raw and post menopausal - for women only

[JulesRules]

Ladies,

Please help me..

I have been struggling for 6 years now...had a hysterectomy and oophrectomy (ovaries taken too) about then. In the hospital, they gave me an estrogen patch (bioidentical estrogen) which I wore for 5 years.

I gained belly fat that I never had before, felt lethargic, mind fog...and when I had gaps where I didn't change it regularly, I had hot flashes...yuk!!!!!!!

Stopped wearing in about a year ago...At same time, my H started his Mid life crisis, got a young girlfriend, bought a corvette, had hair transplants...use your imagination. My life turned upside down.

I was depressed, hot flashing, no ovaries and no HRT....EEEOOOUUUUCH! Started taking antidepressants....between the two I gained almost 50 lbs.

Started eating raw about 6 weeks ago. At same time upped my dosage of antidepressants...feel like my body is changing in a good way and feel really good...lost only 6 lbs, but that is ok...Progress anyway..

So, what affect does eating raw have on depression and on post menopausal body where one doesn't have any ovaries to produce estogen?

Is there a situation in which one eating raw might still need to take antidepressants or HRT?

I haven't been able to find anybody with RAW experience who can help ...

Thanks.

[lafsalot]

Went through surgical menopause several years ago and the only thing that has worked for me is 100% raw ~ Cathy

[Revvell]

Can't really tell you since I've not had the surgeries but a friend has. As a cooked vegan, she's doing fine. Me, w/out the surgeries and never having taken any of the drugs... so good! No flashes, a bit of moodiness on occassion... that's it.

[sueko]

My understanding is that once you have your ovaries removed you must take HRT forever because the organ that makes your hormones has been unnaturally removed. There are many other hormones that your ovaries produced which HRT doesn't cover, however, because "science" hasn't figured that out yet. Raw has not helped me with my menopause symptoms. I was on bio-identical HRT which I stopped about six months before I went raw, have been 100% for about four months and still get a lot of hot flashes and night sweats, but that's all, unless you count the irritability and the brain fog, but that could be from lots of things. So, once again, here on this thread, you have a variety of experiences, all different, all individual, just like the women who wrote them;)

[Gwennie]

I had a hysterectomy at the age of 39 (I am 54) I took estrogen for about a year until my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer - it was estrogen positive - therefore I can't take it (have since had 2 other sisters with cancer) I take nothing, suffered a lot with hot flashes and mood swings for a long time but I have to say that when I went raw for 4 months I never felt better and was happy & did not need any drugs or anti-depressants (in fact they made me foggy) but summer arrived and I fell off the wagon - the depression hit again, the weight gain, the "down on myself" - I am now back on raw for 2 weeks and let me tell you I can already feel the amazing difference - my depression is lifting, my energy is coming back and my weight is going down -best of all no hot flashes (and by the way the flashes are far worse at night if you drink alcohol) - try raw- be true to it and trust me you will heal without drugs and without HRT -

[lafsalot]

My understanding is that once you have your ovaries removed you must take HRT forever because the organ that makes your hormones has been unnaturally removed. There are many other hormones that your ovaries produced which HRT doesn't cover, however, because "science" hasn't figured that out yet. Raw has not helped me with my menopause symptoms. I was on bio-identical HRT which I stopped about six months before I went raw, have been 100% for about four months and still get a lot of hot flashes and night sweats, but that's all, unless you count the irritability and the brain fog, but that could be from lots of things. So, once again, here on this thread, you have a variety of experiences, all different, all individual, just like the women who wrote them;)

Not true, for pre-menopausal women who have undergone bilateral oorphorectomy and choose hrt, it is only prescribed up until the age of 50 and/or up until the age she whould have naturally gone through menopause.

As you said, we are all individuals with differents sets of circumstances and belief systems, so the decision to take hrt is really a personal matter. After lengthy conversations with my gynecological oncologist, and in view of my family history and health risks, I chose not to go that route, but then, that is just me.;) ~ Cathy

[Dj 247]

Ladies,

Please help me..

I have been struggling for 6 years now...had a hysterectomy and oophrectomy (ovaries taken too) about then. In the hospital, they gave me an estrogen patch (bioidentical estrogen) which I wore for 5 years.

I gained belly fat that I never had before, felt lethargic, mind fog...and when I had gaps where I didn't change it regularly, I had hot flashes...yuk!!!!!!!

Stopped wearing in about a year ago...At same time, my H started his Mid life crisis, got a young girlfriend, bought a corvette, had hair transplants...use your imagination. My life turned upside down.

I was depressed, hot flashing, no ovaries and no HRT....EEEOOOUUUUCH! Started taking antidepressants....between the two I gained almost 50 lbs.

Started eating raw about 6 weeks ago. At same time upped my dosage of antidepressants...feel like my body is changing in a good way and feel really good...lost only 6 lbs, but that is ok...Progress anyway..

So, what affect does eating raw have on depression and on post menopausal body where one doesn't have any ovaries to produce estogen?

Is there a situation in which one eating raw might still need to take antidepressants or HRT?

I haven't been able to find anybody with RAW experience who can help ...

Thanks.

It seems to me like you have had a lot of changes going on in your life, but are handling it very well. You are taking charge of your life and trying to take care of the most important person...YOU! I am proud of you, and I hope you are proud of yourself! I don't know much about menopause other than it scares me a little because my mother had such a hard time with it. I am 45 and will be facing it very soon. Menopause and the lack of medical insurance is what made me look into the raw food diet. I hope it gets us both through the tough times.

[luckitri]

You know when I was a kid I could always tell the female dogs who had been spayed because they got fat and barrel shaped.

I had my tubes tied so my situation is different but I am getting alot of belly fat and it is so shocking to me since I had always had a really trim waist. But no I am kind of barrel shaped like those female dogs.

I also have severe osteoporosis and I read that the body can make estrogen from stored fat - even if you don't have your ovaries. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong. So even though I don't like it - I was hoping that my body was trying to correct my osteoporosis by creating the fat it needs to rebuild the bones.

Then yesterday I found an article that I posted on the over 50 section of the forum. I knew that gaining fat around the middle can be a pre-diabetic symptom and this article is about that. My body also has 3X the testosterone it should have according to the doctors. Once again, I took this to mean that my body was producing the testosterone it needs to correct the bone situation. I was getting ready to research how to make sure I get other hormones needed like progesterone. But this article leads me to believe that I am heading towards diabetes unless I do something drastically different.

So in each case only time will tell.

Oh, I don't get hot flashes very often if at all and only had a night sweat once. I am not 100% but still I am quite surprised because I suffered horribly with my menstruation from the first day I got it. I assumed that I would have an equally difficult time with menopause. Maybe because of all the other stuff I have going on with my body something decided to cut me a break on those things.

[Xanadu]

I am menopausal and the raw diet has eliminated most of my severe depression. It also stopped my 3+ week long hemoraging each month. When I eat SAD for several days in a row the bleeding starts up again and the depression comes back. I am 54. I do still have hot flashes but not as bad as pre-raw. I have not had any "female" surgeries nor any hrt.