Wanted to share something I ran in to. In my desperation to bring some relief I would go to Whole Foods and buy many suggested solutions and I would find myself taking many supplements at once. When we are desperate we don't think rationally. I was not able to determine what was beneficial and what is not. Do some research on all and try to give your self time time to determine what helps and not. I still have to keep myself in check on that. I have an unbelievable amount of $$$ sitting in drawer that I found did not work or at least I think it didn't? Take care, Deny

Deny,
Good point! I know what you mean - I also have a drawer full of supplements and meds in an attempt to "fix"myself after a hysterectomy. In addition to the anti-anxiety and anti-depressant "meds", I also have various remedies purchased in an attempt to regrow my hair and improve my rapidly aging skin.

Being in surgical menopause, the med with the "biggest bang for the buck" has been estrogen. Although it hasn't regrown my hair or shown any obvious benefit to my skin, it has brought me out of suicidal depression and anxiety, pretty much restored a normal sleep pattern, stopped hot flashes, and improved my energy and overall well-being. No improvement in the sex department though - really miss that :(

I find it helpful to keep a journal of changes to meds / supplements and symptoms since it can be difficult to correlate the two or recall what you've tried and resulting effects.

Hi Deny,
I agree I also have so much stuff a have bought and at some point it becomes confusing cause nothing seems to work. Have you checked out womentowomen? They have good info and I actually use their supplements.
How have you been feeling lately?
Hope for a good the to all!

Fightin4, I have read that your testosterone is probably out of whack if your sex drive is not where you want to be or should be...have you mentioned this to your Dr.? Could they prescribe it to you? It would make a world of difference.
Glad to hear estrogen has helped

Sitting here with that buzzing right under my skin. I can't stand it! So nervous and anxious I just had to take an ativan. I try not to take more than one a day and that one in the afternoon, I just could not stand it anymore.
I've tried L-theanine, I can't seem to get any relief past the second or third dose. It does good for a day or two and the pfffft. My OBG changed my HRT pill to a patch and I think it's upping my anxiety instead of helping it.
I just think all this is going to drive me crazy. I haven't had a period in 3 1/2 years. Enough is enough for crying out loud. Why does one symptome go away only to have another replace it.
The constant s/s have been the anxiety and poor sleep with pretty much hot flashes (though greatly decreased).
Now with the buzzing and the shakiness (feels like my legs are going to collapse sometimes) I just hate it. Add in the nightmares and I just am about where I can't function some days, but i HAVE to work. Push, pull or drag me there. I have to keep going. No choice in the matter.
Blessings to all of us today.

Mona - I've used testosterone off and on and it doesn't make a difference in either libido or response. I lost most sensation "down there" and in my breasts from the hysterectomy.

Oh Ok I am glad you gave that a try...maybe it will come back...I always try to hope...
Hang in there!

SueBob
I know so well what you are feeling! It really is hard to control the anxiety....the buzzing just gets my adrenaline going. The amazing thing is that these symptoms(shaking, buzzing) are not the most common ones!! But so many of us feel it! It would make me feel better if I know they are common that way I would not freak out when they happen...my mind goes south and I start thinking something is wrong with my body.
Ativan really helps with anxiety.
You are not alone!

Mona - So did your hysterectomy affect libido and response? Did testosterone bring both back? What form of T do you use and how much/often? Thanks for your input.

I still have my ovaries. I have not had to use T, but have read alot on the subject...I am sorry to hear it has not worked for you.
Maybe since my hysterectomy was partial the testosterone was not deeply affected. Now that my ovaries are not producing as much estrogen that is a different matter...and why I have so many symptoms.

hi,well l hear what you said about progesterone,lm on bioidentical 40 mg a day,l cant take estrogen ,due to a pulmonery embolism,l had in march 7 weeks after my full oophorectomy and tummytuck,together,so no estrogen,ever,because it can cause blood clot,so l am on bio progresterone,seems to help with sleep ,l was on adavan for months to help sleep,only take it occasionally now,l was off work for 8 months ,now lm back since ,oct ,15, soon to be full time but ,6 hrs now,happy to be working but l was feeling depressed for a while,think it was the weather,its sunny today but got a bit of snow,l feel good this morning,so hopefully the depressed feeling was lack of sun,anyway,to answer your question about prog,l have no woman parts down there and am taking the bio identical prog. soyou should look into it,l was on the estrogen patch after my hysterectomy and they think it helped cause my clot,so be careful on estrogen,l was on estro dot suppose to be natural,so check into it more closely,all in all l have to ride this rollercoaster just like the rest of you lovely ladies,at least were not alone,all the best to all the ladies,we are woman we cando this,we are tough,but it still sucks!!!! take care hope this helps you out!

Hi Mona, How have you been feeling? Any relief? Its 3:22 am and I have been woken up every hour tonight with panic attacks, heart palps and the buzzing is there. This not sleeping thing is not fun!

bcp - Sorry to hear about the blood clot! I'm glad to hear the progesterone is helping.

Transdermal estrogen such as the patch has a much lower clot risk than oral estrogen since it doesn't have the first pass through the liver. I read that abdominal surgery has a 70x risk of blood clots (versus no surgery) in the first 6 weeks and then it gradually decreases until it goes back to normal around 12 weeks post-op. And two abdominal procedures at once elevates this risk. Of course, being mobile early and often post-op helps but it seems that can be harder with the often difficult recovery of tummy tuck. So it would seem that the surgeries were much more the culprit than the patch. I know a few women who had blood clots after their hysterectomy and they use the estrogen patch because it's thought that their blood clots were from the surgery and not the patch.

Hi ladies Thank God for your replies Im new here just joined today! I HAVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS! Why me and all of you! My dr. Gave me xanex for the anxiety i'm scared of meds but I had to take to sleep for past couple days! I get hot then cold then shakey feeling then racing thoughts overly sad at night only! I just want to be normal cant find no one to understand not my husband not the kids not my family or friends and not the doctor! Can someone help me!

I am doing so much better...cannot believe this. But I did go through a horrible 7weeks of absolute hell. I get scared to even think that it may happen again...the anxiety, inner shakes at times depressed (never had been depressed before) constant crying. I did have alot of stressful things happening in my life so maybe that and menopause just threw me over the edge. I went to a psychiatrist who put me on Zoloft (for the anxiety) did not like how it made me feel..even more anxious. I am now not on anything except .1mg of vivelle. I am also off ativan...I really wonder if the anxiety was causing the inner shakes....
So grateful for these good days. I felt horrible for my husband as I was hard to be around when I was doing so bad. I am taking some time for myself visiting family in South America. I think while we go through sucky menopause we hit these super lows and then we level off...I am level now. Always love to hear from you all!