If I could go back and do perimenopause again, this is what I’d do differently
Perimenopause - What I wish I had known
Amanda Cassidy, journalist with the Irish Examiner interviewed me about what I would do differently if I could go back and do perimenopause again…. and here is what I said. Of course 6 years ago I had never even heard the word perimenopause … so knowing that would have been a good place to start. Education about menopause and perimenopause…. so gen up folks!!
For generations we didn’t speak about any of this. In recent years, many of us just thought menopause meant hot flushes and the end of your period. Loretta Dignam is a divorced mother of two adult children and founder of The Menopause Hub. She hopes that when it comes to the next generation, they’ll have the tools to understand even more about how our body changes as we age.
“I would have saved myself eight years of sub-optimal health and numerous medical tests had I known there was such thing as perimenopause,” she points out. “Instead, I was left feeling like a slow puncture.”
Perimenopause, meaning ‘around menopause’ refers to the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause. In other words, it marks the end of the reproductive years.
Women start perimenopause at different ages, although the average age is about forty-five. The changes may result in physical, emotional, psychological and sexual can also start in the early forties, but some women notice changes as early as their mid-30s.
The level of oestrogen— the main female hormone in your body— rises and falls unevenly during perimenopause. This causes your menstrual cycles to lengthen or shorten and you might experience other menopause-like symptoms like sleep problems or vaginal dryness. Once you’ve gone through 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period, you’ve officially reached menopause. Cue the balloons.
However, destigmatising menopause isn’t straightforward.
“My perception of women going through this used to be about old, grey, retired women," admits Loretta. "I couldn’t relate to that, and I didn’t want to admit it. Of course, now I understand how far from reality that was. But there are myths that still need dispelling.
We’ve a lot more to do to empower women normalise this very natural stage in our lives.
“If I had to do it over again, I wish someone had told me about the 40 plus symptoms you might start to experience during perimenopause,” she says.
“I’d also have tracked my symptoms to see how they ebbed and flowed both personally and professionally. I wouldn’t have been afraid of HRT, and I wished I’d been informed about the type of hormonal profiling blood tests available."
Read the full article here
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandwellbeing/arid-41206201.html