Search results for working the transition

Got ‘tude?

Posted by Liz on Jan 8, 2010 in emotions | 0 comments

[Used with permission. Thanks to egopicks.com and their seriously fine guitar picks! Rock n Roll!]

Your ‘tude may be affecting how you experience menopause as well as how frequently those flashes occur. What’s more, your environment may also play a role.

In a detailed review of 13 studies examining women’s attitudes before and during menopause, researchers discovered a few choice tidbits:

• Ya gotta live it to understand it. Apparently, younger women who are premenopausal have more negative attitudes towards menopause than women who are menopausal. In fact, data show that one’s mood state prior to starting menopause may actually affect one’s menopausal atttitudes and experiences.
• I’ve got all my sisters (and teachers) with me. Research shows that education and social support contribute greatly to having positive attitudes and experiences during the transition.
• Which came first? The chicken or the egg? Depression  is apparently associated with having more negative attitudes about menopause although researchers haven’t quite figured out the causality, i.e. depression before symptoms or symptoms before depression. Regardless, it might bet helpful to tackle those blues and try to chase them away.
• It takes a village. The reviewed studies included women from North America, Europe, Asia and the middle east. They showed that cultural attitudes can significantly impact attitudes towards menopause. One of the most discouraging (and telling) findings was that the medicalization of menopause affected Caucasian women in particular, leading to a tendency towards negative attitudes. Say no more!

Overall, the key take-away point is that negative social attitudes + individual negative attitudes = worsening symptoms and poorer experiences.  I believe that we can change this equation for the positive by supporting one another, working on changing our beliefs about menopause and what it is (and isn’t), taking steps to boost mood, whether they be exercise, herbs, antidepressants, or mind-body practices, and by unifying to stop the medicalization of menopause.

What do you say? You in? Got ‘tude?

Wednesday Bubble: blame it on…

Posted by Liz on Sep 23, 2009 in emotions, estrogen, menopause, women's health | 4 comments

I was struck by the following story that appeared two weeks ago on the BBC:

“Woman’s Death Blamed on Menopause.”

“A woman who refused to take hormone replacement therapy died while suffering a menopausal episode, an inquest had heard. Margaret Drew…was killed when she walked out of her family home on to a nearby railway line and was hit by a train…There is no trigger to this at all, except hormones making her do things that she normally wouldn’t do, Dr. Carlyon [Cornwall Coroner) concluded…”

Menopause. The silent killer. Oh really?  Drew’s husband claims that his wife was “delightful, lovely and friendly” 99% of the time; the other 1% she’d become “totally irrational.” Yet, she refused to try HRT, he says. On the day of her suicide, he said that his wife was “clearly angry about something.”

Something.

Obviously, the conclusion is that that the “something” is hormones. This reminds me of vintage advertising copy that conveys the simple message that a pill a day can cure all that ails, wipe away the tears, mood swings and instability so that women can “transition without tears” (or better yet, without killing themselves).

Notably, a search in the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed database turned up only one recent study specifically dealing with suicide ideation across reproductive stages. In it, researchers compared data in 8,794 women, and found an increased risk of thinking about suicide among women during perimenopause, not before or after entering menopause. These findings remained after controlling for risk factors such as anxiety and mood disorders. HOWEVER, the researchers noted that the study design did not allow them to form any definitive conclusions about the specific reasons for thinking about suicide.

Another search yielded information that the risk for a major depression increases during perimenopause, primarily as the direct result of vasomotor symptoms. The same does not hold true for women before menopause begins or once they enter menopause. Note that while major depression is a risk factor for suicide, not everyone who is depressed will actually kill themselves.

So, are hormonal fluctuations the sole cause of such deep unhappiness that women want to kill themselves?

Interestingly, just a week after the menopause/train suicide story hit the interwebz, a rather controversial set of data also emerged: since 1972, women’s overall level of happiness has dropped. These findings held true regardless of child status, marital status and age. Researcher Marcus Buckingham, writing in the Huffington Post, said that women are not more unhappy than men because of gender stereotyping and related attitudes, due to working longer hours or because of the inequality of housework/responsibilities at home, but rather, the hormonal fluctuations of menopause may be to blame. What’s more, he leaves us hanging so we’ll tune in for part two of the piece to learn the true cause of our declining happiness or better yet, read his book (which evidently guides women through the process of finding the true role that they were meant to play in life).

Importantly, reactions to this study (and various pundits’ assessment of it) have been mixed. One of the most poignant comments I’ve read asks the question “how is happiness measured? What does it mean?”

I have no idea what caused Mrs. Drew to walk into a train two weeks ago and kill herself. Perhaps she was depressed. Clearly she was suicidal.

I have no idea why research shows that women are less happier than they were three decades ago.

However, is menopause the cause? Don’t these conclusions only serve to perpetuate societal myths that menopause is a disease that requires treatment? That as women, our attitudes, belief systems and actions are hormonally-based and driven? That we are hysterical beings who need guidance on how to find our way and fulfill our dreams, realize our paths, but only if we calm down?

Feeling angry? Blame it on menopause. Unhappy? Blame it on menopause. Not realizing your dreams? Blame it on menopause. Overworked, overstressed, undervalued? Blame it on menopause.

Blame it on menopause.

I don’t know about you but I’m tired, tired of hearing that menopause is not the symptom but the disease.

There’s no time like the present to burst this bubble.

A B C…

Posted by Liz on May 26, 2009 in estrogen, memory/learning | 3 comments

Study results reported in the May 26 issue of  Neurology suggests that the menopause transition negatively affects women’s ability to learn.

Researchers evaluated 2,362 women between the ages of 42 and 52 for verbal memory, working memory and the speed at which they proceesed information. All study participants were tested through the four stages of the menopause transition:

1. premenopause (no change in menstrual periods)
2. early perimenopause (menstrual irregularity, no gaps in period for 3 months)
3. late perimenopause (having no period for 3 to 11 months)
4. postmenopause (no period for 12 months)

The results showed improvements in processing speed during pre- and early perimenopause and postmenopause that were 28% larger compared to those in late perimenopause. Improvements in  verbal memory were 29% larger in permenopause than in  early or late perimenopause, and and become 36% larger compared with postmenopause.

The researchers said that it appears that during the late and early menopause, women do not learn as well as they do during other stages. What’s more, these findings support prior self-reports that suggest that as many as 60% of women have memory problems during the menopause transition. (Notably, there have been some studies that suggest that this is a fallacy.) The study authors add that this lapse in learning ability tends to be temporary and returns during the postmenopause stage. They also point to findings that show that taking estrogen or progesterone before menopause may help to improve verbal memory or processing speed but this effect can be reversed if hormones are taken after the final menstrual period.

This is an interesting study and the findings seem to jive with personal experience, especially with regards to what sometimes appears like a diminishing abilty to process information.  It makes me wonder if taking classes as I go through menopause is a good idea or not! And it equally makes me question the endless havoc that hormones appear to take on our bodies and our minds.

What about you? I’d love to hear your experiences and where you are in the transition, that is, if you can remember to comment after reading this (!)