by Juliannah Jamarin

Created on: March 18, 2009

Nature has played a cruel trick on women. We start out young, innocent girls and one day our bodies change and we start menstruating. Most girls know that this event will happen but for many it is still quite a shocking experience. So we learn to deal with it and go on with our lives.

Next thing we know we are in our forties and once again our bodies start to change. Most also know that menopause will eventually come to us but do we really know about it? I for one did not have a good understanding of what was happening to me when the symptoms started. I was in my early forties when I started having a few hot flashes and an increasing exploding temper. I dealt with this by not dealing with it. Looking back I believe that was a mistake but at that time the choices for treating menopause symptoms were either traditional hormone replacement therapy or over the counter remedies.

Since traditional hormone replacement therapy has been linked to causing cancer I really did not want to go that route. I did not know two much about the over the counter treatments and since my symptoms were fairly mild at that time I did nothing.

I went along for many years and then as soon as I turned 50 the symptoms increased with a vengeance. I started waking up completely drenched in sweat. This steadily increased to the point that I was waking up about every 15 minutes. I started putting a wet washrag on a plate next to my bed and when I would wake up the washrag went immediately on my neck. It seemed the flashes started there and spread out to my entire body. My mood swings took on a life of their own and finally my husband was pleading with me to get help because he said he wanted his wife back.

I knew I had to get help because lack of sleep coupled with increasing anxiety was making it hard for me to deal with normal everyday living. I became afraid to drive. I did not want to socialize with family and friends and I was basically hiding out. I knew I had to get me back too.

I did some research on Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy but found my insurance would not pay for it and it is expensive. I also did research on over the counter treatments and found that some women got relief with these products but then again some did not. I finally went to my doctor and settled on Prempro for the time being. I was appalled to find that the prescription was $60.00 a month. It has since dropped to $40.00. Since there is no generic form of this drug I am forced to pay the asking price.

I am happy to say that the Prempro has alleviated my symptoms and I feel a lot better these days. I don't really want to stay on Prempro for very long but feel I had no choice at the time. I am currently looking into a product called Amberen. It is only used for 90 days twice a year but can be used more if need be. It is not FDA approved and has not been on the market long so I want to monitor it for awhile.

Overall, surviving menopause is not easy and each woman must make her own choice on how to treat symptoms. Women do not have to live in agony because of menopause. Even though my choice of treatment is not really what it wanted I knew I could not go on suffering. I am sure in time I will find a happy medium for my treatment. No it is not easy being a woman but we all have to take charge of our lives in order to feel well and live happily.

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