I'll admit it. I'm 50 years old. It's hard to believe. In my head, I'm still 18 or so. But the reality is, my body is aging and I have a lot more aches and pains than I ever did before, and things are just wearing out. This summer I had a hysterectomy. Although it was a very good thing, I do notice subtle differences since then, like my skin and hair are dryer. In order to deal with the more extreme effects of my sudden menopause, I'm seeing a doctor who specializes in this area of medicine. After being tested for hormonal levels,she put me on a progesterone cream. Estrogen is stored in fat cells. It's no wonder I had plenty of the stuff. In addition, I have a long history with hormonal imbalance. I have...er, had polycystic ovarian syndrome. Essentially, I wasn't producing progesterone because I wasn't ovulating. I was receiving therapy for this for years. But since the hysterectomy, the progesterone cream has done wonders for me. I no longer have hot flashes or night sweats. I also really think it's helped me with my mental state. I feel much more grounded than I was before the treatments. And I know it's been beneficial for my weight loss efforts. During menopause, belly-fat in particular can be problematic. I feel better than I have in years...ok, my joints ache and I'm always cold, but I guess at my age, I can't expect miracles.
Yes, I am concerned about breast cancer, but I don't have a strong family history of breast cancer, and I have a mammogram done annually. I think in some ways, there was an overreaction to HRT. I'm happy with it. And maybe, after I've reached my weight loss goals, I can stop taking it because a lot of the estrogen will have been eliminated from my system.
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