It appears to be nothing. For me, the comparison I made in my mind brought back similar memories. When I was an ER nurse, I was appalled to learn that I would be taking care of sexual assault victims, doing forensic kits for evidence, and comforting them, with ZERO special training. I vowed to fix that. Ten years later, I became the educator for three emergency departments and undertook the biggest career challenge of my life. I started the first sexual assault care program for our system and we trained hundreds on emergency care and dozens to become sexual assault nurse examiners. I have since moved on and my dear friend manages the program amazingly and victims receive stellar care under her direction.
I will never forget; however, that feeling as I learned, how could their be such gross lack of education, misinformation and limit resources for this population? I recently felt similiar feelings when I began to look into why my body was not serving me and problems were arising. What I learned was just a drop in the bucket of what I need to learn, and I am again impassioned to share and improve care for a population. This time it is my generation of women.
Around the age of 40, most women start to experience signs and symptoms of hormone deficiency. Many don’t know because the signs are subtle. And the health care community is highly deficient on educating them, largely because they don’t know. Women’s health for women over 40 is grossly neglected. We are made to feel crazy, we are laughed at, and what it going on in our body is a BIG DEAL.
When we have went one year without a period (real talk here), we are said to be in menopause. What we fail to realize is that for approximately ten years before, our bodies are letting us know that they are deficient-largely in estrogen.
Why is that a big deal? It is natural, right? Let’s address the natural, first. Yes, it is a natural process that the body undergoes. But so is losing teeth, knees wearing out, etc. And we don’t just say, “suffer through it without teeth or a knee that works. We have many options. We just aren’t told about them correctly.
As estrogen decreases our body can go through any and/or of the following: Huge emotional distress, depression, fatigue, decreased or lack of libido, surges of heat and dizziness that can halt a woman in their tracks, (aka “hot flashes”), insomnia, weight gain, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and potentially Alzherimers. Just deal with it, right? No!
One of the biggest travesties, in my opinion, is some studies that were published years ago that led women to believe that estrogen replacement was bad. Granted, there are conditions were it is probably not the treatment of choice. But for most women, hormone replacement is exactly what they SHOULD be doing. It preserves their bones, joints, heart vessels, weight and sometimes even their outward youth. There are many other options as well.
This blog and my youtube video, https://youtu.be/iMPuasXqABE are “scratches on the surface.” This topic is so broad I could write and entire blog for a year or more on it! Most providers are not qualified to educate on this, let alone treat women. If you watch my video, I discuss a little of my personal journey and I want all women to have options.
My journey continues, and I can tell you at 52, I have never felt better after beginning a low dose estrogen patch. And what seems even crazier? My estrogen levels right before were “normal.” But my FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) began to give away clues. Labs are very tricky and my menopause specialist agrees that go by symptoms, NOT your labs. You can get labs and check some at home, but be mindful that it is a journey that will vary greatly depending on the day of the month. I used urine sticks https://amzn.to/3f1Nk9S to detect FSH levels simply for my own piece of mind that I wasn’t imaging this, and used them weekly and tracked them. After a couple of months, I stopped and just logged my symptoms.
Start thinking of this stage in life as just another one, like puberty, or pregnancy, that we can thrive but need to know how to manage. I am no expert, but I am empassionad to find answers for myself and for all.
My two best recommendations are as follows. I found an wonderful expert online who is a retired OB/GYN and is the literal guru on all things managing perimenopause and menopause. Her name is Dr. Barbie Taylor and she has over 200 videos on YouTube and a wonderful book (found on her site or here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NFsvGc that should be the textbook. https://menopausetaylor.me/Lastly, anyone can go to http://www.menopause.org and search for a menopause specialist. When should you do that? Anyone 35-40 should be thinking about it NOW to come up with a plan!
I hope this resonates with my lady friends to give self care of educating and insisting on care that will greatly increase their life after 40! Age is just a number, and so far 52 is my favorite.
Remember, 40 is not over!
xoxoxo Trishy
*Amazon links-I receive a small commission if you use my links. They do not cost anything additional for using them.
*Though I have great admiration, I am not affiliated with Dr. Barbie Taylor or The North American Menopause Society.)
