Is There Something to Help This Peri-menopause Irritability???

Abita worked well for me, especially the Purple Haze variety. .

I know that irritability surge when it hits and it can hit hard... I am now 50, so it's calmed down a bit. However, what has helped me is charting my cycle. I have been doing it now for about 7 years. it started back when I was trying to have a second child, although that didn't work out as planned, I gained so much info about my body, cycle , emotions and so forth, that I just kept up the chart.. Now, I track things like flow, moods, cravings, blood pressure and whatever has been an issue.. by doing as such, it's allowed me to see trends in my moods.. I notice that right before mid-cycle, my mood goes down.. then as I build back Estrogen to the degree that I can build it (now at 50) my mood gets better.. however, as I get closer to menstruation... the mood swing might start. Basically, the mood swing hits whenever there is a specific shift in my cycle.. what's helped me is this.. I know when the moods might hit and just in knowing this... knowledge is power.. It means I probably need more sleep, exercise and good nutrition.. IF I allow myself too much junk or don't make it a point to get some type of exercise, my moods are far worse... also.. I am not a big drinker to begin with, but even IF I wanted a glass of wine around certain times of the month, I won't do it because inevitably, the alcohol makes me feel more moody and depressed..
bottomline, I don't think the moods go away completely, we just learn how to better manage them.. for me, it's meant to arm myself with knowledge about my cycle and how at different times of the month either progesterone and estrogen are rising and falling..
the other dilemma... at least for me.. by 48, while you might still be having periods, you may not be ovulating.. what that means there is no surge of progesterone to offset the Estrogen... while you have less estrogen at this age, you can still become estrogen dominant in terms of ratios in that you don't have the progesterone offset.. I found that because of this, this was also making my moods worse.. because whether it was lower estrogen or progesterone, the relationship between the two was off kilter, which caused me to have highs and lows..
I read a book by Dr Vliet called screaming to be heard.. it's about how the medical establishment doesn't really listen to women and their medical issues and instead, blows them off... it was a good book in that I learned a lot about my cycle and what to expect..
it's a thick book... see if your library has it.. I think there is good info in it for everyone at every age..

good luck to you :)

There was a report released just in the last few days about menopausal symptoms (specifically hot flashes, but I imagine it applies to many other others) can last an average of 14 years. So it's time we got a handle on this stuff!

If the medication isn't working, you might want to reconsider. This is only treating the symptom anyway, and not dealing with the underlying cause, which is an imbalance.

Mimi H. raises some good points about nutrition, absorption, toxins, and chemicals. I'm not anti-medication if it's necessary and helpful without side effects. It's not possible to blame menopausal symptoms on only one thing, but scientists can certainly look at the cumulative effect of all these things on the body's balance. If you search "epigenetics" or "mapping the epigenome" on major on-line news services, you'll see the latest breakthroughs about a variety of imbalances that occur from various outside factors, enough to change the way our genes function. (They note identical twins with identical DNA/genome who have very different illnesses due to epigenetics changing how those identical genes are expressed.) If you search on pubmed.gov you will see scores of scientific papers about changes from cancer to hormonal issues to Alzheimers to autoimmune issues, and how epigenetics may be the key to resolving them.

So it's worth looking at food sources (especially pure, non-GMO supplements) that are proven so affect gene expression. I've breezed through menopause even with limited use, and now I've upped my game with the new developments.

after I had my hysterectomy (including ovaries) I noticed (ok, who's kidding... it was those around me that noticed!!!!) that I had taken up residence in the nut tree about 4 months after the surgery. I was on the "bitchy / anxiety" branch and seemed to be drinking "lost my sense of humor" tea. In addition I was crazy hot and sweaty. like all the time. not flashes.

My OB prescribed 0.62 premarin (estrogen- very low dose) as well as effexor 150mg (medium dose) and I feel absolutely fantastic.

I'm not sure which one it was that helped and frankly, I don't care. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I take both and continue to have my family love me and want to be around me again :-)

For me - peri menopause was messing with my irritability by messing with my sleep.
Lack of quality sleep make EVERYONE irritable.
The hot sweats were causing a lot of tossing and turning - and it was just harder to sleep in general.

Estroven Extra Strength helped take the edge off a lot of the hot flashes.
And cutting caffeine use, using melatonin, Valerian, chamomile tea all helped with other sleep issues - and that helped eliminate the irritability.

I'm around your age and recently went back on the pill. Years ago it affected my mood badly. This time I think it's really helped. Some stressors in my life let up around the same time but I'm wondering if the estrogen is helping. I don't get periods anymore either. I take LoLestrin and apparently no more periods is normal. I went on it for actual birth control but maybe this is a pleasant side effect.

When nutrition actually absorbs and when your brain is actually communicating with your body, these types of symptoms vanish...the problem today is the toxicities that we absorb through the preservatives in our foods as well as the pesticides, the cleaning supplies in our homes absorb through our lungs and skin. All that to say, sometimes we attack a symptom when we should be looking for the cause of the symptom.

I'm sorry but Wellbutrin is simply another toxicity. If it was working, you might want to keep using it, but obviously since you don't see a difference it would be wise to get it out of your system....if you're interested I'll be glad to go in depth further. I preach this often, saw it work in my life and many others but I won't belabor it all in this forum unless your interested. Let me know!

God bless!
M.

yes.
it's called 'vacation in the tropics.'
:) khairete
S.

I'm right there with you. I find a walk, even if it's just around the block, helps me a lot. I have hot flashes and am generally not sleeping well. Makes for cranky woman sometimes. I wish I had more to offer. I'll be keeping up with your responses.

Blessings!
L.