Posts Tagged "menopause"

Men. Oh. Pause. Rewind.

Posted by Liz on Jul 10, 2009 in humour, Inspiration | 6 comments

I’d like to welcome guest blogger Amy Ferris.

Amy writes about all things women. She is an author (a greater goode, Houghton Mifflin Publishers; The Buddha Next Door, Anthology, Middleway Press), a screenwriter (Mr. Wonderful, Anthony Minghella, Director, and Funny Valentines, Julie Dash, Director) and  an editor. Following is an excerpt from her new book, ‘Marrying George Clooney – Confessions from a Midlife Crisis‘ (Seal Press) which is available by pre-order from Amazon.com.

Show Amy some love!

Imagine this scenario if you will: you’re in the Holland or Lincoln Tunnel, all of a sudden, without a warning, all the lights go out, including all the headlights on all the cars. You’re stuck. There’s no going forward; there’s no going backwards. Complete and utter darkness. And you know in your soul that others are going through the exact same thing – but no one, not one person gets out of their car.

Welcome to menopause.

I have been depressed, anxious, forgetful, lost in a fog, angry, and resentful, with an emphasis on ‘angry’. I have been filled with tremendous hope, and in the next unexpected moment, filled with the exact amount of despair. I have cried uncontrollably from my gut, and I have laughed from the depths of my soul. I have felt like throwing my life away, as in literally jumping off a bridge. I have witnessed my body grow one full size while sleeping so undly.

In the midst of this fresh hell, I decided to quit smoking. I’m not sure if it was an act of courage or just simply self-destructive behavior. Much to my husband’s grand delight, not to mention my friends and family, I decided to divorce the one constant that kept me from experiencing my feelings fully – a cigarette.

So, not only were my hormones doing a ferocious dance – now my suppressed, discarded feelings were vying for attention.

This is the point in the story I get to introduce my husband. Please raise your hand if any of you have turned into the devil doll on a dime. You know what I’m talking about – that moment when your husband (or wife, or partner) says or does something trivial, innocuous, a casual throw-a-way and without a moments hesitation you respond by burning a hole in their heart with your tongue. And it’s all down hill from there. The only word that comes to mind to describe my behavior is vile. The only word to describe my husband’s reaction is stunned.

Along with weight gain and mental anguish, insomnia is yet another ‘side dish’ accompanying menopause. So, late one night while unable to sleep and tossing a coin – heads, Ambien, tails, Ambien – it occurred to me that it was time for me to put into practice what I deeply believe. To a) truly embrace and love every single part of me. Not just the good and kind and generous, but the bad and unattractive and mentally unstable. And b) find the enlightened side — it was my obligation and responsibility to acknowledge and hold dear the privilege of my very own life.

Every single woman I know, without exception, has or will experience some deep inner turmoil or upheaval because of menopause. It is a part of being a woman. Period. I have known women of great equilibrium to wobble horrifically because they were in the process of dealing with this huge change of life. The good news: most women credit this hell as the single most profound experience, which has enabled them to uncover their own greatness. I can definitely embrace that.

And here’s the enlightened side: Menopause is just like couture fashion. Some of it is just really ugly.

Welcome to my world.

Wednesday Bubble: weathering your hot flashes

Posted by Liz on Jul 1, 2009 in hot flash | 2 comments

Hey Ladies! This week’s bubble comes to you c/o my Twitter friend Gloria Bell, who asked an interesting question: does climate affect hot flashes?

Apparently it does. Although there are not a lot of studies that have been conducted specifically on this topic, an extensive analysis of data from 54 studies suggests that climate may indeed, influence the frequency of hot flashes. Investigators focused the mechanisms underlying hot flashes ( i.e., small elevations in core body temperature within a temperature range where a woman would not normally shiver or sweat –also called the thermoneutral zone), hypothesizing that these zones might actually be climate-specific.

The study:

• Researchers examined information on the frequency of hot flashes from 54 studies and evaluated the correlations between hot flash frequency and geographical latitude, elevation and annual temperatures. Additional analyses were conducted on data derived from studies that included women no older than age 60.

What they learned:

• Among women up to age 60, the average temperature of the coldest month could actually predict how frequently women experienced hot flashes almost a third of the time.
• Among all women, the difference between the hottest climates and the coldest climates significantly predicted hot flash frequency about 26% of the time.
• A climate’s mean annual temperature also predicted hot flash frequency.

Overall, women who lived in warmer temperatures tended to report fewer hot flashes than those in the coldest regions. Hot flashes also tended to increase in areas where there were more seasonal fluctuations.

Although climate plays a role, other factors, such as hormonal imbalance, smoking and diet have also been shown to influence hot flash severity and frequency. Still, it is interesting to learn that where we live may influence the challenges we may face when weathering the menopause storm!

News Flash: Hot hot hot

Posted by Liz on Jun 19, 2009 in hot flash, HRT | 0 comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrhf_zgtmAg]

Think that hormone replacement therapy is going to get rid of those hot flashes forever? Think again. Indeed, researchers have discovered that the majority women who start hormone therapy because of hot flashes and then stop, may experience a recurrence of symptoms!

In this study, which appears in the Ahead of Print edition of Menopause, 1,733 women between the ages of 53 and 54 completed a validated questionnaire looking at menopause, hormone therapy and  vasomotor symptoms. Among the women who submitted completed surveys (~73%), 242 had previously used hormones and 69% indicated that they had vasomotor symptoms before starting therapy. Regardless of how long hormone therapy was used, symptoms returned in 87% women who stopped, even if they had completed menopause (although hot flashes were reportedly less frequent and bothersome).

The bottom line: Research has shown that disease risks, e.g. breast cancer, increase when hormone therapy is used more than five years. So clearly, remaining on hormones to address returning symptoms is not a wise option. Rather, safer and equally effective alternatives are needed to address return of symptoms as well as aid in disease prevention.

Feeling irritable?

Posted by Liz on Jun 12, 2009 in Uncategorized | 5 comments

You’re not alone. Data from a National Consumers League survey suggest that as many as 40% to 60% of menopausal women feel irritable or moody (depending on the severity of their symptoms). Consequently, it’s not surprising that results of a recent study that appeared in the March issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics suggest a medical reason for irritability during menopause as well: fluctuating hormones.

Researchers evaluated irritability and depression, vasomotor symptoms and insomnia in 163 peri- and post-menopausal women attending a clinic. Participants had either never used hormones or were taking Livial. Irritability was defined as either outwardly directed (towards another person) or inwardly directed (towards oneself). They also examined the presence of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes or thyroid disease.

The results? According to study findings, outward but not inward irritability was significantly associated with follicle stimulating (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels (which are markers of aging ovaries).

Women with chronic disease (about a third of those participating) tended to have significantly higher irritability scores, which the researchers attributed at least partially, to aging (and its association with illness) and not to menopause specifically. Like their healthier peers, outward irritability was found to be related to FSH and LH levels.

No association was found between irritability and vasomotor symptoms or insomnia.

So, there appears to be a medical reason for being outwardly irritable during menopause, one that has more to do with hormone levels and less, with hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia. If you aren’t willing to get on the HRT train, you might want to look into some alternatives, such as progesterone cream or soy. Self-deprecation, on the other hand, requires a bit more finesse and self-awareness to get the bottom of what ails.

Regardless of how you choose to address your irritability, a general rule of thumb applies: put down the knife and breathe!

Wednesday bubble: age ain’t nothing but a…

Posted by Liz on Jun 10, 2009 in hot flash, menopause, nightsweats | 2 comments

Number?

Sometimes it is just that. And sometimes it’s not.

Confused yet? I certainly am.

Australian researchers suggest that many of the more common complaints of menopause may be possibly related to aging in general and not specifically the transition. In fact, in a study presented during last month’s 8th European Congress on Menopause, they reported that menopause is strongly associated with some but not other common complaints.

So what about the other symptoms? After reviewing data from 58,724 women (ages 45 to 50) participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, the strongest associations were seen between menopause and hot flashes/night sweats. These findings remained after adjusting for age during the study, age at menopause, smoking history, body mass index, sociodemographics (i.e. education, income, marital status and geographic location) and other factors that might influence outcomes. Other symptoms, including difficulty sleeping, stiff/painful joints and poor or fair self-reported health were also associated with menopause but to a much lesser extent. Headaches, migraines and incontinence appeared to be more strongly related to the aging process.

The researchers say that treatment (in this case, HRT) should be geared primarily towards alleviating vasomotor symptoms. Less clear, however, is how long therapy should be continued, since some symptoms can last for more than seven years. This study is scheduled to appear in Menopause.

Last September, I wrote a post about a survey being reported at the North American Menopause Society’s Annual meeting suggesting that women can actually discern the symptoms of menopause from those of aging.  Interestingly, many of the symptoms overlapped; in fact, 84%, 72%, and 77% of respondents associated vaginal dryness, urinary stress incontinence and weight gain, respectively, strictly with menopause, even though they can also be caused by aging as well.

So, what’s the primary point? It can be difficult to tease apart the effects of aging and the effects of menopause. Clearly, these new Australian data add a bit more to the confusion, and reinforce the point that more research and funding is needed in this particular area.

In the interim, I am just as happy to blame the ‘pause for my symptoms as I am to blame age. And equally as happy to take positive steps to overcome some of the more troublesome effects of the transition, regardless of whether it is a direct effect of menopause or not.

All in all, a good thing, right?