How To Survive The Menopause.!

There is only one subject that annoys me and I cannot laugh it off........Men telling jokes about the menopause.! How can they even know what they are talking about?

There have been times in my life when I have been rather "Thin skinned. and I' ve become upset over something that's been said about me. I say ''times'' because there have been far more incidents when I am not the least bit offended.

Britain is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Wales by far the smallest country, hardly more than an appendage on the edge of England..I grew up in Wales and it is outstanding in its beauty of both countryside and sea sides.

Yet even in the so called politically correct days that we live in, there are still many silly jokes about the Welsh. Have you ever heard someone try to imitate a Welsh accent and the sounds come out more like the person originated in Pakistan.? If you want to imitate an accent for goodness sake ''get it right'' first.! Make sure you sound at least slightly Welsh (idiots!) '.

Still... it's not a serious problem , for me anyway. It's the thought that a man can find anything to joke about concerning the menopause that bugs me.

The Menopause. The Change of Life.....

In any other circumstances a big change in someone's life would be taken seriously, especially when the person going through 'The Change ' is not so young anymore..There is rule around me......Only menopausal women or those who have passed through it can make jokes about it, Now they CAN be very funny.. We're all in the same boat.

When my doctor first told me that the symptoms I' d been describing to him were classic PRE menopausal symptoms. I winced, wondering what horrors I had to look forward to when the Real Thing kicked in.!

Every woman has a different experience,. HRT suits some women, but I would not go near it. Any medication that mentions the slightest risk of cancer goes straight out the window for me. Both my mum and dad's side of the family have so much and many different types of cancer. , that I prefer to deal with the symptoms of menopause,without HRT.

I know HRT works for thousands of women, and I'm sure your own doctor is the one to give you the best guidance.

For me I felt safer taking Evening Primrose Oil, and any other herbal remedy on the market for the many different symptoms.

Also the healthiest diet I could stick to definitely made me feel better.

www.womentowomen.com is a site full of information that may help you.

I had many days when I couldn't leave the house because the stomach pain was so bad, and I also could not be too far from the bathroom,.

I used the ' Stay at home'' days to read as much as possible about this ' change going on in my body and my mind, I hasten to add.'. I kept telling myself ''This a perfectly normal stage of my life, just the same as puberty in my teens''. This is the way we are made, said I, and I can simply trust in my Maker. Battle on.!

Sounds simple, right? Wrong!!

Waking up in the middle of the night soaked to the skin from night sweats is not funny... though I must admit I felt sorry for my husband,. Imagine lying next to someone who sweats so much the sheets are soaked?!....... This does pass.....

Hot flashes in a busy supermarket ......Definitely not funny.! A hot flash can begin at the back of your heels and rise all the way up your back , over your head.... by which time you feel sure you are going to pass out. Please No! Not amongst the crowds of shoppers, This great big wave is coming up and over me...Help.....just get me to a chair.LET ME OUT!. Phew! If I made it to a chair and put my head bent over between my knees I could usually ride it out. This too did pass.

Whenever I have fainted in my life, I've somehow always managed to be miles away from a soft landing....no carpet...always tiles, or wooden floor. Ouch! A bump on my head to show for it.

Mood swings a weird symptom!. What swings? I asked myself. I'm just miserable, with the occasional day full of black humour. Don't know why every one else found my black humour worrying, instead of funny.

Suddenly, one day whilst doing a mundane household chore, a feeling of excitement began in my tummy and rose to the point of making me giggle. As if I was a child about to go on an exciting trip.!!!!!!! WEIRD. YEP! Weird. The HIGH was great but where did it come from? I want to bottle it.

I , at least want to know what I did, or ate or drunk to cause this euphoria..No such luck. I never did find out what caused these occasional euphoric feelings I just had to be grateful for the ones that came along as a nice surprise. They didn't last long, sadly. The mood swing soon swung back to its favourite place....depressed.

Depressed. Black moods. Everything was black, actually. Like a long black tunnel some days, without the little light at the end of it. Yet this too did pass.

Eventually, of course the whole thing did pass. (About 9 years or was it 12!........only kidding.! Everyone is different.)

One thing I didn't expect is honestly worth looking forward to.............This feeling I have now that it's over. Instead of the dried up prune that I thought would be ' me'. I have a new lease of life! What time of the month! Don't know what you mean. Any time of the month ...and any month.......there is a certain feeling of ....freedom....

So do not despair, girls. It's not plain sailing for most of us, but it's not all doom and gloom either,

Try to keep your sense of humour. If you gain weight, as I did. Do not worry. Be patient. Mine is still slowly dropping off 1lb by 1lb........

Oh and of course, if you come across any ignorant men making so called ' jokes' about menopausal women, please give them a hefty slap from me..