that some of us sedentary middle-agers can wrongfully attribute aches & pains to old age or think we are developing arthritis when the problem is that we have just been too lazy. I’m talking about myself when I say “lazy” – I just don’t want to come off as if I am trying to lecture anyone else, because I always hated that – and many people truly have serious health issues that stand in the way.</p>
<p>Calmom: you mean there are people who don’t think the word “arthritis” is a dirty word? I was horrified when my doctor told me my chest xray for pneumonia showed some “normal arthritis” of the spine. I <em>know</em> that all those aches and pains are because I overdid it the last time I worked out.</p>
<p>Those of you who would like a truly painful method of whipping yourself into shape, I can suggest something called Sprint 8, which I have begun doing. After a three-minute warmup, you sprint (swimming, running, cycling, using a machine or whatever) as fast as you can for 30 seconds, then go slow (recover) for 90. Repeat for 8 cycles. For myself, after 3 months of doing this twice a week, I’m up from 3 cycles and collapse to 6 cycles and <em>want</em> to collapse. My sprint speed is up, and I feel enormously better and walk a LOT faster (my husband now complains he has trouble keeping up with me–it was the other way around). It’s also nice because it takes almost no time.</p>
<p>My brother (who is 60 now) was told about 10 years ago, when his knees starting bothering him after several marathons, that he had arthritis in both and should stop running. He did a few weeks of exercise bike, bought a couple of knee braces, and hit the road again. He has done a few marathons since then and continues to travel the world snowboarding (and of course making a name for himself as the oldest dude out there). “Mind over matter” I guess. </p>
<p>Our mom had arthritis and also rheumatoid arthritis and lived with moderate to severe pain for years. She was active and skinny, so sometimes it is not controllable; but I do agree that being in the best shape possible certainly can at least alleviate some ills.</p>
<p>I decided to stop tinting my hair a couple of years ago. The weird thing is, it really is gray, but when I look in the mirror, I still seem some brownish/blond Guess the eyes are going, too…self-delusion perhaps playing a role too…</p>
<p>self-delusion is an essential accessory for for menopause. I find that having a great circle of gal pals who all tell each other we actually “Look Better than We Did in College!” works wonders for me…however, I also note that sometimes it takes a village of friends to recount a story from thirty years ago or even a few years back!! Do you have this problem? </p>
<p>Now I really understand the true meaning of friendship…each of us remembers about 20% of What Really Happened and we can spend a meal piecing together our fractured memories into whole cloth. I swear, if my college roommates die, my past goes into oblivion with them. It is funny how some of us vividly remember scenes and incidents and others of us have lost the threads. Selective memory? Brain atrophy?</p>
<p>Im only ( 48?) so I havent had menopause yet
but I used to use [url=<a href=“http://www.naturcolor.com/naturcolor/]naturcolor[/url”>Naturcolor Rejuvenating Face Serum – Naturcolor is not just for hair anymore! - NaturColor]naturcolor[/url</a>] on my hair and was real happy with the colors and how it turned out.( ive also used the natural instincts- not as many choices with colors, but the texture is good)
I realized that my own lighter color is more flattering to my aging face than the darker red I had been using, so I had a professional color that will let my hair grow in without being noticable.</p>
<p>I have been going to the gym everyday- and also trying to remember to take SAM-e which not only helps with depression, but also connective tissue degradation. ( similar to chondrotin and glucosamine)
my hands do ache after the gym but I think I am going to start making an ice bath when I get home.
I have pretty loose ligaments and have trouble with my knees so I don’t use the treadmill or even the stair or elipictal machines.
I use the upright stationary bike and the rowing machine & then the weight machines. Since I just started up again a few months ago after recovering from an injury, I am just starting to go into free weights from the weight machines.The machines are really easy to use however.
Exercise also helps lubricate joints so it can help arthritis and other pains of aging. Also you need to have stronger muscles to support your bones- plus of course muscle burns more calories than fat.</p>
<p>I am hoping that by being motivated enough to get in really good shape before I have menopause, it won’t be such a huge PITA.</p>
<p>Big perk for aging eyes- my husband doesn’t notice that I am not 35 anymore- cause he can’t see so good!</p>
<p>Hey look! There’s hope for us! "
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Estrogen-like compounds derived from plants – phytoestrogens – seem to improve mental sharpness and mood for older women, a small study indicates." </p>
<p>" <a href=“http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_33698.html[/url]”>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_33698.html</a> We might not loose all of our thinking abilities! Maybe some of the homeopathic stuff helps after all (though they say the isoflavones do, and the black cohosh may not…
<a href=“http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_34330.html[/url]”>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_34330.html</a></p>
<p>And patsmom, my best wishes to you. And to all you out there who exercised, lost weight and generally took care of yourselves( in addition to caring for spouses, kids, etc), WAY TO GO!</p>
<p>I lost 20 lbs last fall, and kave keps almost all of it off. I must say that this year when we went skiing, though I still ski with supportive knee braces, my knees didn’t swell like thy have in the past few years. It was a pleasure.</p>
<p>my naturopath is also a fan of dong quai
<a href=“http://drnorthrup.com//index.php[/url]”>http://drnorthrup.com//index.php</a></p>
<p>I got my first grey streak at age 22 and was completely white by 37 when I stopped dying my hair. Recently I had it foiled (very minor highlights) with purple, pink, and orange–yes, “kid” colors–and it looks wonderful. Next time I have it done I’m going to add some turquoise and blue.</p>