I suffered an increase in migraines as I entered the peri-menopausal phase, I also developed awful pains & aches all over my body; up to that point in my life I had only ever experienced a migraine on the day that my period started, though not every time, thankfully; I had also had a healthy diet & was very active, so to find myself waking with the most awful headache every morning, & generally dragging myself around the place like an elderly woman, was shocking, to say the least. To, now, hear that doctors have proof of what many menopausal women have known forever, is of little relevance to me, and only further proves that we, as women, need to believe in ourselves more, and give up needing the scientific proof that we are, or may be struggling with our health at this time in our life. Further, my experience of increased migraines & pain had nothing to do with an “overuse” in pain medications, as suggested by the ‘experts’, since I have avoided medication use for most of my life, thankfully. However, given that we can feel such physical pain & lost to our former selves at this time in our life, I can see how we turn to the medical professionals for help & end up taking whatever they prescribe for us, & then end up being ‘judged’ & ‘categorized’ by the said profession for “overuse” of medications who prescribe in the first place; in other words, a vicious circle we can, sadly, find ourselves in when we are vulnerable & turn to those who claim they have the answers to help us. And still, we have the sound bites: there is help for women at this time from their physicians: the contraceptive pill, estrogen patches, painkillers etc etc. What about if they don’t work, or what about the side effects, or the fact that each women is an individual with a body that has its own individual needs at all times in her life, & in particular, as she enters the peri-menopausal stage. Like the other respondent, Jayne, I to get irritated by the continued claims by the medical model that there is help for menopausal women, but at what cost? & I am not talking about the financial cost, though that is an issue. It can be a difficult time in a woman’s life, a very vulnerable time, & sadly, it is also the time of life when she needs to have her wits about her more than at any other time in her life, especially when dealing with the medical professionals that she may turn to. Constant self education about what is happening to her; constant research into what is available, or being prescribed for her, with its pros & cons; & constant questioning of her medical team, & if they don’t like this, change them, though finding physicians that are open to working with pro-active patients is another challenge, on top of every other challenge, that we face at this time. It is often like we are being asked to make an assertive stand for ourselves at a time when we are least able to do so. So, I guess, I too feel irritated by the constant generic sound bites thrown around about the help that is available for menopause & health issues associated with it. In my personal experience & anecdotally, we are lucky to reach our post-menopausal stage of life strong & healthy in body, mind & spirit, if we have had to turn to the medical profession for help during the ‘Change’. We need to listen to our own bodies & validate it for ourselves without any need for validation from the researchers or their studies; we, ourselves, are the experts. Our best supports are ourselves, our family & friends, & the medical profession only for getting our overall health checked out, & the results used as the basis for developing/evolving our our own strategies of care. I take my hat off to every woman who has ever navigated the ‘Change’:)
Thank you for your Blog Ellen, & for the courage you have to put yourself ‘out there’.