Menopause!?!?

And then there came menopause! Actually, it came out of nowhere. Here I was living my life, going about my business and all of a sudden I was having a hot flash. A really bad hot flash! What was wrong with me and then it hit me like a ton of bricks - MENOPAUSE. That was my rude awakening. I started reading about menopause, everything I could get my hands on - books, searches on the internet - if it had the word menopause in it, I read it! The light bulb finally came on...I had been in menopause for quite a few years. Sure, I was forgetful, but I had become very forgetful. That's one sign! For a period of time, every night one spot on my leg itched. I scratched it so much that I'm surprised it didn't bleed. There's another sign. Moody, crabby...who me? One more sign. And what is up with night sweats! I'm talking about being so sweaty that your sheets are wet. Really!?! And why was I so tired and sleepy all the time. Maybe because when I did go to bed, I couldn't sleep. I mean, how can you when you wake up every hour? Oh, and did I mention being bloated. It used to be just once a month, but now it seemed like every day. And last but not least, where did my sex drive go? Wow! I was so unprepared for menopause. My mother certainly never talked about it. So what now? All my reading pointed to the fact that my hormones were all out of whack. Okay. I can learn about hormones! I can ask questions of my doctor and once again, I can read. Reading made me dangerous - there are synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones. How on earth does one decide? So I kept reading...and reading...