Adjusting to Menopause

[Tuckersmom]

I had some bloodwork done a couple of weeks ago. It shows that I am postmenopausal. I didn't have any way of knowing because I've been on birth control pills for several years to prevent the reoccurrence of ovarian cysts, so I have 'periods' each month.

I will see my Gyno for my yearly exam on April 7th, and we will be discussing where to go from here with HRT. I am worried that not getting enough estrogen will set me back with the IC.

If anyone has had any experience in this area, could you please share with me how you managed to keep your IC in check while going through this change?

[BrittanysDance]

Hi Tuckersmom,

I have been postmenopausal for years due to having a complete hysterectomy at the age of 30 and it was after my dx of IC as well. I've been having issues lately with hormones so they just did a panel and I am waaayyyy postmenopausal :rolleyes: - too far on the scale so we have to adjust my meds again. I'm was on .325 of Premarin, switched to .625 (again) but am working on going up to a 1.0 dose to help balance things out. I've tried other HRT however I have reactions to them, so its back to Premarin for me.

As far as the IC goes, I really havent noticed any difference to be honest one way or the other; I still feel the same way I did before (pain, urgency/frequency). I do have other issues that I didnt have though such as vulvodynia, severe dryness and lack of libido - all of that I didnt have prior to my hysterectomy and therefore - menopause/postmenopause.

I'm sure others on here have gone through the same thing or are going through it. I do know that I cannot for one moment be without hormones because I already have osteoporosis and I just hit into my 40's, along with the dreaded night sweats, hot flashes, etc if I dont have my HRT.

[Tuckersmom]

Thanks so much for your post, BrittanysDance! I am very encouraged to hear that you didn't notice changes with the IC after your hysterectomy--- I don't mean to imply that I am happy that your symptoms didn't improve --- I'm just relieved to know that they didn't markedly increase. (((Hugs)))