(peri) Menopause

A subject that's a bit taboo to talk about. As if it's something to be ashamed of or judged for?
In general there's a negative connotation concerning menopause, among men, but also women.

When it began for me in 2018 I posted that enthusiastically on my FB page. Women reacted negative, because they were glad it was over, it had been so so bad, and so on and so forth.

I was open, enthusiastic, and above all, curious! I had no idea what to expect, don't know if there can be a family pattern, and if so that didn't help as my mother needed a hysterectomy at 46. So no clues whatsoever.
I was curious and interested to experience how a -my- natural menopause would go! I always felt that for me it would be very mild. And I wanted it as natural as possible so my girlie does have a bit of a clue from her mother.

Well... it started from one day to the next when I got unbelievable blood sugar dips. And my hunger & satiated mechanism didn't seem to work anymore. So blood sugar dip and all, it didn't help if I ate something or not, it didn't seem to matter much.
It felt like I had a bottomless pit instead of a stomach and even whilst eating I felt I was starving!
If I ate too much I felt sick, if I didn't eat I felt sick. Wonderful! Almost like being pregnant again! Often doctors don't know about this symptom which is one that happens very often in women. They suffer because of it for years because the doctor says he can't help them?

(it doesn't really start from one day to the next! The years leading up to it you can already begin to notice certain things like skin getting a bit dryer, I lost more hairs than normal etc. small things that are indicative of the body changes bit by bit)

Time to see the GP. Blood test showed my oestrogen was very low. Considering my problems and barely being able to function normally due to these enormous blood sugar dips, I got the birthcontrol pill.
Hilarious as I had a coil fitted 2 years earlier for protection, now I needed birthcontrol on top of that, hihi.

Everything stabilised though, the hunger, sickness, hairloss, blood sugar dips, so I was a happy woman again going through peri-menopause. And my hair grew back by taking B6, which tends to drop during menopause and can cause hairloss.

But now I stopped the pill 2 months ago as it's considered not healthy when 'older', grin.
I was afraid the ailments would resurface, but... they didn't!! Yeehaaa!!
And no more periods, so yep, I'm through it.

Nevertheless... I got some other things when I was a month of the pill, things I never had before: getting really warm, no sweating though, so my version of hot flashes. Problems falling asleep, which I NEVER had. And the occasional heart flutter. Also my muscles, ligaments etc are aching like bleep, even when I haven't done anything.
Not handy when I'm trying to build up strength with my physiotherapist!

Time to see my Care for Women therapist again! I want to know what she thinks as NONE of the menopausal symptoms are things you have to live with.
That's one thing I think most women don't know and should know:
basically ALL menopause symptoms you can have are caused by the hypothalamus and pituitary, two glands in the brain that regulate everything from heartrate, temperature, to hunger/satiated etc. etc.

Now my hypothalamus & pituitary aren't happy due to my traumatic brain injury so menopause on top of that... I'm counting myself lucky it wasn't/isn't worse!
But... you can take supplements to alleviate menopausal problems. (go see a good therapist or doctor, alternative medicine and methods can offer a helluva lot too!!)
In most cases it's a matter of too little progesterone as many have oestrogen dominance. You need far less oestrogen than you need progesterone.
That's what I hope to find out with my therapist because if that's the case I can for instance use progesterone cream 2x a day.
But I want to be certain so I don't cause a greater imbalance in my body.

I know they discovered this in Australia off late (various progesterone products for various issues) and you can get it there via doctors. Many Australian women have benefited from it so far.
But the thing is, the cream has existed for decades!! John Lee MD ProgesterAll. I got to that via a classic homeopath & orthomolecular therapist.

Anywho, just wanted to shed some positive light on it
I never forgot that one male member once said he didn't want a woman his age as he then had to go through menopause trouble with her.
I was shocked. I never thought men could think that way about it.
And I want to say, it doesn't have to be a problem, it doesn't have to be years of suffering and hardship. And if there are intense problems it can be alleviated or sorted with the correct help and supplements.
It's not something to fear or avoid.

Another thing men can fear and complain about: mood swings.
Lemme tell you, in all these years since it started in 2018 I have not had ONE moodswing. Not one!

I guess I just want to spread positive light. You can get help if need be to sort/alleviate issues.
And also important to know that it doesn't have to be all that bad at all.
If I'd had a partner during these years he would not have noticed a thing.
Mind you, I'm not wanting to convey that it's about trying to not being a bother for a man. It's also women getting some respect for the natural processes we go through. And women loving their own body and natural processes they go through

Thanks for sharing your experience. My 45 year old wife seems to be starting pre-menopause based on symptoms and confirmed by her doctor recently. Her mom passed away seven years ago at age 66; so she never got around to discussing with her mother what her menopause process was like. The symptoms that seems most distressing to her is the loss of hair. The daily buildup of lost hair in the shower drain has brought her to tears; though I try to reassure her it's not really noticeable as she still has plenty of long dark hair.

It is god awful for a woman to lose her hair! Generally a woman's hair thins overall, so entire scalp, not certain areas like in men.
The difference between hairloss in a woman and a man is quite simple: a bald(ing) man is quite acceptable and normal. Bald men are often even considered highly attractive & sexy. That is not the case for women who are supposed to have a full mop of hair, most men like it long on their woman too.
It's soul destroying. I know some men feel the same way about going bald, but no one will give them strange looks when they go out. So it is very different.

Best you can do is go to a special therapist for lady's issues like "Care for Women" that we have over here.

I've also had the drains clogged and upon clearing them found about 1/4 of my hair in there. Not just once... I've cried too as it's so horrible and scary as you don't know how you'll end up looking. Such a devastating feeling.
I'm a bit more relaxed about it at the mo as I still got hair, but it got quite thin. Last time at the hair dressers I could see my scalp when she was lifting locks of hair to cut. I've never ever had that before and I was shocked to see it.
I remain hopeful it's going to grow back, but I might see my Care for Women therapist again.