Menopause

Who knew? Not I.

I just turned 61 and am only now learning about menopause. Okay, sure, I had the hot flashes and the night sweats (still do on occasion), which I’ve treated successfully with natural supplements. But, did you know that there is a whole host of symptoms related to menopause? Take a gander at this:

Check, check, check AND check, check, check AND …

Over the last 10 or so years, I have gone to my doctor(s), my naturopath(s), my nurse practitioner, my acupuncturist, my dentist(s), my therapist(s), my etc., etc., etc., with most of the symptoms on this list and not a single one of them mentioned menopause. What the hell is going on here?

The average age of menopause is between 45 and 55 in North America. Because perimenopause can start 4 - 10 years before that, and if we live to the ripe old age of 80, our female bodies could be in hormonal flux for 40 freaking years (not counting puberty and menstruation). So, not a blip in time but fully half our life span.

I have not had a good’s night sleep in 15 years. Erratic hormones aside, that alone makes me cranky, anxious and depressed.

Adding to the list of bodily symptoms, my mental health has perhaps been affected even more:

• sleeplessness including the 3:00 am zoomies (I can totally relate to my cats)

• sudden onset of unexplained anxiety and depression

• panic attacks which led to a 3-year panic disorder

• doomsday thinking

• chronic negativity and fear (not feeling safe)

• loss of hope

• brain fog

• feeling disconnected from myself

• lack of motivation

• existential ennui

According to the Menopause Foundation of Canada, fewer than 25% of women said their family physician proactively discussed menopause with them. I hate it that our medical system still doesn’t give a hoot about women’s health. Shouldn’t every 40-year-old woman be proactively engaged in conversation with a medical professional about what might be the most profoundly life changing transition? Obviously, the answer is yes.

Twenty years late to the party, I have had a visit with my doctor (I brought along the symptoms list and let her know all the ones by which I was impacted) who has prescribed a low dose progesterone which, apparently, could relieve me of most of the symptoms I have suffered through for the last decade or more. Imagine.

Imagine a life free from chronic joint and muscle pain, free from anxiety and depression. A life replete with replenishing sleep and a healthy sex life. A life free from the guilt of not doing enough to relieve my own symptoms. Honestly, I already feel like a pretty dynamic woman in the world but imagine who I could be without all this shitty body stuff that is treatable. Who knew?

Check out this TedTalk on how menopause affects the brain.

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I would be so interested to hear how you have managed through menopause. If you don’t want to leave a public comment, please send me an email. I’d like to share your tips in a future post (confidentially, of course).