menopause?

[PittGurl]

ok ladies - anyone here go thru menopause yet? Im 45 and now 34 days late with my period. Tubes tied 2 years ago, and 2 preg tests just in case...both negative. 

Is menopause any different with HIV?

[Bobsy]

Hi Pittgurl

I’d already started menopause when diagnosed HIV pos. Although it is thought HIV pos women might start perimenopause earlier, you are actually in the normal age range for this. Sporadic periods tend to be the first sign – a later on, then 2 close together for example, and sometimes they can get heavier! This can go on for a few years.

Everyone’s experience is different. If you have bad symptoms, HRT shouldn’t be discounted. The patch is I believe better than the pill – depending on what meds you are taking – ie reduce any potential interactions, as it bypasses the liver

There are few studies on this, and not really conclusive, but these might help:

http://www.aidsmap.com/Menopause-and-HIV/page/3117291/

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053369117748794

There are also on-going studies on this that might eventually give more info.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/iph/research/sexualhealthandhiv/prime-study

[PittGurl]

Hey Bobsy - thank you!!!  Well after an 87 day cycle started brown blood today. I should tell though that my dad passed away from ALS Dec 18th and it was very hard on me. He was everything to me and maybe the stress caught up with me.    My mom did menopause with no help ....

Thank you for the links! 

[Bobsy]

So sorry to hear about your dad Pittgurl. It’s really tough when you lose someone you love and takes a bit of time to get over and come to terms with it – I found that when my mum passed  And the knock on effect can certainly affect your periods, so it might be that. It can also be down to diet so eating healthily helps.

My mum told me nothing about menopause and when she went through it. I only remember a time when she got a bit ratty, and she wasn’t normally a ratty person, so who knows!

[Jenny69]

Definitely yes me and I'm only 29, no kids yet, my period is coming for 1 day only so I guess I'm heading there.

[blackbeauty40]

I'm really late to this post  . I'm 52 but I'm still getting regular and normal periods. I mentioned to someone that I was having night sweats among other things, which I think may be related to my VL and CD4 counts, but I was told that the night sweats are due to menopause. I'm confused and not sure if I should just assume the night sweats are because of menopause or not.

[Bobsy]

Hi Blackbeauty, the short answer is that night sweats at 52 (pretty well bang on the average age for menopause) along with still having regular periods, would mostly likely be down to being in perimenopause.

You also mentioned other things? I had a read back on your past posts and you said you’d been feeling down. Depression and anxiety can also be due to menopause. The way our hormones start changing and fluctuating and depletion of estrogen as we get older can affect all parts of our body and can be quite scary if we don’t know what’s going on. Some women get no symptoms whatsoever, whereas others get several – luck of the draw really!

Have a read of the aidsmap link I posted above, which explains it quite well, along with the most common symptoms. If yours are difficult to deal with, there are things you can do about it – small changes to lifestyle measures, starting HRT can help rebalance hormones and lessen things like night sweats and help with bone health, creams can help with dryness etc.

Have you discussed this with your Dr?  It can be difficult to separate different issues – I was diagnosed with HIV at the same time I was most likely going through menopause and hadn’t a clue what was attributable to what. In the UK, symptoms alone are used to diagnose menopause once we are over 45, because it’s expected that this is going to happen. It is also recommended that if we feel anxious or depressed at this age, HRT should be given instead of SSRIs (antidepressants). I now tend to think of menopause as a totally separate issue to HIV except taking into account that for HIV+ women, we might be at slightly increased risk of osteoporosis, so I take HRT for this reason, along with regular exercise – added benefit of feel good factor when feeling down.

I hope that helps. It sounds like you have a few things going on (I’m not sure if you are taking meds at the moment?) If you have no support groups near you, you could perhaps join an online group, say for menopause?

[blackbeauty40]

Hi Bobsy, thanks for the reply. The depression is something I've been dealing with since I was a teen, besides, my doctor's office says that may not be a result of menopause, especially since I'm not having hot flashes, just night sweats. Because of this, HRT has not been discussed. I'm actually in the process of trying to find a therapist for the depression as it is getting really, really bad.

I do have a few things going on, some with my health (mental and physical) and some with my personal/work life and things are getting very difficult to handle. No, not on medication because my out of pocket costs are something I can't afford. Because of my income level, I don't qualify for a lot of medical resources. They seem to forget that people have bills....mortgages, utilities, student loans, etc. etc. So, I've been off meds for quite some time. I'll look around to see if there are any support groups available. 

[Grendal]

Have been through it, guess it was the big thing of the past decade. Couldn’t figure out why I felt hot yet no elevated temperature when it first started, female ID doc was no help - her hot flashes started later. It was a huge annoyance, a lot of symptoms, had a hard time tolerating hrt too. Still have occasional hot flashes but pretty much beyond it now. I want to try a cream as I have some Vaginal atrophy. It was not easy.

I exercise regularly and eat well - will likely be as well in my 60’s as early 40’s.