House temperatures

[Rorschach]

Mrs D did look at HRT but decided it was too risky for her with the potential side effects of weight gain, heart disease, blood clots, and breast cancer. Now, this is probably not an issue for most but her Doctor swerved her from going on it. The madness remains.

DWD

My partner (doesn't need it yet) will come to the same conclusion based on family history.

[Tom d'Angler]

Mrs G is on HRT and to be honest there seems to be little in the way of side effects.

There is a risk, albeit very small, of serious illnesses like breast cancer, so Mrs d'A goes for regular checks. Apart from weight gain, she doesn't seem to have any other side effects.

I seem to have missed out on the mood swings that some talk of , she doesn't shout and ball at anyone

Mrs d'A doesn't shout but she does snap and has an irritating tendency to not listen to people, often asking a question and then asking another question before the other person has had a chance to answer the first one (or is that just because she's a woman and nothing to do with the menopause? ). She also likes to persist with a point many times after the other person gives a valid reason why they don't want to do it. The other person ends up snapping a final "no!" at her and then she has the hump for the rest of the day, insinuating the other person is always wrong. Even when she has asked my opinion on the conversation, and I tell her why I think the other person's point was valid, she'll walk away shaking her head as though everyone else is wrong but not her (a family trait with all the females on her side of the family).

The menopause seems to manifest itself as hot flushes and a bit of forgetfulness .

Yes, Mrs d'A suffered from those. She also claimed to sleep for less than two hours most nights, and those claims went on for a few years, even after I suggested that she see a doctor because getting so little sleep would be dangerous, she still insisted that's all she was getting, despite being able to function at normal capacity throughout the day without any naps. One other effect the menopause seems to have had on her is her need to exaggerate anything in order to get sympathy. For example, the number of times our baby granddaughter wakens during the night when she stays over, "She was awake at 2, 4, and 5 am..." when I know full well that's not the case. It's very frustrating for all the family but I guess we just have to put up with it until it's finished.

Going back to the house heating

I think I have been mollycoddled in recent years with relatively cheap gas as I like the heating to be between 19 and 20 degrees. I read something recently about the effect lowering the thermostat has on the brain and body and the general consensus was that 18 was the ideal setting and that living in a home that's regularly below 10 degrees (as some respondents to a survey said they had to set their thermostat to in order to afford the bills) is harmful to health, especially in the long run.

In our house (a mid-seventies semi) we seem to get condensation on the outside walls if we don't keep the temperature up to at least 15 degrees, and I feel lethargic and chilled to the bone is it's as low as that. I would love to get a paraffin heater as it would be very nostalgic for me but our firefighter son would have a fit if I got one so I make do with a hot water bottle.

[Grendel]

MrsG has regular checks . She started the menopause early so has been on HRT for a while now and thankfully nothing adverse has shown up . You mentioning the disturbed sleep is one I'd forgotten . She does sometimes wake during the night , sometimes she blames it on the hot legs and sometimes just on things playing on her mind.