u/BreatheCre8

While I’m glad a (very) few medical professionals have made the connection between hormones and itchy ears in perimenopause, it also has got me really mad that it’s so widely unknown/unaccepted as a possibility across the medical community.
 
I’ve never had any ear problems but 1.5 years ago, my ears started itching like crazy and haven’t stopped since. It’s so bad that I’ve been treated for multiple infections, and have developed frequent weeping from the skin. I’ve seen over 8 ENTs and dermatologists (whom most are “one trick ponies”), and none (including my gynecologist) will admit the possibility of hormones having anything to do with it.
 
As if I just developed this unknown mysterious condition out of nowhere. There’s no doubt in my mind this is hormonally driven because the itching becomes more intense in luteal when estrogen drops. None of these doctors knows what the hell to do and they refer me back and forth to each other so they don’t have to help me. They give up on me after they try the same meds that the other doctors already tried and failed, rather than being a real doctor and trying to get to the bottom of it. The medical system has failed me on a personal level, while they’ve failed all women in this time of life.
 
I partly just need to vent but also want to see if there might be anyone else on this planet who is dealing with a life-consuming level of ear itching with additional symptoms?

Has anyone had a problem with a surge protector no longer charging this computer (yet the surge protector still powers other electronics)?

My son’s Victus stopped powering through a current surge protector that it’s run on for almost 2 years. It powers just fine when directly connected to the wall.

I’ve been looking into other surge protectors. AI says I need over 2700 joules and around 400 v clamping. These are hard to find on Amazon and pretty expensive. Is this really necessary? Can anyone recommend a good affordable one (under $40) that you’ve used this computer on long-term?

I’ve been on every anti-depressant over the past 25 years, and many of them work at first and then wear off. I’m in a serious bout of depression that I think is hormonal due to perimenopause (also have a history of PMDD). I’m trying Zoloft again, the first AD I ever tried.

I started 3 weeks ago on 50 mg (while slowly weaning down on viibryd). I was in a VERY bad place last week and called my dr and she told me to stay on viibryd for now and bumped me to 100 mg Zoloft. The 100 mg gave me a headache so I’m trying 75 mg for a couple days before I go to 100 mg.

I understand that this (and most ADs) state that it takes 4-8 weeks to work. But I must say that with all my experience, I don’t recall an AD taking this long to feel anything, not even a spark of hope. I’m still very depressed and expect to notice something by now, however subtle. I’ve been depressed for so long and am so frustrated with experiencing no improvement. Does Zoloft take longer than others to start working?

I’m about to trial Duavee soon. I got my doctor to agree to let me try it, as I still have periods but am likely in desperate need of estrogen due to severe perimenopause/ hormonal depression. I am progesterone intolerant so this med could be a godsend.

Can anyone tell me what to expect when first starting it (if you still have periods)? And did you start it on the first day of your period? At the end? Or whenever? Did you have much bleeding or spotting? Other side effects?

I have fairly heavy periods so my dr is sure I’ll be bleeding a lot, but I at least want to see if the estrogen helps any for a month. This week I’m switching to another antidepressant (even though I’m treatment resistant and have tried them all), so I’m thinking to wait and start Duavee in a week when my period starts.

I work for an agency on a client who bombards me with a lot of work at once with very short turn times. So I get very busy for several days at a time. Then there are times where they send me nothing and I’m twiddling my thumbs for several days at a time. Recently my company installed bossware on every machine, and is watching our every keystroke. Now I’m scared that the software is measuring my productivity (because it is) and it’s going to appear low.

I’ve talked to my manager openly about my concerns (because we can speak honestly) but despite that I’ve continuously asked him for more busy work/work that I can fill in these large gaps of time, he’s given me nothing. I’ve suggested a few ideas that would involve marketing for our company, but he doesn’t act on anything. I don’t know if he can do much to protect me if the company decided to weed out people who are “unproductive” by the bossware’s standards. He’s against the software too and the company is telling the managers that they’re only using it to track urls. I don’t believe this, since the software is a package, not à la carte.

This is the only client we have who requests copywriting. They’ve done a poor job soliciting more copywriting requests from our clients.

I think I need to come up with more ideas I can try to present to my boss to fill in my time and appear valuable to the bossware. I’m already doing linkedin learning but there’s only so much damn time I can look at that! What are you all doing on your down time if you work for a company?

Looking at #35 in the guide. Vitamin d tested at 28 ng/ml. My dr prescribed me 50,000 IU D2 once a week. I’m trying to decide if I should continue taking this, plus add 10,000 IU/day D3? Or just skip the 50k d2. Does d2 have any benefits? Any concerns about taking both if I retest in a few months?

I’ve been having a lot of symptoms including depression and anxiety for a long time (resistant to antidepressants and I’ve been blaming perimenopause this whole time). I also have low iron and I’m working on building that up as well. I’m anxious to start feeling better ASAP!

In a bit of shock this morning when I went to look back on past labs and to see where my iron levels were previously. I discovered several months ago I have low iron (because I asked my doctor to test). Well I looked at my lab history and though I don’t have some years prior to 2021, it seems I have NEVER been tested for iron!?!?! The only other time I remember being tested was when I was pregnant in 2013 and I was low.

I’ve had depression and anxiety much of my adult life, and been mostly resistant to psychiatric medications. Now I’m feeling like there’s a serious possibility I’ve spent so many years of my life depressed and untreated because the medical system doesn’t automatically test menstruating women’s iron levels! This seems like serious failure on behalf of the medical system.

Oh, but I was tested multiple times for chlamydia and gonorrhea while married. Obviously it’s more important to be sure I don’t have any stds! What kind of world do we live in???? Feeling really neglected by the health system.