aasharon90

You can say that again Fandy.

The Sands of the Sahara Desert....
Now That's Hot.....lol

SoberCAH

Make no mistake, men suffer from menopause.

And PMS for that matter.

Gilmer

trachemys

He Gilmer, haven't asked lately how the changeover has gone?

Gilmer

I'm wondering, too! I was kind of hot under the sleeping bag Monday night, even with the A/C cranked down low. Then my husband lowered the temp Tuesday, and i got cold!

And I hate to admit it, but I was an absolute ***** on wheels earlier today! I couldn't stop myself from grousing!

I certainly don't feel that I'm in a depression or anything--I like the bupropion. Maybe Effexor kept me deader overall, so it was easier to smile and gloss over things. Part of me thinks it's an important feature of my personal growth to express my legitimate opinions in a gentle and humble way (rather than, say, drinking to get that happy smile on my face).

Problem is, I'm not very good yet at counting to ten and speaking only when calm.

Thanks for asking!

trachemys

You've been very kind and thoughtful around here lately. Maybe extend that to your analog life.

I noticed we weren't talking about it and knew you had more to deal with than me with bupropion. Wanted to check on you.

Gilmer

Thank you, Trach! It's easy to be kind and upbeat on SR, because the people on here are always kind. Real life is more--shall we say--challenging? But I am determined to be better than a fishwife!

jarrett622

Yeah, AD's can mask menopause symptoms like hot flashes. Sometimes I think it's just that some of the meds *cause* hot flashes that are way worse than anything menopause could throw at a person. So maybe the hot flashes I have now don't feel nearly as bad? Celexa, I'd wake up in a puddle of sweat. I can't take Celexa. Did I mention that? I have to have the dual reuptake inhibitor like Effexor, which pooped out on me. I'm on Cymbalta now. And when I run out for a day or so man do the the hot flashes get rough! As long as I take the Cymbalta I'm pretty much fine. But I do find that overall I have no tolerance for heat at all anymore. I keep it as cold as possible in the bedroom. Which means in the winter when I was having hot flashes (ran out of Cymbalta) I was throwing tons of covers off. My poor boyfriend.

Gilmer

When I went off of Effexor, that's when the hot flashes really kicked in. Now it's just covers on/off all night--I've never had a massive one like the one when I was actively withdrawing from it.

jarrett622

The two worst things about all this have been the hot flashes, when they were really bad, and the past few years and the peri really wound up, I was getting massive mood swings. Happy one second, and literally the next second crying my eyes out for *no* reason. Ugh! I didn't even do that in adolescence. It was awful!

Gilmer

Yeah. I've suddenly been anxious and super, hair-trigger *****y the last couple of months. Over ridiculously minor things. Not typical of me at all.

I am not depressed in any way, so I know my new anti-depressant is doing its job. My mood stabilizer has also been constantly effective.

What does that leave?

jarrett622

Well! I know that if the AD is working I don't have those mood swings. Did you say what you were taking? I can't remember. The Cymbalta has really been a lifesaver for me. I was on Effexor prior to that. Celexa prior to the Effexor. Celexa was awful for me. Turns out I needed the dual reuptake action of AD's like Effexor and Cymbalta. With Cymbalta I feel "normal" for the first time in years.

I guess it's a pick-your-poisons kind of thing.

hopeful4

O my gosh, I am 39 and have just started having night sweats. They don't wake me up but I wake up in the morning sopping wet, it's so gross!!!!! I HATE it!

Neagrm

Effexor, and other AD's, are sometimes used as hormone supplemental brain coverage for menopausal symptoms. It is specifically prescribed for that (the sudden loss of estrogen, etc., causes chemical imbalance in the brain), not depression per se. Even if hormone replacement is used, the AD supplements it when ovaries are lost to surgical/sudden and shocking menopause. (Yes, after natural menopause they DO continue to produce hormones and interact with all the adrenals throughout life until you're 125 y.o. :-); just not enough to support fertility.)