since i'm 57, i'm at that menopause age. i did have a hysterectomy when i was in my 40's and have been on hormones since then.
how do you differentiate between what is lyme and menopause? do hormones play a part in lyme?
i'm on cenestin which is a synthetic plant based hormone. is it ok to take this when taking lyme meds?
i have a friend who just stopped all menopause meds but i'm afraid to. my doc said i will probably be on them another 10-15 years. ugh...
Posted by Parisa (Member # 10526) on :
Look into vitex. According to a Mark Stengler's (ND) Natural Physician's Healing Therapies vitex helps to regulate hormones through menopause.
Posted by tailz (Member # 10014) on :
After being diagnosed as being menopausal at the age of 41, only to learn it was infection that shut my hormones down - my doctors all perfectly fine and dandy with my early menopause - I will NEVER again believe I am menopausal - not at 41, not at 51, not at 81.
I imagine it is different for you with a surgical menopause. I'm not sure though.
But from what I've been reading, menopause occurs in the BRAIN, not the ovaries. So science is wimping out on us ladies again.
So be careful of what you accept as medical fact. I know I learned, and I will never forget this lesson for as long as I live.
IMO menopause is never normal. It's a sign that a very important part of your brain is damaged from infection and toxicity.
Posted by beachcomber (Member # 5320) on :
R-bear:
At 46 I had every MD I saw tell me my symptoms were all menopause. That was so not the case. I even went on HRT, which did not help. I was finally diagnosed properly with Bb.
Several years later I am now entering into the big M phase of my life. A couple of months ago my MD asked me how I am coping with the menopausal symptoms mixed in with the Lyme and Babs. I told him that I really believe Menopause will be my cure. He looked very perplexed and asked me to explain.
First of all, I am wiser at this age, less stressed. Secondly, no more PMS - yay! Thirdly, my hot flashes make me sweat out the little buggers. So, bring on the hot flashes, I say. It is my personal portable detox sauna.
Got to find SOMETHING positive about this or at least have a sense of humor about it.
Bc
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Catch 22. Estrogen helps us keep calcium in our bones. Good thing.
But estridol (one of 3 forms of estrogen) apparently activates PKC delta.
PKC inhibitors cause cell death. Tamoxifen, for breast cancer is a man-made PKC inhibitor.
Bb has a PKC inhibitor.
I suspect it is PKC delta.
If we upregulate PKC delta to "counter" Bb's PKC delta inhibitor, the cells in which Bb is camped out will survive...theoretically.
Posted by beachcomber (Member # 5320) on :
Oh my, you lost me. English is my first language. Chemistry is not my second, unfortunately. Posted by tailz (Member # 10014) on :
My brain is not comprehending that estrogen explanation either. I will tell you this...
My GYN put me on estrogen replacement therapy because he was convinced this was menopause during the height of my symptoms. I didn't care - I just wanted the sweats and anxiety to stop.
Premarin only served to INCREASE my sweats, anxiety, pain, and virtually every symptom I was having - except I think my skin looked a little better for a few days.
Nope - menopause is not normal. Ever.
I think you need to encourage your doctor to find and treat your other infections. Male-dominated science has really sold women short here.
This is why women ROUTINELY give up their reproductive organs by middle age, yet very few men (except those with CANCEROUS conditions) are missing their testicles.
You put a man in charge of a woman's body, that's what happens. All they care about is if it all 'works'.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
i was not on any hormones after my hysterectomy 10-15 yrs. ago.
2 yrs. ago went thru menopause, and woke up totally drenched! glad that is over. Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Need you all to remember something.
Statistically women outlive men.
As we age, we all have tremendous hormonal shifts...downward.
In puberty they soar...times of growth, reproduction, etc.
Older women are not supposed to have children. The risks for DNA damage soar...Down's syndrome, etc.
Not enough "nutrients" for mom AND a developing baby later in life...so the hormones shift.
Posted by tailz (Member # 10014) on :
If older women are not supposed to have children, then why can men father children into old age? And why can women in ancient cultures bear children at 80, yet we're done at 40?
I will NEVER believe that God messed up, gave women a good 40 years tops of safe pregnancy, but allowed men the capacity into old age.
We're doing something to cause this. I think these artificial electromagnetic fields were are inundated with affect women more so than men - perhaps because women STATISTICALLY are higher in COPPER than men are, a known conductor.
And though I hear women live longer, my own mother is dead - my sister-in-law just died at the age of 50. I'm not sure I believe those stats - they could be outdated, because I'm not seeing it.
BUT even if they are correct, are women living healthier - or just longer? I know my own mother was not sick at my age.
Posted by Leelee (Member # 19112) on :
This is an old thread, but upon doing a "search" for early menopause and Lyme I came across it.
I'm almost 53 now, but went through menopause at age 45. It has been a long 8 years of hot flashes only relieved by Prempro.
I thought it was odd for me to go through this at a relatively early age (for the women in my family).
Now that I suspect Lyme (maybe as far back as 1972) I wonder if anyone would care to share their thoughts on a correlation between early menopause and Lyme.
My first LLMD appointment is in about 10 days.
Posted by lymednva (Member # 9098) on :
I've had Lyme since childhood. I just passed the official "one year" mark for menopause. I'm 57 now. So it was not early for me.
Of course, I am the child of older parents. My mom was 40 and my dad 58 when I was born. Then my brother was planned four and half years later. I was a surprise!
My mom went on to live to the age of 95. When I informed my daughter that I don't feel I am in the final part of my life she told me I was nuts.
I reminded her how old her grandmother lived to be. All the Germans in her family lived well into their 80's, and they were born in the 19th century.
My mother was half German, half Native American. Her mother died when my mom was an infant, due to an infection that would now be treated with abx.
By the way, my mom never knew when she went through menopause. She had a partial hysterectomy at age 46.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Lyme can give a person a false menopause. It did that to me. Once I was PROPERLY treated for lyme disease, I was able to reduce the hormone replacement therapy, then end it, and then my body went back to its pre-menopausal state.
Then, a few years later at a more normal age, I went through the REAL menopause. It was a breeze compared to lyme disease.
I have been rid of lyme and cos for nearly 4 years now.
In helping other lymies, I have met others who have had the same experience. Once they get GOOD lyme treatment, everything reverses.
(When I got monotherapy for lyme, nothing reversed. The lyme was arrested, but my gyn systems were still turned off. It caused a lot of problems I will not go into on a public board.)
So, this is not uncommon at all. Burrascano lists "unexplained menstrual irregularity" as a lyme symptom. The false menopause falls under this category.
Of course the docs thought nothing of it when it happened to me and the other lymie women who experienced it. They just say it is an early menopause. But, it is the menopause from hell!!!
I was in my 40s when I got the false menopause. I know a girl who is 36 who, with proper lyme treatment, is now getting her cycles back. In both our cases, the gyns didn't think it was unusual. My ovaries shrunk to a tiny size, etc. and all signs pointed to menopause.
Since most gyns are not lyme literate, I don't expect them to realize this could be caused by lyme disease. But, my gyn knows it by having me as a patient and seeing my condition reverse!
You might try an Internet search using the words "lyme" and "false menopause" and see what comes up.
The lyme doc who got me well said it was not an uncommon lyme symptom--false menopause. But, he also said that it can be difficult to separate lyme symptoms from menopausal symtoms.
Look for migrating pains and cyclical symptoms to differentiate lyme from true menopause. That's what he said as best as I can remember. It was a while back.
Posted by Leelee (Member # 19112) on :
Hi TF,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I had not realized what Burrascano meant when he said "unexplained menstrual irregularity". I assumed he was talking about women who still had periods so I never considered my personal situation.
Then, a day or two ago I was pondering my early menopause and remembering how dismissive the doctors were, stating that it was normal for some women to go through changes much earlier than others.
Having heard your story and re-assessing Burrascano's comments I am fully questioning my "non-functioning" body.
My first LLMD appointment is March 17. I haven't been diagnosed yet, but I can't imagine what else could be causing me so many symptoms.
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