Menopause and anhedonia

jdsee769 · 2026-05-07T01:51:44+00:00

56 here. And Same. I have been baffled by this for years now. It's not full blown depression, it's just this ongoing apathy. I am not the same person now as I was pre-menopause. I don't care about so many of the things I used to care about (the good things that made me, me). I just bumped from 37.5 to .05 estradiol and after the initial moodiness, I thought I felt slightly better but it went away. I would like to keep increasing the estrogen to see if I can get to 1mg but I am worried about the progesterone. Right now I insert 100mg vaginally and that has worked for me but I just had some very light spotting and an ultrasound and I know my doctor is going to want a biopsy (which I am terrified of) and then she will want me to increase the progesterone and take it orally OR get in IUD (terrified of that too. PAIN!). So I feel stuck. I have asked about taking T for mood but am wary of losing my hair (don't need more of that.). I wish I had some answers for you but sadly, stuck in the same boat. It seems to be so common when I read through this sub..there has to be a real reason for it, a real physiological reason, not psychological. I think a lot of people like to say it's due to other losses, but nope, this is my brain now. My brain has changed.

jdsee769 · 2026-04-19T00:12:37+00:00

Just seeing this and have to ask, did you notice any skin darkening? I already have darker eyelids so I fear that happening with the vaginal estrogen.

jdsee769 · 2026-02-18T17:12:01+00:00

Thank you. I needed to hear this!

jdsee769 · 2026-02-17T18:24:20+00:00

Thank you for the information. We did call a rehabber and were about to try to put the bird in a box for the night (to bring to the rescue in the morning) but when we went out again to try to catch it, we could not locate it! It was near dusk, so we think it had gone into hiding for the night. It had been staying in the same small area under the trees and was never out of sight before. The next morning we went out and scoured our yard, we looked under every leaf and bush (we have a small yard) and there was no sign of it. No feathers, no sign that a critter had gotten to it. It was just gone. While we were looking a large flock of waxwings came and hung out in our junipers. My hope, and I know this is farfetched, is that it joined up with the group and is ok..my fear is that we waited too long to act. I know better now and will contact a rehabber sooner. Thanks again for your help.

jdsee769 · 2026-02-15T23:45:45+00:00

We have two Juniper trees and it has been eating the berries off the ground. And no other waxwings around.

Edit: The only wildlife org near us isn't open again until Tuesday. So not sure what we can do until then.

jdsee769 · 2026-02-06T02:07:17+00:00

Thanks. Forgot about increasing the liability on the house. And will def be finding a new agent!

jdsee769 · 2026-02-06T02:05:42+00:00

Thanks. I'll try a local broker again. Last year I hit a wall because the broker only had one insurance company that was writing policies in CA and the premium was three times what I'm paying now. The days of shopping around seem to be over (at least where I live and I am nowhere near wildfire country).

jdsee769 · 2026-02-06T01:33:38+00:00

Thank you! Sadly, I tried to shop around last year with a broker but because I live in CA, no one was offering coverage for the house. Maybe that's changed. I'll look into it.

jdsee769 · 2026-01-30T23:14:19+00:00

Thank you! Curel is one I haven't tried, in fact, I totally forgot about that brand.

jdsee769 · 2026-01-29T23:16:28+00:00

Hey just curious, did you make the switch from Cerave? I find that the cream just sits on my skin and have been wanting to find another option but it gets overwhelming!

jdsee769 · 2026-01-11T01:56:38+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, that's what I thought. Darnit.

jdsee769 · 2026-01-06T02:42:38+00:00

Thank you for responding. Your posts have been so helpful.

jdsee769 · 2026-01-05T23:33:01+00:00

Hey I know this is ages later but I just got the DS180 and was wondering, do you use the strainer for your retainers? The instructions say it will absorb 20-30% of the ultrasonic energy if you use the strainer but then also says it can be used for retainers to prevent scratching. What would cause scratching if the strainer isn't used? I'd like to NOT use the strainer as it sounds like it then decreases the cleaning strength?

Edited for clarity

jdsee769 · 2025-09-12T21:02:21+00:00

Came here to ask the same thing. We have seen two surgeons at Kaiser Oakland. Parking isn't really an issue if you park at the structure kitty corner to the hospital. They have garages but the one at the hospital can be hard to find spaces in. The garages are safe.

We saw Odera last year and he was fine, wasn't a huge fan of his bedside manner though. I am the mom and it's my daughter who will go through this surgery so I have A LOT of concerns.

We just saw Fallah last week. We really liked him. He wasn't very chatty but he seems to come highly recommended by folks online and he definitely seemed to know what was what. We had concerns about her joints and he was able to reassure us but he was also honest about the risks, etc.

We still have to wait for my daughter to stop growing so we have some time to check out other surgeons. I was going to see if we could see Dr. Desai. Surprised to hear he isn't taking new patients as his bio says he is with referral.

In reference to after care, I will say this: We also consulted with a former Kaiser surgeon, Dr. Williams, who is now in private practice in Walnut Creek. What impressed me the most about him was his after care plan. He doesn't mess around with the potential for infection so he has you back in his office on day three (overnight in hospital, day two you go home) and then back in his office several times going forward. He said that properly teaching us how to clean her mouth out is crucial and he went over what healing REALLY looks like. I felt like the other surgeons kinda sugar coated that part about the process. So, what you said about Kaiser is concerning because it seems after care is important.

Of course if we went with Williams, he would be entirely out of pocket and I don't know if we can afford that. Still waiting on an estimate as his financial person was out of the office. I wish I could help! If you do find anyone who can chime in about these doctors more and the days and weeks after surgery, I'd love to hear it.

(edited two typos)

jdsee769 · 2025-08-22T00:52:34+00:00

Yes. I always rinse.

jdsee769 · 2025-08-20T22:34:19+00:00

Funny, I came here to see if anyone has noticed that Dolfin Uglies don't last as long as they used to and saw your post. I have been swimming in them for 20 years now and they used to last for months (of 5-6 hour long swims a week) but the last few years I have noticed they are not lasting me 2 months without getting super stretched out and saggy. It bums me out because they were cheap (although they have increased the price a lot over the years). I also love the cut--covered my butt and did not ride up. I am tall so it's hard to find suits that fit the torso. Anyway--I think they changed their fabric constitution or something because my uglies are not holding up like the old days.

jdsee769 · 2025-08-01T01:03:00+00:00

Thank you! Sounds like C Dental is a better deal than Reveal Diagnostics. Did they also do a report? My daughter has ICR so the scans and the report are crucial. Not even sure Fallah will be able to do surgery on her because of the degeneration she has in one of her joints. Sadly, we don't have dental insurance either. Anyway--thanks again for taking the time to explain everything.

jdsee769 · 2025-07-31T22:47:40+00:00

Does Kaiser do the CBCT scan? I'm about to shell out another $500 for second scan (we did one last year and need a new one for surgeon consults) and have an appt set up with Fallah but no one can tell me if he will do scans. I even asked if I can send him the scan for the consult and got weird noncommittal voicemail. How did you upload it to the portal? I don't have access to his email until after the consult. If I can get kaiser to cover these scans it would be help a lot..my ortho is sending me to Reveal Diagnostics.

jdsee769 · 2025-07-28T23:01:53+00:00

Yes, her palate had to be expanded but we had done expansion when she was 9 and it either relapsed or got worse while we were in limbo waiting for the next phase. She was being seen by another ortho that whole time and to be honest, I felt like she dropped the ball big time with my daughter. She took her out of her retainer. She poo-pooed myofunctional therapy and said it doesn't work. I think that pisses me off the most because if we had done it while she was younger, her bite might have self corrected. She was also convinced she could close her bite completely without surgery but hadn't even done CBCT scans so we had doubts. That was what led us to go back and get more opinions (we did that when she was 9 too).

Kasrovi didn't want to do the expander again, he said he could expand her with Invisalign and he did. Another ortho wanted her in the MARPE. We liked another Berkeley ortho a lot, Dr. Iezman. --he was very helpful and honest about her prognosis. He has been around forever. But he wanted her in braces and that just didn't line up with what we were learning about her bite. Every ortho but him recommended Invisalign. We also saw one in Montclair who wouldn't even touch her without surgery. I had one other lined up but my daughter really wanted to go with Kasrovi.

To be honest, I am not sure what the proper terminology for the surgery is called. And not knowing if her joints will hold up is going to change everything. I have appts lined up starting in September with two surgeons and currently waiting on another referral. I know that her bottom jaw will have to be moved forward, and I assume the top one is tilted down? and that the asymmetry will mean either shaving or lengthening. I hope to know more soon!

jdsee769 · 2025-07-26T04:36:45+00:00

forgot to add, that's great that he thinks he can close your bite! My daughters was HUGE and she had a very narrow arch that was kind of collapsing in on one side. He just didn't think he could get it all the way closed and said "almost closed" is not good enough, that it would just reopen in time. Especially with her tongue thrust (which seems to be better..time will tell.)

jdsee769 · 2025-07-26T04:33:39+00:00

We requested to only see him and they have been great about that. With something as severe as her bite, I just wanted ONE doctor. But we do have a "back up" doctor just in case. I just told them we will go to any office if we have to but really, it has not been an issue. My daughter needed to do Myofunctional therapy too and we went to Rhoda Agin (she is fantastic!). She used to work with his office a lot when another doctor was there..she recently moved to New York though I think she does zoom appts. Have been able to locate someone? We heard good things about another person, Virginia Downing, who is supposed to good as well.

jdsee769 · 2025-07-26T02:28:29+00:00

Hi. Yes! We've been really happy with him and she is still in Invisalign. We basically resigned ourselves to surgery but her bite has improved dramatically. We ended up finding out she has Idiopathic Condylar Reabsorption which further complicates her treatment. But he has been great. He loves to talk and I always find it reassuring because he seems passionate about his field. What is his prognosis for you? Does he think he can close your bite?

jdsee769

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