Menopause Matters

Firstly, don't fight the flush, you have to ride with it. Try to relax if you can. I don't have to look far to see why my hot flush-flash pattern returns .. stress. Any anxiety and, next thing, my glasses are misting up!

1. Cut down on coffee and strong stimulants.
2. Avoid spicy foods
3. Eat smaller meals more often to avoid the heat generated by digesting large amounts of food.
4. Try adding horseradish to your diet.
5. Apple cider vinegar. Some women find relief from a glass each morning with honey
6. Fan Get some little hand fans for your purse.
7. Keep ice water to sip to cool down your insides
8. Carry moist tissues, baby wipes, to freshen up after a flush.
9. Carry sprays to help lower your skin temperature
10. Open your freezer and stick your head in for a minute.
11. Practice deep-breathing and relaxation techniques.
12. Dress in layers
13. Throw away your turtlenecks and fitted collars
14. Wear cotton pajamas or a nightgown. Nighties are easier to change than sheets.
15. Use cotton sheets only, not synthetics.
16. Take a cool shower before bed.
17. Keep a cool gel pack under your pillow at night so that you can turn the pillow over for a cool effect
18. Keep a hand towel by your pillow to wipe the perspiration from your neck
19. Get a bigger bed if you and your partner are on different heat planets but you still want to stay in close orbit.
20. Tell yourself, out loud, that this is a temporary symptom
21. Keep your sense of humour

There are no good words to describe this time of life. "'Older' raises the question of 'older than whom?'

'Middle-aged' sounds tired and plodding, almost as bad as 'aging' - and 'aging' is sad and pitiful, an insult even though it's actually universally applicable.

A 50-year-old is aging at the same rate as a baby or a tree or a bottle of wine, exactly one second per second.

1. Everyone around you has an attitude problem

2. You're adding chocolate chips to your cheese omelette

3. The dryer has shrunk every last pair of your jeans

4. Your husband is suddenly agreeing with everything you say

Early in 2008, an international group of menopause experts concluded that the use of HRT in the early postmenopausal period is safe for healthy women going through the first few years of menopause.

This is the conclusion and clinical advice of the First Global Summit on Menopause-Related Issues, which was held in Zürich in March this year.

International Menopause Society President Professor Pines summed up the findings :

For young healthy women at the onset of menopause, there is very little risk and the benefits outweigh the risks for women with symptoms

Personally, I am not at all convinced. Not even a little bit. The symptoms of the menopausal experience can be a real drag but only in few women do they stretch you beyond your limit. And I don't like "the benefits outweigh the risks". That only tells me that the risks are certainly there.

If, after trying a natural approach to relief, you feel as though life isn't worth living, by all means try HRT but please, for as short a time as possible.

And when you are taking these drugs please please do not smoke, do not carry more than a few pounds of excess weight, rarely have an alcoholic drink, do not eat processed foods and avoid as much stress as possible in your daily activities.

Of the women in the original Womens Health Initiative study, 36% had hypertension, 49% were current or past smokers, and 34% were clinically obese, all factors which contribute to increased health problems. On top of that they took HRT.

So I repeat the conclusion of the Summit on Menopause-Related Issues .. If you are young and healthy, menopause is just starting - there is very little risk and the benefits outweigh the risks.

It's up to you. Each woman is an individual. Talk to your doctor.

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Your body knows what it's doing. If you have no desire, then you have no desire. Your body has no plans, either now or in the long-term, for pregnancy, and feels little need for the business of penetrative sex.

Let's face it. When you're wracked with anxiety from hormone swings, soaked with sweat from hot flashes, or in what feels like a constant state of PMT, you're unlikely to be feeling very sexy. Once the ovaries have stopped putting out hormones, vaginal dryness can make penetration painful.

Then there's the symbolic value of menopause. In itself, it can make us feel old, unattractive, and sexless.

Or you can find that a decreased interest in the sexual side of life is unimportant to you - or even welcome.

After decades of being driven by our sexuality, many of us find the calming of the senses that can accompany menopause to open us up to a new independence, and to enthusiasm for exploring new interests.

Thanks very much for dropping by to read Menopause Matters. You're more than welcome to leave a note in the guest book above and, if you're a member of Squidoo, you can also rate this lens :)

It's all much appreciated, Susanna

For more pages of mine, my lens collection is at Susanna's Lensography

10% of my income goes to continue the work of Fred Hollows in treating avoidable blindness and improving indigenous health.

Photo : Khim Rath, who can now see after a successful cataract operation, Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia.

Blindness is a significant public health issue in Cambodia. Over 160,000 people are blind and an additional 20,000 become blind each year. The main cause of blindness is cataract, which can be treated by a simple 15 minute operation at an average cost of $25 (AUD$35).