Is it premenopause or Bipolar? How can you tell?  

thanks Krausehome!
the headaches are tolerable with tylenol right now, hopefully they dont get any worse

thanks Tazy
its good to know that I am not alone or losing my mind
I would like to avoid meds if I can

a simple blood test?
Thats it?
AWESOME!!
I know lavender does help, I use a lavender body lotion right before bed
Hugs!

LOL, yep that's it. They can find anything with a blood sample these days. My son has blood tests every few weeks to monitor his 'cancer markers'. Who knew just a bit of blood could tell you if you have cancer or not? Medicine has come a long way baby...............lol Let me know how it turns out, and be prepared if your doc wants to do an internal exam anyway to check the 'condition' of your uterus. That's pretty standard too.

Sh*t, sorry I forgot about your partial hysterectomy. That menopausal memory at work! LOL

LMAO I was reading that and then thought "WTH?"
oh man gotta love that short term memory loss LOL

LOL. Yep.
New bumper sticker: ALERT! ALERT! Menopausal Memory at Work!

LMAO sparks...thanks for making my morning, girl! I was thinking the EXACT same thing, wont, when I read that.

Yeah, but she is sooooo cute when she is embarrased.

Thanks for BR wont..............and I hope you went to the doctor and found out exactly what is going on. Knowledge is power and the more you know about where you are at physically/mentally/emotionally, the better you feel and the more able you are to take care of yourself.

thanks Hatley
yeah I have had a problem with anemia in the past
guess its time to go back to daily iron huh?
HUGS

Iron and calcium both are what you need now wont. I've always been anemic too. But I can only take so much iron as it does build up in your live. So speak to your doctor about a good multivitamin for you now.

HI HATLEY!

Damn, meant to type 'build up in your LIVER'. Time for bed for this old broad!

well I guess its time for Centrum Silver for me LOL

You know what a good natural source of iron is...molasses --just take a spoonful a day..tastes good too...LOL

Good idea and I had NO idea molasses had iron it. Thanks for the tip.

finally!!!
a valid reason to eat molasses from the jar!!

That was my great-grandmother's old remedies for getting more iron and I never forgot it..which reminds me...I could stand to get some molasses myself

An even older remedy was to put iron nails in a glass of water and let them rust..then drink that rusted water.....ewwwwwwww...rather have the molasses

hmmmmm....
rusty nail water or molasses?
uhhhhh.... pass the molasses please!

Ok, now I have a hankerin for molasses cookies. I remember Gramma used to have them and figs around as snacks all the time. What about figs, pye?

Mmmm...figs? I don't know if it has iron in them..would have to look. I was always under the impression figs were a good natural laxative if you had constipation--yep just looked..here's a bit about figs being good for constipation

http://www.home-remedies-...

I just remembered another of my great grandmother's remedies...she always would have a "pony" of port wine a day...meaning a shotful glass of it

My Gramma worked full time, so she had a ritual of having a 'shot' of rye and water every day at 5pm when she got home from work, before beginning the evening routine of making supper. She said it was medicinal. She is now 82 yrs old! She opted to go into a home several years ago, because she was finally 'tired'. But now she has a prescription from her Dr. for that 'shot' at 5pm daily. Cool, eh?

thanks for the link!
I can now add waking up in the middle of the night/tossing and turning to my list of things to mention to the dr.
my balance has never been that great so I think I am ok there LOL
I have gained about 20 pounds
I have noticed some really strange heart stuff, like it will for no reason just start pounding in my chest even though I am completely relaxed

The hot flashes is what confuses me
I always thought of a hot falsh as what you described
mine arent that bad, just annoying, ya know?

Years before I went through it I was talking to a woman that was going through menopause..she said her poor husband was close to sending her to a funny farm since her hot flashes/sweats were so bad she run around the house naked have windows pulled up and air conditioning on even in wintertime...when she told me this I thought nah...can't be THAT bad until I had it myself..

Hey ladies! Yup! It can be that bad! I went through hell with
my menopause! I still get hot flashes and it's been way too
long! I used to get so hot that I would get up in the middle
of the night in the Summer to take cold showers! I also would
get up and eat ice cream or just stand by the open freezer!
I had one hell of a time! Thankfully, I did have one girlfriend
who understood! She had a hysterectomy and went through the
same stuff that I did and I didn't have one! Please go to
your Gyno! Just don't let him talk you into ANY hormone treatments
because they aren't necessary and are POISON!!!!Hugs, Opal

Hey, pye!

What about molasses cookies or figs?

I think you would have to eat an awful lot of molasses cookies to get the same benefit as one tablespoon of straight molasses syrup

Oh, goody. *Puts 4 pkgs of molasses cookies on shopping list*


Are fig cookies good for anything? Other than bm's. I haven't had them in years, but they remind me of pleasant time at Gramma's house as a child.

thanks
I know I will get through this somehow

it takes a nut to know a nut! LOL
yeah it cant be my Bipolar meds because I dont take any
I havent taken meds for it for nearly 10 years

Wow! I didn't know this. It must not be that bad to need them then?

Cracked as well.............

it took many years and several therapists to learn how to control it without meds!!

a massage sounds nice but unfortunately I live in the middle of "no man's land" and there is not a spa anywhere near me
and a vacation is not possible

Excuse me, that would be chance! I guess Sparks was right about
that memory thingy! But, everyone is giving you great info
here! And I didn't read before I posted, but I'm glad that Sparks
agrees about the blood tests too! You will be fine! Menopause
sucks! I guess that's why they put the "men" part in it because
it drives us crazy!

LOL yeah anything that starts with "MEN" is bound to rough

never been so happy to have a stalker

How can I stalk you properly and make any difference if you don't comment enough, HUH??