#Menopausal Health

[jadedbirch]

Gather around, my young friends and fellow dinosaurs, let me tell you about some BULLSHIT no one ever tells you about. I'm talking about menopause and perimenopause. Now, menopause has a very stringent medical definition. You have to not have had a period for exactly 12 months and a day to be considered in menopause. All the bullshit before that day once you start going through The Change is considered perimenopause. Here's some bullshit you might experience that people actually talk about when you're in perimenopause:

- shorter time between periods

- irregular periods

- hot flashes and/or cold flashes

- fucked up sleep

- OMG NIGHT SWEATS

- Vagina as dry as the Sahara desert

- lighter periods and/or endless bleeding like it's The Flood but it's in your pants

- lack of interest in Adult Fun Times

This time of joy can last anywhere from a couple of years to a god damn decade and there's no medical way right now to predict it.

Here's some of the REAL bullshit they don't tell you about but your dinosaur aunt is here to let you know:

- You can start perimenopause in your 30s, don't listen to idiot doctors who tell you you're "too young" because they don't know your body like you do.

- Perimenopause will make you HELLA DUMB. Seriously, I'm talking Bigly broken brain. Brain fog? Check. Short term memory? Wave goodbye to it. Ability to make words form out of thoughts? Yeah, good luck to you.

- Perimenopause can cause horrible fatigue because in addition to losing estrogen, you're also losing testosterone. Oh and that also leads to muscle wasting, cool cool.

- Things might suddenly hurt more because estrogen is known to be neuroprotective.

- If you're super lucky like I am, and like to collect rare illnesses, you might even get Burning Mouth Syndrome 💀

- And meanwhile, while you're going through this bullshit, you'll be getting gaslit by doctors who are operating based on 30 year old debunked data about how HRT causes breast cancer (not really) and that they shouldn't put you on it until you're in actual menopause. (Data shows starting HRT early can potentially prevent Alzheimer's in later years.)

- There are entire online clinics right now (I use Midi Health) focused on providing care for peri and menopausal patients and they will happily prescribe you HRT even if your regular PCP or OBGYN do not (if you meet the criteria). I've been pretty impressed with how holistically they view the patient. For full disclosure, I learned about them from my integrative health doctor and they do not accept Medicare (yet).

I'm 46 years old right now and I've been symptomatic for perimenopause for the last 8 years, although it's gotten the most dramatic in the past 2 years or so, which I hope means I'm almost done, holy hell. Yeah I was on the early side, but if it can happen to me, it can happen to you, so it's never too early to think about these things. And I hope to at least spare some of you the mind-fuckery I've been through because no one told me about most of this stuff, including my own mother who just DOESN'T REMEMBER what happened to her and now I completely understand why. And because I also have a connective tissue disease, I used to just dismiss my pain and fatigue as being caused by that illness rather than the loss of hormones.

Anyways, this is why we need Elders in our lives, so they can do Grandma Story Hour like I just did and validate you when the entire medical field tries to gaslight you. I hope you've found some or all of this educational/useful. Please share with your friends because we really do NOT talk about this stuff enough. (Ewwww Moon Blood!)

Stay well, and don't let the bastards grind you down!

[3liza]

the number of afab people replying to the pain poll going "yeah I've broken limbs and had 1st degree burns and given birth but nothing tops my menstrual pain" is so fucked up it is unbelievable. and I was right there with everyone else until I stumbled on a low dose progestin regimen that just made me stop menstruating. which I would recommend to everyone except it just doesn't work for everyone. ask your doc about it though, it won't cause permanent side effects or injury to try it out. i take norethindrone 2.5mg 2x/day. this dose has to be different for each patient to work correctly, that's just what I take. there's some research to suggest synthetic progesterone like norethindrone is carcinogenic so I'm going to look into switching. anyway i just got extremely lucky. there is seriously nothing like it. it was the worst pain I ever felt until the urology incident and frankly I think the menstrual pain was already a factor in the outcome of the urology incident

[meirimerens]

youtube shorts is just tiktok without being on the app the amount of "i'm a [qualification] and [misinformation]" could make one turn their skin inside-out in protest. "i'm a board-certified OB-GYN & it's only been about the last hundred years that women have actually experienced menopause. We didn't live long enough to experience it" how can you be so incredibly wrong about something so integral to your practice. King of the Hittites Hattusilis III was told in 1250 BCE that his sister was too old to reproduce at age 50+. Aristotle wrote in the 4th century BCE that women stopped menstruating between ages 40 to 50, common menopause ages today still. i cannot begin to tell you how 4th century & 1250 BCE don't really count as "the last hundred years" unless that -s is doing a lot of heavy lifting. waiter waiter more misinformation laws.

[blackexcellence]

The North Carolinian feminist, mother, and healer Omisade Burney-Scott, joined us to chat about menopause. As the creator and curator of Black Girls' Guide to Surviving Menopause, Omi shared insights about the change, her work, Love Craft Country, and she was sure to create a vibe.

Check out Omi's podcast Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause

Want to hear the WHOLE conversation? Watch the full interview HERE.

[mindblowingscience]

Why do humans experience menopause? It's a question that some women going through the symptoms might have asked themselves more than once. Scientists are also baffled. From an evolutionary perspective, animals generally take every chance they can get to have as many offspring as possible to boost their odds of survival. So why have some species evolved to have menopause, in which females live many years after they stop being able to reproduce?

Continue Reading.

[chadots]

Everyone should receive a guide at age 39 to prepare themselves and their loved ones for the absolute absurdity of perimenopause. I’ll get it started:

Has your personal temperature has lost all contact with reality?

Can you not fall asleep because your feet feel dry?

Do certain smells make you inexplicably angry?

Congratulations! You’re perimenopausal. Don’t worry. It only lasts 4 to 10 years.

[turns-out-its-adhd]

If "8 in 10" experience it early.... is that not the more usual time to expect it?

Is that how statistics work?

[gramarobin]

[allhailthe70shousewife]

I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL AND I AM NOT GIVING ADVICE. I am perimenopausal and I read that alcohol can make perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms worse. I was drinking maybe 1/2 a beer to 3 beers a week. I decided to stop all alcohol and see what happened. I feel better. I realized I had been experiencing horrible hangovers from sharing one beer with my husband. It’s like even small amounts of booze just made feel poisoned. (I still smoke the same amount of weed.) So if you are perimenopausal or menopausal and having a rough go please talk to your doctor about what you can do to make it easier on you.

[pro-birth]

Boron, a trace element found in many plant foods or taken as a supplement, is gaining popularity as a preventive against osteoporosis in menopausal women. Osteoporosis makes bones weaker and more brittle and thus more likely to break, and it’s connected to low estrogen levels, as occur naturally during menopause. 

We have previously written about the importance of ovulatory cycles for bone health, especially during the crucial bone formation years of women’s 20s and earlier. Since women on hormonal birth control (HBC) are at risk of bone density loss, should boron be recommended for these women as well? Let’s look at what research has to say on the uses of boron and whether it might make sense for HBC users to take. 

[breaking-everything]

To everyone that needs gender affirming care, including cis people that need these medications for health reasons like cancer and imbalances that require hormones/testosterone, start stocking up as much as you can because orange shit stain will target all of these medications as trans related when so many people depend on them.

Spread the word to others that may be affected.

[tears-that-heal]

yeah 😭

[suzieb-fit]

My three reasons to smile for Sunday -

1. Knowing I have the energy and determination to live well, no matter what my body keeps throwing at me.

2. A beautiful morning, not as cold as yesterday. But hey, it's only October 😂.

3. An excellent pyramid workout. Although I committed the cardinal sin. I deadlifted with my ego, not my strength.

That's one golden rule I tell anyone I've ever trained with weights!

I'm clearly stronger on my squats. I'll behave myself next time.....I was just being lazy with not wanting too much time changing the plates. Silly old woman 😂.

Anyway, that was a great workout! I equally love and hate the fabulous women's fitness expert, Stacy Sims, for making me aware of the benefits of sprint intervals 🫣

A second little walk after lunch finished today's fitness.

I have eaten well, of course. That is just a non negotiable. No matter how restrictive my diet feels to be right now, I'm heavy on high quality nutrition.

[observers-journal]

Some healthcare advice for my lovely ladies here..

I was just reading this New York Times article about how women of color experience Perimenopause and Menopause differently from the conventionally established standards according to the White Race.

Clearly, women from different races have very different experiences, duration, and intensity of symptoms. Just a gentle reminder to all my wonderful women here: do not ignore what your body tells you. Healthcare systems are biased to ignore women's pain, doctors have limited understanding of our anatomies, and these issues are far worse when we account race into the equation as well. Speak up if your doctor doesn't take you seriously.

Also, always remember to get scanned for breast and cervical cancers. Keep an eye out for anything unusual. Love y'all! ❤️

The article is behind a paywall. Please message me if you want to read the whole article!

[ahedderick]

Menopaused

When I was 40 I started having hot flashes. Not too bad, compared to what other people described, but definitely perimenopause. There were ups and downs (which would actually be a whole other post - because at one point my body started producing androgens instead of estrogen), however, at 46 everything shut down for good, and I was formally in menopause.

Not the I could get any doctor to believe that, because apparently nobody, even doctors, can understand that average age for menopause does not mean 'every single woman reaches menopause exactly at age 51.' That is NOT how averages work. I was early. Other people are later. THAT is how averages work.

I felt pretty good about it, though! All done, no more fuss or mess, no problem. Three or four years went by and one day - like a lightswitch - the hot flashes were back. Much worse this time, waking me multiple times every night drenched in sweat. And while there is, technically, medical treatment for that? It just consists of replacing the missing hormones. Which means, if you think it through, that you are just putting off the misery; you will have to go through it later when you go off HRT!! My doctor was sympathetic in explaining that, but we both felt that it would be better to just go through it instead of putting it off.

Unfortunately. I am now 54. And the hotflashes continue, seemingly a permanent misery. Worse in winter than summer, because my body tries to keep me warm and uh, overshoots the mark. By a lot. So I freeze and burn and freeze again. And it's bloody-damned inconvenient! Sweating and swearing, I trudge forward.

[thetalkingguineapig]

Had an interesting discussion at the gym yesterday with questions about menopause and how some women start pre menopause earlier or have more symptoms than other women etc. so that got me wondering if there have been any studies trying to answer certain question we had? Does having children earlier effect when you enter menopause? If youve never been pregnant would that effect your symptoms and when it starts? How does the amount of children you have effect the timing and symptoms of menopause? Would be really interesting and helpful to know if/how pregnancy, or lack of, influences these things.