Considering the importance of the topic of menopause, I’m piggybacking off of Kim’s Tip of the Week for my blog post today. With menopause behind me and as I travel down the post menopause path, I have recently been learning about this area of women’s health. Interestingly, this is something that I haven’t known much about until the last six months. There is so much out there to learn! Declining levels of estrogen, which is essentially what the various stages of menopause is about, bring about a host of changes and challenges. But, before I go any further, I want to put a disclaimer here that this post is in no way a substitute for medical advice from a licensed professional. This article aims to raise awareness and provide resources for women to learn more about menopause as they look for answers and help as they go through perimenopause, menopause and post menopause. With the disclaimer out of the way, let’s dive in!
Educate Yourself
One of the first in depth discussions that I heard about menopause features Lisa Mosconi, who is a neuroscientist, discussing the impact that menopause has on the brain. You can find it here. (It’s long so I recommend listening to it on 1.5 speed. It is labeled as talking about a diet plan but it doesn’t discuss that a ton. Also, you don’t really need to watch it since for the most part there aren’t important visuals in it.) This video opened my mind to various aspects of women’s health regarding menopause and occurrences surrounding it. Fast forward to now. I am currently reading a most informative book titled The New Menopause by Mary Claire Haver, MD. This book is a wealth of information detailing the MANY symptoms that occur as a result of perimenopause and menopause. Hot flashes and weight gain are possibly the two symptoms most associated with menopause but there is so much more to menopause than those two symptoms. There are more than 60 of them!! The book details what menopause actually is, how the medical community has treated (and not treated) menopause, and treatments for menopause including hormone therapy. It even outlines how to go about finding a medical practitioner to help you with menopausal symptoms. How on earth did I hit 53 years old before learning anything particularly significant about the whole menopause process?! I went through all of perimenopause in ignorance really. Unfortunately, I think this is the case for many women. Reading The New Menopause and listening to Dr. Mosconi’s conversation have helped to educate me about menopause and taught me that there is help out there for women as they enter menopause. I can see now that over the last eight or so years of my life some of the hard things I experienced are/were symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. Maybe I could have had treatment that would have helped me. I want to know about the available treatments, like hormone therapy so that I can make an informed decision on if a treatment is right for me and worth the associated risks. I also want to know if there is a way to slow down cognitive decline which is associated with menopause. So, the next book I am going to read is The Menopause Brain by Lisa Mosconi. My mom has dementia. I can’t help but wonder if she had received hormone therapy or some other treatment if her dementia could have been delayed or greatly reduced. I am hoping to find some answers to improving my cognitive health by reading Dr. Mosconi’s book. In addition to educating myself about menopause I believe it is important to get information on menopause out to women of all ages. Young women need to know what to expect and older women need to know what is going on. Knowledge is power.
Get the Conversation Going
Maybe I am behind the times and more people are talking about menopause than I am aware but I want to further the conversation about menopause to help women know they are not alone in this transition and that there is help out there. I hope that as more emphasis is placed on menopausal care that medical personnel will become more educated about menopause and that more research will be done in this area of women’s health. One way to get conversations going is to talk with friends and family about menopause. I don’t think I have had any conversations with my mom about menopause and unfortunately, I never will due to the fact that she likely won’t remember anything about that time of her life. I have had conversations with my daughters about the things I have been learning recently about menopause and will continue to do so. It’s also been great to talk with my sister, my husband, and various women in my life. I feel supported and strengthened as I talk with people and learn new things from them.
Online Resources
As is the case with anything you want to learn about, when you go online you can find a multitude of websites about menopause. Many of these websites are of course trying to sell you things and as is the case with many things, you shouldn’t believe all of the claims of efficacy when people are selling their wares. I recommend sticking with science based and research backed approaches so be careful. Definitely consult a medical professional for treatment. The following websites are more focused on providing information.
https://menopause.org/– Website for The Menopause Society
https://womenshealth.gov/menopause
https://thepauselife.com/– Dr. Haver’s website
What Next?
I hope that this brief conversation about menopause will motivate you to learn more about menopause. I will be continuing my quest to learn more, share more, and do what I can to help myself and others handle menopause as well as possible. What are you going to do? Maybe you can arm yourself with some information, invite your friends and family to do the same and get those conversations going! Host a book club based on one of the books I recommended above or one that you’ve read already. If you have any recommendations on books or resources about menopause, please share them in the comments below. We’re all in this together!
*Quick disclosure – We are Amazon affiliates and if you buy anything via the links in this article, we get a little kickback, although you don’t have to pay anything extra.
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