Is it Menopause or thyroid? Help!

Hi Ladies,

My partial hysterectomy (kept my ovaries and cervix) was Oct 8 2004. Everything seemed to go well until about 2 months ago. I started getting hot flashes (I think). I would all of the sudden get warm. Now I am not only getting warm, I am down right HOT! and sweating. I only seem to sweat (or as we Southern girls say, glow ) from the chest up. Now, as of yesterday, I am getting hot AND cold at the same time. I am sweating from the chest up, while my hands and feet are freezing. If I drink cold fluids or eat something cold, I will get chilled to the point of needing a heating pad, blankets and sweater.

I don't think I have any other menopausal symptoms; as a matter of fact, I can tell when I should have gotten my period and even was getting PMSy. The PMS ended around the time the hotflashes and chills started, but I still know when I should have a had a period. My breasts get tender and other things.

My question is this, does this sound hormonal, or could it be thyroid. I take tyriod meds, but stopped in late April because I was taking a supplement w/ iodine in it. I stopped taking it
(sheer lazyness, and never started back on the Synthroid). I started back on Synthriod yesterday and called the Doc for a slip to get my levels checked. I made an appt. w/ my Ob/Gyn to discuss the hot flashes and get my almost 1 yr. checkup.

What do y'all think? Menopause or Thyroid? Or both? I thought with my ovaries intact, I wouldn't go through this.

Help!!!

Thank you so much!!!!!

Maria (BlueRidgeBlue)

Maria, sounds like get some blood tests are a very good idea. I recently felt like my HRT needed adjusting and it turned out I was anaemic. I didn't have hot flushes but definately that shivery PMS type feeling. I also get this when my Thyroid meds need adjusting ( on Thyroxine) So could be a few things. Try not to stress, get the tests done I hope your feeling better soon

Maria, The symptoms that you describe are quite common in women with their ovaries still intact. You more than likely need some estrogen supplementation daily during the month, but you need it in a dose where you would be able to adjust the dose around the time when your symptoms are worse. You might also benefit from a low dose progesterone during the days when you experience PMS symptoms.
Your thyroid function and hormones go hand in hand. To get the best results, both have to be balanced. So if your thyroid fucntion is not balanced you may find it hard to balance your hormones/relieve your symptoms. I would recommend contacting your physician to get started on some therapies to provide you with relief.

Dear Vicki,

Thank you for the info. I started back on my thyroid meds a couple of days ago. I have had been on HRT B4 my surgery, so I guess the problems don't go away because the uterus does, lol. This time I will do Bio-identical. Thankfully, my Doc has never stopped prescribing them and thinks it's a great way to go. He says sometimes the old way are still the best ways.

Maria