Who, me? Menopausal?
| Shocking!!!!
How could a woman as young as I be menopausal? Never mind that
I was 51. That was my first inkling. No hot flashes (that I
was aware of), insomnia, mood swings... |
I never even considered being menopausal because I never ever stopped
to think about how old I was, really. My periods stopped with early
surgery so I didn't have that clue.
I have always forged ahead (foolishly sometimes) and done things
that interested me; never mind most of my activities were in the
world of males only and I was always older than everybody to boot.
Yes, I have had first-hand experience with male resentment when
a woman thinks she's smart enough to do a man's work. I was so naive
that it never occurred to me that the guys wouldn't like it when
I showed up.
So, the way I discovered I was menopausal was when I got "tennis
elbow" (that's what the doc called it when I went to check
things out). I figured I had cancer of the bone at the very least.
We always think the very worst don't we?
I was attending computer coding classes at the time (at the age
of 51), carrying heavy books to class every day and a heavy purse
looped over my right elbow with a big, old-fashioned, heavy tape
recorder in it. Stressed the heck out of that elbow. The doc X-rayed
the elbow, assured me I didn't have cancer and recommended that
I go back to my GYN surgeon (the one who had performed my partial
hysterectomy at the age of 41) and get some hormone replacement.
Shocking!!!! How could a woman as young as I be menopausal? Never
mind that I was 51. That was my first inkling. No hot flashes (that
I was aware of), insomnia, mood swings, etc. Nada!
So, I trotted back to the surgeon and got my Premarin and Provera
(I knew NOTHING of natural hormones at that point). I have been
"replacing" ever since—only now its natural micronized
triple estrogen plus progesterone and testosterone.
Gypsy
Leeds, NY
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