The Truth About Menopause... It Sucks

The onset of menopause is different for everyone, but it is typically said that one doesn't experience menopause until the first anniversary of their last period. That is usually around age 51. However, pre-menopause can begin years earlier than that.

Symptoms:

# irregular periods
# Decreased fertility
# Vaginal dryness
# Hot flashes
# Sleep disturbances
# Mood swings
# Increased abdominal fat
# Thinning hair
# Loss of breast fullness

Sounds fun, eh? Not!

Personally, I wish that rather than having my tubes tied, following the birth of my last child, I would have had a hysterectomy instead. It would have saved me 12 years of PMS and this awful thing called menopause.

I began menstruation at the tender age of 11. I was so excited about becoming a woman, I didn't mind having a period at first. Then I learned about PMS, first hand, and decided that God had played a nasty trick on me, and all women for that matter.I mean who needs cramps, bloating and violent mood swings each and ever month? And the bleeding... what a God awful messy drag.

I have often wondered if being a man would be better.

Now I am in my mid-40's and I have to go through menopause. How unfair!

Birth control pills always kept my periods regular, like clock work. Even after stopping the pill, 12 years ago, my periods were regular, but no more! Now they come and go as they please; leaving me to guess.

One month I may feel as though I am bleeding to death and the next month it is hardly noticeable. The pain involved has not gotten any better either. Some months I am lucky enough to get two periods for the price of one.

I hope you can feel the sarcasm; it is awful to have a period twice in a month.

I am one who is not upset at my declining ability to have children; I'm done and have been for 12 years now. I don't want more kids, so why can't this whole menopause thing hurry up and be over with already?

I remember my doctor trying to talk me out of having my tubes tied after my youngest child was born, and reluctantly sending me to surgery. Oh man, if I'd have had the choice, I'd have had all the plumbing yanked out.

The weight gain is an issue too. I haven't put on a lot of weight, but the distribution of what I've got is not appreciated. It seems as though it is all in one lump in the front.

Do I sound like I am complaining? I am. First we spend years bleeding for the privilege of being able to reproduce, then we go through the pain of child birth, just to end up going through more Hell for the privilege of stopping this monthly cycle. I can't sleep when I want to; I sleep during the day and can't get any shut-eye at night. Sure, I fall asleep around 7:30 P.M., but I am wide awake at 1:00 A.M.!
I feel bloated ALL the time, and I gain weight without eating.

I can burst into tears at the drop of a hat, or be in your face in seconds flat. I forget things that I would never have before. Where are my car keys? Why did I come through that door? I pee when I sneeze and I do a lot of that now. Where did my energy go? I lost it somehow.

Anywho... I just have not been myself for the last few years; happy one minute and then next in tears.

It's funny, but it's not... One of the symptoms of menopause is thinning hair. Men are not the only ones to lose their hair as they age, but they seem to get the most attention.

My hair has started thinning, and some local psycho decided to tell everyone in town that my thinning hair is due to meth use. What a joke! I can't wait until she begins the change. I hope she goes bald!

The truth is that each time I brush my hair, more of it comes out in the brush. It's a hormonal thing, not a drug thing. It is made worse by the fact that I have a thyroid condition that I take medication for, and have ever since my youngest child was born. The thyroid controls things like hair, skin, and nails.

I do not enjoy losing my hair at all; I once considered my hair as my best physical feature, having been born blond. It disgusts me that while going through a normal life change, I have been made out to be a drug addict. It's not like I am going to shout from the rooftops that I am going through menopause.

Being that the nature of gossip is to believe all that is said, no one has bothered to ask me what is going on, and I am not about to offer any information, so I have resigned myself to the fact that everyone in town now thinks I am a drug addict. It just goes to show you how ignorance can proliferate.

You know what they say about making assumptions...
Those who do it are asses.

Really, it's not like the emotional roller coaster ride and sleep disturbances are not enough, but now I am a drug addict who is going bald. My doctor had a laugh at that one. He said that he is not aware of any type of drug addiction that causes hairloss; and I have all my own teeth.