Let’s Talk About Menopause
Let’s talk. I’m serious, this is a call out to all of you wonderful meno women. It’s time to open up and start talking about menopause.
The Studies Back It Up
Studies show that if you talk about it, you’re likely to fare better in your menopause years.* Menopause is not a stage of life to grin and bear with until its over. The years from perimenopause through to post-menopause can represent over half our lives. So best we learn how to live them well!
I’m no medical expert. I’ve never studied medicine in any of its disciplines. Nor am I an expert on human physiology. But I do feel qualified to talk about menopause, simply because I’ve been through the worst of it and am now in my post-menopausal years. I don’t know all the answers but I’ve learned a lot and am still learning about how to make these years of my life the best yet.
Lessons Learned
The first lesson I’ve learnt is pretty scary, it’s that I had no idea about menopause at all. I didn’t know the signs of menopause even though, in hindsight, they were pretty obvious. Like most women, all I had heard about was hot flushes, and as I wasn’t having those, menopause wasn’t even on my horizon. Consequently, I wasn’t doing any of the reading or internet research about menopause that might have put me on red alert.
Is Ignorance Really Bliss?
Ignorance is bliss you might say. Except that my life was far from blissful at that time. Trapped in a cycle of sleeplessness, anxiety and fatigue I truly thought I was losing my mind. I was not a nice person to be around – hell, even I hated my own company.
If only I had known that all of these are very common signs of menopause.
If only I had known that all of these are very common signs of menopause. Click To TweetAnd why didn’t I?
Because even though I am surrounded by women – friends, family, work colleagues – none of us talk about menopause. And it’s not that we are shy of talking. Women love words – we speak an average of 20,000 of them a day! We just don’t like talking about menopause. It’s somehow shameful, embarrassing, taboo….
Seeing Menopause In A New Light
I now see menopause in a totally different light. I’ve learned that what happens in our bodies with the onset of menopause is nothing short of miraculous. Something to be celebrated in the same way we celebrate pregnancy and childbirth. I know that’s a huge mind-shift for a lot of women, but we can get there. The first step? Let’s start talking about menopause…
*Article by Angela Finlay, 16 December 2014, http://menopause.newlifeoutlook.com/menopause-stigma/
