Today we have a wonderful letter from an anonymous writer. We hope you’ll enjoy her
musings as she thinks back on her periods and how her body changed during menopause. Enjoy today’s post!
Have you heard the saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?” Well if my mom was old and a dog (she’d kill me if I actually compared her to that), I would definitely be able to claim this as a true fact.
Why?
Because after almost a full menstrual lifetime of using tampons I got my mom to not only try, but to fall in love with menstrual cups! Since my own menstrual cup journey happened nearly at the same time, I thought it would be helpful to hear a brief backstory…
By Mache Seibel, MD
Am I in perimenopause? When does it happen? How will I know? How long will it last?
These are questions I’m asked all the time by women who can’t imagine it’s possible. Not now! Not at my age! Or am I already in menopause?
You may know the mean age of menopause in the United States is 51 years. But did you know that 1 in 10,000 women go into menopause before age 20; 1 in 1000 go into menopause before age 30; 1 in 100 before age 40 and 1 in 10 before age 45? Perimenopause is that up to 10-year window of transition when symptoms begin to occur.
Just like the word perimeter means around an area, perimenopause means the timeframe around menopause. If you think back to puberty, there was a transition when menstrual cycles were irregular, mood swings were common, sleep was a challenge, and your body began to go through changes that made you wonder if it was still you.
Similar types of things happen in perimenopause. Both mind and body change, at first gradually and eventually at a much faster and more noticeable rate. Here are 5 of the symptoms you are likely to notice and a little bit about them: READ MORE… »
Symptoms: Not every woman experiences every symptom, thank goodness, but the most common ones that will sneak up on you are irregular periods, hot flashes, headaches, night sweats, and loss of sex drive. There are natural and hormonal therapies to help you manage – see your doctor. What’s the positive? You save money on sanitary products, you can take that Alaskan cruise now and stay warm and your husband will become more attentive, helpful and romantic as he tries to woo you.
Changes: Your sleep patterns will change, your weight will go up and your hair will find new places to grow and not to grow. Your nails will get brittle, your body odor will change and your memory . . . um, I forgot. The upside? You can spend more time at the beauty parlor or spa and not feel guilty or indulgent. The memory thing is a great excuse for missing Stan’s slideshow presentation. A magnifying mirror and a good tweezers will take care of the chin hairs. And as for the weight gain . . . oh, shoot, I forgot again.
By Jessica Drummond, MPT, CCN, CHC
Isn’t it funny that God designed moms to hit menopause just as their daughters are hitting puberty. (Well, actually, I guess we’ve designed it that way, since now many of us are having our children well into our perimenopausal years. But, wait… My grandmother had her last child at 40. So, I don’t know who to blame!)
Think about that for a moment.
Just when you’re feeling even worse about your body, the perimenopausal belly fat, the sagging well-past-breastfeeding breasts, the bits of gray hair, the middle aged acne, all combined with the fatigue that comes from raising tweens and burning the candle at both ends for the last 3 decades, it’s your job to combat 6000 negative media messages everyday about the unattainable perfect female body! Ugh. READ MORE… »
The similarities between puberty and menopause are vast. Think about it. Teens who are reaching puberty deal with acne, fluctuating hormones, body shape changes, irregular menses, growing pains and fatigue. Similarly, women going through peri-menopause or menopause are sometimes afflicted with mood swings, joint aches, the inability to concentrate, skin eruptions and mind-numbing exhaustion.
As women wait longer to have children, their menopause is more often coinciding with the onset of puberty in their children. The question, then becomes who just slammed the door and began sobbing? was it mother or daughter?
Coinciding hormonal transitions can result in tiresome bickering and cause extra strain on the entire family. While it’s difficult to achieve complete serenity in a house where hormones are colliding, there are measures that can be taken by both mother and daughter to ease tension. The following are a good place to start:
Let’s talk about it, and take it seriously
Usually when a day is designated to a specific cause or event it is meant to be celebrated, but if you ask a woman going through menopause what she thinks of Menopause Day she’ll tell you there is nothing celebratory about hot flashes, migraines, fluctuating body weight and low libido. So instead of celebrating it, this commemoratory event should be an opportunity for us to educate the world about this “special time of our lives” and to address the issues and concerns that many women (and their men) have that aren’t always openly discussed at the dinner table.
Am I too young for Menopause?
By Ellen Dolgen
Thursday, October 18th, 2012 is World Menopause Day. This is like a worldwide birthday party for the big M! This year, the sponsoring organization, the International Menopause Society (IMS), is launching a campaign to focus on the health implications of weight gain during menopause. (Coincidentally, I blogged about weight gain a few weeks ago.) How can you celebrate? Open up the channels of communication and break the taboo that somehow still lingers around the topic of perimenopause and menopause. It’s silly, and it’s time we’re done with it. Raise a toast to you, your Mom, your sisters, Aunts, and to women worldwide who share this passage of womanhood.
What are some ways you can honor and celebrate yourself or other women you know who are experiencing perimenopause or menopause? How about throwing a Menopause Party? Quick! When you think of the word “party,” what comes to mind? The legendary toga party in Animal House? Jake Ryan’s house party in Sixteen Candles? The seniority in Dazed and Confused? Though all of these parties had different features—from ivy to paddles—they have one thing in common: the reason for celebration—each other. Parties exist for fun! Menopause parties are no different. As the taboo surrounding perimenopause and menopause is peeled away layer by layer like your clothes during a hot flash, more women are looking to parties for support, the latest information, resources and sisterhood. READ MORE… »