As a Mom of a little girl I will one day have to have “The Talk” with my daughter. You know, “You are growing up and your body is changing” type talk. Even if I didn’t know how to talk about this subject, Google can help with about 6,870,000 results if I search for “talking to a girl about menstruation”. But let me try a different kind of search:
Who will sit down with me for the 2nd Talk and walk me through what will start happening to my body some day?
Here is what I think most of us think about this topic: Menopause is a bogeyman – if we ignore it, maybe it won’t come. We know, it will get us some day, but still we don’t want to know anything about it. Isn’t it a time to grow up? Let’s start the 2nd Talk and I have some serious knowledge for you. My guest today is Kelley A. Connors, MPH, the founder of Real Women on Health community.
Why do you think people hate talking about menopause?
There are many myths associated with menopause and society does a terrible job of preparing women and their families for menopause. Society tells us in countless ways that for a women to be attractive she must be sexually active, unconditionally supportive of men, as well as being unselfishly maternal. While these are positive traits, it’s definitely just one side of the coin. As women’s bodies age and change, the shift in hormones continues and the prime of life is ironically not earlier in life….but as women approach and enter their 50’s! It’s a very freeing time in a woman’s life!
Premenopause is the beginning of a new chapter in a woman’s life and it takes many shapes and forms, much dependent on the woman herself and her relationships – to herself, her health, her body, her mind, her family, friends and loved ones.
How do you recognize premenopausal symptoms?
We call this “the change before the change”. Pre-menopausal symptoms are usually not discussed in a physician’s office but the changes that women experience are no less significant. The reason is that the symptoms are associated with being stressed out, tired and just plain busy with a young, growing family or, as is possible at any time in a woman’s life, perhaps a divorce or the loss of elderly parents. Pre-menopause symptoms are physiologically and emotionally associated with hormone imbalances that occur in the years before menopause. Many women think that emotional depression, weight gain, thinning hair, experiencing heavy or light periods, bloating, lethargy and a host of other symptoms not formally experienced are normal and that there is nothing that can be done. Not many physicians are focused on the specific “irregularities” associated with hormone imbalance as there is no “pattern” many times and measuring hormone levels is not an exact science either. Hormone levels fluctuate even in one day. However, how women related to their bodies in pre-menopause has an impact on the quality of life as they age. It’s important! Women have the power to learn more, to talk to their doctor and investigate new “alternative or complementary” options which research is showing all the time have a role to play in women’s wellbeing.
I am glad we started this conversation and I plan to have Kelly back here very soon. Here is also a brand that wants to help educate us.
A lot of women I know think that once the word menopause is mentioned it means getting older and being less. They are so wrong, I am 56 and never felt menopause come or go but I am not afraid to talk about it, but my friends are all freaked out about menopause. I am pointing them towards this article. Thanks for sharing!
I certainly feel that it’s not really a hard thing to talk about although I’m not at that stage of my life yet. However, I can see why others may have troubles talking about it.
I’m not at that stage in life yet and won’t be for some years, so I’m not sure how I’ll feel talking about it. But I can say I’ve never heard any of the older women in my family talk about it except maybe as a little aside. Maybe it’s like our monthly period… No one wants to talk about it too openly, even though it happens to all of us. – Katy
I am not at that stage but I guess I would be nervous to talk about it! I get shy around everything though!
Luckily in my family all topics including this menopause are talked about freely and often. I just grew up with a very open circle of women. Maybe too open…like oh my gosh mom look at this stretch mark on my tush kind of open. Lol. I am kind of puzzled about the symptoms though because they are things I feel pretty much all the time because of Lupus. I’m afraid I won’t know the difference but my doctor is very easy to talk to so I’m sure I’ll mention this at a future appointment!
Yes! Women need to arm themselves with knowledge so that we don’t have to be scared of the unknown. Menopause does not have to be a punishment. Get educated!
I think it’s really important women educate themselves about menopause, so they don’t freak out when the time comes to tackle it. Many people think it’s a scary transition that marks the end of their life….funny, I never missed my period before I had it. Menopause can be tough to get through, but really marks a new era in a woman’s life!
I think it’s very important that women discuss it.
With a full blown hysterectomy I totally missed pre-Menopause (thank goodness) but I am dealing with the M word!
I’m a bit nervous for Pre-menopause stuff to happen. It think for me personally it would be harder to accept the emotional realization that I’m no longer “young” but maturing. But I’m glad there are so many resources out there now to help me.