Sleep Problems. Oh yeah, that’s another menopausal symptom. When you read about menopause you invariably read about the sleeping problems that go with the territory.

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I’ve noticed in perusing various sites frequented by the “menopausal set” that issues about dressing are uppermost on everyone’s mind.  The majority of us want to dress hip and chic without trying to look as though we think we’re still 20 something.  After all – so many of us are still in the workplace – unlike generations of menopausal women who came before us.  The rest of us just want to be comfortable without looking like something that slept in a dumpster.  Is that too much to ask? Read the rest of this entry »

There are many of you who are proud to announce that you have “never had a symptom and found menopause to be a breeze”.  That’s true.  I hear it occasionally.  To add insult to injury most of you have never experienced an ounce of weight gain during your menopausal episode – and that’s when I really start to get cranky.  But to be fair you should feel good about escaping from the horrors that are visited on the many. Read the rest of this entry »

The majority of what you read about menopause addresses various related complaints and ways in which to mitigate them. It can be pretty disheartening. Others typically view you with anything from sympathy to revulsion (those damn young people can be brutal and they don’t even realize it half the time – sure their day will come – but we’ll be dead so what good will it do us?). Given those circumstances all of my urgings to reposition menopause as something positive versus its current capacity as the last station stop before death should fall on deaf ears – right? I mean what could be positive about a resounding confirmation of old age? But is that really what menopause is about – or should be about? Did nature provide us with a major stage in our lives only to serve as a reminder of imminent death? Doubtful. Read the rest of this entry »

Let me start by saying “Be careful!”  When you wake up on that minus 5 degree day your temptation will be to pull on the long johns and break out the heavy socks and boots.  And trust me – if you do you’ll likely live to regret it.  Hell, I can’t even wear a suit jacket in the office on some of the coldest days of the year.  My best advice to you is “never forget the menopausal furnace when dressing”. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been neglecting one of the critical and possibly most embarrassing symptoms of menopause – Hallmark Tears.  Jackie, author of the new breast cancer support and information blog www.secondbasedispatch.blogspot.com, reminded me of my omission when she recently shared this comment:

“I don’t mind sharing this and Robin, I’m hoping you may want to blog about it. I’ve noticed that heading into menopause reminds me a lot of 8th grade–it’s almost like the hormones are gathering up for a last hurrah before they leave. I feel as emotional exiting the reproductive years as I felt entering them. I can’t stand to watch those ASPCA commercials with Sarah McLaughlin and don’t even get me started on Marley and Me. Has anyone else noticed that?”

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On average menopause starts at age 52 and goes until age 54.  And that can vary a great deal – starting much earlier and lasting for as long as ten years – it’s really anyone’s guess.  I will never know when menopause would have started for me because I went into surgical menopause at the age of 48.  About a year ago I asked my doctor if I was past menopause.  He said there was no sure way to tell because I supplement hormones so some of the changes that would be expected won’t occur unless I stop supplementing them.  And I’m not about to do that. Read the rest of this entry »

Getting older is exploring uncharted territory.  So very often things that worked in your youth can’t be relied on now: like when you try to lose weight.  There are people who feel that once you hit menopause and gain weight your destiny has been sealed.  And it’s true that you can probably forget those diets that melted pounds away in your 20’s, 30’s and even 40’s – menopausal weight gain is a formidable adversary that has triumphed over even the most stalwart diet and exercise fanatic.  It is formidable – but are things hopeless?
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Being forgetful.  It becomes a big fear as you get older.  And menopause is infamous for causing “problems with concentrating” and “memory lapses.”  But does it really?  Or are we just more conscious of routine forgetfulness as we advance in years and approach menopause?  Some women even use it as a convenient catchall for the inability to focus, “Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just in menopause”, but for the rest of us it’s scary as hell.

I know I do forget things.  In fact, this morning I had to think a minute before I could remember where I’d saved this file since starting it yesterday.  But didn’t I always have that problem?  I forget.
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