Newbie questions and statements of fact.
Question:
JustMe wrote in message <35C31843.5C2B9…@europa.com>… >Hi, Im the newest newbie of all. I have not been lurking. I
just subscribed to this news group today. I think I am entering meno. <trimmed> Hi and welcome Mary 
I’m also fairly new to posting here myself and always glad to see another join in asm (asm = alt.support.menopause). Peri-meno is short for perimenopause. This is used to describe the time (usually many years) leading up to menopause, when the body is going through hormone related changes. Menopause, as an event, has been variously described as the day of your last period, the first day of your first non-period (ie, one month after your last period), six months after your last period and, most commonly, one year after your last period. Then you get to be postmenopausal and award yourself some sort of prize I expect your PS on wild yam cream will cause comment. I have not used it myself or researched it much, but it does not seem to be as popular with everyone here on asm as it obviously is with you. One thing I would like to comment on, you say >I don’t know if this is placebo effect or not. If it is, it is
subconscious. But I say, If its working, don’t knock it. My first comment on that is – that’s ok if you can afford it. I guess you can. Secondly, if I thought something might be a placebo, I would personally try hard to find some way of creating the same effect which didn’t line somebody else’s pocket. Anyway, you say you have had symptoms other than two months of irregular periods – so you might want to checkout the unofficial web-site at http://www.oxford.net/~tishy/asm.html which has a list of 33 Symptoms as well as loads of other useful info (perhaps you would like to checkout the articles on wild yam cream too). — Talia ta…@wgd.globalnet.co.uk
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -HomemakerJ wrote: > rcjac…@pacbell.net wrote: > > I think some of the symptoms we experience > > may be due to factors other than menopause, (snip) I think the same can be said for some other > > complaints, i.e. insomnia: is it menopause, is it age, or something > > else? I do not know, but I do take comfort in knowing there are other > > women with the same symptom. > Oh dear, Ruth, I just had to post and tell you that your insomnia will > end. I know you know that, but just your choice of words reminded me of > how it did feel like it was permanent. Yes, as we get older we seem to > need less sleep. But, I, who used to feel really refreshed after 10 > hours, now sleep at most 6-7 hours. The getting up every hour on the > hour that you are experiencing will go away. I used to do that, too. I > gather, later on in life, (in our 90s) we again wake up every hour on > the hour, but there is a long time inbetween when we get a good night’s > sleep after the insomnia phases of peri. > Cool Runnings, > HomemakerJ
Thanks Homemaker J, as usual your post was refreshing and reassuring. RuthJ
Response:
On Tue, 04 Aug 1998 23:07:35 -0700, HomemakerJ <ho…@interaccess.com> wrote: >Sonja wrote: >> On Tue, 04 Aug 1998 06:21:05 GMT, march1…@seesig.pobox.com (Lianne >> McNeil) wrote: >> >"Although almost 75 percent of menopausal women in the United States >> >experience hot flashes, only 10 to 15 percent of women have symptoms >> >that are severe enough to cause them to consult a physician >> >(Kronenberg, 1993). Interestingly, there is tremendous cultural >> >variation in the report of hot flashes among women, ranging from 25 to >> >85 percent." p. 45. >> >(I think by "cultural variation" they meant to imply "worldwide.") >But the way I interpret this quote is that the percentages are only >referring to hotflashes. What are the percentages of women who have no >symptoms during peri-menopause?
I believe it IS only referring to hot flashes. It was just a specific quote that I could find at the moment. :-) (Hot flashes were mentioned in the post I responded to. Plus, they are the most abundant, and possibly most significant, meno symptom, according to everything I’ve seen.) Lianne >> The figures for Germany: >> 40 % of women experience no symptoms, 40% typical, but not bothering >> menopausal symptoms, 20 % need medical help. >These statistics sound more realistic to me. Thanks, Sonja. >Cool Runnings, >HomemakerJ
To reply by e-mail, remove "seesig." from my address. No spam, no announcements, no commercial e-mail, no mailing lists.
Response:
rcjac…@pacbell.net wrote: > I think some of the symptoms we experience > may be due to factors other than menopause, (snip) I think the same can be said for some other > complaints, i.e. insomnia: is it menopause, is it age, or something > else? I do not know, but I do take comfort in knowing there are other > women with the same symptom.
Oh dear, Ruth, I just had to post and tell you that your insomnia will end. I know you know that, but just your choice of words reminded me of how it did feel like it was permanent. Yes, as we get older we seem to need less sleep. But, I, who used to feel really refreshed after 10 hours, now sleep at most 6-7 hours. The getting up every hour on the hour that you are experiencing will go away. I used to do that, too. I gather, later on in life, (in our 90s) we again wake up every hour on the hour, but there is a long time inbetween when we get a good night’s sleep after the insomnia phases of peri. Cool Runnings, HomemakerJ
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Sonja wrote: > On Tue, 04 Aug 1998 06:21:05 GMT, march1…@seesig.pobox.com (Lianne > McNeil) wrote: > >On 3 Aug 1998 14:47:58 GMT, hypo…@aol.com (Hypoint) wrote: > >>I thought you said that 40% did not get hot flashes. > >>But I’m curious – I didn’t realize that most women don’t have any symptoms. Do > >>you have any idea where I could find statistics? > >I think I’ve read statements similar to that in several books on > >menopause. One specific statement that I can lay my hands on right > >now is: > >"Although almost 75 percent of menopausal women in the United States > >experience hot flashes, only 10 to 15 percent of women have symptoms > >that are severe enough to cause them to consult a physician > >(Kronenberg, 1993). Interestingly, there is tremendous cultural > >variation in the report of hot flashes among women, ranging from 25 to > >85 percent." p. 45. > >(I think by "cultural variation" they meant to imply "worldwide.") > >This quote is from _The Complete Book of Menopause_ c. 1994 by Carol > >Landau, Ph.D., Michele G. Cyr, M.D., and Anne W. Moulton, M.D.
But the way I interpret this quote is that the percentages are only referring to hotflashes. What are the percentages of women who have no symptoms during peri-menopause? > The figures for Germany: > 40 % of women experience no symptoms, 40% typical, but not bothering > menopausal symptoms, 20 % need medical help.
These statistics sound more realistic to me. Thanks, Sonja. Cool Runnings, HomemakerJ
Response:
Karen Kay wrote: >Is it? I thought most women were asymptomatic. RuthJ wrote: >In other >> words, menopause is a process, not an event. It is apparently very rare >> for women to just suddenly stop having periods.
Karen, I thought you said that 40% did not get hot flashes. But I’m curious – I didn’t realize that most women don’t have any symptoms. Do you have any idea where I could find statistics? Wendy hypo…@aol.com
Response:
Karen Kay wrote: > Hypoint <hypo…@aol.com> wrote: > > I thought you said that 40% did not get hot flashes. > > But I’m curious – I didn’t realize that most women don’t have any symptoms. Do > > you have any idea where I could find statistics? > I think there are numbers in Susan Love’s book.
Could someone post them? Cool Runnings, HomemakerJ
Response:
On 3 Aug 1998 14:47:58 GMT, hypo…@aol.com (Hypoint) wrote: >I thought you said that 40% did not get hot flashes. >But I’m curious – I didn’t realize that most women don’t have any symptoms. Do >you have any idea where I could find statistics?
I think I’ve read statements similar to that in several books on menopause. One specific statement that I can lay my hands on right now is: "Although almost 75 percent of menopausal women in the United States experience hot flashes, only 10 to 15 percent of women have symptoms that are severe enough to cause them to consult a physician (Kronenberg, 1993). Interestingly, there is tremendous cultural variation in the report of hot flashes among women, ranging from 25 to 85 percent." p. 45. (I think by "cultural variation" they meant to imply "worldwide.") This quote is from _The Complete Book of Menopause_ c. 1994 by Carol Landau, Ph.D., Michele G. Cyr, M.D., and Anne W. Moulton, M.D. Lianne To reply by e-mail, remove "seesig." from my address. No spam, no announcements, no commercial e-mail, no mailing lists.
Response:
On Tue, 04 Aug 1998 06:21:05 GMT, march1…@seesig.pobox.com (Lianne – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -McNeil) wrote: >On 3 Aug 1998 14:47:58 GMT, hypo…@aol.com (Hypoint) wrote: >>I thought you said that 40% did not get hot flashes. >>But I’m curious – I didn’t realize that most women don’t have any symptoms. Do >>you have any idea where I could find statistics? >I think I’ve read statements similar to that in several books on >menopause. One specific statement that I can lay my hands on right >now is: >"Although almost 75 percent of menopausal women in the United States >experience hot flashes, only 10 to 15 percent of women have symptoms >that are severe enough to cause them to consult a physician >(Kronenberg, 1993). Interestingly, there is tremendous cultural >variation in the report of hot flashes among women, ranging from 25 to >85 percent." p. 45. >(I think by "cultural variation" they meant to imply "worldwide.") >This quote is from _The Complete Book of Menopause_ c. 1994 by Carol >Landau, Ph.D., Michele G. Cyr, M.D., and Anne W. Moulton, M.D.
The figures for Germany: 40 % of women experience no symptoms, 40% typical, but not bothering menopausal symptoms, 20 % need medical help. Best wishes, Sonja
Response:
Karen Kay wrote: > rcjac…@pacbell.net wrote: > > Peri meno is short for perimenopause, or the time (usually some years) > > during which women gradually stop having menstrual periods. In other > > words, menopause is a process, not an event. It is apparently very rare > > for women to just suddenly stop having periods. Best wishes, RuthJ > Is it? I thought most women were asymptomatic. > Karen > ka…@wordwrite.com
To follow up on my own post: I think some of the symptoms we experience may be due to factors other than menopause, i.e. my shoulder injury: it could be argued that my shoulder was vulnerable due to menopausal changes, or that it was just simply an injury unrelated to menopause. We will never really know. I think the same can be said for some other complaints, i.e. insomnia: is it menopause, is it age, or something else? I do not know, but I do take comfort in knowing there are other women with the same symptom. Best wishes, RuthJ
Response:
Welcome to asm, Mary. For more information (including the list of signs of menopause) and provocative discussion of issues directly and indirectly related to menopause, visit the noncommercial website of this group (URL in sig). For greatest ease use the Newbies Entrance and be sure to take a look at the Informal Guidelines for this group. You qualify for at least one silver toe already – for explanation see the link to Developing into a Modern Day Crone.. Go to the end for my comment on your statement below: On Sat, 01 Aug 1998 06:29:40 -0700, JustMe <jus…@europa.com> wrote: >After starting to use the yam cream, my periods improved to the >point where I only have to take minimal dose of advil and the flow is >much less. (I would go though a super tampax every hour and a half for >the first 2 to three days). Once I quit using it (just plane forgot) >and slowly my periods got worse. Then started the cream again and they >got better. I don’t know if this is placebo effect or not. If it is, >it is subconscious. But I say, If its working, don’t knock it.
So do we all so long as you can afford it, and it can be seen (or felt!) as in your case, to be working. The problem is when this (and other supplemements) are taken on faith as preventatives for serious dieases such as osteoporosis. In this case there is no way to telling if it is working, and it must be taken for long (expensive) periods of time before the result can be ascertained. Where it *hasn’t* worked, serious damage can have been done to both your wallet and your body. Where it "has" worked, nobody knows if it has or if you were never going to develop whatever you have supposedly prevented anyway! It seems to me that using things like wild yam cream for meno comfort issues like yours is no different from using HRT, pain killers, mind-over-matter techniques or whatever else in terms of sensibleness and practicality. Whatever is used, the same criteria apply – first of all is this discomfort enough to need something doing about it, then if it is – does this way work, can I afford it, and do I (or even does *anybody* in many cases) know the possible risks of using it longterm. Then it’s up to the individual to decide which effective method is cheapest in both cash and risk. One thing that is really risky is accepting anybody else’s word about a product at face value – especially if said person stands to gain financially from use of the product. Pat (Crone) http://www.oxford.net/~tishy includes unoffical asm website newbies entrance, men’s entrance, "soapbox", physical and nonphysical aspects of meno, how to evaluate info, links to other meno and medical sites, Men-o-Pause story., direct link to dejanews (current asm and filter)
Response:
JustMe wrote: > Hi, Im the newest newbie of all. I have not been lurking. I just > subscribed to this news group today. > I think I am entering meno. I just turned 45. Three kids youngest is > 20. My cycle has gone from ‘a set your calendar by it’ 28 days to 31 or > 32 days. This has happened only in the last 2 months, but I have had > many other symptoms. Could you point me to a faq where I can learn if > my other symptoms are from the meno? I have scanned a few posts and am > wondering what peri-meno is?
(part of Mary’s post dealing with painful periods and wild yam creme snipped; Mary, if you’re new to newsgroups, sometimes the news server will not let you post a response shorter than the original post) > Mary
Hi Mary and welcome to a.s.m. You can probably find discussion of, if not answers to, some of your questions on the unofficial web site put together by one of our regular posters in Canada. Go to: http://www.oxford.net/~tishy/asm.html While not all of the discussions will pertain to your particular issues, the site is interesting reading; you might start with the newbies entrance, the look at the 33 symptoms page. Fortunately, I have never had the problems you have with menstrual pain, but I do have migraine headaches and found some years ago that *warmth* rather than ice helped them. You might try a hot water bottle or heating pad, and also avoid tight clothing anywhere on your lower half. Peri meno is short for perimenopause, or the time (usually some years) during which women gradually stop having menstrual periods. In other words, menopause is a process, not an event. It is apparently very rare for women to just suddenly stop having periods. Best wishes, RuthJ
Response:
Hi, Im the newest newbie of all. I have not been lurking. I just subscribed to this news group today. I think I am entering meno. I just turned 45. Three kids youngest is 20. My cycle has gone from ‘a set your calendar by it’ 28 days to 31 or 32 days. This has happened only in the last 2 months, but I have had many other symptoms. Could you point me to a faq where I can learn if my other symptoms are from the meno? I have scanned a few posts and am wondering what peri-meno is? PS: I have used wild yam cream, prescribed by a naturopath for several years. I have suffered from severe cramps since the onset of my periods. (age 13 or so) Before the advil line of preventatives, I was subscribed strong pain meds and would have a drug induced sleep the first 4 days. After the advil line, most times I could prevent pain, however not always and not all of it, and always with large doses of the stuff. After starting to use the yam cream, my periods improved to the point where I only have to take minimal dose of advil and the flow is much less. (I would go though a super tampax every hour and a half for the first 2 to three days). Once I quit using it (just plane forgot) and slowly my periods got worse. Then started the cream again and they got better. I don’t know if this is placebo effect or not. If it is, it is subconscious. But I say, If its working, don’t knock it. Mary
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Mary wrote: >>Hi, Im the newest newbie of all. I have not been lurking. I just >subscribed to this news group today. >I think I am entering meno. I just turned 45. Three kids youngest is >20. My cycle has gone from ‘a set your calendar by it’ 28 days to 31 or >32 days. This has happened only in the last 2 months, but I have had >many other symptoms. Could you point me to a faq where I can learn if >my other symptoms are from the meno? I have scanned a few posts and am >wondering what peri-meno is? >PS: I have used wild yam cream, prescribed by a naturopath for several >years. I have suffered from severe cramps since the onset of my >periods. (age 13 or so) Before the advil line of preventatives, I was >subscribed strong pain meds and would have a drug induced sleep the >first 4 days. After the advil line, most times I could prevent pain, >however not always and not all of it, and always with large doses of the >stuff. After starting to use the yam cream, my periods improved to the >point where I only have to take minimal dose of advil and the flow is >much less. (I would go though a super tampax every hour and a half for >the first 2 to three days). Once I quit using it (just plane forgot) >and slowly my periods got worse. Then started the cream again and they >got better. I don’t know if this is placebo effect or not. If it is, >it is subconscious. But I say, If its working, don’t knock it.
Mary, Welcome to asm. You can find a list of the 33 meno symptoms on http://www.oxford.net/~tishy/asm.html Please brace yourself for some challenging questions and statements regarding the cream – it is one of the hot button issues on this ng. Bear with it though. Many women have found a great deal of good on this ng, and I am hoping you will too. Wendy hypo…@aol.com
