>  She's 43.  In an unscientific
>response,

>But I also told her I'd ask the experts.  Your thoughts?

well, diane, i am certainly no expert, and i hesitate to even post on
lactnet among this world of wisdom and expertise, but i will anyhow
;-).  the first thought that came to me is peri-menopause . .. ?  perhaps
if her mom entered menopause relatively early, she could be experiencing
some perimenopausal symptoms without cessation of menstruation just yet.

on an anecdotal note, my SIL, also nursing (just a tiny bit now) an older
child (second child - 4 year old, none of these issues as her first child
weaned at 3.5 or so), started experiencing extreme symptoms that seemed
hormanal in nature,  but her hormone panels came back right smack in the
middle of fine (she suspected PCOS - but no).  She has begun working with
an acupunturist/herbalist who specializes in hormonal issues, and is very
confident she can treat this.  My SIL's symptoms include extreme
crampiness, oligomenorreah (sp), intense mood swings, frequent urination,
nausea, cystic ovaries, and pain down her leg and some other things
too.  she was really worried about ovarian cancer, but is feeling very much
better with just a few days of herbal/acupuncture treatment.    20 years
ago or so my own mother had persistant menstrual bleeding (for months at a
time) and hormone panels were fine, chinese herbs helped her as
well.  perhaps a knowledgeable chinese herbalist or similar could help the
mom you are working with as well.

hope i'm not stating the obvious

Lyla Wolfenstein
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