HATING HORMONES!!!

Hi Friends!

It's a sunny and hot Sunday in Simi Valley. Bill and Cameron are on a 15 mile bike ride with the Boy Scouts. Seeing as how the temerature outside is 97 degrees -- All I can say is better them than me! I told Bill between the exercise and sweating, he's sure to lose a lot of weight today! In fact, it's so hot today, that I had to let Nate and Isaac bring Gary (their new pet snail) inside. I was afraid he'd get cooked in his plastic container outside. So, now I have a snail on my kitchen island in an old cookie dough container. You've got to love little boys! I did warn everyone that the container holds a snail, not cookie dough! Otherwise it could be quite a surprise!

Now for the hormone vent. If you're a man and don't want to hear about "women's issues" -- stop reading here! My gynecologist ran blood tests which determined I was in perimenopause (the beginning of menopause). It was not a surprise because I had only had my period 2 times during the last year or so. And I was having hot flashes, mood swings, etc. The PMS was nasty and since I never knew when my period would show up -- it was hard to predict. So, the doctor put me on birth control pills. That in itself was amusing, because I am infertile, Bill's had a vasectomy, and now I am on birth control pills! But of course, the doctor (a man, did I mention?!) told me that it would control the menopausal symptoms and bring on a period (until I hit menopause, Menopause -- who knew perimenopause could last for years?). Well, Ok -- I'll give it a shot even though I'm thinking NO period is good -- not bad. It's not like I want more kids!

So, fast forward. I start the pills. I pay $35 per month for the package. I explain to my husband why I have to take birth control pills. I manage to remember to take them on a daily basis. And guess what -- they SUCK. I have been bleeding every day for the past 3 weeks. No big deal, my gyno says -- it's just break-through bleeding. Well, if I wanted to bleed every day for the rest of my life, I'd be crazy. I am currently washing my sheets for the 2nd time this week. Women, I know you can relate! And I've decided that after I finish this cycle of pills, I'm done with the hormones! I'll just go back to doing perimenopause and menopause the
old-fashioned and more graceful way! If I scream at my family too much, maybe I should just pay them the $35 a month in hush money!

I'm sure that the doctors will tell me there are other pills to try. But this sort of reminds me of my "sweaty pill" experience. You see, along with my lupus -- I have Sjogren's Syndrome. My immune system also attacks all moisture in my body. So, the doctors are always very concerned because of the dryness of my mouth, nose, etc. If you've never been thankful for your saliva, snot, etc. -- thank God for it now, because it is actually very important. So, in order to protect my eyes, nose and other parts -- I tried 2 moisture-producing pills -- AKA the "sweaty pills." You guessed it, the side effect of both pills -- profuse sweating, which I couldn't stand. So, I had to go against medical advice, and now I just use over-the-counter remedies for dryness in all areas! It was definitely a situation where the cure was worse than the problem. And I think the same is true with my current hormone therapy. Now, if you're in menopause and have been through this -- let me know what worked or didn't work for you. I truly wasn't planning to do menopause this soon (but life brings us all sorts of unanticipated changes, doesn't it?!) -- so I have done very little research on the big M. I've been keeping busy learning about lupus and chemo these days!

Well -- thanks for letting me vent! That's one reason I love to blog! I think I'll go get dressed. I am still in my pajamas. It would be pretty sad if Cam and Bill get home from their long bike ride and I'm still lounging around. But I only have 2 things on my to do list for the
day -- laundry and budgeting! If I get those two things done today, I'll be happy. And since it's Sunday it's family day, so I'm hoping to have some fun time together on the last official day of Spring Break. We have a tradition of having breakfast for dinner on Sunday nights. Tonight I think I'll make coffee cake and breakfast sausage. I'm getting hungry already!

Much Love,
Michele