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Menopause.

I’m not a woman. I’ve never been through it, and I don’t think watching Lori go through it makes me an expert. However, I am a biology geek, and I know a few things that might be of help to some of you.

A recent New York Times article entitled Women Have Been Misled About Menopause has been getting a lot of attention, which is a good thing. There’s been a lot of good research on the issue the last few years, although much of that doesn’t make the mainstream news.

Much of what is written about this issue blames the patriarchy for not caring about women. While there has been plenty of that, there’s more to it. Your mother’s generation, and all those that came before, felt menopause was just one more thing a woman had to deal with – silently. I’ve read articles by female gynaecologists who were shocked at what they heard when they asked their patients pointed questions.

Then there’s the long, rocky history of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopause. HRT actually goes back about eighty years. In the 1980s and 1990s, Premarin, an estrogen-based treatment for menopause, was the most prescribed medication in the United States. But then came reports that HRT could lead to heart attacks and other bad things. Unfortunately, this news was trumpeted by popular media before science had all the details worked out, and a lot of women who could have benefited from HRT were scared off.

Today, we know that HRT is safe and beneficial for most women under the age of sixty. There are exceptions, which is why your doctor needs to be involved. There are also topical creams and other options if you only need help with your vulva or vagina.  If your primary care physician isn’t up on these things, get a referral to someone who is.

What is still not common knowledge is that it’s not at all unusual for hot flashes to continue for more than a decade after a woman’s last period. One study found more than a third of women experienced this. But HRT is usually only done for five years, and is considered increasingly risky after sixty. That leaves a lot of women having hot flashes, sometimes accompanied by dizziness or heart palpitations. Fortunately, there are other drugs that can help with this, so talk to your doctor.

The process of menopause can be minorly to majorly disruptive, depending on the woman. However, most women find life is better once the process is done. I would think no more periods, or PMS, and everything that comes with fluctuating hormones would be awesome. But wait, there’s more! Many women say they have more energy, are clearer mentally, and/or have an improved sex drive and enjoyment of sex. (More on the last one next week.)

The bottom line here is please know there are ways to make it easier, and please don’t suffer in silence. You have a whole lot of life left after menopause, and you should enjoy it to the max! 

~ Paul – I’m XY, and I agree it’s not fair.

A post worth reading:

menopause.org | News You Can Use About Hormone Therapy

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