Monday, June 19, 2006

I'm Full of Excuses..........

As I said! I have an excuse. A fellow(female) sufferer put this on her post about a year ago. I thought it was hilarious but true. I took a low-dose estrogen pill for a few years after my symptoms first appeared. Then my doctor and I decided about a year ago that I would go off the pill. When my mom was in her 70's she developed breast cancer--with no history of it in the family. I discussed with my doctor that she had taken HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for a really long time. I had heard the warnings about the link between breast cancer and HRT. Mom made thru and is heading for her 84th birthday next month. She detected it when it was still the size of a sesame seed, due to her active immune system. She went to the doctor to investigate a swollen lymph node under her arm, which led him to the cancer in the breast. She was going thru the surgery, chemo and radiation during the time that my dad was burned in a boat accident and subsequently passed away. My mother is a strong woman--I know that. Just try to argue with her to change her mind about something!

Anyway, I quit the estrogen pills a year ago. Last month, when I saw my doctor, we discussed the fact that I am still experiencing the symptoms in somewhat a lesser degree than when I first quit taking the pills, but still have them. He informed me that I may NEVER get over all the symptoms. I guess that why Mom took them for so long and one of my 80 yr old friends still takes them. And also, my body still remembers, "that time of the month", except that now it falls around the time of the full moon. I get PMS-ish, I crave chocolate (usually I am not that fond of chocolate--really!) and sometimes just a little crazy.

Yes, I tried Estroven, I even tried doubling it. I also tried the herbal supplements, even going so far as buying the ones that have special pills for daytime and special pills for night time. Pfffft! They don't work for my body. What works best for me is exercise every day, a relative low carb/nutritious diet and lots of water. Only small amounts of caffeine and no caffeinated soda. I have to keep my red meat consumption on the low side too. If I am using ground meat in a dish it is not hamburger, but turkey. I've found ways to make turkey burgers more palatable too. Lunchmeat is a no-no for me, as well as hot dogs, smoked sausage and brats--!!sigh!!

We eat lots of veggies (raw, steamed or stir-fried), Praise the Lord, I've always loved veggies. We also eat several meatless meals with either meat substitutes or beans as the protien. Why can't I lose weight, if I eat so healthy? Cause as the doc says, I still eat too much. Ding-dang it! What a drag it is getting old. Your metabolism slows down unless you do heavy duty aerobic exercises, you know, like going to a gym and "feeling the burn"???

There's no magic pill........yet. It's the old adage: Eat less, exercise more = lose weight
No excuses, just hard work!
Lord, today I pray to leave excuses behind. Give me Your strength to eat less and push myself a little harder when exercising. I know that if I have the faith of a mustard seed that You can do this for me, I can move mountains(of fat).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's like you wrote that post for me....perimenopause is hitting big time. I kept waking up last night sweating, when the a/c was set on 77!! I usually have a light blanket on at night. I"m having my third cycle in 6 weeks too. I have a dr apt for July 12....I don't want to go on hormones though, so we'll see what she suggests. My sister takes Estroven and it works for her very well.

As for losing weight....aaarrggg. I am currently walking 3 miles, 5 times a week (plus swimming laps and doing some pool exercises on days I dont' walk) and haven't lost anything!!! I"m getting very discouraged. I want to check into joining Curves. I have not really changed my diet except trying to eat smaller portions and cutting back on sweets to about once a week. I'm goign to ask the dr about that Relacor stuff too. I am not into taking pills to lose weight, but I am having exactly the symptoms described in that commercial.

Oh well....stay cool =)
Christie

Granny said...

Thanks for the comment and glad I could help.


I've been so lucky. Went straight through menopause with no problem. A gift since the years preceding were yucky. No trouble having babies. I would have been happy to stay three months pregnant all the time.

Great dogs.

Carol said...

I had horrible symptoms - night sweats, hot flashes, insomnia, bloating, gas, Godzilla perimenopause stuff blah, blah, blah ad nauseum, until I quit eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) and started eating like you described. And exercising more regularly.

It all cleared up and I'm back to how I was when I was 25. Not saying I want to menstruate for the rest of my life, but I love these past three years of feeling normal again.

Okay - there is one other thing. That's also when I discovered I have Grave's Disease, which was completely messing with my endocrine system. Diet, exercise and supplements brought that under control and it all evened out.

Chicken or the egg? I don't know.