In case someone needs this...
Thanks, Elsa. I think I may be headed this way myself.
My weight is creeping up, it’s getting harder to get comfortable in bed enough to sleep, and my periods are getting a little closer together (25-26 days per cycle instead of 27-28).
Twice within the last twelve months I’ve done something that hasn’t happened since I was a kid—wet the bed. I’m not talking a sprinkle—I’m talking more than that. Lucky for me, the mattress cover kept urine off the mattress. I went out and bought a waterproof mattress cover just in case it happens again. Is this a symptom of perimenopause? ?
Anyway, since I don’t have health insurance at the moment (long story), and don’t want to argue with the doctor anyway, I’m thinking about ordering one of those at-home testing kits for hormone levels. Yes, they have those now! Yay!
Forgot to mention that I turned 44 years old this fall. Maybe that’s young for perimenopause, but I started puberty at 10.
@notmycircus I’ve personally never heard of bedwetting as a symptom of peri menopause but I have read that it’s related to diabetes? Or could be a bladder infection? I’m no doctor! Wish you could see one, but I understand. There’s no state medical insurance you can get? In California you can make a lot of money and still get free healthcare from the state but I think you are in Alabama (or is it Georgia?) Might be worth it to call social services and see what you qualify for?
@libra-noir My employer sent me an email explaining that because I don’t work enough hours, I don’t qualify for ACA coverage, they’re dropping my medical coverage and sending me a COBRA package. (Of course, I won’t be able to afford COBRA, so that’s off the table.)
This is Georgia and they didn’t expand Medicaid. I work three part-time jobs so I make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. My other two jobs do not offer medical coverage—they can’t afford to offer it. So here I am. ??♀️ I’m considering getting a catastrophic coverage policy through private insurance, and paying for preventative care out of pocket.
@notmycircus oh man that’s a pickle. I really hope it works out so that you can get what you need. Wish I could help.
Are you considered an Independent Contractor? If so, you can get the cheapest ACA Silver or Bronze. The online application just asks for estimate of income if it's not fixed for the year.
Have you had in depth thyroid testing? Can be a big factor in pre-menopause, which can begin in your 30s. Here's an excellent book with so many answers, easy to find used online.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/102990.What_Your_Doctor_May_Not_Tell_You_About_Premenopause
@warped I’m a W-2 employee for two home care agencies. I’m private duty for my housemate (her family can’t afford to pay for my health coverage).
I can see if there are at-home thyroid panel tests. From what I’ve found online, some hormone test panels also check thyroid levels.
Does being a W-2 employee make you ineligible for ACA? Wasn't the whole purpose of it to provide healthcare for those whose employers don't due to part time status and such? I had ACA when I was a massage therapist W-2 employee working 20 hrs/wk. Has it changed? Check on it if the enrollment period hasn't ended.
Wow, I had no idea there were at home thyroid test kits! This one does it all -- TSH, T3, T4, antibodies.
https://www.everlywell.com/products/thyroid-test/
@notmycircus Yes, bet wetting does happen. It isn't a symptom, but it can and does happen and it has happened to every human on earth. Your body decides to go backward. I can remember telling the g-daughter... you are starting, and I am finishing. We will do it together. And we did. I made sure to tell her everything as I wish I had actually thought to ask my grandmothers. It would have been so helpful.
You will will gain easier. You will have restless nights. You will sweat. Your periods get funky. They get close together. Then farther apart. I would have a period. Then not have another for 2 or 3 months. Then have a nonstop period. Finally, once you have not had a period for a year, you are usually done. Unless you are me. My body started having them again after not having them for years.... and it was for a full year until I got a hysterectomy in Nov 2020. I was pretty much in full menopause in my late 40's. Done. Some people just stop. Many women are still having their periods in their 50s. I stopped very early, and they say that is a side effect of having a tubal ligation.
Even w/o health insurance I would DEF go get a pap. And, have it on file as a marker. You probably don't need it yearly if you have a clear test, but you do need to do it. You need to have a mammogram too. Call planned parenthood and see if they can assist. They probably can. People think planned parenthood is the place for abortion. Well, it is actually the place for women's health and if they cannot help, they can at least steer you in the right direction xoxox
@soup Thank you, I will look at Planned Parenthood as an option. My grandmother, aunt and other women in my family (father’s side) have died in their fifties from ovarian cancer. My mom’s grandmother died of breast cancer. My sister had some cervical cancer scare once.
It’s also been about seven years since I let an OB-GYN examine me. Probably about time to go get a check-up.
My mom is 59 and had gone into menopause awhile back. Then 2020 came, then I guess all the stress of that year got to her and she had The Mother Of All Periods. I’m talking Noah’s Ark-style flooding here. Apparently she’s got it under control for now. She used to hemorrhage every month due to fibroids.
@notmycircus Here is what they don't tell you. It is very freeing. My lord, that monthly aggravation of a mess and bloating and all that crap you have to buy. Cramps... all of it. I mean, I think we just get used to it. We have to find a way to be in a work meeting while we are worried that we will get up and our clothes will be saturated. I LOVE not having that mess to worry about anymore. Of course, it comes with a price. Old age. But this didn't bother me. To be in my 40s and free of that. High 5's all day long.
When it came back (fibroid tumors) I had to go to the store to shop for the whatever's again... there it was- a whole isle of stuff they have now that they didn't have when I used those things. I mean... I had no idea which to buy. Things with 'wings' things that looked like freaking baby diapers... granddaughter went with me, and we howled laughing while I was trying to figure out if I wanted to fly away on a light pad or buy some sort of baby pull up. She got a huge laugh at my expense. So, did I. As weird as it was... my God did we laugh. Here I am trying to read the small print on the back of the packaging, and she was laughing so hard... she said just get anything. I said oh.... no no... If I am going to have a product with 'wings' I want to read about it.
You probably had to be there... but it was hilarious.
@notmycircus It's true that bladder strength weakens due to reducing levels of hormones, plus bodily inflammation is more prevalent which can affect lots of areas of body including bladder. However, for some reason I thought this might be related to Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius.. is this a 4th h transit for you? I think it might be linked to the childhood experience which you mentioned and old anxieties being reactivated. It would be interesting to see if it passes once the planets move on.
@notmycircus Ah, I remembered you have Sag rising and did some astro chart sketching in my head! Still, worth keeping a diary of the occurance of this symptom. Sometimes I find things come then disappear again based on transits. Especially the recent Pluto transit I had where my eye completely swelled up.
@sophiab Hmm, definitely another reason I’ll likely go ahead and get hormone tests done. My sister and her husband recently got diagnosed with low testosterone. They got that fixed and feel much better.
This thread is useful for me because I'm in it at the moment. Trying to find balance. Learning a lot about hormones, my body, food, exercise. All a work in progress. It feels very 8th h, transformation, sometimes feels like new life starting, other times feels like a death. Slowing down, listening to my body, after years of assuming it will just function. I do miss that sometimes, but let's say it's the start of a new relationship with my self. I'm glad to read positive comments. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the information and rhetoric about menopause was/is created within a patriarchal paradigm. Even women experts feed into this, they haven't broken out of a certain mindset. I think this is an area ripe for growth because its an opportunity to learn about feminine energy with input from the feminine source (i.e., your own lived experience) rather than entirely through the masculine and this seems to be relatively uncharted territory.