I am 39 and 3 months and I have been told I'm in menopause.  Bull.  I think I've a pretty typical American girl. I was raised by a single mom, ate Stouffer’s frozen dinners after school, grew up on hamburgers & pizza in college & my 20's. I was a smoker (because that used to be cool) & now at 39 I'm finally an adult... married... and ready to start my family.  Don't look at me like that - 39 is not old. 

I started having hot flashes with my period in my late 20's. Over my 30's this just became a fact of life - no one seemed very concerned about it (by no one I mean my family practice doctor who does my annual paps). Over the past 3 years my life made some very dramatic changes and my body made some very dramatic changes.  All of which I kept contributing to stress, diet & lifestyle changes (new house, new man, new job). Here's how I convinced my doctor to give me a blood test for premature menopause & what I've been experiencing.

June 3, 2010 was my last period (68 days ago)

I went to see a new OBGYN on June 16th to discuss my annual pap & getting pregnant. I told her I was concerned about menopause especially since I had been experiencing non-stop hot flashes. She suggested I try the at home fertility & ovulation tests for a couple months & see where we were at. I agreed. By July 16th I was back in her office having missed a period & knowing that I was not pregnant (by symptoms & testing) & begged her for the FSH blood test. She did it & sure enough it came back that I was in menopause. Now, most site will say because of my age group it's not really menopause, but rather premature ovarian failure (POF) - I'll wait for more doctor opinions before I categorize it for good.

Now I had the proof. But more importantly I had the ability to start taking some herbal supplements (certain that I wasn't pregnant) to help those damn hot flashes! 4-5 a night & 5 or more during the day - EVERY DAY! So now I'm on a holistic regimen to get my body back on track. I'm reading everything I can on menopause & infertility so that when I go to a fertility specialist they don't just throw some Clomid at me or say invitro is my only option. I don't believe that crap. Treat the body as a whole & you will get it back on track.

Here are my symptoms over the past 3 years: hot flashes, vaginal dryness, extreme moods (especially anger which I thought was 100% the fault of my stressful job & a**hole boss, but now I can see where my moods were exaggerated), sugar cravings (which I blamed on quitting smoking), insomnia, major weight gain (again with quitting smoking), major loss of sex drive (which makes my husband feel bad & then I feel bad) & to top it all off - spells of depression. WOW what a load to bear! It's taken me 3 years to get my head on straight & realize just how much of my vitality of life I've lost - & these have been some of the best years of my life in terms of work (after the a**hole boss) & love.  Honestly - I didn't connect the dots until I wrote it all down in a list & wha’la - menopause.

Now - what am I doing about it? Well first there's my herbal & vitamin regime: black cohosh, blue cohosh, wild yam, DHEA & a fish oil blend (just started this week), & Deepak Chopra's Woman's Vitality every day. Then every other day I add evening primrose & red clover to the mix.  I started with the cohosh's & wild yam - within 2 days my hot flashes had subsided dramatically & were completely gone within a week.

I've added soy to my diet (as creamer in my decaf coffee) & stopped drinking skim milk (there are several reports online linking fat-free dairy to infertility). Now I'm 3 weeks in my new diet & my symptoms are gone. Now for the big test... in the past couple days I've been re-experiencing some hot flashes, sleep issues, tight pants & sweets cravings so what's up with that? Well - it's my period! Long time no see my old friend! I've been so obsessed with menopause symptoms, that I didn't even recognize PMS symptoms until I saw some spotting today. Now, I don't believe my body is miraculously surging with hormones, but I do think I'm on the right track.

Here's to Aunt Flo & how I'm so glad to see her - this means my body is trying to get back to a natural cycle & rhythm the way nature intended. Now let's see what kind of healing I can do to my hypothalamus & pituitary gland in the next month or so before I start talking to endocrinologists & fertility doctors.

(WARNING: I am not a doctor & I have no medical background experience. My trials are on my own body which I've known for 39 years & I determine what's best for me based on my own research & my body's reactions. Please don't take any of this as medical advice for yourself, but maybe get some ideas on treatments you can discuss with your own doctor.)